News Production Unit - Evaluation

Over the course of this project, I have learnt so much and have built up a lot of knowledge from what I previously knew in many different ways. Throughout the entire unit, I have gained skills in many areas from technical to productivity that has been enhanced through the process.

Researching was my first point of call. Learning how news was actually constructed through lectures, the studio testing workshop and my own research allowed me to have a strong foundation for the base of the project. I was able to look at a variety of different news and the multiple ways it can be done, from hard news to the more light-hearted Youtube style News. I felt I would be able to bring a lot more to the project if we picked a Youtube styled one as when researching Hard News I found this a lot more difficult to engage with. A negative I feel I could have done better was to research in more depth allowing me to expand my knowledge even further.

I was the main producer for this project and I found this very a great learning curve in many different ways. I was very happy with the way I managed to organise myself. I was making sure the risk assessments and all paperwork were signed off way ahead of time. All the schedules were complete at least48 hours before a shoot so all crew and cast knew what was happening, where and when all ahead of time so when it came to shooting it was very clear. I was also very happy with how I handled myself when organising the events that the group wanted to go to. I was professional and confident when speaking on the phone and contacting through email to press agencies that resulted in us getting press access and interviews for our film. I feel I could have been a bit better when It came to organising the Diwali event as It was very last minute and the communication lacked more than the Shocktoberfest event. Another thing that could have been better was trying to get the interview for Shocktoberfest. I felt it went well and we got there in the end but the interview kept being postponed which led to myself getting stressed.

When it came to production I had 2 roles to focus on. I was the location presenter but I was also overseeing the direction as well. This I found brought down the presenting side a bit as I was not able to focus fully on the role. Although It turned out ok, It took several takes to get a final result which ended up getting harder as I was getting more frustrated with myself. On the directing side of things, I felt I handled this very well envisioning what type of shots we would need and persisting until we got the right footage. we also brought an LED light with us which helped us illuminate the me when doing my pieces to camera and worked well when reviewing the footage. I also ensured we got plenty of cut-aways as I wanted to make sure when it came to editing their was more choice than not enough.

When it came to post production my main role was editor. I found this was my strongest skill that I brought to the project as I was able to edit efficiently and transform all the footage into a workable news item that had a good pace and looked professional. One downside to it was the visable noise on the greenscreen background. I tried hard getting the team on board to try and minimise the noise but unfortunatly it was proving to difficult and very time consuming to get rid of. This is the thing I am most annoyed at as I am a perfectionist and when I see something is wrong I instantly want to correct it and so I became frustrated when I couldn't fix the problem.

Overall I am very pleased with how the project went. I feel I organised the team well and contributed greatly towards a great end goal that I am very proud of. I learnt a lot from the project Including using a green screen and an auto-cue as well as over coming difficulties like when taking on multiple roles and dealing with schedule changes. I learnt that in order for a project to pull off well, a lot of preparation and organisation is key to the whole process right through to the final product and this is something I will remember. I really enjoyed this unit more than any other unit and I hope to continue my energy throughout other projects.

News Production Unit - Editing

Once Drey had finished all the graphic work I was able to start editing all the footage together. I started off with planning a structure of how we wanted our film to show.

When we all agreed that this was the order we wanted it to be in I began with the Diwali package. I started with a montage so we can establish the event before cutting to my piece to camera. I did several takes of this clip so it was nice to be able to choose the best one to go in the film.

 I followed this with some GV's whilst I added a voice over that we recorded. In order for this to flow well I made sure that what I was talking about in the voice over matched up with what was being shown on screen. This then flowed nicely into my second of four pieces to camera. It was getting dark so we used an LED which worked well when it came to editing as I was able to refrain from color correction and lightening which I would have done. 

The edit continues to follow a nice and simple structure of Voice over leading in to piece to camera before rounding it off at the end. Over all I felt the package runs very smoothly and fits a nice pace explaining a clear narrative that explains the event well. 

I next moved onto editing the Studio footage which proved a bit more tricky. After the graphics were added to the background of the green screen I was able to piece together where all the segments worked. I felt that a multi-cam aspect would be a great way to edit this together to stop it becoming boring so I made sure we filmed a variety of shots on the shoot day. When it came to editing it allowed me to split the clips up but make it feel like it was all being filmed at the same time by creating seamless transitions. 

Because they reappear on a regular basis it was nice to keep a short and snappy pace that felt very studio like when watching it through. When the studio items went into a different item I was able to add an effect on the sound called exponential fade which allowed the sound to fade nicely rather then cut off suddenly. 

Shocktober was the last thing that I edited together as it was the last thing we were able to film. It was also the most complicated in terms of structure as it appeared in different parts of the timeline. I referred to my structure chart so I knew where the different pieces were going and added them in accordingly. I made sure the live elements had the title LIVE at the top so you could differentiate as we also had a mini package for the event as well. I also created a split screen element to make it flow nicely from studio to the live as mentioned in the rough cut. I also cut down the live interview which was also mentioned in the rough cut viewing and this flows much better than it did before stopping the lag compared to the rest of the project.

We had some sound issues with some of the pieces to camera but I was able to balance them out by using the audio mixer to make sure the volume was in line with the rest of the film. When it came to scoring the edit I wanted to make sure each Item fitted perfectly with what the audience would be looking at. I added Indian style music so it mixed well with the event, with shocktober, I added spooky music and with the studio a light hearted piece. This all fits really well with the project. 

Overall I feel I have edited a strong piece together that flows well and keeps its narrative communicating a professional edit of work. 

News Production Unit - Rough Cut Viewing

We showed Helen a rough cut of the clips I had edited together so far. She said the project was coming along very nicely and felt the piece was looking very professional. There were a few things to  work on to make it better.

The Live interview was the only piece in the film where it dragged and felt very long winded. We all agreed that cuts would have to be made in order to make sure that this flowed with the rest of the project.

The structure and the items in the show were all marked off as good so I just need to make sure the interview is not dragging and to fine tune all the items to make sure the audio is all at the same level and in sync to round off the edit. I also need to add split screens when we go from the studio to the live elements as this will help the project flow better.

News Production Unit - Channel Branding

As our news was going to be in the style of a youtube new video we decided that we wanted to create an actual Youtube channel creating a banner, logo and welcome trailer as well as the main actual video. As Drey was in charge of the graphics she was able to create the banner and logo that represented our brand using the same fonts and colour schemes. We all felt this was necessary approach allowing our brand to flow through the work as a whole. The font was slightly modified to a 3D approach allowing It to pop more to attract people to the channel.

I edited the channel welcome trailer together and I wanted to make sure It was light hearted and fun showing the happy playful side to all our characters on screen reflecting the brand and what we are all about.

This can be viewed below as well as a screenshot of the whole channel page:

News Production Unit - Shoot Day (Shocktoberfest)

On the 18th October we were originally going to be filming the live interview and all of the cut aways for shocktoberfest but unfortunately on the way to the event I received an email from the press representative saying the interview was going to be postposed to a future date. Rather than forgetting the shoot we decided to treat this as a prime time to do a Recce. When arriving at the event we signed in at the guest visitors office and made our way in to scope the site and find important places to film and to do the interview. Once I got home I looked at the map and circled the places that would be great to do the interview.

We all decided that the best place would be in front of the press wall as it looked professional and very red carpet like. 

When we looked around the site we were able to get some cut aways as we still had the camera and try out some of the Haunt attractions so we knew what we were talking about when it came to the package and the live. 

We arrived at the location again yesterday after I rearranged the interview twice after visiting on the 18th. Once we got there we signed in again and then managed to meet with our press representative. We quickly set up as the person we were interviewing did not have a lot of time and we went straight into filming the live with no cuts. Once this was complete we needed to film my pieces to camera. Having been to the site before we all picked the locations that we knew were going to be ideal that had a good background and depth of field which were the cage and the ghost town. 

After several takes of this we moved onto filming more cut aways to make sure we had good coverage and then we called the shoot a wrap and headed home. Im very pleased with how the shoot went and feel my presenting and the camera work puts us in a good position for when I edit it together. 

News Production Unit - Risk Assessments

 Over the course of the project our group sat down together and compiled risk assessments before each shoot. We made sure that they were checked and signed off by a member of staff at least 48 hours before we wanted to collect filming equipment. Evidence of them are below.

Shocktoberfest (Live) :

Diwali (Package):

News Production Unit - Liaising With Companies and External People

As the sole producer I was responsible for contacting and liaising with the places and people we wanted to film. I first started off with Shocktoberfest as they had a contact number for their press office on their website. I had a phone conversation with the press manager Ed as I talked about who we were and what our objectives were for the shoot. He agreed press access for me and the crew as well as an interview with a senior member of the events team. I followed this up with an email just to confirm.

Once this was established I then moved onto the next Item we wanted to shoot which was Ocktoberfest. Since there was no number for press I sent them an email to the press department but I received no reply. 

I decided to send a very similar email to the Diwali events team to see if I had any luck with them and they were more responsive. They agreed for us to have press access to the event and to film on the location on the condition we had approval from the Uni so we sent them over the risk assessment that had been signed by a member of Uni staff.

When emailing and speaking on the phone I made sure I was professional and very clear about the project we were doing as well as leaving important contact details so they could get in contact with me if they needed to. I kept up communication throughout and made sure we secured our locations. 

I was also In charge of securing the presenters once we had picked them. I made sure to email them under dreys account expressing interest in them being part of the film. After individual Skype interviews they were happy to proceed and turned up to the studios on time due to the call sheets I had produced. 

News Production Unit - Researching Editing

This unit requires a lot of editing to make sure that I get it exactly how I want it to flow. I decided to go on Linda.com which showed me some useful information. I always struggle with audio the most so I thought this would be a great area to brush up on. I found some videos that were very useful on using sound dissolves and how to sync up my audio easier. 

I also found a really interesting video that explored more of how the channels work and how i can manipulate the sound to come out of each one. This will help when coming to editing as we have 2 presenters on each side of the screen so I will try to have one more heavily focused through one channel and the other through another to pair better with what the audience are seeing.

Another area I lack in is titles. I found a video on youtube that allowed me to refresh and expand on the basics of doing a title in premiere which will help me when I come to do the edit. 

I next wanted to learn more about keyboard shortcuts that would allow me to edit more quickly and efficiently. There was a great section that I found on adobes official website instructing where the shortcuts are on the keyboard and what each one did. I have also ordered keyboard stickers so I can lay them over my own keyboard to make editing easier. 

All this will help greatly when it comes to editing the project together. 

News Production Unit - Shoot Day (Diwali)

Yesterday we shot for the Diwali Festival which was held at Trafalgar Square in London. Since we were all in different places that day we decided to meet at charing cross station for 2:30pm. We felt this gave us plenty of time to film as we wanted to get shots in the light and the dark to show the events differences as the time went on.

We arrived at Trafalgar Square and found it was exceptionally busy. This made things a little bit difficult with the equipment but we were aware of the people and planned our routes around the location. We met with Varsha who I had emailed previously and she gave us wristbands that allowed us press access to the front of stage. This was vital to our project as it allowed us to get clear footage of the performers on stage without the busy crowd in front of us.

Once we got all the footage we needed of the stage we then moved around the site to get different shots that showed the entirety of the event. We managed to get crowd shots from all different angles and an overview of the stalls and stage. Coverage was our main focus here as I wanted to have many choices when it came to editing cut aways and GV's. We wanted to establish location so we felt that would be great for my pieces to camera. We made sure we set up with the main National Gallery in the background so people could tell it was Trafalgar Square.

When doing my pieces to camera It was hard at first with a lot of people looking at me and the light beaming on my face but I very quickly got used to it and made sure I was project focused.

I felt we had a great day filming and got some great coverage of the event.

News Production Unit - Shoot Day (Studio)

For this shoot we needed a lot of preparation in order for this to go well. I booked the room with Laura a week prior and had the risk assessment signed so the location and equipment were ready for when we needed to film. I sent out a call sheet to the presenters via their emails and sent out schedules for the crew so everyone knew what was happening on the day.

On the morning of the shoot, our crew met up at the studios and collected the equipment from the store. We then spent an hour and a half together string up in the lecture room making sure the green screen was ok and the lighting looked good as well as the framing of the camera and a sound test. We were also going to be using an auto cue for this shoot so we set this up and done a quick rehearsal to make sure it all was working smoothly.

Our presenters turned up at reception and we welcomed them up to the base room. After a short reading of the script we welcomed them into the room where we was shooting and began filming. I decided to go for the multi-cam approach so we did a run through as a mid shot with both of them and them and then did individual shots of each of them so we had something to cut with.

Overall the shoot went very well and after reviewing the footage we are very happy with their chemistry on screen as well as the footage we ended up with. They both said it was a pleasure working with our team and would be happy to work with us again in the future.

News Production Unit - Schedules/ Call Sheets

Since I am in charge of organizing the project and making sure we all know as a team what we are doing, I decided to carry forward from the last filming units the schedules that I did. I feel like they worked really well previously and will help to keep the project organised so everyone knows what we are doing and at what time. I also sent out the studio schedule to the 2 presenters we hired so they would know what is going on throughout the day and what time they would have to be here.

The evidence of the schedules I created are below:

News Production Unit - Casting Studio Presenters

For the unit we decided that I would present the location elements of the film but we would get 2 presenters in to do the studio segments.  We put an advert on Mandy.com which was originally Casting Call Pro which can be seen below.

The advert received many replies and we sat down in as a group to go through each of their showreels. We at first felt it would be good to cast a male and a female to allow are audience to align with each gender but this proved difficult to find someone suitable out of the female applicants that applied. We finally found 2 male applicants that we thought would work really well together.























We Skype called them both for a brief interview and they were very well received by all of us so we decided to cast them for our studio shoot.