We tested some ideas in terms of shot framing and size as well as props.
We started with Zak in the centre of the screen however this meant he had a lot of blank space behind him so we moved him back which would allow the graphics to have more room. We would have rolling news along the bottom, the graphic Zak was talking to in the centre and the title of the news channel along the top.
We practiced with different props and placements (computer, mug and phone). We found that the framing worked better without the computer as it was big and bulky covering most of Zak, without it he had a open body language. We'd have rolling news along the bottom and the title along the top.
We also tested out a two shot framing wise, we started with them centred and then moved the frame slightly higher. The higher frame allowed more headspace for the actors and also centred eye line wise.
We used this to help us with shot planning and encouraged us to do forward thinking in terms of where we want graphics to go and things like headlines and rolling news.
**To create an online original news channel and produce content for it. Find a brand that will fit an audience, niche rather then mixed. Design your own branded digital online news
channel. Appropriate branding/banner at top.**
-Unit Briefing -Intro to news-the newsroom: structures and mechanisms
Skills to take forward into the unit
-Sourcing stories and contributors
-Sourcing locations
-Scripting/writing to pictures/'Tie Writing'
-Interviewing skills
-Sequencing and Actuality filming
-S.W.E.E.F
-Coverage/Sound quality
-Factual Accuracy/Fair Dealing/Impartiality and Balance
-Team work/Communication/Time managment
-Interpret information and Finding News Angles
New skills to gain
-Reporting
-Fast reporting (getting stories and access quickly)
-Online platform development/branding and concept development
-Studio presentation/News anchor skills
-Souring talents and presenters outside of the course
Unit Aims
-Promote critical understanding of news and
current affairs output
-Facilitate the development of a creative
methodology for the production of news and
current affairs --Further develop technical and collaborative
skills for production and post-production of
news and current affairs content
-Develop group presentation and pitching
skills
Previous Work
Other example from the previous 2nd years work are:
From watching these videos we were given tips before we started such as;
Try not to make our videos too clean cut
Allow someone to leave the frame before you cut the scene
If a person looks at something off screen cut to it so the audience can see it too
Frame up a 'character' with the rule of thirds in consideration
If something is a pre-shot package and not a live piece there is no need for a hand held mic
MCU or closer for interviews
blurred non-sync wide where presenter cannot clearly be seen talking whilst there is a voice over prevents it looking out of sync
Make sure writing is legible
Slow zoom for a live 2-shot
Don't be afraid to move things to better light
If you have move then one person on the same topic make sure they give different things to said topic
Assume the audience knows nothing about the topic
W.I.I.F.M=What's in it for me?
Show don't tell
Have the reporter taking part in an activity if relevant
TV NEWS
(Showing the evolution of TV News for the BBC, such as experimental colour shows.)
In 1946 after the 2nd world war TV resumed broadcasting from Ally Pally (Alexandra Palace "Globally known as the birth place of television"-AlexandraPalace.com) after a 7 year break from when it first began in 1936.
78% of adults surveyed in an Ofcom report in 2013 said they regarded television as the most important source for news, opposed to 40% who said it was newspapers. A further 52% used the BBC's website for their news compared to the 19% on Facebook and the 10% on twitter.
Outside Broadcast (OBs)
Outside broadcasts need a lot of setting up and organisation. There should always be a reason for being live in a location because it's allowing the audience to feeling closer to the events occurring, it shouldn't be done just for the sake of filling a slot.
Live TV allows views to feel involved and has an element of tension to it as to whether it will all go ok, you don't want to waste this opportunity for the audience to connect with the story on a small insignificant story that could be pre-recorded.
Two Ways (Q&A)
These take place between the news anchor and a reporter live in the field, usually they will discuss what they're going to talk about prior to filming. Because it needs to feel natural and like a real conversation it's very loosely scripted.
Logistic and Technical challenges
As it isn't logistically possible for all stories to be covered live and some times it just isn't necessary, sat trucks (used to transmit video back to production company) go out with a reporter to get the stories the producer feels warrants the coverage.
Planning in advance allows the producer to plan where the it needs to go most, when a breaking story comes in though the plans need to change.
Technical challenges
Technical challenges can include things like; sound/picture-quality/lack of, links between the sat trucks and the studio can fail or be busy/weak (tech co-ordinators/live co-ordinators should be ensure that all possible problems are prevented as best as possible.
Live challeneges
Some problems with live TV come simply from being live on location rather then a controlled studio environment this can include; people walking through shots, noises and other interruptions.
Even though a studio is more controlled there are issues that can occur these include; autocue problems, packages can fail to play, noises and general interruptions.
The digital age
Within a younger demographic (16-24 years of age) 12% found their news compared to only 1% of over 55s. 16-24 year olds are more likely to access news online or via an app, 24% saying it was their first choice, this was 10% more then other age groups.
Output - (News processing) - Programme editors, Newsroom editorial, clerical staff, Programme presenters, Picture editors, Graphic designers, Video and skills archivists, Studio production/tech staff
News gathering
Assignments Desk- under the control of the news editor/organiser this department assigns journalists and crews to planned and emerging stories. Arranging material to be sent through (though now it's done digitally moved)from reporters and correspondents in the field or from other news sources.
Planners uncover upcoming stories and work out their treatment, arranging access to interviewees and setting up story elements (Upcoming events may have a separate team allocated to plan and prep).
Reporters and correspondents are usually assisted by a team of broadcast journalists who help to research the stories and set them up for the reporters
Video Journalists – it's becoming more common for reporters and
correspondents to shoot/edit their own
material
World news coverage
Global news coverage is something all national news
programmes have to consider. They're more often then not connected through other organisations to be able to exchange news material world wide. The Foreign News Editors organise and despatch their teams as required. However larger organisations (BBC) have special correspondents based in major locations worldwide.
The technical staff who support them ensure their
material is received and is available to transmit.
Editorial
News editors- decide which news stories get published
Producers
Reporters
Broadcast journalists- "research, investigate and present news and current affairs content for television, radio and the internet" (AGASeditors,2017)
ENPS(Electronic News Production System) – A computerised system used in most modern
newsrooms, it allows staff to access newswires, write
scripts and running orders, check out the diaries
and planning options for the future.
**From this lecture I gained a general knowledge of roles in TV news and went further to find out what some roles were that I didn't already know, for example VJS=video jockey. It gave me a rough understanding of how the News industry works and the hierarchy of people who all come together to make the final product that the audience sees. This will help my group (myself, Zak and Danny) allocate roles to who best suits them as it would be in a professional environment.**
Our group: Danny Lewis, Zak Wilkins, Victoria Simmonds
Who Would want to read/see the stories we're thinking of? Do we have any shared interests with our potential audience? Where do we get our news? could that be helpful? For the possible student angle look into: BBC news- grants/loans-history in them '5 things that could happen next with tuition fees. Could possibly be bringing students together to debate? My role within the group: Primary researcher, sound, logo design and liaison Danny's role: Camera and Director Zak's role: Editor, script and liaison
We started with the idea of child beauty pageants however after finding out there was a conference in Maidstone about homelessness we felt this was the more viable option so continued with homelessness.
My group initially made a spider diagram to put down a few of the big stories associated to homeless people and where we could go with them.
After securing the Maidstone conference about homeless people in the area for our live segment, we then prioritised which story we'd like to follow for our package; Mental health/pets Our initial plan was to follow up multiple articles we found online about issues that homeless people have with mental health, for example rates of depression are 10 times higher then in the general public. We were going to pair this with our pet idea as it is a well known fact that pets can help with mental health, this then would go on to interview vets (Trusty Paws Clinic) who look after homeless dogs for free. However after emailing charities and vets clinics we did not receive any response from them after calling them to follow up so we left this idea. www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/4192f844-c7d5-469f-b76e-09138800894d www.thetrustypawsclinic.co.uk/about-us www.scas.org.uk/mental-health-and-dogs/ www.homeless.org.uk/facts/our-research/homelessness-and-health-research www.mentalhealth.org.uk/blog/homelessness-and-mental-health
Periods We then moved to the idea of how homeless people deal with their periods. We looked at online websites and charities that help women get sanitary products. I emailed these charities and asked for an interview as well as Paula Sherriff, an MP who supported the abolition of the Tampon tax. After receiving no email reply from anyone Zak is going to call them and try to follow up any leads. thehomelessperiod.com/ www.pinkparcel.co.uk/help-homeless-women-on-their-periods/ menstrualhygieneday.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Homeless-Menstruation-Report.pdf www.paulasherriff.org.uk/paula_sherriff_mp_hails_tampon_tax_victory Soldiers We've now moved onto ex-soldiers as our final back up story in case our period story doesn't come through, we've started doing general research and emailed local charities such as SSAFA as Maidstone is an army town. www.ssafa.org.uk/help-you www.rfea.org.uk/our-programmes-partnerships/project-nova/ www.soldiersoffthestreet.org/
Overall I really enjoyed this unit I found that I really liked being the groups lead researcher and although at times I found it hard my group helped me when I needed support.
Pre-production
Pre-production for me was really interesting I really enjoyed researching the LGBTQ+ community and finding people to contact for them to be apart of filming. I made filming schedule's and made sure everyone knew what they were filming when, this backfired a bit when people didn't put new contacts on the lists or new locations. This meant we lost a few potential contacts. I did find I was having to keep encouraging a fellow crew mate to get on with research and had to keep sending and providing the material for them to actually research, this way they would know what was going on during filming.
Production Our general production went smoothly, we did end up with a lot of drop outs and cast changes which we did not plan for but we dealt with it effectively and got interviews we needed filmed. When we were told to take our doc in a new direction we had to get some re-shoots but this was done easily without any hassle. There were some communication issues when our director left the camera assistant to get some shots which were not filmed.
Post-production
During post-production we only had two issues;
Sound- when filming apart of Zak's introduction to the documentary as we were outside we unfortunately had a lot of wind and aero plane interference. This meant we had to re-record in the sound booth which allowed us to have a clear and crisp audio track which we then synced with Zak's visual that was already filmed.
Pictures- during the editing process as our camera assistant was unable to get footage we needed so filmed it last minuet on his phone, as predicted though his phone had a poor quality video so we ended up using some footage that a friend from another group had shot of people walking instead which came out clearer. In general for next time I need to work on my time management and organization abilities so that contacts aren't forgotten about and lost. As a group we did have our disagreements whenever a member wasn't doing what they were asked to do, however over all we worked fairly well together.
For our production I ended up contacting multiple people and schools over the county ((some overseas)) and ranging in sexualities and ages, their experiences were generally similar though.
I found that schools were less likely to be willing to take part in the film then individual people where, I also found that contacting group admins on Facebook meant I got a lot of people messaging me personally this why I was sure they would be willing to take part in filming.
For Facebook contacts I did short messages ((I got more replies through this message then I did any email I sent))
" I'm doing a TV production course at university. For my final project of my 1st year we have to make a 10 minuet documentary as though we're making it for BBC.
My group have chosen to make one on how LGBTQ+ are discussed in sex education in schools. It would be really helpful if we could have an interview with you to get your view on it. The final product will go on youtube but if you don't want it to it doesn't have to. If you're interested please don't hesitate to message me "
For things like schools and the sex educators I directly emailed them ((when this didn't work for us Zak did a few calls in which we were redirected to other charities and companies that work with the LGBTQ+ community))
So you’ve had sex ed classes at school. What sort of topics were covered?
What was the LGBTQ+ discussion like? How did it compare to discussions of straight relationships?
Do you think LGBTQ+ issues should be discussed in schools?
How often are you made aware of LGBTQ+ issues and current affairs at school?
How is sexuality viewed by peers at yours school?
Where would you go if you had questions about LGBTQ+ issues? Would you feel comfortable talking to your parents?
Closing Statement
Parents:
Introduce self – Name, Age etc
What were attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people like whilst you were at school?
Do you think they’re more accepted now?
What was your sex ed classes like? Were LGBTQ+ issues discussed?
Did you know many LGBT+ people growing up?
How do you feel about LGBTQ+ issues being taught about during sex ed? Is it okay to teach primary schools about LGBTQ+ issues?
Would you feel able to answer questions about sexuality and gender from your children?
Do you think better education could lead to more acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community?
LGBT+ as a trend and fashion statement?
Closing statement
LGBTQ+
What was your sex ed like? Were LGBTQ+ relationships discussed?
How did this affect your own opinions and perceptions of LGBTQ+ people?
So how did you educate yourself and come to realise that you’re _____?
How was your coming out received at school by your peers and teachers?
Was your school understanding in your coming out?
parents: thoughts and experience with the LGBTQ community when they were younger and older (this is a wide subject and there will be more and other questions within the subject) any known LGBT people/ family, friends, famous idols thoughts and experiences with sex education when they were younger / what did they learn from school / what did they learn on their own / what was your schooldays like / your education like when should schools start teaching sex education and what do they think schools should teach should different sexuality and genders be told and taught in schools what are your thoughts and feelings about your child being apart of the LGBTQ community Child: - same as the parents - when did you start having feelings for the same sex what was it like coming out / accepting / any bullying from school any LGBT idols that helped you
