We uploaded our final film onto YouTube, in order to gather wider range of feedback. The screen shot above shows a few comments that we received about our report. Overall, they responded well, considering the report well executed and clear, which is promising as if we were to re-do the task, we know that the structure and variety of shots works well.
Thanks to a couple of extra hours during free time, we were able to get the website finished for the deadline.
The biggest challenge we faced was creating the banner at the top of the webpage. However, thanks to some Photoshop skills I had picked up previously when creating the TBC News Logo, I was able to produce a banner without too much trouble.
Having not used iWeb before, I was a little wary as I realised that we did not have much time. However, with a little time and effort, and a couple of guides online, I was able to produce a professional-looking website that serves the purpose of reinforcing our filmed news report.
In terms of colour scheme, I went for a blue banner fading to white, representative of the sea and sand beaches around Torbay. The headlines, I decided, were to be in red, to indicate the severity of the story and to catch the viewers eye.
With the layout, I tried to keep it fairly clean and only put on what was needed to avoid cluttering the page, and to make it easier for viewers to navigate, while it reflected the clean-cut, modern approach we were aiming for.
Here are two versions of our final project. We have two versions of our final project as we were unsure whether the music fitted properly. However, after playing it back on the Macs, we decided that Version A was better as the underlying beat continues throughout the intro creating a better sense of continuity.
After a few days working on the intro, I have finished it and it's now ready to put into our final film. I decided to incorporate a repetitive bass note using a delay effect, and recorded a repetitive drum beat. Together, I feel these create a driving rhythm that connotes the severity of the stories. There is then a bass drum that cuts through this repetition, to punctuate the start of each headline, as this is the music that runs underneath the headlines.
For the intro sequence, I then recorded horns and trumpets over this basic rhythm to reflect the grandiose nature of the news. Towards the end, the music then rises to a crescendo, building tension leading into the first story.
In order to create this, I used GarageBand, which is a program that I have never used before. However, with a little knowledge of music, I was able to find my way around fairly easily. The MIDI feature incorporated into this program was also very useful, as it was much easier to edit individual notes and edit the timing. This allowed me to create a more slick sounding piece. The bank of effects was also useful, as I was able to add delay to the bass which made it sound more modern.
Here is a first look at our news production. We have filmed everything now including all our Vox Pops, and it is all edited together. From this we can see what needs tweaking and anything more that we need to add.
The music used at the moment fits well but its too generic, as it comes from iMovie so lacks originality. So we still have to add our own original music which I think will lift the intro.
Some of the transitions between shots may need tidying up, but for the most part I think that the report is really shaping up.
This half-term has ended on a high, after a productive week. Since my last 'progress update', we have been filming whenever we've had the time and have now managed to finish the majority of our filming, and I am well underway on the soundtrack. The only shots we still need to obtain is a Vox Pop of Mr Krasnopolski, and of Mrs Parnell which we should be able to get on the first day back. Then, it's just a case of editing, which should be fairly simple for a news report, touch wood, as usually few effects are used.
The opening soundtrack is a key part of the news as it prepares the viewer for what they are about to watch: that is, usually, a serious look at the days news that is both relevant and up-to-date. I looked at a number of different soundtracks so that our report would reflect these values.
BBC News
From this soundtrack, I was able to establish some key criteria for a news theme tune. Firstly, the song must possess a strong, driving beat to build up tension into the first headline, and reflect the punctual nature of the news. The percussion element is also often one repeated phrase which further helps to create this driving rhythm, while acting as a countdown to the first story. Occasionally, a large bass drum intervenes, which adds texture, while reflecting the serious stories that are about to be reported.
This underlying beat is then continued during the headlines, to maintain this sense of urgency, and keep the viewers attention.
A soaring synth sound is used over the top of this percussion, rising to a crescendo at the end. This reflects the grandiose scale of the stories and news, while the crescendo builds further tension, completes the countdown, and reflects the severity of the upcoming story.
ABC News
Similarly, this has a fast, urgent tempo with a repetitive drum beat which, again, creates urgency and reflects the importance of the upcoming news. There is a similar drum roll, every now and then, to add texture and reflect the severity of the news.
There is no synth sound but instead brass instruments are used for the melody to further reflect the importance of the news, while a similar crescendo is used at the end, building up to the first story.
ITV News
Finally, ITV News uses a similar repeated drum beat that lies underneath the melody, while the melody itself is comprised from brass instruments, like ABC News, which creates a sense of urgency and reflects the grandiose nature of the news. A crescendo is again used to build up to the first story.
The chime is repeated throughout the intro, and then between each headline, to emphasize the end of one headline and the start of another.
Overall, it seems I must use a repeated drum/bass phrase on which I can build a melody, which can then be carried on underneath the headlines. This melody could be built from brass instruments or a synth sound, and then should rise to a crescendo before the first headline. I could also use a bass drum to create further urgency if needed, while I could use this in between each headline, to act as a marker.
Yesterday, we finished filming the studio scenes. We managed to film the whole section in one day, which will help with continuity as there was no chance of other people moving parts of the studio around. Now we have to film Taylor's reporter scenes, and some shots for the headlines. We were able to incorporate different shots into our report. We have a wide shot of the presenter and blue screen which will be able to show key details as I talk about them. We also have a close-up of the presenter when I introduce the headlines, and then have used a different angle for the next story to add variation. We thought about mise-en-scene, and decided the presenter should wear a tie and jacket to reflect the serious nature of the news we are delivering. However, we chose a silver tie with beige jacket as it gives a more modern feel, and will appeal to the younger members of our target audience 'families'. The laptop also reflects how the news we are reporting is relevant and up-to-date, as the Internet is a quicker tool to relay information compared with hard-copy newspapers. We also have tried to make the studio itself look modern and sharp, by incorporating our blue screen as a flat screen television, and using a window as a backdrop.
This is our second attempt at the blue screen, and I think this time the results are very good. We have made a new, neater blue screen which means the footage keyed over it looks much clearer. This was filmed with a camera phone so when we film it properly with a video camera the quality will be even better.
Today, we were finally able to start filming. We filmed during the lesson and on into the lunch break We were able to film the headlines, and the start of the main story. From here on, we should be able to make better progress and get the majority of filming done by the end of next week.
After researching into the type of stories that are reported on in the news, I found the list of news values that Gatlung and Ruge proposed have to be adhered to if the story is to be news worthy:
Frequency: Events that occur suddenly and fit well with the news organization's schedule are more likely to be reported than those that occur gradually or at inconvenient times of day or night. Long-term trends are not likely to receive much coverage.
Negativity: Bad news is more newsworthy than good news.
Unexpectedness: If an event is out of the ordinary it will have a greater effect than something that is an everyday occurrence.
Unambiguity: Events whose implications are clear make for better copy than those that are open to more than one interpretation, or where any understanding of the implications depends on first understanding the complex background in which the events take place.
Personalization: Events that can be portrayed as the actions of individuals will be more attractive than one in which there is no such "human interest."
Meaningfulness: This relates to the sense of identification the audience has with the topic. "Cultural proximity" is a factor here -- stories concerned with people who speak the same language, look the same, and share the preoccupations as the audience receive more coverage than those concerned with people who speak different languages, look different and have different preoccupations.
Reference to elite nations: Stories concerned with global powers receive more attention than those concerned with less influential nations.
Reference to elite persons: Stories concerned with the rich, powerful, famous and infamous get more coverage.
Conflict: Opposition of people or forces resulting in a dramatic effect. Stories with conflict are often quite newsworthy.
Consonance: Stories that fit with the media's expectations receive more coverage than those that defy them (and for which they are thus unprepared). Note this appears to conflict with unexpectedness above. However, consonance really refers to themedia's readiness to report an item.
Continuity: A story that is already in the news gathers a kind of inertia. This is partly because the media organizations are already in place to report the story, and partly because previous reportage may have made the story more accessible to the public (making it less ambiguous).
Composition: Stories must compete with one another for space in the media. For instance, editors may seek to provide a balance of different types of coverage, so that if there is an excess of foreign news for instance, the least important foreign story may have to make way for an item concerned with the domestic news. In this way the prominence given to a story depends not only on its own news values but also on those of competing stories. (Galtung and Ruge, 1965)
Competition: Commercial or professional competition between media may lead journalists to endorse the news value given to a story by a rival.
Co-optation: A story that is only marginally newsworthy in its own right may be covered if it is related to a major running story.
Prefabrication: A story that is marginal in news terms but written and available may be selected ahead of a much more newsworthy story that must be researched and written from the ground up.
Predictability: An event is more likely to be covered if it has been pre-scheduled. (Bell, 1991)
Time constraints: Traditional news media such as radio, television and daily newspapers have strict deadlines and a short production cycle, which selects for items that can be researched and covered quickly.
Logistics: Although eased by the availability of global communications even from remote regions, the ability to deploy and control production and reporting staff, and functionality of technical resources can determine whether a story is covered. (Schlesinger, 1987)
If we cross-reference these with our main headline, the GCSE to English Baccalaureate Certificate changeover, we can see that this story is very relevant.
This story has emerged suddenly and caught most people by surprise so it fits 'frequency', while as it has emerged out of the blue it is also unexpected.
The effects that this change will have are very clear, that there will only be one exam at the end of course, so it is also unambiguous.
We will report on how this change will affect students/teachers/parents, so the story is personalized.
This story will directly affect all members of a family, and as our report is aimed at families, they will identify with the topic. The story also relates to this country, therefore, our report has meaning.
The fact that it was MP Michael Gove who stated this reform, the report has 'reference to elite persons'.
The story originated from the House of Commons, a place expected to reveal newsworthy items, so our report would have had consonance.
Overall, our report seems to fit a number of news values outlined by Gatlung and Ruge, and so, therefore, I think we have made a strong choice and chosen a story that is newsworthy.
Although the blue screen itself is a bit skewed, the clip that we keyed onto the blue has worked very well. This is encouraging as we now know that using this blue card will work. We have now re-fitted a new screen which looks much neater, better aligned, and more professional.
Yesterday, I was able to finish the script for our news report. Therefore, we plan to commence filming next week, and with the completed script this should be quite straight-forward as we know what we have to do.
Today is our first lesson back after the Christmas holidays. In terms of planning, we are pretty much finished. We just have to finish tweaking the script and then we can start filming the main segment of our news report, as we have already filmed our opening sequence.
In yesterday's lesson, I produced a rough shot list for our news report. This was so that in today's lesson I could draw up the proper storyboards as I knew the rough order and what we wanted to include.
In the previous lessons, we have been looking into audience profiling and how we can target our target audience - which is families. This involved looking at how shows, such as The One Show and Daybreak, target their audiences.
In today's lesson, we set up the studio so that we now have a rough idea of what the it will look like. We also decided that we were going to incorporate some christmas decorations as we will be filming around the christmas period.
For our news report, we initially wanted to target a younger teen audience as we feel no news programme exists that delivers to this age group. However, we did feel that this would limit our scope for stories, so therefore we expanded our audience and decided to create a news programme that would target families, as most news programmes target the older generation. This can lead to younger viewers feeling alienated - we felt that as they are the generation of tomorrow, they need to have a grasp on what's going on in their area, so that they can function in that society and cast a meaningful vote when they reach the age of majority.
Presenter standing up could provide a more informal atmosphere
We aim to do this by reporting on stories that are appropriate for all age groups, like our story on the shift from GSCEs to the English Baccalaureate Certificate, for example. Of course, inevitably, some stories will be more relevant for certain age groups but, in general, we would like to report universal stories. We will also target families by using, to a degree, an informal studio layout. This could entail the presenter standing up with a screen behind him, rather than sitting down reporting in the traditional way. This is often used by Channel 4 News. The presenter will also report in a friendly manner as opposed to adopting a stern look, which will appease younger viewers, similarly to The One Show or Daybreak.
Daybreak Although Daybreak is a magazine show, it targets a similar audience as they are a family-friendly show. They achieve this by having the presenters open the standing up which provides an informal, more relaxed atmosphere. The use of direct-address and the smiley-faced presenters create a more friendly impression. Obviously, as Daybreak is essentially a magazine show, we will differ in terms of stories as ours will combine serious local issues with some lighter-hearted stories, whereas Daybreak is more an entertainment show.
The One Show Again, The One Show is not strictly a news report, however, we intend to take a leaf from its book as we would like to adopt a slightly more informal approach. Their use of direct address and conversational style is something we could think about when writing our report. We were also inspired by the way in which the presenters sit in front of a window, which offers an interesting and modern look. We may also consider the way in which the presenters adopt a smart, casual dress code, as Chris Evans and Matt Baker often wear a shirt with the top button undone. This could help us portray a more informal feel.
We may dress our presenters and reporters in smart clothing, such as a jacket and tie, as this would reflect the serious stories we are reporting. In terms of mise-en-scene, our presenter will sit/stand in front of a window which will liven up the studio, while also portraying a modern look which reflects how our news is up-to-date and cutting edge. We also plan to have a blue screen next to the presenter displaying relevant pictures/key facts about the story he's reporting. This will also contribute towards the modern feel. For our sound track, we will either find an uncopyrighted piece of music or devise an original piece. Whichever we do, we will ensure that its orchestral, dramatic and building so that it conveys the severity of the stories that we report. We will light the studio well so that everything can be seen clearly, as we plan to set up the different lights in different locations around our studio so that the whole area is well lit. We will also place a light shining up onto the green screen to eliminate shadows to ensure that we achieve a cleaner green screen effect.
Audience Research
From this video, it is clear that Cathie, a middle-aged woman, expects the local news to be relevant to her and her surroundings. Cathie also said that she dislikes the presenter sitting behind a desk as she feels it is too formal but that he should still wear smart, formal clothing, while she feels that the studio itself could be more picturesque and interesting to look at. Cathie then stated her dislike for the same repeated stories, and instead would prefer more up-to-date stories, while she also said that she prefers the report to be presented from the location that's affected.
Similarly, Eddie, a middle-aged man, stated that he prefers up-to-date stories, that are not constantly repeated, and that are relevant to him and his community. Eddie also said that he prefers stories that are short and concise, giving the key details while avoiding waffle, and that he thinks its important for the the presenter to look smart and serious. Eddie also stated that he prefers the studio to look modern and colourful.
Harley, a young student, said that he rarely watches the news for the simple reason that he fails to connect with the stories. He said he'd watch it more if the stories were more relevant for younger people, and if younger people were represented in the Vox Pops and interviews. Harley also said that he'd prefer a more informal atmosphere and presentation of the studio and the presenter as he feels this would be inclusive for younger viewers. Harley also repeated the fact that the stories are often too long-winded, and said he'd prefer it if it was more concise and just the key details raised.
Over the last few lessons, and lessons to come, we have been playing with Adobe Premiere CS5 in an attempt to film in front a green screen. After following a guide on-line we have produced the video above. It's far from perfect but we do now have a vague idea of what we should do. According to the on-line guide, positioning the speaker 6 foot in front of the screen will create a better effect, while lighting the screen and speaker more fully will reduce shadows. For our final film, we will also hang the screen better to eliminate shadows and creases which are visible in the video above.
Summarize the day’s
top stories: 4 stories -> inserts of relevant footage
‘Also’, ‘And’ used as co-ordinating conjunctions ->
last story is light-hearted/uplifting
Intro sequence
“Good Evening. Welcome
to the news at 6” -> stood up in front of desk
Introduces first story
-> “Our middle-eastern correspondent ‘John Davis’ reports from Gaza”
Dramatic opening shot
of story -> outside reporter states time of incident -> reports the story
Shot of reporter
talking about story -> may be walking towards the camera
Back to voiceover
inserts
Interview with person
related to incident
“Will Davis. BBC News.
Gaza” sign out
Back to studio ->
“Our correspondent Kathy Smith is in Ashbor. Kathy…” -> she gives her
opinion, other facts she has learned -> LIVE -> “Kathy Smith in Ashbor.
Thank you.”
Here, is a rough running order that we drew up after watching the BBC News at 6. We had realised that presenters introduce stories in a certain order, while sticking to certain agendas, and we wanted to follow this recognized formula to make our news report look as authentic as possible.
Here is the video diary of our day trip to UCP Marjon. Throughout this day, we created a news story for the front page of a tabloid newspaper, and then created our own viral video to raise attention for our story. This process should really help our final project as we will have to present a story that we have researched and then film one of us presenting this news. This is similar to the process we followed at Marjon.
Our front page covering the 'Marjaws!' story
Our task was to create a story that had a link with Marjon but was to be as exciting as possible. So, we decided to cover the presence of a shark that had got into the Marjon pool. This involved taking the picture, editing the shark into the picture, creating the headline, and writing the story.
Tomorrow, 14th November, we will be visiting UCP Marjon's for a Media Masterclass on Journalism and the process of making a news reel. This will hopefully give us a fuller insight into how to make a professional-looking report and help us with our final project.
Tuesday, 13th November 2012 Today, we discussed how we would film our tracking shot. We decided to create a structure that would allow the camera to slide over a piece of wood. This would then allow us to produce a seamless and smooth tracking shot.
In our final lesson before half-term, we wanted to ensure that we were ready to start filming as soon as we came back. So after creating our storyboard, we filmed our animatic which detailed the opening sequence of our news report.
The script that I wrote on Microsoft Word for our animatic
Here is the logo that I created for our group's news report. I used Adobe Photoshop CS5 and some useful guides I found online to create it as I had had some experience with the program in the past. However, I did not know how to create the 3D effect so I looked up a guide. The red colour scheme and drop shadow creates a bold text that reflects the importance of the news that we will be delivering. The black palm tree contrasts nicely with the red text and illustrates how we are a local news corporation. The palm tree is a symbol of the English Riviera and Torbay area, so the inclusion of it in our logo reflects the way in which we will be reporting on local stories.
The BBC website features the instantly recognisable BBC colour scheme - red and white - which allows the viewer to recognise the high production values of the BBC. This encourages the user to use this service as they link the detailed stories from the news broadcast with this website.
The Home Page also features the top headlines which enables the viewer to easily learn of the most important stories, especially if they are short of time.
The graphic of the world emphasizes their 'around-the-world' coverage, while still retaining the BBC colour scheme.
The clean-cut approach to their layout portrays the modern, up-to-date and relevant news stories that they report on. Their modern outlook is also reflected by the incorporation of an online RSS subscription link, allowing regular users to receive regular updates.
ITV
The ITV website does not feature any particular colour scheme, but does use a very clean-cut black and white style. This
