In this section of my blog, I will be discussing the process that I went through in order to prepare myself for the recording of my local TV news report.
I started by doing some contextual research and by this, I mean that I looked at existing TV reports from different institutions so that I could get a better idea of what a professional TV news broadcast looked like so I could try to replicate and /or challenge some of the recognised codes and conventions of existing reports/programmes. From this research, I also picked up a number of ideas concerning the presenting side of the report, for example I am now aware of the mannerisms of a news anchor; I understand the gestures that are often used and what to avoid while presenting.
The next step in my process was to create five presentations concerning this analysis. I chose to use four Prezi presentations and a voice over analysis in order to portray my knowledge and understanding. This was highly useful thing to do as it gave me the opportunity to scrutinise each broadcast in order to choose the appropriate conventions and hope to re-create them in my news broadcast.
I then went on to discuss the different theories of Todorov, Propp, Galtung and Ruge and how these have impacted on the way in which news stories are written in order to attract and more importantly educate and inform their audience.
By looking at different examples of News programmes, I was able to pick out the distinguishing features that form the codes and conventions that are visible in a TV news report. It also helped me to understand the importance of picking out stories that are worthy of the news and the chronological flow of the news stories as this make them more recognisable and easier for the audience to understand and in turn, take information from.
I have started my research by looking at 5 different news reports. I have done this in order to inform myself of the different codes and conventions of news reports. I have compared each of them as I went along, for example the different language/register as used in local news report and national news reports. I have also talked about the differences between Sports, Economics and Political news reports throughout these Prezi presentations.
This is a voice over that myself and a classmate created in order to portray the codes and conventions included in a local news report in a more unique way. It is clear that there are differences between local and national news reports. These are made apparent throughout the voice over.
Here is a still image of me recording my voice over. This image clearly showcases the technology that I have at my disposal when it comes to recording, editing and mixing sound. I will look to utilize this technology when it comes to my second ancillary task, the radio advert, as it acts as great equipment to create a voice over with. I could also possibly use these microphones to create more voiceovers to express my opinions on existing news reports.
This next Prezi presentation is a story that I have analysed about racism in sport. This story was presented by a couple of young lads, however it still consisted of all of the codes and conventions that are necessary in a news report.
Below is my analysis of a political report about immigration. This was different to the sport report as this report was clearly aimed at an older demographic. I know this as the language and terms used are far more advanced and in depth than that of the sports report.
Here is my in depth analysis of the codes and conventions of news reports where I have looked into all of the different media language used and discussed what they are.
It is important that I understand the media language used and can use the correct terminology for this. I must ensure that I utilise found codes and conventions in my news report so it is more professional and realistic as a media product.
I also thought that it would be a good idea to take an existing news report and then do a voice over while the report is playing and point out that codes and conventions that are used throughout the report and why they are there. The report with my voice over added to it is located below.
Narrative Theories - 12/10/15
After looking at news values I decided it would be a good idea to add to my existing knowledge with research into news values and how they can effect a media product. I decided to research the work of media theorists Galtung and Ruge who's theory is seen as the benchmark for new values and has become well know throughout the entire industry of media due to its accuracy. I thought it would be much more practical for me to create a slideshare presentation as this would be a much better format of portraying my findings Galtung and Ruge's research is broken down into 3 categories, Impact, Audience identification and Pragmatics of Media Coverage. The media theorists stated that these are the 3 things that media institutions will use to decide whether or not a story will be covered in a broadcast.
Below is a slideshare presentation that I have made to show the different theorists and how their thoughts and theories can be applied to modern day media and then how I can carry their ideas over to my local TV news broadcast. My slide presentation also goes into detail about some other theorists
ideas such as Todrov’s theory of Equilibrium, Strauss’s Binary Oppositions, Barthes’ Enigma Theory, Propp’s Character Types and then finally Galtung and Ruge's news values.
Binary Opposition Theory - 13/10/15
Strauss was the founder of this theory and it was the idea that we do not understand things for their meaning, but for their opposites. A good example of this would be in the case of Good vs Bad, Society vs Outsiders, or even Law vs Criminality.
I can relate this to news reports as within a news report there is supposed to be both sides of the story portrayed. This is made apparent in the clip of a news report that I have featured below as the reporter gives both sides of immigration. At the start of the report he states all of the negatives that we can expect from immigration, however in the second half of the report he flips the coin and talks about the positive side of immigration which consists of points such as the improved life quality and improved safety for those who are emigrating. I believe that this done in order to not only meet the regulations as deemed by Ofcom but also to allow the audience to formulate their own opinion on the issue.
Existing Title Sequences - 13/10/15
Next I looked at existing title sequences to see what a professional start to a TV news broadcast looked like and what better station to look at than the nation's largest news broadcaster, the BBC. From looking at this, I now know the necessary features that are required in order to create a professional looking title sequence. I now feel more prepared when it comes to the creation of my own title sequence because I can use this BBC sequence as a basis for mine.
Story Board for title Sequence - 14/10/15
This is my storyboard where I have planned the opening title sequence that will play before my news report starts. This opening sequence will showcase some of the attractions that are in and around the West Midlands. I have picked out noticeable areas in the West Midlands as this will captivate the audience as they can relate to the area, this is due to the vast majority of the news report's viewers being from the West Midlands.
Through my class research I found that there are 4 main things which should be included in the title sequence:
1.Rural areas
2.Urban areas
3.Ethnicity
4.Iconic landmarks
These 4 categories of images should be included as it is inclusive of the areas in the West Midlands and I feel that if I include all of these images, I will have captured the essence and landscape of the West Midlands.
1. I plan to start my introduction with a scenic shot of town at night. In this shot, I hope to capture as much of the industrial side of Birmingham as possible I believe that the best way to achieve this would to be to get a shot above pigeon park and the church that is inside of the park as this would give me good leverage to see many other aspects of town. I plan to use a long shot to capture this image. I believe that this is the best way to capture landscape so the vast majority of my shots will be captured in this way. The angle that I have chosen is the eye line match as this will be most aesthetically pleasing way of viewing the image. Finally, I will use the wipe transition as this will be a quick and refreshing way of moving from my first shot to my second.
2. For my second image I plan to use the iron bridge as this will cover the rural aspect needed. My partner in media already has some professional shots of the iron bridge from a family trip that he went on, so obtaining this shot will not be difficult. I believe that this image is a superb choice for the rural shot as it really captures everything positive about the West Midlands' rural areas. Once again, I plan for this image to be a long shot as it is the best way to capture large areas of land. I will use a dissolve transition for this shot as I believe that the dissolve animation will work really well with the peaceful countryside/rural area.
3. For the next segment of my title sequence I plan to use two images and I plan to incorporate them in such a way that shows both shots at the same time, this will most likely be one in the top left corner and the one in the bottom right. I have decided to do this as my two desired destinations are both in opposite corners of the main town centre of Birmingham so I believe that this will represent this well. The fact that the screen will more cluttered and filled will also portray the hectic and busy City that both images come from. One of these images will be the Central Library and the other will be Millennium Point, both of these shots will be captured by a long shot and throughout the duration of the shots being on screen I plan to use a pan effect on both of them to showcase all of the landscape in all of its glory. I will the use the fade transition in order to move to the next section.
4. The fourth shot of my title sequence will consist of a shot of the Ricoh Arena which is located in Coventry. This is a good shot to use as it will showcase a sporting venue. In order to obtain this image my partner and I will have to go to Coventry. If this does not fit our time schedule, then we may have to film another sporting venue. There are a number to choose from. The shot type will most likely be a long shot again however this is subject to change. The transition for this show will be a wipe as this will swiftly bring me onto the fifth section of my title sequence.
5. I am undecided as to which shot I will use for my fifth segment. I am torn between the Birmingham train station and the Bull that stands outside of the Bullring. I am however leaning heavily towards the Bull as it will give me a chance to use a different shot type as I believe that the most effective way of capturing this shot would be to use a mid shot and perhaps at a low angle; it is an iconic landmark. Whichever I choose to include, I will be using a pan effect so the camera begins facing the floor and then pans up to the area that I am planning to capture. I plan on doing this as it will be an effective way of showcasing the Bull and it will also be a chance to include a new effect and way of representing the importance of the landmark. My transition of choice will be the dissolve as again I believe that it will work well with the shot.
6. For my final shot, I plan to use the front of the Bullring as my destination, the idea behind this shot is that a West Midlands travel bus will pass the front of the Bullring at night. The time of day in this shot is important. I plan for this shot to be at night time, as this will mean that the first and last shot will have been in the dark which will represent that the entirety of my title sequence was a whole day of news starting with the dark morning and then ending with a dark evening. The West Midlands bus represents that the news report is for the whole of the West Midlands not just Birmingham. Once again, I will use a long shot to capture this shot and after the shot has played out, I will have a title with the name of my news report and mine and my partner's name on it.
Finally, I plan to use non-diegetic, royalty free music in the form of a fast paced tune which will represent the fast pace at which I plan to deliver the news to the audience. It will also get the audience excited about the upcoming news report and pique their interest.
Independent Research - 15/10/15
This video portrays my independent research that I carried out in order to find out what my target demographic expect to see from a news report. We interviewed a fellow sixth former as he is of the same age as us. We also interviewed a teacher at our school to get an idea of what a slightly older person would like to see and would expect to see from a news report.
This research has helped me in the planning and creation of my news report as now I have a good idea of what I need to include and where I should include it throughout my report. The results of my investigation/research were:
- I should have a young female correspondent for any weather report that I plan to have in my report
- I should include a male as a sports correspondent as my research would suggest that this is more relateable for the viewer
- Finally, my research would suggest that within our 5 minute news report, we should include between 3 and 4 news stories.
Research in action, BBC Birmingham Tour - producing stock footage for my title sequence and main production task - 9/11/15
We went into town to take photos for our TV news broadcast. We went into the Birmingham City Centre in order to take images that our target audience would recognise; this would add to the local association between the audience and the programme. It is important that this is included as it is images like these that will entice the viewers to watch the news show. Our day to Birmingham City Centre was split into a number of sections.
The first step of our research in action saw us climb the high-rise building in Colmore Row in order to take a vantage point of the city. This gave us the best possible angles in which to capture images of the City. It was important that I was able to capture these images in a professional manner, so I could go on to use them in my Local News Report later on.
The second portion of the day consisted of my and some of my classmates going through town and interviewing members of the public for vox pops that could later be used in my local TV news report. After we collected sufficient footage for our vox pops, we went through the main City Centre and took images using top quality digital cameras in order to capture iconic buildings and landscape areas. It is important that I use shots such as these, as if I use iconic images that my audience recognise, it will create a more personal relationship between the news broadcast and the viewer. This is a positive aspect as it means that they will be more likely to watch the local broadcast. This section of the trip also saw me and my class being given the opportunity to take a tour of the BBC News West Midlands studio. This was exceptionally helpful as it gave me the opportunity to experience first hand views of the studio, the production equipment, cameras etc. I have benefited from this trip as it has given me a better idea of the kind of equipment I will need to use in order to produce a high quality production element.
The final destination in our trip to Birmingham City Centre, took us to the top of the Birmingham Central Library to again capture iconic images of the city. We went to the top of the Library as it acted as the perfect vantage point for me and my peers to take photos from. From this section of the day, I feel that I was able to enhance my photography skills by taking professional looking photos of the Library itself, nearby attractions, wildlife and the overall scenery. I also will look to incorporate these images into my final TV news broadcast as I believe that they were of a very high quality.
My to town from my house - 24/11/15
It was important that I planned my route to town from my home to ensure that I arrived for our class trip on time. Punctuality is vital when capturing images and content for a TV news programme because if you don't complete tasks in a certain time period, you may miss important aspects later on. My journey started from Bordesley Green, where I left my home at 8am to ensure that I was in town at Snow Hill station for 9am. I used Google maps to plan my route from home to town. This is a global wide mapping site that can use your current location and then give you the most efficient route to your location, which in my case was Birmingham City Centre.
Here is a text conversation that took place between me and my friend where we organised the timings of the day. This was done to ensure that we were on time for day trip to town. Timings are important when capturing footage as you need to make sure that you allocate enough time to capture all images and videos that are required.
Emailing Big Centre TV - 1/12/15
Here is a letter that myself and my teacher sent to Lois Swinnerton at Big Centre TV. Lois is a Video Journalist and my class and I compiled an email that consisted of us relaying the task at hand and then going on to ask for advice on how to make our TV news broadcasts better and more professional; this primary research would help the class as a whole, as the help and influence from an industry expert would benefit all of our local news broadcasts.
It was therefore very beneficial for me and my classmates, when Big Centre TV responded with a video of one of their presenters answering the questions that we asked.
Below is Lois' response; Lois was very helpful and friendly in her response and her advice was very informative. The advice that Lois gave consisted of some very helpful points such as:
- You should let the images do the talking; she used the example of someone making a cup of tea, "close up of the water pouring into the cup, followed by a wide shot of the person pouring the water into the cup and then maybe a close up of the person's face and then a close up of the spoon stirring the tea/coffee in the cup." This doesn't over complicate the story and it also gives the viewer something to watch which will retain their attention while the story plays out.
- With the voiceover and reports, we must not be too colloquial with the audience. She gave the advice of, "if you wouldn't say it to your mate in the pub, then don't say it in the voiceover. Keep it simple so everyone can understand it."
Creating my Logo - 8/12/15
This portion of my research and planning will show how I researched and constructed my final TV news logo; this will be the image that is on display throughout the entire duration of my news broadcast in one of the corners.
Below are the images that I took inspiration from before construction my own news logo. I have taken ideas and concepts from these images and added them into my own logo. The images that I took ideas from are logos for "boomerang" TV. I used this image for inspiration as I liked the bold text and placing of the station's name. The second image is the "Twitch TV" logo. This corporation is a gaming website that allows users to live stream the games that they play to viewers around the world. The reason that I have chosen this image is because I really like the shadow effect that is used with the colour purple, I will attempt to recreate this in my logo as I think it will be an aesthetically appealing feature to include. This research into existing logos will help me with the construction of my own, as now I have a set of ideas that I can look to recreate and infuse with my own thoughts.
I started the creation of my logo by opening a new Photoshop document.
The first step I took was to create a red square as this would be the background for my logo, I did this by utilising the shape function on the left hand side of the Photoshop and then drawing the square to size.
The next step was to add a shadow effect to the square background to create a 3D shape. I did this by copying the original square then moving it to the back, changing the colour to black and then moving it slightly upwards and to the right.
The final step in my endeavors to create my logo consisted of me choosing my font and then writing the letters "WMLN" which stands for 'West Midlands Local News'. I then had a play around with the size of and arrangement of the text until I formulated the design that is below. My final design for my local TV news broadcast logo is located below and below that is the JPEG that will be placed in one of the corners of my screen throughout the duration of my news report.
Recreation Of My Logo - 3/2/16
After a second look at my logo, I started to rethink its design as I believed that I could make a more appealing logo that would capture my audience better and would also look more attractive and professional. I did not feel that it was clear enough.
Above is my new Local TV news broadcast logo. I have used more eye catching and vibrant colours; this look overall is more aesthetically pleasing. I also addressed the issue that the full name of my programme was not visible in the first logo. I have now added it it clearly along the bottom of my logo in a font that is both professional and appealing; it is clear to read and these three features lead to a successful local TV news logo.
Plan For Script Of My First Story - 4/1/16
Below is a plan for the script of my first local news story that will be regarding the topic of apprenticeships. My partner and I made this plan in order to give us a good idea of what we needed to include in our final script for our story. Despite this script not being the final product and lacking necessary facts and statistics, it can still give me a good idea of what my script should look and sound like.
Bob Hall Question Time - 6/1/16
Here is Big Centre TV's response to my email where I asked some questions which were compiled by myself and my classmates. The video below is their response in which Bob Hall, the head of news at Big Centre TV responds. The advice that he gave to me throughout was very useful and will help me shape the way that I will present my news report. For example, based upon these answers, I must ensure that I keep all opinions that I may have on the news story at hand out of the story, as it is important that I deliver an unbiased news report so the viewers can form their own opinions.
I have taken out the main points in the form of a Prezi presentation below.
Choosing The Editing Software - 25/1/16
Today in lesson, the class made a decision on the editing software that we would use to edit our local TV news reports. We had an array of choices that consisted of more basic choices like Windows Movie Maker but we knew that it had to be a professional package and so we will use Corel Video Studio.
Questionnaire - 6/3/16
Below are my questions that I asked of a mixed group of individuals. I wanted to gain some information about who might watch my news programme and what the expected/wished to see.
The way that I set up my questionnaire has allowed me to first receive some very basic information about the person taking my questionnaire such as age and gender. This has been done so I can then go back and look at which demographic said what. After this section my questions get more topic based and start to directly refer to my TV news broadcast so that I could learn about what my target audience would want to see in a news report so I could then go on and cater to such needs.
Here is a video that I have put together in order to discuss the findings from my questionnaire.
Target Audience: 10/3/16
This section will see me present my findings from my questionnaire and my independent research that concerns my target audience as it is important that my audience are the main thing that I keep in mind while designing my Local TV News Broadcast. Below is an Emaze presentation that I put together, this is where I break down what my target audience have said, why they said it and how I can create my news broadcast around this.
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