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 today. Without further ado, here’s a brief interview with Bjarke.
What do you do at Aalto Studios?
Bjarke: I am a studio technician at Aalto Studios Roihupelto Studios. I maintain the studios together with other staff members. My tasks include everything from software updates to putting on the dishwasher. I help and supervise the students who work at the studios and make sure that everything runs safely during the shootings. I’m here to ensure that everything is how it should be. My title is studio technician but perhaps it should rather be janitor/artist/technical engineer.
What brought you to Aalto Studios?
I wanted to work in an environment where I can stay on the cutting edge on new technologies and have opportunities to learn new things. I just graduated from Aalto University Design for Theatre, Film and Television Programme with major in Scenography. My background is in arts but I did my master’s thesis on software and learned how to code in eight months. In addition to scenography I’ve been a vfx supervisor and worked with virtual studio stuff quite a lot. This role ticks all the boxes for what I wish from a job because now I can focus on technical things as well as artistic.
What’s the most exciting idea, initiative or project you have going on at the moment?
I’m looking forward for the upcoming courses for virtual studio and motion capture. I will be assisting the senior staff at these courses. This is the first time I will be doing motion capture with the system that Aalto Studios has. I’ve mostly been on post side of the production so I’m really excited about the mocap course.
What is your philosophy in life and how do you apply it to your everyday working methods?
To keep learning more all the time and try new things. In this job it has been very easy philosophy to follow because there’s always something new to learn.
Aalto Studios, the media center of the future, goes live in 2021 and is going to have amazing facilities for film, media, VR and sound design. What would you include in the new building dedicated to media?
I think the facilities need to be on the same level with the industry so we can actually teach with the same tools than the industry uses. We should also have flexibility. All the equipment should be modifiable to fit every situation. It has already been implemented here at Roihupelto because this place has been built to be flexible and the equipment movable.