News website research

Here on the BBC News website we see a block format used with a headline for the article and a sentence or two form the article used to give key information on the article. this is effective because as well as getting the important information about the news story this structure also allows the user to decide on which article to read at a glance. Another useful feature of this structure is being able to put the bigger stories at the top of the page and can also show the more recent stories.

Here on the Sky News website there is a very interesting feature. at the bottom of the page a 'Breaking News' banner which updates immediatley showing the most recent stories and links to a full article. Although this is a very interesting mechanic I dont think it is siutable for our website.

Here on the ITV News website a different format is used. This website semms to divide the web page in two, the top of the page shows the latest news stories with a headline underneath. the second part of the page has a hub in which the user can click on news titles for a full news story but the first tab has a page called 'Live News Stream.' This updates immediately with the most recent news story.

Thabani

News Package planning

What we need to include:

Figures/ graphs: This is important as it makes the news package look more professional as well as providing audience with evidence which gives an indication of peoples preferences.

Graphics: to boost the appearance of the news package, making it as professional as the BBC news packages. It also keeps the audience intrigued but we dont want to use a large amount of graphics as it can also distract the audience.

The public: interviewing the public on their opinions of current theatre productions as well as asking them questions for the vox pops such as-

• How often they go to the theatre and why(?)
• If the prices were lower would you go more often(?)
• Their views on movies becoming theatre productions(?)
• What do you think has more reputation cinema or theatre(?)
• How often do they go to the cinemas(?)
• How do you feel about rising cinema prices(?)
• Would you prefer to go to the cinema or the theatre and why(?)

tt    This also gives the audience the publics opinion and makes it seem less bias and more well rounded.

Examples of theatres: comparison of the costs of productions at each theatre.

Highest grossing production: explain its significance to our news package story including graphs and charts. also look at the costs of the production in comparison to other recently released productions.


The Reporter: Nelson Timson (played by James T.) -Needs to wear a suit to make him look professional and believable.
Camera person: Joycelyn
Sound: Thabani

Equipment:

                                            Clip-on-microphone:

This will help enhance the reporters voice making it clearer amongst the noise of the public

                                              Canon Camcorder:

To record footage of the reporter walking along the streets reporting the news, as well as capturing footage of the audience during the vox pops.

                                                Nikon SLR:

This will be used as a backup camera in case the canon runs out of battery, we will also use it to take pictures of the scenery for the blog as well as our website for articles or a photo gallery. 

                                               Voice recorder:

We will use the voice recorder as a microphone to record the public during the vox pops, this will enhance their voices making it clearer for the audience to here the thoughts on the questions being asked.

Sayonara

Joycelyn

From stage to screen

Since our news package is based on the increase of adaptation of multiplex screenings to theatre productions, researching existing and coming-up adaptations will help us on planning scripts and the news package for examples.

A list of stage to screen:

Rabbit Hole
Forst/Nixon
One Flow Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Hamlet
A Street Car Named Desire
The Sound of Music
West Side Story

For more 'up to date' examples

Les Miserables
Mouse Trap
Mama Mia!
Hair Spray
Rock of Ages
Oliver!
Chicago
War Horse

Now from screen to stage:
Shrek
Matilda
Lion King
Merry Poppins
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

We plan to be at the Premiere of Les Miserables (December 2012) in London, Leicester square.  

James Timson

Vox Pops Questions and planning

Vox Pops Questions and planning

Things to have answers to (Questions):

·         How often they go to the theatre and why(?)

·         If the prices were lower would you go more often(?)

·         Their views on movies becoming theatre productions(?)

·         What do you think has more reputation cinema or theatre(?)

·         How often do they go to the cinemas(?)

·         How do you feel about rising cinema prices(?)

·         Would you prefer to go to the cinema or the theatre and why(?)

These questions have been decided on within our group on the topic we chose to base our news
package on. We plan to ask pedestrians within the central london area of different ages and
ethnicities although seeing as our target audience ranges from around 16-40 we feel interviewing
people we believe are within this age range. We plan to edit the multiple interviews like the
existing 'Vox Pop's' within news packages.

An example of a Vox Pop structure we would like to use.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyJhozl6ogA&safe=active 

Location ideas

When looking at possible locations to film the vox pops we thought it was important to look at areas
in which we would not be in other people way as well as filming infront of important theatre related
locations,  this would rule out filming in Covent Garden. 

list of possible locations we have is:
Leicester Square
Charing Cross Station
Covent Gardens
Piccadilly Circus

Here is a route we have though of taking.

Thabani and James.

News Package editing research

Typical things within a news package

B-Roll: 
B-roll is random video of things related to you topic. For example, a story about a local school could have shots of the school's exterior, kids walking through the hall, etc. The closer it relates to the subject matter of the story the better for all involved. A common type of b-roll is called as establishing shot. It is usually the exterior of a location of significance to the story.

Interviews: 
If possible, have your shot set up and the sound levels adjusted before the subject gets there. Your subject should have a drink availible in case his throat goes dry from the lights or nervousness. Don’t be afraid to look away from your list of questions and have a conversation. Look the subject in the eye. The more relaxed the subject is, the better the interview. Make sure to thank them when it’s over and offer them a copy of the finished product. You may need them again.

On-Screen Talent: Get shots of the reporter introducing, transitioning, or concluding the presentation of content within a story. These are sometimes performed live on-air over the final edit, but usually are recorded in the field. Try and limit these to two or three, as a narrative voice over  your b-roll will resonate with your audience more than a talking head. For the introduction try and incorporate pans, zooms, or dolly shots to bring people into the segment.

Editing:

1. Go through the interviews and find the best two to three sound bites  (a small snippet of speech that puts across the main point of a statement) from each one.  
2. Take these bites and organize them in a sensible order. Group bites that address the same subject together.
3. Write down the voice-overs that will best convey the information. Record these and import the clips onto your timeline. 
4. Group the bits of voice-over with the clips of the interviews they relate to.
5. Import your transitions and place them on a new timeline, spacing them as needed. Place your clips between the appropriate transitions. Play each placement and make sure it flows together like a narrative.
6. Any jump cuts (cuts between separate moments in the same steady shot) need to be covered. At this point you import appropriate b-roll and cover any awkward edits.
7. Add any music you might use as well as any on-screen text or graphics you may need and export the project.

Sayonara

Joycelyn

Existing News Package Research

After doing the genre and audience research, we thought that we should look at existing examples of BBC News Packages. We looked carefully at all aspects of the sequence looking at the layout and timing of the images. To get a better view of the layout of the sequences, we looked at various packages and we looked at the similarities which they all shared. Most of the examples we looked at were of the same genre or directed to the same audience as our news package. Here are some of the links to the news packages we looked at.

1. We felt that this was a good news package to follow as it has the same audience as we wanted our news package to have. We felt that the news package kept the audience engaged during the whole duration of the video and this is what we wanted as a group.

2. This second video was just for some sort of idea of how the news package should be set out chronoligically.

Oliver

News package script research

I thought it was only right to look at different ways of writing a news package script according to this website http://guidetopublicwriting.weebly.com/news-package-scripts.html this is one way in which you produce a news package script

The website says writing a script should be the final step in creating an entire news package. News packages need to have a beginning, middle, and an end, as well as characters. 

Here are the steps in creating a script:

1. Separate the script into two columns. On the left side, write video. On the right side, audio. Because you are writing for a visual medium, it is vital to separate out what the audience will see and what they will hear.
2. Choose sound bytes that are emotional, provide an interesting opinion, or help your story along. As you choose these sound bytes, mark the time on the tape next to the sound byte you write out so the editor can find it easily.
3. Write voice-overs that you, the reporter, will say to push the story along. The voice-overs should not stick out, but rather sound natural with the story.  
4. Weave sound bytes and voice-overs together to create a cohesive audio section to your story.
5. Find places to put natural sound, which is strongly connected with video.
6. Write down video you have that complement the audio. You will have a large selection from shooting B-Roll in the field. Mark times next to the video so the editor can find it easily.
7. Read over your script and make sure it sounds natural, follows the guidelines of a story, and is easy to read so the editor will have an easier time editing it later.
8. Once the script is completed you are ready to go into the sound booth and record your voice-overs.

I think this website is useful because it gives you specific detailed steps to creating a news package script.

One this website (PDF document) i found an example of a news package script

http://teachers.sduhsd.net/mraines/documents/CCAPKGSCRIPTSAMPLE.pdf 

This example seems to follow the steps in the guide as it is written in two columns where the left side has the editing, transitions, times, dates sounds etc and the right side has the monologue and stage directions. 

sayonara

Joycelyn

Market Research

Since our News package focuses on 'The adaptation between multiplex screenings to theatre productions' I decided to research the costs of theatre productions as it will link in with the idea of our news package because we'll be able to compare the price of the production when it was in cinema to the price of the production when it was in theatre. 

The Stage:

The article on the stage talks about the average west end ticket prices and how it has gone down since 2010 but somehow seems to be increasing gradually.

•  The report details a strong year for London theatre, with already announced record box office of more than £528 million and the third highest attendances since records began of 13.9

•  Accoring to the article west End theatre tickets are now priced at an average of £46.40, a face value increase of 2.8% on the previous year, according to the Society of London Theatre’s Box Office Data Report for 2011.

http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2012/07/average-west-end-ticket-price-nears-47-report/million, down 1.7% from 2010.

According to The Stage:

http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2011/05/rsc-pioneers-unique-producing-model-on-matilda/

This particular article discusses how Matilda the Musical’s forthcoming London transfer will employ a ‘unique’ producing model, marking the first time the Royal Shakespeare Company has produced commercially in the West End without a business partner.

Questions and Answers on: http://thelondontheatre.com/6.html

discuss what costing when it comes to theatre hire and ticket sales and well as productions cost and how this can be a tricky it can be for them in such an economy.

Sayonara

Joycelyn

Inside the studio

James here,

Having contacts with the media world, visiting St Joseph's College in Mill Hill, where the successful BBC series Call the Midwife was being filmed. Having a personal tour around the abby, meeting the director, seeing actors such as Miranda Hart, and seeing the 40's style room from which they built from scratch.

Taking a tour with the locations advisor, she mentions how: 'The media industry is vast but yet risky, we have no fixed contacts with anyone in particular and have very little time to produce our work, one minute we could be here, the next, at the other side of the country."

Some of the artists within the company have had experience in the theatre field but we yet to ask questions with their opinion between multiplex screenings being adapted to theatre productions and vice versa.

This Wednesday we have an opportunity to witness a location being shot with the crew and are looking forward to it so.

James out.

Back to work

Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th

A news package is a self-contained taped news report. Usually, the news anchor will read an introduction live, then the pre-recorded story will be shown.

A common part of a news package is the appearance of a reporter talking into the camera. This is called a "standup" because the reporter is often seen standing in front of the camera on the scene of the story.

Today we looked at the common features in a new package, the structure of a news package and frame of shots:

• Background information of the story with a voice over
• Emphasis on particular points (through the reporters voice)
• Clear concise words
• Zooms into story focus (e.g. persons face)
• Interview with family member= (if necessary) to bring the audience in and get a better understanding of what sort of person is (the victim usually)
• Subtitle strip to introduce who he/she are
• Closer framing 
• Branding on screen (logo)
• Facts and statistics= to back up your story, evidence
• Maps of where it happens= evidence to backup you're story
• Noddy= this is when the camera switches back and forth between the interviewer and the interviewee
• Standing in a related location (e.g. new scotland yard)
• Selecting the appropriate mise-en-scene to fit in with your story

The order of the News package: 

• Intro
• First interview= the first person gives opinion and how it affects them 
• Extra shots/illustrative footage
• fact and statistics
• Vox pop
• Up-sum (conclusion)

Advance Production Portfolio: Television News Package Proposal

We as a group have been developing our ideas for our news package, we decided to focus on the theatre for our new package as its different and hasn't ben done yet. We wanted to focus mainly on the increase in theatre production cost and in that talk about the increase in theatre tickets as well as the adaptation from multiplex cinema screenings to broadway production and the cost of these productions in comparison to the more traditional productions.

We decided that we'd have two interviews one with a theatre expert that would know about the production side, as well as an interview with an up and coming actor actress that would knows about how its like to be an up and coming actor in the theatre industry now.

Suggested locations:

Big Ben
St Pauls
Tower Bridge
Soho
London Bridge
Piccadilly

Sayonara 
Joycelyn

Scripting and Planning

James here,

Getting feedback on our title sequence, some additions will have to be made (i. e. speed up visuals), meanwhile, starting to film our news package. Exterior shots of London city (Marble Arch, Oxford Street, Tottenham Court Road) for our introduction.

Researching existing news packages and listing the shots gave us an idea of what to storyboard, with this planning locations and script will follow. To pace the filming and script in a continuos flow is essential to address the information to the audience clearly with visuals both from recording and graphics.

Researching facts related to our topic (The incline of theatre production; from the silver screens to the stage) why the multiplex cinema now converting to theatre productions and vice versa. For this we will need:

Examples of adaptations
Interviews (noddies) with the general public with their views
Any connections with theatres
Ratings and reviews


The group feels our chosen topic for our news package is appropriate due to variety of opinions from different generations, facts and figures and the many branches that can link with one another.

James out  

Genre Research

In the process of creating our news package we ad to create a complete image which we wanted to show. We could choose the modern and youthful approach or a more traditional format with a formal view. So extensive research went into this as we knew this would be a very important angle which we had to cover as essentially this is what our whole package is going to really be like. So we thought about all different possibilities, its regional point (whether it would be local, regional or national news), the register (formal or informal), audience (class, background, age etc.) and if it is going to be topic specific (whether it would focus on a certain theme like sports or economy). As a group we discussed this thoroughly, exploring different alternatives and possible branches we could lead to. In the end we landed on a package which was aimed at the youth audience but which also appeal to older audiences, which was based on news from the region of London, we also wanted a formal look but not following a traditional format, we wanted a more upbeat type of news package. Finally we, as a group, decided that we should base our news broadcast on arts and theatre within London, as the recent rise of theatre ticket sales in London.

Oliver

Audience Research

Since from the beginning of my A2 Media Studies Course until now I have been conducting a large, and thorough amount of research. This research consists of looking at existing examples of news packages which are within a similar field of the genre of our news idea of an creative arts/theatre topic. Throughout my research I noticed that these several news packages could be categorized in its own way, whether it would be by genre, audience, register, formality etc. So I conducted even further and more detailed research on how each channel was created and developed to mould into each of these categories. So I created a chart to show this:

Looking at this I saw that even though all of these stations were fairly successful, because of the way they pitch the product to their target audience, there were some similarities. Stations which appeal to both audiences seemed to be most favourable between both the older and younger audiences, such as ITV. Programmes such as the X Factor appeal to both audiences. This mean that there be a higher probability of a collective audience. But then again programmes just for younger audiences are also highly successful. From this I realized that our news package in order to be a successful and high quality package it must be we fitted to its audience.

Oliver