TV NEWS - Project Evaluation

 

Pre Production, Planning and Research.

What worked?

I felt this stage was really beneficial as I went into this Unit, not knowing exactly how the format and structure of a news channel really was staged out, so I found it harder to be able to start planning for our own news channel, without knowing the normal news structure and what would be best for our demographic on youtube. So researching and looking at other news channel formats and the traditional/youtube news formats was extremely beneficial for the development of our own news channel and reasonings behind our choices for each part of our news channel. 

It was also an integral part learning about the language used through delivering news as this was important that we got this right, otherwise our news wouldn't be as impactful if it wasn't delivered correctly to the audience which may have also undermined the credibility of our sources and news delivery. I wanted to ensure as DOP and also as the Graphics creator, that I was fully aware of how both these things translated into news. How News is filmed, traditional camera shots and what will work for our target demographic. By doing the research and planning, with shot lists, camera set ups and storyboards, along with additional research on formats etc, it allowed me to get the best possible footage to suit our news channel as we were prepared with what we needed. 

I also researched in relation to lighting, due to circumstances and filming the majority from home, being able to research how to light an individual iphone, like the iphone 12 unboxing that featured within our news story. It allowed me to get the best from lighting by using a single light and a mirror that reflected the light which made it almost a back light, creating two light sources with one light. By being prepared and researching any issues I came across, it allowed me to evident I had learnt and rectified the issue, to then get the best from the situation. Just like the issue with lighting for the Iphone 12 unboxing, segment. 

What Didn't?

I felt as a team, there were few occasions in which some people weren't as present as others. Although we had set up a group chat to be able to discuss ideas and also to develop our ideas, on occasions, it would be harder to get a reply or the reply would be a few days later which meant the flow of the idea had tarnished. It also felt on occasions there were people who were singly carrying certain sections, like the pre-production or planning of the video, which meant when we came together as a group, people were unaware of what we had decided, what was going on and where we needed to be at certain points. Although, I feel as a group we were prepared, I feel with a breakdown of communication, it felt like people were working harder then others. However, I don't feel this is down to the people in the group but down to people having heavier commitments with work and also with the current circumstances, we were not in person as much as what we would normally be. 

What would I improve next time?

I would definitely bring up next time that I felt there was a breakdown in communication and that we definitely needed more group calls. I'm not sure if due to circumstances as it's an extremely heightened experience for us and everything feels a lot harder to complete mentally and physically, which I also felt in myself is the reason as to why some people weren't present at time which I understand completely.  So, next time, I would of called a group meeting just to discuss how we are all feeling and to make sure we're all okay and on the same page.  

I think I would also want to be more scheduled, it would have been better to know which days we could have off and which days as a group we should be working together, so that as a group we're all on the same page. At times, I felt ahead of the group with blog work and pre-production and at occasions if I had missed a lecture, tutorial or group call, I then myself felt behind. So, as a group I would definitely work on communication as a group, to ensure we're on the same page and working efficiently as a team. Otherwise, if it had got any worst, we could of missed important timing deadlines and acted unprofessional with contributors by not all knowing what was happening. 

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Production.

What worked?

I found this part of the Unit, challenging yet rewarding as we finally got to see our news channel come together and my research and ours as a group come into use. Due to circumstances, it still wasn't how I would of loved to of been able to do this unit, there are still restrictions in place and being able to interview our contributors wasn't as possible in person, with some of our contributors not feeling it was safe as we entered lockdown, which we all understand. We did however ensure that our interviews over zoom worked. As DP for this unit, I wanted to ensure that I still provided as much footage as I could, this being with recording some of the zoom interviews and also ensuring I provided a side view, as you can see below. This meant we had different coverage of the same shot, which I feel was beneficial to help as a cutaway if needed. I also saw from research that from shots like this, that give you an outsiders point of view, so a side view of the laptop could help the audience engage as they feel like they're seeing something they shouldn't be.

Although, I feel we may of had lack of communication when going through the stages with pre-production and scripting, we really came together as a group through the production stage. Everyone worked as a team to ensure the production came together. Especially with the Promo shoot too, as we all bounced off each other as a group to create the promo video that we were all really proud of. We wanted our news channel to appeal to our target audience and give them an 'inside scoop' which is why we introduced the promo which you can see below. 

What Didn't?

Although, I felt like I had done my best to provide footage, with even completing an Iphone 12 unboxing which I felt would feature heavily within the final news package. I wish I'd explored more into the stock footage, because I hadn't thought about stock footage or using sources throughout the news package, once I had seen that Stan who was editing the video had used sources and stock footage, it made me feel like I hadn't fulfilled my role as DP. As Stan had gone out and found the footage and sources himself, I feel this was something I should have already done for him to add to our package, so he hadn't of needed to take time while editing doing so. This is down to my own fault and not looking through all bits of footage and making sure we had enough, although I do feel that we have enough of our own footage. The footage Stan found that we hadn't shot and was stock footage, definitely added more of a news feel and creditability. 

During production, one of our contributors actually pulled out, this was something we didn't account for. Neither did we have a back up to take the place, which was our own fault as a group. We should of accounted for someone dropping out and thought about ensuring we had a back up contributor to replace the expert opinion of who we lost. Although this was disappointing, I still feel our news package came out extremely well and from this, I have learnt how important it is to ensure we have a back up plan, or a second contributor in mind. As I've mentioned, although I felt we did well regardless, we missed out on having an expert opinion in regards to our news package surrounding the Iphone Story, which would have given our watchers another point of view and both sides to the story we were breaking.

 I felt in some points we were making decisions in which the director should have. I feel as DP and Graphics Designer, I would of liked more structure from the director and directions to follow. For example, when filming the promo for our channel, it was structured and directed by me and Stanley, we then came up with what was going to happen and the staging which we didn't receive any input or direction on, which I felt was a shame as it put the pressure on us, to get it right as well as focusing on our own job roles. 


What would I improve next time?

I would definitely want to ensure next time that I ask for direction from the director, I should have taken it upon myself to ask for instructions If I felt like I wasn't receiving any structure. By doing this, I wouldn't have felt the pressure of getting things right as I would have received support and guidance from the director which would have made things feel less disorganized. 

I also would completely ensure and have majorly learnt a lesson in regards to preparing for people to drop out. Due to circumstances it was already hard enough to be able to contact people and ensure we are able to have contributors, so to not have a back up plan for someone dropping out was silly. By having someone in our production that could have stepped in if someone was to have dropped out, it would of allowed us to have all aspects of coverage we wanted to have for our news package, which would have allowed us to have the format we initially wanted of having which was two sides to our news story to ensure that we were unbiased.

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Post Production and Further Comments.

What worked?

This is also another stage of the process I really enjoy, as it feels like all the planning, research and production pays off as we finally see it come together as a final piece. With Stan editing the piece, there isn't much to do apart from review feedback with him as he sends it to us as drafts. 

The first draft Stan sent, I was really impressed with what he had done, the graphics and the feel of the news piece was exactly what I had envisioned at every stage. I had seen through research that it is important for your news channel to have consistent graphics, colours and themes to ensure people know exactly which News channel they're watching and so that it is credible and suitable for our target audience. 

I felt the editing stage was really efficient and this was probably the stage we communicated the most as a team with everyone having an opinion, listening and working out which was best for the edit. I felt both the news package and Live OB came across well, it was evident it was a shame that we didn't have more interviews as this would have given us more perspectives, however as explained above, this is something we have learnt from now and I will ensure moving forward that we have more options, to ensure we don't miss out on valued opinions and different sides to the story. 

I also felt as if the script came across really well, which I was extremely proud of as I had contributed largely to the writing of the script, I felt the presenting of the script was clear, informative and most importantly unbiased. I was extremely conscious of making sure we were unbiased, as we are delivering news I wanted to make sure we weren't trying to sway peoples opinions unintentionally on what we thought as a group for each story and more importantly delivering the facts, which is what news is. 

What Didn't?

There were a few suggestions made within our draft, final cut showings and as a group we wanted to improve before the deadline to ensure that we got the best from the feedback we were provided with. We were informed that the Iphone story had felt a bit flat, which is something we had recognized as a group and decided we needed to use similar footage throughout, to ensure that the footage ran smooth and didn't feel to choppy. By doing this and Stan using more of the same footage we had shot, it allowed us to have a news package that flowed and was at a better pace, meaning that the flow of the news package was a lot smoother and better. By doing this, it meant the news package wasn't as jumpy which would hopefully be more engaging for the audience. 

What would I improve next time?

Next time, I would ensure that we also had all downloaded the footage, as we were using one drive, it took a long time to download the footage and at points we had times in which we couldn't get one drive to play, when we were trying to show our news package to anybody, which delated receiving feedback which could have messed up our timescale and made us miss a deadline. Therefore, I would ensure next time to look at different sharing platforms to ensure we are using the best one for what we're trying to achieve. 

Conclusion

If I was to do this again I would ensure we were fully prepared, I felt within the post-production stage we had fallen behind and panicked about it. Instead we should have got onto a group meeting, discussed the situation and worked out how together we were going to move forward, that's why it has shown me the importance of time management.

I felt as a package, I was happy with how it looked, the graphics and also the feel of our news channel in general. As Graphics Designer, I wanted to ensure the channel was relevant for our target audience and the theme was the same throughout to match the structure and feel of our news channel. I did this by using colours that also would be related to Business and Tech which is what our news channel was based on and I felt this really worked.