KZB350 Live Outside Broadcasting
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | KZB350 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2027, Kelvin Grove, Internal
| Unit code: | KZB350 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
Overview
This specialist extension unit places you inside a professional live outside broadcast (OB) operation, giving you hands-on experience of the technical systems, crew roles, and real-time decision-making that underpin live sport and live music production. Working with a professional 12-camera OB rig across a 12-week program, you will rotate through the full range of broadcast crew positions before being assessed in a fully realised live production event.
Drawing on the production literacy developed across your Film and Screen major, this unit builds specialist industry competency in a fast-paced, crew-based environment. You will develop fluency in talkback communication, live signal management, and the creative and technical demands of directing and operating across two distinct live genres. By the end of the unit you will have the practical experience, pre-production skills, and reflective professional insight to enter the live broadcast industry with confidence.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Operate competently across multiple live broadcast crew roles—including directing, vision mixing, camera, audio, graphics, and replay—within professional outside broadcast environments.
- Produce complete pre-production packages for live broadcast events, meeting professional standards in documentation, risk management, and technical preparation.
- Direct live sport and live music broadcasts by applying genre-appropriate creative and technical strategies within crew-based production environments.
- Critically evaluate personal broadcast practice against industry competency benchmarks, identifying strengths and setting directions for ongoing professional development.
- Apply real-time problem-solving and decision-making strategies to resolve technical and creative challenges as they arise during live broadcast production.
Content
Live outside broadcasting is one of the most technically complex and creatively demanding sectors of the screen industry. Unlike studio or location drama production, OB requires entire crews to perform at a professional standard simultaneously, in real time, with no opportunity for retakes. This unit immerses you in that environment from week one.
The unit is structured in three progressive phases. In the first phase you will be introduced to each area of the OB signal chain and crew structure through dedicated role-based workshops, building competency in camera operations and shading, vision mixing, directing, live audio, graphics and replay systems, production planning, and technical direction. In the second phase you will participate in full rehearsal productions covering both live sports and live music, rotating through crew positions across these two events. In the final phase you will perform in an assessed live broadcast before completing a critical reflection on your professional development.
No prior OB experience is required, but students are expected to draw on the production and creative foundations developed across their Film and Screen units and apply them in this specialist broadcast context. The unit provides direct pathways into freelance and staff roles in live sports, music, news, and events broadcasting.
Learning Approaches
This unit is delivered entirely through hands-on production workshops and live broadcast rehearsals using a professional outside broadcast rig. There are no traditional lectures: learning takes place in the production environment, through role rotation, crew-based practice, and direct technical instruction. You are expected to prepare thoroughly for each session, to communicate professionally using broadcast talkback protocols, and to contribute actively and reliably to every crew call throughout the unit.
This unit may include the presentation and scholarly analysis of material and subject matters that may be considered confronting, such as certain representations of race, class, gender and violence. QUT counselling support is available should you feel the need to avail yourself of these services.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
During the workshop sessions you will receive formative feedback in the form of:
- discussion and feedback on concepts and design of your production plans and approaches
- solving any problems experienced during practice and production
- feedback on any exercises during practice and production.
Assessment
Overview
This unit has three assessments that span the full arc of post-production practice, from foundational editing skills through to the delivery of a finished and polished screen work. The first builds your technical editing toolkit through a structured portfolio of exercises. The second challenges you to produce an original experimental short film using your own footage. The third requires you to deliver that work to professional finishing and delivery standards, and to defend your creative and technical decisions through a viva voce conversation with teaching staff.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Crew Demonstration and Pre-Production Package
Across the rehearsal production phase, you demonstrate competent operation in a range of live broadcast crew roles during both the live sport and live music events, and you submit a complete pre-production package—including a scaled camera plan, running order, technical specification, and risk assessment—for a live broadcast event. Both components are assessed together as evidence of your readiness to operate professionally in an outside broadcast environment.
Assessment: Production Portfolio
You compile a production portfolio that documents your engagement with the unit across all crew roles and both live production genres, including written reflections, production notes, and self-assessments against industry competency benchmarks. Your portfolio provides evidence of your technical development, professional conduct, and capacity for critical self-evaluation throughout the outside broadcast program.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Requirements to Study
Requirements
All students are requested to visit and review the Health and Safety information on the HiQ web pages (CIESJ Tier 1 HSE requirement).
You will be advised if you are required to complete a Tier 2 CIESJ Health and Safety Induction which is provided by the technician on site in the theatre, workshop or studio, or a Tier 3 CIESJ Health and Safety Induction which is a hands on induction on specific machinery.
Blue Card
A blue card is required to complete this unit. A blue card confirms that you have passed a screening of your criminal history (the Working with Children Check) and have been approved to work with children and young people. For more information on the blue card and how to apply please visit the QUT website.
Costs
This unit may require student contributions to the production costs of collaborative project work. Cost varies depending on the nature of the production project and may include such things as: additional equipment and materials (e.g. computer storage drives) not already provided for by QUT; travel to locations and accommodation; art direction, costumes and makeup; music composition and copyright clearances; payment for actors; and catering.
Resources
Refer to the unit’s Canvas site for links to additional readings (via QUT Readings) and learning resources.
Resource Materials
Prescribed text(s)
Owens, J. & Millerson, G. (2012) (15th ed.) Television Production, Taylor & Francis.
Recommended text(s)
Jacobson, M. (2010) Mastering Multicamera Techniques, Taylor & Francis.
Millerson, G. (1999) (3rd ed) Lighting for Television and Film, Focal Press, Oxford.
Ward, P (2001) (2nd ed) Studio and Outside Broadcast Camerawork. Focal Press, Oxford.
Safety and protective equipment
Enclosed footwear must be worn in TV Studio and on location
Risk Assessment Statement
For risks associated with using campus buildings or QUT facilities, refer to the HiQ Health and Safety information.
Where substantial computer-based work is required, you are recommended to take regular rest breaks when engaging in prolonged computer-based work, and ensure that your workstation is set up for optimal comfort to prevent strain or injury.
Every project is different and the risks are unique to that project. When working on film and television productions you are required to provide appropriate risk plans of your projects prior to receiving equipment. The risk plan should look at the scope of the project and document responses to possible scenarios that might be encountered. The prevention and avoidance of risk should be addressed by: ELIMINATION of the risk, SUBSTITUTION of the risk, ISOLATION of the risk, ENGINEERING to remove the risk, ADMINISTRATION of the risk and the use of PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT.
Note: If in your considered opinion, there is a potential for an accident to occur, the activity should be abandoned and advice sought from specialists, supervisors or lecturers. It should be noted that even if this risk plan has been done and/or advice and consultation has been sought from lecturers or other consultants, the liability for risk management still rests, in the final instance, with the students responsible for the project.
QUT takes its obligations to the Workplace Health and Safety Act 2011 very seriously. You as a student, must also meet your obligations under the Act. This can be done in different ways, but you are obliged to take action to manage exposure to risk.
There are Regulations, Advisory Standards and Industry Codes of Practice, to meet your obligations under the Act you must comply with these. You must take reasonable precautions and exercise proper diligence in making sure the risk is managed.
Students have an obligation to exercise care when operating equipment and to follow instructions as to the safe operation of the equipment, safe manual handling and the use of safety devices and personal protective equipment.
STUDENTS WORKING ON FILM AND TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS WILL MAKE SURE THAT THE APPROPRIATE RISK PLAN HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED FOR THAT PROJECT AND THAT IT HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE APPROPRIATE STAFF MEMBER.
A QUT Risk Plan Form for Student Productions and an accompanying Risk Plan Guidelines should be accessed and downloaded from the unit's Canvas site.
For students working on campus and/or accessing QUT production equipment, the following applies:
RESPONSIBILITY: Equipment faults and damage must be reported to Equipment Loans Centre (ELC) staff as soon as possible.
Students are responsible for ensuring equipment is secure and at no risk of damage. Action will be taken against anyone responsible for wilful damage or theft of QUT property.
SECURITY: Z6, the hub, offers 24 hour swipe card access. Consequently, the equipment you use there, your personal possessions and your personal safety are at risk unless everyone complies with the security regulations pertaining to this facility. Admission is by your own student card only. Do not let anyone in on your card unless prior authorisation has been given by the Discipline Head. Under no circumstance should you give your student card to anyone else. These rules will be strictly enforced and anyone who breaks them will be subject to harsh disciplinary action by the university.
Unit Outline: Semester 2 2027, Kelvin Grove, Internal
| Unit code: | KZB350 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
Overview
This specialist extension unit places you inside a professional live outside broadcast (OB) operation, giving you hands-on experience of the technical systems, crew roles, and real-time decision-making that underpin live sport and live music production. Working with a professional 12-camera OB rig across a 12-week program, you will rotate through the full range of broadcast crew positions before being assessed in a fully realised live production event.
Drawing on the production literacy developed across your Film and Screen major, this unit builds specialist industry competency in a fast-paced, crew-based environment. You will develop fluency in talkback communication, live signal management, and the creative and technical demands of directing and operating across two distinct live genres. By the end of the unit you will have the practical experience, pre-production skills, and reflective professional insight to enter the live broadcast industry with confidence.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Operate competently across multiple live broadcast crew roles—including directing, vision mixing, camera, audio, graphics, and replay—within professional outside broadcast environments.
- Produce complete pre-production packages for live broadcast events, meeting professional standards in documentation, risk management, and technical preparation.
- Direct live sport and live music broadcasts by applying genre-appropriate creative and technical strategies within crew-based production environments.
- Critically evaluate personal broadcast practice against industry competency benchmarks, identifying strengths and setting directions for ongoing professional development.
- Apply real-time problem-solving and decision-making strategies to resolve technical and creative challenges as they arise during live broadcast production.
Content
Live outside broadcasting is one of the most technically complex and creatively demanding sectors of the screen industry. Unlike studio or location drama production, OB requires entire crews to perform at a professional standard simultaneously, in real time, with no opportunity for retakes. This unit immerses you in that environment from week one.
The unit is structured in three progressive phases. In the first phase you will be introduced to each area of the OB signal chain and crew structure through dedicated role-based workshops, building competency in camera operations and shading, vision mixing, directing, live audio, graphics and replay systems, production planning, and technical direction. In the second phase you will participate in full rehearsal productions covering both live sports and live music, rotating through crew positions across these two events. In the final phase you will perform in an assessed live broadcast before completing a critical reflection on your professional development.
No prior OB experience is required, but students are expected to draw on the production and creative foundations developed across their Film and Screen units and apply them in this specialist broadcast context. The unit provides direct pathways into freelance and staff roles in live sports, music, news, and events broadcasting.
Learning Approaches
This unit is delivered entirely through hands-on production workshops and live broadcast rehearsals using a professional outside broadcast rig. There are no traditional lectures: learning takes place in the production environment, through role rotation, crew-based practice, and direct technical instruction. You are expected to prepare thoroughly for each session, to communicate professionally using broadcast talkback protocols, and to contribute actively and reliably to every crew call throughout the unit.
This unit may include the presentation and scholarly analysis of material and subject matters that may be considered confronting, such as certain representations of race, class, gender and violence. QUT counselling support is available should you feel the need to avail yourself of these services.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
During the workshop sessions you will receive formative feedback in the form of:
- discussion and feedback on concepts and design of your production plans and approaches
- solving any problems experienced during practice and production
- feedback on any exercises during practice and production.
Assessment
Overview
This unit has three assessments that span the full arc of post-production practice, from foundational editing skills through to the delivery of a finished and polished screen work. The first builds your technical editing toolkit through a structured portfolio of exercises. The second challenges you to produce an original experimental short film using your own footage. The third requires you to deliver that work to professional finishing and delivery standards, and to defend your creative and technical decisions through a viva voce conversation with teaching staff.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Crew Demonstration and Pre-Production Package
Across the rehearsal production phase, you demonstrate competent operation in a range of live broadcast crew roles during both the live sport and live music events, and you submit a complete pre-production package—including a scaled camera plan, running order, technical specification, and risk assessment—for a live broadcast event. Both components are assessed together as evidence of your readiness to operate professionally in an outside broadcast environment.
Assessment: Production Portfolio
You compile a production portfolio that documents your engagement with the unit across all crew roles and both live production genres, including written reflections, production notes, and self-assessments against industry competency benchmarks. Your portfolio provides evidence of your technical development, professional conduct, and capacity for critical self-evaluation throughout the outside broadcast program.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Requirements to Study
Requirements
All students are requested to visit and review the Health and Safety information on the HiQ web pages (CIESJ Tier 1 HSE requirement).
You will be advised if you are required to complete a Tier 2 CIESJ Health and Safety Induction which is provided by the technician on site in the theatre, workshop or studio, or a Tier 3 CIESJ Health and Safety Induction which is a hands on induction on specific machinery.
Blue Card
A blue card is required to complete this unit. A blue card confirms that you have passed a screening of your criminal history (the Working with Children Check) and have been approved to work with children and young people. For more information on the blue card and how to apply please visit the QUT website.
Costs
This unit may require student contributions to the production costs of collaborative project work. Cost varies depending on the nature of the production project and may include such things as: additional equipment and materials (e.g. computer storage drives) not already provided for by QUT; travel to locations and accommodation; art direction, costumes and makeup; music composition and copyright clearances; payment for actors; and catering.
Resources
Refer to the unit’s Canvas site for links to additional readings (via QUT Readings) and learning resources.
Resource Materials
Prescribed text(s)
Owens, J. & Millerson, G. (2012) (15th ed.) Television Production, Taylor & Francis.
Recommended text(s)
Jacobson, M. (2010) Mastering Multicamera Techniques, Taylor & Francis.
Millerson, G. (1999) (3rd ed) Lighting for Television and Film, Focal Press, Oxford.
Ward, P (2001) (2nd ed) Studio and Outside Broadcast Camerawork. Focal Press, Oxford.
Safety and protective equipment
Enclosed footwear must be worn in TV Studio and on location
Risk Assessment Statement
For risks associated with using campus buildings or QUT facilities, refer to the HiQ Health and Safety information.
Where substantial computer-based work is required, you are recommended to take regular rest breaks when engaging in prolonged computer-based work, and ensure that your workstation is set up for optimal comfort to prevent strain or injury.
Every project is different and the risks are unique to that project. When working on film and television productions you are required to provide appropriate risk plans of your projects prior to receiving equipment. The risk plan should look at the scope of the project and document responses to possible scenarios that might be encountered. The prevention and avoidance of risk should be addressed by: ELIMINATION of the risk, SUBSTITUTION of the risk, ISOLATION of the risk, ENGINEERING to remove the risk, ADMINISTRATION of the risk and the use of PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT.
Note: If in your considered opinion, there is a potential for an accident to occur, the activity should be abandoned and advice sought from specialists, supervisors or lecturers. It should be noted that even if this risk plan has been done and/or advice and consultation has been sought from lecturers or other consultants, the liability for risk management still rests, in the final instance, with the students responsible for the project.
QUT takes its obligations to the Workplace Health and Safety Act 2011 very seriously. You as a student, must also meet your obligations under the Act. This can be done in different ways, but you are obliged to take action to manage exposure to risk.
There are Regulations, Advisory Standards and Industry Codes of Practice, to meet your obligations under the Act you must comply with these. You must take reasonable precautions and exercise proper diligence in making sure the risk is managed.
Students have an obligation to exercise care when operating equipment and to follow instructions as to the safe operation of the equipment, safe manual handling and the use of safety devices and personal protective equipment.
STUDENTS WORKING ON FILM AND TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS WILL MAKE SURE THAT THE APPROPRIATE RISK PLAN HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED FOR THAT PROJECT AND THAT IT HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE APPROPRIATE STAFF MEMBER.
A QUT Risk Plan Form for Student Productions and an accompanying Risk Plan Guidelines should be accessed and downloaded from the unit's Canvas site.
For students working on campus and/or accessing QUT production equipment, the following applies:
RESPONSIBILITY: Equipment faults and damage must be reported to Equipment Loans Centre (ELC) staff as soon as possible.
Students are responsible for ensuring equipment is secure and at no risk of damage. Action will be taken against anyone responsible for wilful damage or theft of QUT property.
SECURITY: Z6, the hub, offers 24 hour swipe card access. Consequently, the equipment you use there, your personal possessions and your personal safety are at risk unless everyone complies with the security regulations pertaining to this facility. Admission is by your own student card only. Do not let anyone in on your card unless prior authorisation has been given by the Discipline Head. Under no circumstance should you give your student card to anyone else. These rules will be strictly enforced and anyone who breaks them will be subject to harsh disciplinary action by the university.