Fluorescent pens race across the translucent surface, drawing lines and curves, illustrating and annotating a concept in glowing pink or green. Cameras in the darkened room capture the illuminated figures on the board. This is the future of online education — not because of how it looks, but because of how easy it is to …
Author Archives: Liam Turner
Studio Team: Meet Marcus Korhonen
Every now and then, we’ll share a little bit about the team behind Aalto Studios. Today, we introduce you to Marcus Korhonen, the guy who runs the show around here. Marcus joined Aalto Studios after several years at Yle, excited by the opportunity to affect the Finnish media landscape. Without further ado, here’s a brief interview with …
Studio Team: Meet Juhani Tenhunen
Everyone now and then, we’ll share a little bit about the team behind Aalto Studios. Today, we introduce you to Juhani Tenhunen, head of international projects and collaboration at Aalto Studios. Juhani has been at Aalto University for sixteen years, starting as a researcher in the Department of Media before joining Aalto Studios’ predecessor, the Media Factory. Without further …
Studio Team: Meet Marko Kettunen
[ This article features a former employee not currently associated with Aalto Studios ] Every now and then, we’ll share a little bit about the team behind Aalto Studios. Today, we introduce you to Marko Kettunen, our stage manager at Kallio Stage. He joined in 2017 as we put the finishing touches on our new spaces in …
Studio Team: Meet Helena Bäckman
[ This article features a former employee not currently associated with Aalto Studios ] Every now and then, we’ll share a little bit about the team behind Aalto Studios. Today, we introduce you to Helena Bäckman, our producer at Aalto Studios. Helena joined us in the past year from Yle, and has been hard at work …
Studio Team: Meet Bjarke Aalto
Everyone now and then, we’ll share a little bit about the team behind Aalto Studios. Today, we introduce you to Bjarke Aalto, our studio technician at Roihupelto Studios. Bjarke is a recent Aalto University graduate from the Design for Theatre, Film and Television programme, and joined us to help make Roihupelto Studios the facility it is …
Final selections made for Hybrid Labs Symposium
Hybrid Labs Symposium 2018, taking place at Aalto University at the end of May and beginning of June, announced its selections for participation in the event. The Local Organizing Committee has selected 25 full papers, 10 posters, and a number of performances and exhibitions to showcase hybrid ways of creating, the theme of the conference. Early bird …
Continue reading “Final selections made for Hybrid Labs Symposium”
“Weimar” premieres at Kallio Stage, Friday 6.4
Weimar, a performance by faculty and students at Uniarts Helsinki, as well as Aalto University, premieres at Aalto Studios’ Kallio Stage in Sörnäinen on Friday, 6.4. The striking trailer for the performance, above, was filmed at Kallio Stage and features performers’ surreal movements in the stark stage space. A couple of stills of the trailer follow …
Continue reading ““Weimar” premieres at Kallio Stage, Friday 6.4″
Made-up Makeup with the Alahouzos Brothers
Last week, on an invitation from the MA Costume Design program, renowned special effects makeup artists George and Roulis Alahouzos taught an intensive weeklong course to students at Otakaari 7. Brothers George and Roulis demonstrated a number of different techniques for preparing both realistic and fantastical special effects with makeup. From their home base in …
Continue reading “Made-up Makeup with the Alahouzos Brothers”
Come and see Lightboard in action
On 9.4, from 13–14.30, Join us to see new visualisation tool Lightboard in action. Lightboard is a transparent drawing board for recording chalk or whiteboard type presentations easily by drawing — and it looks great on video. Welcome, and come see how easy and enjoyable it is to use Lightboard! Lightboard is a project by Arttu …
ÄÄNIAALTO III a weird, roaring success
With the speakers stored away and the lights turned out at Vapaan Taiteen Tila, the third annual — and most successful yet — edition of Ääniaalto came to a close 10.3, Saturday evening. Running since 2016, the sound festival is produced and run by DADA, Aalto Media Lab’s student association. The weeklong event featured talks, installations, experimental music …
Production design students feature in National Museum exhibit
Last week, Faces 1918 opened at the National Museum in Helsinki, featuring portraits from 100 years ago, reflecting everyday life through portraiture during the ongoing tension the Finnish Civil War. To complement and provide context for this era, production design students from Aalto University designed and produced a handful of exhibits showing the strife of living …
Continue reading “Production design students feature in National Museum exhibit”
Performance “Dry Storm” a multisensory reflection of existence
Just a few days before their show “Dry Storm” opened at Kallio Stage earlier this month, choreographer Sara Gurevitsch sits, laughing, as the six performers leap around the stark-white floor space, as much in an attempt to loosen up before rehearsal as well as crack Gurevitsch up. The group is relaxed — and focused. They’ve been …
Continue reading “Performance “Dry Storm” a multisensory reflection of existence”
Student Lamp Design Exhibition now open in Studio Kipsari
This week and next, Studio Kipsari and Aalto Studios are playing host to Valoa!, an exhibition of artfully-crafted student-designed lamps from the Design Tools course, led by Enni Äijälä. These designers are first year BA Design students, and haven’t yet decided what discipline of design they’ll focus on in their studies, so the lamps serve as a grounds of …
Continue reading “Student Lamp Design Exhibition now open in Studio Kipsari”
Brace your ears: ÄÄNIAALTO III is coming to Kallio Stage
Ääniaalto, a wide-ranging festival dedicated to all things sound and new media, featuring works, installations and performances by students at Aalto University’s Media Lab in parallel with artists in the new media scene, will take place next month at Aalto Studios’ Kallio Stage and Vapaan Taiteen Tila in Helsinki. The call for works is still open until 11.2. Now in it’s …
Continue reading “Brace your ears: ÄÄNIAALTO III is coming to Kallio Stage”
“Dry Storm” performance premiere at Kallio Stage on 7.2
Dry Storm is a new performance piece by students from Aalto ARTS and the Theatre Academy at Uniarts Helsinki. The production features 6 performers and the work of four students focusing on costume design, lighting design, sound design, and choreography. The production addresses some abstract themes surrounding dryness and change in the human body. According to …
Continue reading ““Dry Storm” performance premiere at Kallio Stage on 7.2″
Call for Proposals for Hybrid Labs Symposium 2018
Hybrid Labs is a new symposium focused on hybrid knowledge creation, hosted at Aalto University this year from 30 May to 1 June, and the call for proposals is now open, with full details available at the link. The third and latest in a series of Renewable Futures conferences, which began in 2015 in Riga and continued last year in …
Continue reading “Call for Proposals for Hybrid Labs Symposium 2018”
Lighting the way: students learn studio lighting through experimentation
In Aalto Studios’ multi-camera production facility the last two weeks, BA scenography students are learning a new outlet for their creativity: lighting. Led by lecturer and professional lighting designer Mia Kivinen, the students learned all about the technical side of studio lighting, and have begun to understand just how much power a light has over a scene. But …
Continue reading “Lighting the way: students learn studio lighting through experimentation”
Aalto students bring life to a Wonderland for annual winter musical by Uniarts Helsinki
In Aalto Studios’ costume studio and set construction workshop Tjaša Frumen and Elina Ström, both MA students in Costume Design, and Oscar Dempsey, MA student in Design for Performing Arts, are hard at work on imaginative costumes and set designs for “Ihmemaa,” a musical production led by students at University of the Arts Helsinki. “Ihmemaa” translates to “wonderland,” as this year’s …
Building and Breaking (and Learning) with Set Construction
Students in Sampo Pyhälä‘s Construction and Design course have been hard at work the last two weeks in Aalto Studios’ set construction workshop space, learning about proper set construction methods and honing their intuition when it comes to building sets. The goal, according to Pyhälä, is not about approaching it from a rigid engineering perspective, …
Continue reading “Building and Breaking (and Learning) with Set Construction”
Studio Kipsari is moving in!
Aalto Studios is delighted to announce the opening of a new cafe, a spin-off of beloved vegetarian/vegan student restaurant, Kipsari, here in Otaniemi at Otakaari 7! Studio Kipsari, as it is called, will open next Monday, 22.1, inhabiting the cafeteria space on our first floor. Marjo Katainen, who manages the day-to-day operations at Kipsari’s main location, is eagerly …
VR and AR developers share experiences at Aalto Studios over breakfast
Last Friday, more than 70 researchers, artists, practitioners, and students interested in virtual and augmented realities joined us and the Aalto Digi Platform for a morning of presentations, discussions, demos and breakfast at Otakaari 7. After an introduction from professor Jaakko Lehtinen,the morning began with Vinh Truong of 3D software organization Umbra, and continued with Jukka Huiskonen, of …
Continue reading “VR and AR developers share experiences at Aalto Studios over breakfast”
ACE Producers hosts second training days in Finland
This past weekend, Aalto Studios’ partner, ACE Producers, an organization focused on training and development for established film producers across Europe, hosted its second-ever “Training Days” workshop, aimed instead at up-and-coming producers. 20 aspiring producers from Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Iceland were selected to join several consultants, mostly professional producers and members of ACE Producers’ network …
Continue reading “ACE Producers hosts second training days in Finland”
Students from Aalto Media Lab to present interactive projects at Kallio Stage
MA students in New Media will present work they created at the Aalto Fablab on Thursday, December 7th at Aalto Studios’ Kallio Stage. The presentations will begin at 19.00. In the course, Physical Interaction Design, students were challenged to “reimagine how [they] interact with the physical world,” according to participating first-year MA student Shreyasi Kar. The course …
Continue reading “Students from Aalto Media Lab to present interactive projects at Kallio Stage”
FabLab at the Espoo Mini Maker Faire
Last month, our Fab Lab helped organize and participated in the third annual Espoo Mini Maker Faire in collaboration with Wärk Ry and Iso Omena Library. The event took place at Iso Omena Library and attracted over 400 creators, young and old, who spent the day learning and playing with technologies ranging from DIY crafts, electronics, …
New Arri film production lights in Roihupelto Studios and on Aalto Takeout
Aalto Studios now has a set of Arri lights for Roihupelto Studios, to go along with our recently acquired set of Arri Amira film production cameras. The new set of professional-grade LED lights come in a range of sizes and styles, from spot lighting to panel lights, for ample lighting options. According to Roihupelto studio …
Continue reading “New Arri film production lights in Roihupelto Studios and on Aalto Takeout”
Interested in AR and VR? Like breakfast?
Join us on Thursday, 14.12 for breakfast and a morning of AR and VR conversations and demos hosted by Aalto Studios’ in our canteen space at Otakaari 7! This event serves as a stage for researchers, students, artists, scientists and AR/VR enthusiasts to showcase and learn about existing and future work in the area. As …