Digital News Production: Critical Reflections

Research
Research that I conducted in the unit...

• 4 different gaming online news channels
• BBC News research
• ITV News research
• Assassin's Creed Unity research
• Assassin's Creed Syndicate research

I think that the above research has really improved on the outcome of my work in this unit. Beginning with the research of gaming news channels opened up ideas of how to present our own channel and types of topics could be discussed. For example the channel The Know (primarily about gaming) uses a presenter in front of a green screen for their news packages, inspiring us to use the same technique.

The extensive research I went into for BBC News and ITV news to both compare to each other and my own work gave me an insight into the general structure of news programmes, key features such as branding and layout and the pacing of the programmes.

In order to discuss the issues of Assassin's Creed games, I needed to investigate the issues and obtain general knowledge about the games. I think doing so allowed me to heavily improved on the lines and features of our package script and the overall quality of our package.

Scripts
Overall, I think that the quality of our final scripts has turned out to be very professional and realistic as news pieces. Having created the originals at the start of the unit and tweaking them from then onwards to constantly improve, they haven't dramatically changed in the way of structure. However, due to the OB's location changing for example, certain lines' energy had to be raised to create a more entertaining atmosphere. I also tweaked lines to suit our two presenters personalities to make it more relatable for them and for the lines to flow more naturally.

I think the relaxed lines of both the package and OB fit the casual style that we were aiming for in a gaming news channel, while still sticking to news conventions and not shying away from the overall tone of a news piece.


Brand
Our brand was decided on right at the start of the unit, and it fit our choice of channel so well that it's not changed a great deal since our first decision. The name Game-Over and tagline Now it Begins have remained, along with our colour scheme of black, red and white. This fits very well into the retro gaming theme, as does our newly created 'pixelated' style of logo.

Casting
Our cast originally was planned to consist of one female presenter for our OB and one male presenter for our news package for variety. However when casting, I had a lack of responses for the news package role and audition plans fell through on their end for the actors that applied. When auditioning both Francesca and Candice, we found that they were very strong presenters and decided to use two females.

I think now that filming is over, this worked extremely well. While having two female presenters, they both have extremely different personalities and styles of presenting. Meaning that they still add a great amount of variety to the package and OB. I found that Francesca gave off a strong news piece feel for the package, while still setting a casual tone. While Candice provided a very high spirit and level of enthusiasm for an OB piece that could have potentially become downbeat without this.

Green Screen Filming
I found this to be a challenge, however I learnt a lot from my first time using a green screen. I gained a lot of experience from filming in a new way and learning the technique. I think the end result of this has turned out very well in the edit. However I feel that the lighting could have been improved on, as it appeared slightly harsh in After Effects editing. I've learnt from this for next time to take more time with lighting the set when green screen filming.

Interview Filming
Due to having previously filmed numerous interviews for the documentary unit, I felt like I had a lot of experience to guide me through filming and editing, so I think that filming and cutting the interview together went very smoothly. However, it was more first time dressing a set to such an extent, so I feel that this was very helpful experience for the future.

OB Filming
Due to the complications of last minute changes with location, this felt like the biggest challenge of the unit. However, I think we did extremely well in thinking on our feet and getting a new shoot organised so quickly. It was an interesting experience to attempt to film for a consistent 2 minutes without manipulating the script. I think the use of a different camera would have improved the appearance of this shoot, so that's something that I have learnt from this.

Editing
As editing is my strongest point in film making, and was my main role within the group, I thoroughly enjoyed this. I think that the edit of both piece came together very strongly and the final result is a very strong news package and OB that compliment each other very well and fit the conventions of news channels, especially gaming news channels.

Channel Trailer
The approach we had for our channel trailer was influenced by other gaming news channels as they heavily consist of game footage and are kept more simple with upbeat music and a voice over. Using this approach with techno music and having Jordan do the voice over, I think the upbeat tone of the trailer perfectly represents the casual and fun style that our channel has.


Website
We decided that we would use the option of having a website for our channel as well as a YouTube channel to create realism and strengthen it's appeal. We used this to provide our trailer, news package and OB videos, 2 news articles written by Harry and Jordan and information on our channel. I think the end result of the website is very strong and fits our brand style with design and colouring.

What Worked
I think that as a team, we worked extremely well together. With Jordan reprising the role of director and channel trailer editor, Wez having the role of producer and website designer, Harry having the role of camera operator and shoot planner, and myself having the role of sound engineer and editor.


What I Would Have Changed

• Location for filming the studio piece due to sound interruptions
• Location for filming the OB piece if we had enough time to re-plan and reorganise for more excitement in the piece
• Lighting on our presenter in front of the green screen
• Higher quality of sound if possible
• The use of the Sony camera instead of the DSLR when filming the OB to have more focus and steadiness

What I've learnt

• How to film using the green screen
• How to use After Effects for green screen editing and opening titles construction
• The editing structure of news channels

What I Want to Improve On

• Further experience and skill with filming the green screen
• Further experience and skill with using After effects

Links
Below are the links to our YouTube channel and channel website...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjlB6eALW7bQlnDs2RZlGBg/feed

http://ucagameover321.wix.com/gameover

Digital News Production: Final Scripts

Since editing both the news package and the OB, I've made changes to the scripts so that they match what we see. These changes are due to cutting down parts of the package footage in editing for prioritising and meeting the time quota and now knowing the interview answers from Matt in the package and answers from gamers in the OB.

Parts of the presenter's lines and location are changed due to the situation changing before filming and having to come up with a new plan. I think both scripts have turned out fantastically and don't shy too far from our original scripts at all.

Below are screenshots of the two scripts...

Game-Over News Package Script

Game-Over OB Script

Digital News Production: OB Editing

What was involved
Editing the OB was a much shorter process due to it needed to appear as live and being one consistent post for 2 minutes. However, it did require a lot of attention and tweaking. This involved...

• Added the intro/opening titles to the beginning to include our brand recognition.
• Using effects in Final Cut to improve on the sound so that it's clearer and cleaner.
• Improving on the exposure, saturation and colouring of the footage in Final Cut to liven it up and improve the viewing quality.
• Adding a lower third that remains throughout the footage with my own customisation for it say 'LIVE - Maidstone' due to this being the case with live broadcasts in all news programmes, as I have found in my research. I used the same lower third in the OB as the package to stick to the same theme and branding. I think the LIVE bar addition adds to the realism of the footage being presented as a live broadcast very well...

• Cutting down the footage to meet exactly 2 minutes to fit the time quota.

Final result
I think while the OB didn't require a large amount of editing and cutting, it has been greatly improved on and made more realistic as a live broadcast after the changes that have been made.

Digital News Production: Package Editing

What was involved
Once the After Effects footage was ready, it was firstly a matter of laying out each part of the package in chronological order in a Final Cut timeline. As we had already planned out the order of the news package and the features that would be added in post production, it was a well organised process. From start to finish, editing involved...

• Beginning with our presenter green screen footage.
• Transforming the sound. I changed certain effects on the footage to make the presenter's voice sound clearer and lower the sound of a slight 'static' or 'noise' sound behind her voice. I think it sound very clear after tampering with this.
• Finding an effective placement of the opening titles/intro. We decided on after the line "Hi guys! I'm Lisa and welcome to Game-Over" this fits very well as she dives into the topic straight after the intro.
• Adding on-screen footage of games that were released this year and said to have glitches, as well as footage of glitches in Assassin's Creed, with the presenters voice becoming a v/o to mix 'showing and telling' and showing the audience the issues first hand...

"...bugs such as their character falling through the map"

• Using the same showing and telling v/o technique by adding screenshots of Twitter users' complaints about Assassin's Creed Unity. Presenting fans/customers opinions gives a clear connection and relation to the parts of our audience that are frustrated with the game.
• Deciding on a background to have behind the Twitter screenshots, rather than a plain background. I decided to stick to our theme and use the same green screen background for this, but change the colour to black and white and zoom on it slightly. I think it looks very effective and doesn't stray too far from the background behind the presenter...

• Deciding as a group to add GFX footage of money with text saying '10 million' over the presenters voice discussing statistics. I think this gave a good covering of a long clip of just the presenter on screen and added some entertainment to a simple line about the statistics of sales...

• As decided before hand, adding a screenshot of an apology stated by Ubisoft in a BBC News article, in a similar style as the Twitter posts. As another way of showing and telling and livening up the package. I also wanted to keep the same background for each screenshot to add consistency...

• Adding silent footage of upcoming interviewee lecturer Matt, conducting a lecture, with the presenters v/o introducing him. This adding a lot to his introduction, as we see him in his workplace before 'meeting him' in the interview.
• I then separately constructed the cut of the interview itself, separate from the package timeline. To make sure that it was kept to a short amount of time, without losing important content, I carefully selected the more important and interesting 3 out of 5 questions and answers.
• After this, I decided to start with a wide shot of both the presenter and interviewee, for an establishing shot of the location and setting, and then remain using close-ups for the rest of the interview. As it gives a much more personal feel.
• As the interview at the this point was too long to meet the time quota, I had to cut down Matt's answers. I cut out any stutters and long pauses to begin with, and moved on to cutting out the less important/needed parts of his answers. I covered the cut answers with the presenters reaction shots that we had filmed in preparation, which I think look very natural and flows well. I managed to cut the interview down to approximately one minute in total, without losing any of it's quality.
• The last part of editing the interview was correcting the sound in the same way that I did so with the green screen footage, to make it clearer.
• Once the interview was added into the timeline, I added close-up cutaway footage of our presenters hands using a gaming console controller and of the game on TV, with the presenter telling us that she tried out the new release to find out about bugs for herself. This adds a 'doing' role for the presenter in our package and I think that mixed with the interview, it allows her to be a professional-seeming mix of presenter and reporter...

"I had a go at playing the game to find out for myself"

• A large decision to make was whether to use our first (downbeat) ending option of the new Assassin's Creed game being full of flaws, just like the last or to use the upbeat ending of it being much more well made and smooth running. Due to our testing of the game and finding that it had no issues, I was able to use the footage of our presenter stating that this game is a huge improvement.
• Once every bit of footage was laid out and cut together in the timeline, I fine tuned each clip to make sure that it flowed well and that none of the sound cut into each other. I think the package runs very smoothly due to this.
• I then added the soundtrack - Moose by Bensound. A copyright free techno track that had been decided on as a group. While it sticks to the 'news' feel, it connects very well to our topic of gaming, and lifts the energy of the package fantastically.
• To give further information on who we're watching, I added a lower third to the first clip of our presenter (aside from her intro) and a lower third onto the first close-up clip of our interviewee. I think this adds to their introductions and fits well into the conventions of news. I decided on both silver and red lower thirds with geometric shapes to stick to our logo and backgrounds themes...

• Once I'd added this ending, the last part of the timeline to add was the credits. Due to researching other news programmes such as BBC News and ITV News and finding that their end credits are one 'page' of roles and only momentarily appear, I decided to keep it simple and add my groups names and roles and our music source. Along with our title above. I think it looks simple but effective and represents a news style of credits very well...

Changes
Although we were extremely happy with our news package at this point, it was approximately 3 minutes long, instead of 2 and a half. So with feedback from our tutor to shorten the time and improve on certain features, I made the following changes...

• Removed an unnecessary part of the presenter's topic introduction.
• Lengthened the time of both of the lower thirds, to give the audience more time to read the and take in the information.
• Removed one of the Twitter screenshots to cut our time, as only one was needed.
• Removed the examples of Batman and Tony Hawk as glitchy games to cut time as they were not needed.
• Added 'courtesy of...' text to our approved YouTube game footage to credit the users.
• Removed unnecessary lines after the interview and in the outro.
• Changed our GFX footage and text when the presenter discusses statistics due to an error on my part. I changed the text to '10 million units' as the statistics are talking about the amount of copies shipped, and changed the footage to GFX of game discs to fit the new text. I think this is a large improvement...

• Added a lower third with a list of ways for the audience to leave comments when the presenter asks us to provide our thoughts on the topic. I think this was much needed and greatly approves on the package ending...

Final result
Without including our presenter intro, the opening titles and the end credits, our total time for our package is 2 minutes and 37 seconds. I'm extremely pleased with the end result of the package. I think it flows very well, is tightly cut and even after cutting down a lot, still holds the amount of energy, information and entertainment as we originally planned. We see our package as a very realistic and professional news piece.

Digital News Production: After Effects Editing

Opening Titles

The first step with my Adobe After Effects work was to create a logo/opening title. Due to previous research of gaming channels, we wanted it to be very slick, modern, strong and give a retro gaming vibe.

Here were my steps for creating the opening title...

• Deciding on a block, retro font for 'Game-Over'
• Adding our branded tagline 'Now it Begins'
• Using our branded colours by making the title red and the tagline white
• Adding effects: The words entering with a zooming out effect, then slowly rotating on a slant
• Adding a graphical background to add extra detail and depth. Then blurring it, recolouring it and slowing it down so that it doesn't distract from the logo
• Adding an effect to the text called Pixels, which gives a scrambled block look - adding to the retro theme
• Using Final Cut to add an extra effect to the whole video that involves a flash/electric spark effect and the image darting around before zooming out

I think the end result is brilliant and fits in with our channel perfectly. Accompanied by upbeat news-style techno music in our edit, it will feel like a realistic gaming news channel opening.

Presenter Green Screen

The largest task in After Effects was editing the green screen footage. To create a professional look with a unique yet relevant backdrop I performed the steps below...

• Selecting the individual clips of our presenter that we will be using in our edit
• Using Final Cut to compile them so that they can be edited in After Effects in one go
• Using the Keylight tool transform the green colour on the footage into a transparent background
• Using Screen Matte and Despill tools to clean up the edges of our presenter so that she doesn't blend into the background or look too sharp
• Finding a background: We looked at several graphical/moving backgrounds on free websites. We then decided on one from Videvo but decided to freeze frame it to make it still. This was due to testing moving backgrounds and finding that they were too distracting
• Changing the brightness of the background and changing the colour from blue to red, to fit with out brand colours
• Correcting the look of our presenter by using the tools: Colour Correction to give a less yellow look, Photo Filter to to do so even more, Vibrance to make the colours pop and Curves to lower and higher the different shades (shadows, midtones & highlights)

Below are stills of the end result...

Before

After

I'm extremely pleased with this transformation. It looks very professional and the fine tuning of the footage has left it smooth and easy on the eyes. I think the colour scheme and chosen background look exactly how we planned.

Interview Monitor

The third and final part of editing in After Effects was to add our channel's logo to the monitor in the package interview. I wanted the image on screen to move, for it appear as if it's there on screen on the set and for it to be included in all shots. So with very similar steps to the presenter green screen footage, I did the following in all three shots (Wide shot, presenter CU, interviewee CU)...

• Selected the individual clips of our presenter's questions and the interviewee's answers in a variety of shots that we will be using in our edit
• Using Final Cut to compile them so that they can be edited in After Effects in one go for each shot
• Using the Keylight tool transform the green colour on the footage into a transparent background
• Using Screen Matte and Despill tools to clean up the edges of the monitor's screen so that it looks more realistic
• Also using Despill to separate the colours of the green monitor screen and the green colour in the surrounding Xbox game cases, as the Keylight was picking them up as one
• Adding a green layer behind the footage to fill in transformed game cases that were still being picked up by the Keylight
• Creating a new clip of the opening titles to one where the text stays still, and the background moves, allowing it to play in one continuous loop
• Layering the logo footage into the interview shots to make it appear as if it's on set
• Correcting the brightness of the logo and slightly blurring it so that it isn't too sharp for the interview footage
• Correcting the look of our set, presenter and interviewee by using the tools: Colour Correction to give a less yellow look, Vibrance to make the colours pop and liven up and Curves to lower and higher the different shades (shadows, midtones & highlights)

Below are stills of two results....

Before

After

Before

After

It took much longer than expected to transform the interview footage due to the issues of the Keylight tool picking up the Xbox game colours as well as the monitor. But after a lot of work, I think it's turned out looking brilliant. The logo looks realistically placed and the colours and shading have dramatically improved.

Overall I'm very happy with how each part of my After Effects edits turned out. They're now completely ready to be placed into Final Cut for editing.

Digital News Production: OB Shoot & Changes

Unfortunately, we ran into a huge problem with our OB shoot just two days before filming. We had planned way in advance for this so it was unexpected. Below are the steps taken for our OB...

• We decided on filming the midnight launch of Assassin's Creed Syndicate - which ties in perfectly with out package story
• It would be perfect for an exciting atmosphere and having gamers to interview
• We decided on Bluewater as it draws a lot of attention for game events and is well lit
• We contacted Game at Bluewater on the same day as getting our group together
• They said it was very likely to be able to go ahead
• They stayed in contact with us over the next few weeks, telling us it will be fine to film but they need to double check with the Game company itself
• A lack of communication on there end left us in the dark of possible issues
• We had our presenter decided on, our call sheet and script created, equipment booked.....
• And they contacted us to say that we are not allowed to film in Bluewater, as well as neither outside or inside of any Game store. This is due to the company having a multi-million pound deal with Ubisoft, Assassin's Creed's developer. So they can't have anyone involving them in discussing flaws and issues with the game

After this, the issue that instantly flagged up was how little time we had to arrange an entirely new shoot. There are little other stores that hold midnight launches, and while we attempted to contact any local stores that were planning one, it was too late for us to get their permission.

So our new plan was to still stick to the theme and roughly stick to the original script by going with the Assassin's Creed Syndicate midnight launch. However, as we could no longer attend a midnight launch, we had to play on the fact that we hadn't been allowed into one, and were left out in the cold to talk to people who had just attended a launch.

The new location was Maidstone town centre, in Fremlin Walk. This was due to the amount of shops, knowing the area to know where would have good lighting and where we would be uninterrupted. We were also able to get their permission to film very quickly.

Problems we ran into during filming

• Once again we had issues with noise on location. As there were staff cleaning shop windows with a rather large and noisy machine in the background. So we had to make sure to film when it was as quiet as possible.
• The camera was quite shakey due to the lightness of the camera, so our shot isn't completely perfected.
• It proved to be quite difficult to fit the OB into no more or no less than two minutes without dramatically speeding up or slowing down our presenter talking.

Positives

Our presenter and interviewees were brilliant to work with, Candice delivered her lines in a very energetic way and our interviewees gave great answers. We also worked together very well so there were no issues with filming itself.

What I would change

• The camera to a Sony. So that it would have had more weight behind it to be less shaky.
• A more upbeat location to make our OB much more lively.

Final result

It's not what we were aiming for in comparison to our original plan, so it's not as energetic nor has it got as much going on as it would have with our original plan. However, our presenter brings it to life very well and there are interesting topics dicussed. I think it looks great and thanks to our presenter and thinking on our feet after a last minute change of plans, it's turned out very well.

Digital News Production: Interview Shoot

We chose to have our presenter talk to a UCA lecturer who discusses film, tv and games a lot in his lectures, and has a high interest in video games. He was perfect to give further information than a regular gamer due to his knowledge of the technical sides of game development and giving good points on legal issues such as consumer rights. This will be an important and stand out part of our package.

We used the same location to shoot as our green screen for the same reasons of being away from our workspace and it being a spacious area to create a set and move in furniture. Planning ahead, we decided to dress the set and turn it into a very relaxed seated area, filled with gaming accessories and video games. This fits the theme and atmosphere that our channel gives off.

Dressing the set involved bringing in...

• Two sofas
• A coffee table
• Two desk tables
• A book case
• Two work benches (on top of each other to pose as shelves)
• A monitor to display our logo in post production
• Decorative 'living room style' items including cushions, mugs and a gaming magazine
• Gaming items including a PS4 console, a Nintendo DS & DS Lite console, controllers (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS2, PS3 & PS4), a Guitar Hero game guitar, a Rockband game drumset and a decorative game medal
• A mass of video games including Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, PC & Wii

Which you can see below...

On camera

We made sure to place and angle all items so that they would be heavily featured in both the establishing wide shot and the close-ups of our presenter and interviewee, as well as giving the frames a lot of depth and variety.

I had the idea to place a monitor between the two of them - but slightly in the background, so that we could place our channel's logo on it and give a much more professional vibe to the interview. I had to make the screen green however, due to our logo being unfinished. The green allows us to add the logo into the shots in post production.

Problems we ran into in the beginning

• We had a technical issue with sound. We planned on using two clip mics, however one mic was creating an usual beeping sound throughout testing. Neither we our our UCA technician could fix this issue. So we had to first use one mic for our interviewee as we filmed him, and then gave the mic to our presenter and filmed her segments. 

Problems we ran into during filming

• We had more issues with outside noise due to people in the building and unfortunately timed construction outside. But we had experience with this by now, so once again filmed only when it was silent, to make sure our sound was clean.

Positives

As filming was a shorter process to the previous day, sound interruptions didn't get in the way as much, and our mic problem was easily solved. Our planning of the shoot paid off and it flowed perfectly.

What I would change

While we got great coverage of Francesca asking questions both in a wide shot and close-up, and coverage of Matt answering in a close-up. We didn't film them asking and answering in a wide shot. I think if we had filmed that, we would have had more variety for editing.

Final result

Our interviewee gave brilliant answers and having both the presenter say her lines and the interviewee giving his answers a few times each, we got great coverage. We were also extremely pleased with our set and lighting. I think that the interview shoot looks very clean cut and professional.

Digital News Production: Green Screen Shoot

We began our shoot week by filming the part of the package that holds it all together, our presenter and the green screen. We'd previously decided on using a lecture room that's at a distance from our usual work space to avoid visitors and to have minimal outside noise. This room was also a good choice as once the furniture was removed, it became a spacious set.

Problems we ran into in the beginning

• Our green screen equipment arrived late - this lead to a slight domino effect delay. The time we allowed to set up the green screen before our presenter's arrival ended up having to take place once our presenter had arrived, which meant delaying our start time for filming.
• We struggled with getting the lighting exactly how we wanted it, so the time taken to set this up took a lot longer than expected.

Problems we ran into during filming

• Our main issue was unavoidable outside noise from the kitchen next door and people using the hallway. As our mic strongly picked up everything, our only option was to make sure it was silent before our presenter could talk, which meant a lot of stopping and starting.
• The only change that occurred during filming was the inclusion of a Teleprompter. Roughly a third of the way through filming, we decided to use this, which really helped our presenter to say the lines in a more confident matter and have less slip-ups.

Positives

Our only real issue that interrupted filming was the outside noise. Aside from this, filming went very smoothly. As a team our organisational skills and planning paid off to allow for a shooting day that had no real complications. Our presenter read the lines fantastically, we all communicated well to get the job done, we constantly checked our sound and camera work, and we made sure to film each segment plenty of times for good coverage.


What I would change

• The lighting on Francesca as it's slightly over exposed, I think it would look slightly less harsh if this had been the case.
• Our location. If it had been possible to get a sound proof room, we would have had no interruptions during filming.

Final result
The final result is great. It looks very clean and professional, there's plenty of coverage of each lines, it's well positioned and will make a perfect in-studio part of our package.

Presenter on camera

Digital News Production: Scripts

Last week I wrote up two separate scripts with the input of my other group members. One for our OB and one for our package. The OB script is almost exactly the same as the audition script I created for auditioning the presenters, this is due to the fact that we agreed that it came across very well in auditions and no major changes needed to be made. The package script however, has become much more extensive than the audition script as there was a lot more detail to add, a lot of fine tuning to be made for it to appear more professional and realistic and interview questions to be improved on for better answers.

The motivation for our scripting structure and lines comes from general news research such as BBC and ITV News, but especially from research of the YouTube gaming channel The Know. While being influenced by other news programmes, we've put our own ideas into the script and made it stand out.

The scripts are available for download and view below. The parts that are incomplete are due to us not knowing our theme music yet and not knowing the exact answers interviewees will give. We will complete those parts once post production is finished.

News Packages Script:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pgkiyqvlpwpqog1/News%20Package%20Script%20PDF.pdf?dl=0

OB Script:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4mg3uvm84bow016/OB%20Script%20PDF.pdf?dl=0

Digital News Production: Presenters

Last week Wez and I held auditions for our OB presenter. With a total of five women coming into the studios, we planned to cast just one, however we decided to cast two the following day. This was due to the fact that while we originally planned to cast a male presenter for our package, our applicants proved to be unreliable, and we thankfully had one women who we found to be perfect for the OB, and another who we decided will make a brilliant package presenter.

Package Presenter

Francesca (aka Lisa as she'll be know in our package) had brilliant enthusiasm in her presenting skills. We found her to be very likeable and that she fits well with the casual vibe that our channel will have. We were considering her for the OB right after her audition, but once we decided that we would use another female for our package presenter role, we anonymously agree that she will be a suitable and audience attracting package presenter.

OB Presenter

Candice gives off a brilliant presence and brings a lot of excitement to the script. We feel that she will be a fantastic OB presenter as she'll be very likely to draw in attention from the customers on the night and bring a lot of energy to our OB. She also had great improvisation in her audition, which will be very useful when talking to people live.

We originally wanted to use a male presenter for the package to bring contrast to the channel. However, even though we're using two women, their presenting styles greatly differ to each other at the same time as both bringing the enthusiasm in their acting that we're looking for.

Digital News Production: Green Screen After Effects Workshop

Having the skills and experience to add effects to our green screen studio piece is key for our package. I now know the step by step process of transforming simple green screen footage into a professional appearing package feature.

This is the original piece of green screen footage...

Now after following out these steps with the footage on Adobe After Effects...

• Adding the Key light effect
• 'Eye dropping' the green screen colour (making it turn transparent)
• Using Screen Matte tool to define solid colours for a clearer transition into the effects
• Using Screen Pre-blur and Despill Bias tools to remove green outlines around the presenter's body
• Finding websites that provide free visual backgrounds such as iskysoft and particularly Ignite Motion
• Picking out a background similar to the style that we will choose for our package
• Placing it in After Effects and scaling it, blurring it, colour correction it and using the time stretch tool to slow it down (all to make it less distracting from the presenter)
• Finally, using 'colour balance' and 'curve' to fine tune the over all quality of the clip

The end result became this...

This has been an extremely helpful lesson in how to get our studio piece looking like a realistic news piece and understanding how to transform our green screen footage. The end result has turned out very well.

The similarities between the above end result and our real green screen end result are that it was also have the presenter in a mid shot and the background will be a backdrop rather than a setting .

The difference are that our presenter will be wearing black, our background will have a red tone and the visuals will be clearer and more related to our topic of gaming.

Digital News Production: Comparing the News Research - ITV News

Following from my research of BBC News at Six, I will now be looking at ITV News...

The News Stories
Main story, Critically ill nurse story: Similar to BBC News, it reports with an update of her condition. However, it goes further in depth, with reports from the hospital, her perspective from previous interviews and with a different reporting technique. The reporting consists of...

• Introducing the story in-studio.
• Reporter OOV with images of the nurse.
• OOV continues with hospital report placed on screen with GFX.
• Then accamponied by footage of her at the Pride of Britain Awards and footage of her preparing for her travels.
• Archived footage of an interview with her on Lorraine.
• OOV with GXF of human skeleton with the side effects being pointed out on screen.
• C/A to MCU interview with medical scientist in a lab.
• V/O with image on-screen of the nurse.
• Interview between in-studio presenter and on-location live reporter outside of the hospital.

This greatly differs from the reporting style in which BBC News reported the story. While BBC had a reporter live on-location briefly update us, ITV have made this their main story and used a dramatically different way of telling it, yet with the same content.

The murder of Georgia Williams story: The content of this story is nearly exactly the same as BBCs, due to it also being from the point of view of the victim's parents and them blaming the police. The reporting consists of...

• Introducing the story in-studio.
• Reporter OOV with image of the victim.
• C/A to MCU clip of interview with the victim's mother and father.
• OOV with footage of a police line and tent in the woods, police officers investigating and an image of the murderer.
• C/A to reporter PTC on-location walking along a trail in the woods.
• GFX presentation of murderers previous convictions on-screen.
• C/A to MS interview with mother and father.
• MCU interview with previous victim in a studio.
• MCU interview with member of police.
• OOV with image of victim.

Due to the story not being ITV's main focus, it's slightly more fast paced, making it feel less emotional. However there's a lot of similarities as the interview with the parents and the police is held in the same location as BBC, they both used GFX presentations of the murderer's previous crimes and the interviewees were the same. This piece felt stronger than BBCs report due to the footage of the crime scene and the reporter being on-location.

Divorce settlement story: Similar to BBC, the story is focusing on the positivity that the women feel after the settlement. However, it's less personal due to there being no one on one interview and being more focused on the overall topic. The reporting consists of...

• Introducing the story in-studio.
• OOV with GX of a ripped document with money either side.
• Continues with footage of the divorcees outside of the courthouse.
• Footage of one of the divorcees making a statement to the press.
• Back to OOV with the divorcees talking to reporters and GFX stating the settlement information in the style of a paper document.
• Reporter PTC outside of the courthouse.
• C/A MCU interview with divorce lawyer in office.
• V/O with footage of the divorcees and their lawyer.

This clearly of slightly less importance in the news line up than it is for BBC. However although it's a shorter report, ITV manage to fit a lot of the same reporting techniques in that time without making it feel rushed.

Tunisia survivor story: The story of a British survivor of the Tunisia attack who returns to the hotel where it took place to thank those who helped him and his wife survive. He recalls the attack from his point of view. The reporting consists of...

• Introducing the story in-studio.
• Reporter OOV with footage of survivor hugging a member of the hotel staff, GVs of the hotel and footage of him walking around the hotel with the reporter.
• A walking MS interview with them both in shot.
• OOV with archived mobile phone footage of the attack
• WS of the reporter and survivor talking in the hotel corridor where they ran during the attack.
• OOV with CU of broken door handle from taking cover and footage from inside the room.
• MS in same locaiton, survivor telling reporter of the event.
• OOV with archived footage of the survivor and his wife while she lays in hospital, to recent footage of him hugging a doctor when returning and thanking him, a banner in the hospital for the survivor and footage of him giving the hospital a donation certificate.
• MS interview clip in office with survivor, reporter and doctor.
• C/A to V/O with footage of a gravestone in Tunisia.
• Footage of the survivor as he recites a poem over the gravestone.
• OOV with survivor on-location and CU of flowers.

As a finishing story this feels quite heavy, however it's uplifting due to it being a story of survivors. The story gives an emotional but warm end to the programme, with a very large and strong variety of reporting techniques.

Presenters
As apposed to BBC News, there are two presenters, one female and one male. Also differing, is that they're introduced by a V/O instead of introducing themselves. Similar to BBC, they're sat in studio behind a desk, appearing very professional and serious due to the stories they're reporting.

Fig. 1. Mary Nightingale & Stephen Armstrong (2015)

'Coming Up'
The programme begins with the 'critically ill' nurse story accompanied by an image of the nurse when healthy. It then shows an image of the victim of 'the murder of Georgia Williams' story along with a clip of an interview with the mother, then onto footage of the divorcees in the 'divorce settlement' story. Lastly footage of two men hugging from the 'Tunisia survivor' story.

The structure of the 'coming up' doesn't greatly differ in structure to that of BBC's, however the main story is distinctly different.


Soundtrack
Similar to BBC News, the music is intense and plays in the same way, with it rising between news stories in the 'coming up' portion of the programme. However it comes across as slightly less serious.


Brand
Lasting longer than the BBC opening titles, ITV News' intro consists of footage of Big Ben, a child in school, an army troop, a busy road, surgeons and a bustling construction site, accompanied by GFX. While still keeping it short, it feels more visually stimulating than the brief BBC introduction.

While ITV's brand colours can often vary, ITV News sticks to a simplistic blue and white title, along with a blue and white set, this compares greatly with BBC news selective colourings on and off set.

Fig. 2. ITV News Titles (2015)

News Comparison
Due to reporting techniques and the final story both appearing to be stronger and more captivating, ITV seems to me to be a stronger channel for reporting. However, they both had very similar stories and ways of approaching their topics, as well as similar brand and soundtrack technique. In comparison they're very similar, but the differences in news reporting are highly noticeable.

Similarities to Our Channel

• Our opening titles will be GXF based and fast paced, similar to ITV News.
• We will use very selective brand colours.
• We will take a more upbeat approach to our ending, quite similar to ITV.
• Our reporting techniques are very similar (a studio piece, OOVs with both images, new footage and archived footage, presenter PTC and interviews).

Differences to Our Channel

• We will have one presenter for our news package instead of two.
• Our presenters will be more relaxed and casual.
• Our studio piece will involve a presenter in front of a green screen rather than behind a desk.

I think between BBC News and ITV News, our digital news package and OB will relate more to ITV due to feeling ever so slightly more casual as well as fast paced. However due to us being a channel that reports more human interest style news, they will still differ a lot.



Illustrations List:

Figure 1. Mary Nightingale & Stephen Armstrong (2015) [Video Screenshot] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrxNvwF0riU (Accessed on 14.10.15)

Figure 2. ITV News Titles (2015) [Poster] At: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITV_News_at_Ten (Accessed on 14.10.15)