Creative industry builds up momentum
The creative industry, more specifically the audiovisual production sector, gained momentum in 2017 with the opening of the Audiovisual Technological Center of RS (Tecna), a partnership involving PUCRS, the government of the State of Rio Grande do Sul and Fundacine. The infrastructure of this environment for innovation and development has been designed to address teaching and research needs and to provide the integration with the market with an eye to the development of sub-specialties in the area. Located at Tecnopuc Viamão, this new environment has sustainability as its vector, as its local productive arrangements are to be shared and improved.
Tecna has been designed to be a driving force in the audiovisual market of the state of RS in order to strengthen the sector. A total investment of BRL 27 million will have been made. “Tecna will embrace different types of productions as it seeks to draw projects from all over the country and overseas. The project is unique because it is not just a studio, but an organization within a technological center”, claims João Guilherme Barone, professor of the Undergraduate Program in Audiovisual Production and Graduate Program in Communication, who has been involved since the very beginning of the project.
The first part of the project was completed in April 2017 and features a cutting-edge TV and cinema studio, in line with international qualification norms. According to Barone, there is nothing like it. “It is currently the most modern and contemporary one in Brazil today. No other university has a similar project, which is connected to a science and technology park”, adds he.
The center is open for content and advertisement production companies and its studios will be available for TV channels as well. Additionally, it will be available to Famecos whenever necessary for any of its studio practices. “It is such a unique platform, available to all programs of the university, whose students and professors are invited to think up projects within the center”, highlights Tecna’s coordinator, Aletéia Selonk.
New opportunities
The arrival of Tecna has brought new development programs, since if provides new courses in the area of 3D, animation and sound and photography and art, for instance. “Besides, students and market professionals will be able to join the University’s research groups, as new grants and internships will be available to projects developed in partnership with companies”, adds Aletéia.
Additionally, professors will be able to develop projects in the courses they teach or other research and market activities, since many of them are already playing an important role in them. “Tecna, as a living laboratory, offers a vast field of observation for graduate-level research. So, the number of projects carried out in partnership with businesses and the public sector might see an increase”, adds she.
Market training
Tecna’s impeccably soundproof TV and cinema studio is characterized by the production of high-quality sound. Its upper part is equipped with a grid used to facilitate and provide high-quality lighting for its productions. It is also possible to make use of its multiple stages that will give films a livelier ambiance. These practices will be incorporated to the audiovisual practices enforced by the audiovisual market of Rio Grande do Sul, since most of its productions today are made in booked studios. “Its users have the chance to enjoy a learning experience or revisit their concepts. Studio shooting is very different from location shooting”, argues Barone.
Tecna’s second phase of production will be completed by the end of the year and will consist of equipped laboratories for animation, games, visual effects, 3D, render farm and motion capture, as well as a sound studio equipped with a unique audio mixing room. Students’ active involvement in the processes of audiovisual production, including audio mixing, will be facilitated in these environments. The project is equipped with two recording booths for sound effects, voice-overs and music.
Major productions
Many movies set in Porto Alegre were shot in improvised settings such as a warehouse in the Pier. In addition to designing the stages, the teams had to set up all the supporting structures and, at the end, everything had to be put down. At Tecna, producing companies will have the necessary infrastructure at a lower cost and at a high level of efficiency. The Center has been conceived with the idea of providing production companies with stages and structures that could be shared and reused in the future.
Companies will have the chance to shoot their movies at Tecna, including the stages of preparation, filming and, in the future, post-production. Creative industry companies will also have the chance to set their offices at Tecna and make use of its infrastructure, as well as develop research projects with PUCRS.
Movies and TV studios (infográfico) Image: Division of Engineering and Architecture
Support: 130 m² for dressing rooms, restrooms, clothing and initial production.
Size: 300 m²
Investment: BRL 6 million
Special features: • soundproof walls • acoustic floating floor on laser level concrete equipped with an anti-vibration system • air conditioning • adjustable modular grids • electrical installations appropriate for theaters • an area available for video and audio switches. • WiFi network and 105 m² of areas for storage equipment.
Electric generator: can be coupled to mobile audio and video units and with no sound interference
Inspiration
The construction of Tecna was followed by technical visits to similar facilities all over the world. In France, Valence, one of the country’s largest animation centers, Angoulême, home to comic strip capital, and Paris, home to two very important cinema schools, have been visited. In Spain, visits were paid to Bilbao, a very important city in terms of technology parks. In Italy, the legendary Cinecittà and the new Porto Cine served as references.
Partnerships
PUCRS joined the project of the Audiovisual Technological Center of RS in 2004, an existing partnership between Fundacine and the government of the State, and considered the areas of Tecnopuc, in Viamão, as perfect locations for the project. In 2011, the University played a leading role in the process in redesigning the project, as it employed the experience gained from Tecnopuc and Famecos. In late 2013, the main financial resources to implement it were collected from the federal and State governments, in addition to the investments made by the university.
The studio that is being designed received funds from the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications, from the government of the state of RS, through Fapergs and the program for Technological Parks of Rio Grande do Sul. In addition to PUCRS, Feevale plays a very important role in the execution of the project.
Besides companies, Tecna is intended to work together with laboratories and existing centers in Brazil and in Mercosur and European countries. “We’re looking into student mobility, and as this new space is being opened, we’ll be able to set up partnerships with schools and centers overseas”, remarks Aletéia
A memorable site
The area where now sits Tecnopuc Viamão used to be home to the city’s Seminário Maior, which also served as the headquarters for the Nossa Senhora Imaculada Conceição School of Philosophy. In 2004, PUCRS bought the area in an effort to expand its Campus and construction of the Science and Technology Park. Tecnopuc Viamão officially opened in 2013, in a total area of 15 ha and 33,000 m² of built area.
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