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.
