Marmite Pre-production

3MW Pre-production

Introduction to the news

Introduction to the News

There are numeral different job roles within the News industry. 

News Editor - These people are in charge of what is put into the news, where to film and who to film. 

Reporters - Reporters are the people who report the news, speak about what is happening and are usually found on a location, speaking about a relevant and related topic/story. 

Camera Operator  - The job of the camera operator is to film the reporters, film the interviewees (if any available). And also gather 1 minute and 30s worth of 'cinematic' footage that can be edited whilst a voice over takes place. 

Craft Editor - The job of the craft editor is to edit the video and audio captured by the Camera Operator and Reporter. They are able to put audio over the top of clips to create a voice over, as well as make visual effects to accompany the video/audio. 

Programme Producer - These people make sure the clips and audio gathered fits into the 30 minute schedule exactly, and they further edit any footage the Craft Editor makes. 

Senior News Editor - The job of the SNE is the same as the News Editor, but they are ranked higher. After a broadcast, they would gather all staff and crew and tell them what went well, what to do next time, and what went well and wrong. 

Presenter - The presenter's job is to present the news. Usually accompanied by another presenter, they sit in front of the camera and give a brief explanation of the story, then hand over to reporters. They link all the stories and are a key part to the broadcast. They have an earpiece in which the Director, Producer and the Broadcasting Assistant talking in their ear about what to do. 

Director - This person will be in the ear of the presenter, and it is their job to direct the presenters on where to look, what is next and tell camera operators when to move cameras.

These jobs all follow a Prospect List. A Prospect list is an list that indicates all possible stories that will take place on the evening programme, it is a way of showing what could and might be shown, however things can be taken off the list and breaking news can be added to the list as well.

The news presenters will always address people in a certain way; once a reporter has finished a story, they will thank them and move on to another subject, and always great people in a well mannered fashion.

News Broadcast:

I picked an American News Report although there are many similarities to British news reports. British news programmes usually have an intro. BBC Look East has this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-UhYLjbKaY

These introduction is particularly interesting, it has a dramatic theme tune, which is trademarked to the regional BBC news broadcasts, the images are what differs the intros. Look East has pictures in the introduction that are suited to the east. Pictures of places in East Anglia - to  make sense of the fact that Look East is for the people of East Anglia primarily. The music is dramatic, yet catchy. There is a countdown like sound, that implies a sense of urgency. The colours are also red and white, which connote urgency yet again, and are eye catching. It gets the viewer ready and interested in what is about to come. American news channels have these also, showing pictures relating to their country or a specific area.

I watched the 'Nightly News Broadcast (Full) - June 18, 2019 | NBC Nightly News. The stories that were shown are as follows, in this order:

1:36 Patrick Shanahan Withdraws As Trump's Defense Secretary Pick 3:44 Trump: Tanker Attacks U.S. Blames On Iran Were "Very Minor" 4:23 Trump Threatens To Deport "Millions" Of Undocumented Immigrants 4:52 War Crimes Trial Begins ForNavy Seal Charged With Murder 6:49 Jon Stewart Vs. Sen Mitch McConnell In 9/11 Victims Fund Battle 9:35 Inside New Mexico Town Shelter Housing Massive Migrant Overflow 13:50 Beto O'Rourke Shares His Plan For New Voting Rights Act 15:51 Ninth American Tourist Found Dead In Dominican Republic 17:42 Over $1 Billion Worth Of Cocaine Seized At Philadelphia Port 18:44 Great White Shark Surprises Fishermen Off New Jersey Coast

In the starting sequence, the Presenter gives brief introductions about what stories are going to be shown, this is accompanied by visuals of what is happening, as well as tense 'news style' music over the top. I think that the visuals were used so that we can get an idea of what is happening, and what the presenter is talking about. Music is used to allow suspense to build. Pretty much the music is to make the stories more interesting and perhaps 'big them up'; to make them appear bigger than they are.

The presenter introduced the story in an order of importance, with the bigger and more hard hitting stories at the beginning; then at the end there was the "and finally" story. This story is usually the 'pick me up' story, meaning they save the happy and nice story til the final call out.

One of the stories covered was 'Great white shark surprises fishermen off new jersey coast.
The story was introduced by the main presenter after one of the reporters just got finished talking about another story; The presenter thanked the reporter and then started to introduce the story about the shark. The presenter narrates a short video of the shark at the boat of the fishermen, he says how they were out looking for smaller Mako sharks; and they ended up making a great white avoid their hook, yet steal their bait. The report then ends and the "and finally" story is introduced.

The only people involved in the story was the presenter, who narrated the video, and of course the individuals who filmed it, yet there was no interview or any other comments besides the reporter explaining what is happening and why.
The people represented in the story aren't portrayed as 'evil fishermen' however. The presenter simply portrays them as fishermen, who accidentally caught the shark. I think that the people were just out for a fish, as the man said; for some Mako sharks, and happened to attract the large great white. I think they are normal people, who got spooked.
The presenter portrayed them accurately, as there wasn't much that could be misinterpreted or displayed wrong. The story was narrativised correctly, and the commentary accompanied the video well. The audio of both the video and narrative were balanced. The presenter narrated in a way that allowed it to be shown in chronological order; first by introducing the story, saying why they were there, then what happened and what happened after - the beginning, middle and end structure.

News Ordering:

News ordering is what is shown on air and how the news station goes about it. One of the ways of doing this is the previously mentioned Prospect list.
When it comes to ordering the news, as mentioned previously. The bigger and more important stories are shown first, and then there will be an "and finally" story. This story, as mentioned previously is the happy, 'pick me up' wrapping up the report.
When it comes to the news, its always good if any member of the crew is able to think and act quickly, this is for numeral reasons. At any time, a breaking news report can occur, or a story can get cancelled, meaning presenters will have to focus their attention differently. A Presenter, as mentioned above, will always have numeral people speaking in their ear at once, and these people can tell them to do something or change anything when they need to, meaning if the presenter cant act quickly, then they wont be able to do things according to plan.
Often, 'Slow news days' can occur. This meaning when media organisations publish trivial stories due to the lack of more substantial topics. Pretty much, a lack of important or interesting stories.
There are two types of footage, one of these is actuality footage, which according to Wikipedia is - "A non-fiction film genre that, like the documentary film, uses footage of real events, places, and things, yet unlike the documentary is not structured into a larger argument, picture of the phenomenon or coherent whole".

Key parts of news ordering are:
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_values)

• Frequency: Events that occur suddenly and fit well with the news organization's schedule are more likely to be reported than those that occur gradually or at inconvenient times of day or night. Long-term trends are not likely to receive much coverage.
• Familiarity: To do with people or places close to home.
• Negativity: Bad news is more newsworthy than good news.
• Unexpectedness: If an event is out of the ordinary it will have a greater effect than something that is an everyday occurrence.
• Unambiguity: Events whose implications are clear make for better copy than those that are open to more than one interpretation, or where any understanding of the implications depends on first understanding the complex background in which the events take place.
• Personalization: Events that can be portrayed as the actions of individuals will be more attractive than one in which there is no such "human interest."
• Meaningfulness: This relates to the sense of identification the audience has with the topic. "Cultural proximity" is a factor here—stories concerned with people who speak the same language, look the same, and share the same preoccupations as the audience receive more coverage than those concerned with people who speak different languages, look different and have different preoccupations.
• Reference to elite nations: Stories concerned with global powers receive more attention than those concerned with less influential nations.
• Reference to elite persons: Stories concerned with the rich, powerful, famous and infamous get more coverage.
• Conflict: Opposition of people or forces resulting in a dramatic effect. Stories with conflict are often quite newsworthy.
• Consonance: Stories that fit with the media's expectations receive more coverage than those that defy them (and for which they are thus unprepared). Note this appears to conflict with unexpectedness above. However, consonance really refers to the media's readiness to report an item.
• Continuity: A story that is already in the news gathers a kind of inertia. This is partly because the media organizations are already in place to report the story, and partly because previous reportage may have made the story more accessible to the public (making it less ambiguous).
• Composition: Stories must compete with one another for space in the media. For instance, editors may seek to provide a balance of different types of coverage, so that if there is an excess of foreign news for instance, the least important foreign story may have to make way for an item concerned with the domestic news. In this way the prominence given to a story depends not only on its own news values but also on those of competing stories. (Galtung and Ruge, 1965)
• Competition: Commercial or professional competition between media may lead journalists to endorse the news value given to a story by a rival.
• Co-optation: A story that is only marginally newsworthy in its own right may be covered if it is related to a major running story.
• Prefabrication: A story that is marginal in news terms but written and available may be selected ahead of a much more newsworthy story that must be researched and written from the ground up.
• Predictability: An event is more likely to be covered if it has been pre-scheduled. (Bell, 1991)
• Time constraints: Traditional news media such as radio, television and daily newspapers have strict deadlines and a short production cycle, which selects for items that can be researched and covered quickly.
• Logistics: Although eased by the availability of global communications even from remote regions, the ability to deploy and control production and reporting staff, and functionality of technical resources can determine whether a story is covered. (Schlesinger, 1987)
• Data: Media need to back up all of their stories with data in order to remain relevant and reliable. Reporters prefer to look at raw data in order to be able to take an unbiased perspective.

An example of both Unexpectedness and Familiarity would be this story:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-48693110
A young man who had mental health problems, died while he was a resident at Sapphire House Care Home in Bradwell, Norfolk, on 28 July 2018.

An example of Continuity would be anything revolving the Madeline McCann case. Her disappearance has been in news for over 10 years. Over that time, the parents have been in the news each year for many reasons, recently this story was aired:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9262826/madeleine-mccann-parents-hate-mail/
Madeline McCann’s parents are being bombarded with hate mail after the probe into their missing daughter was given an extra £300,000 in funding.

An example of Reference to elite nations would be Donald Trump's recent visit to the UK:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48400765
The American President Visited the UK for his annual state visit.

Documentary Mini task

Documentary Mini Task
(All images acquired from Google Images)
https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/6-types-of-documentary-film/

Introduction
• What is a documentary? / How would you define ‘documentary’?

A documentary is a film that uses pictures or interviews with people involved in real events to provide a factual report on a particular subject. This could be things such as nature, to true crime stories. I would define them as a video that gives information about a subject, with suitable images, soundtrack, voice-over etc. The term documentary was coined by John Grierson CBE,  In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert Flaherty's Moana.

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• Identify the key features of expository documentaries

An expository documentary speaks directly to the viewer often in the context of an authoritative commentary, with a voice over giving a strong point of view. These often use male voices, that sound upper class, to express their point. Images are shown to further the argument. Historical documentaries in this mode deliver an ‘objective’ account and interpretation of past events.

Two examples of an expository documentary would be; Ken Burns’ The Civil War (1990) and Robert Hughes’ The Shock of the New (1980). Civil War is a perfect example of this, as there is a voice over that explains what is happening, as well as video and images that accompany the relevant

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• Identify the key features of observational documentaries

Observational documentaries make an attempt to simply and spontaneously observe lived life with a minimum of intervention. This meaning that there is no narrator to explain anything. It is simply just video, usually without music pieced together, showing either every day life, or a certain event. 

An example of this would be Titicut Follies (1967). In this documentary, Filmmaker Frederick Wiseman exposes conditions at a Massachusetts hospital for the criminally insane. It is simply clips of video and audio from a 'normal' day at the hospital, but exposes some of the harsh conditions there. Conversations between doctors and patients, and situations that occur.

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• Identify the key features of interactive documentaries

Interactive documentaries are all about how the presenter or director engages with the viewer. The film maker's presence will be evident. The interaction is primarily in-between interviewees, the audience and the presenter. There is usually an argument or agenda that will be addressed in the documentary. These documentaries are often questioned and accused of misinterpretation, due to the images being more important than the fine details.

There is another type of Interactive documentary, and they are a documentary production that differs from the more traditional forms, these being; video, audio, photographic.  The interactive multimedia capability of the Internet provides viewers with a unique way to create non-linear productions that combine photography, text, audio, video, animation based on real time content. Pretty much, they allow the viewer to navigate through the story by interacting. 

An example of this is You vs. Wild (2019) by Bear Grylls. As the film allows you to choose options for Bear Grylls to undertake, and allows you to shape his adventure. 


• Discuss how access and privacy can affect a production (releases & permissions)

Without the required talent and location releases, along with permission slips and recces, a production cant take place. If a production is taking place, all cast need to fill out releases, and all locations must be used with permission. This means that the cast are willingly partaking, and all locations are being filmed on legally without trespassing. This allows insurance to be applicable if something happens to a member of the cast on location. If a member of the cast doesn't sign a release, and still partakes; this is illegal and isn't allowed to be done, meaning that the film is breaking the law. 

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• Identify the key features of reflexive documentaries

Reflexive documentaries are a documentary that promotes truth and calls the viewers attention to the film making process. Reflexive and participatory modes of documentary both seek to create awareness from the viewers' perspective so that they can gain appreciation to the film making process. It shows how things are filmed, and how it was created. 

Driving me crazy by Nick Bloomfield is an example of this. Driving me crazy is a good example of this because it shows people in their element, it allows people to watch and see people expressing themselves, and allowing them to be proud of who they are. 

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• Identify the key features of performative documentaries

Performative documentaries are a documentary that is the direct opposite of the observational where unobtrusive observation of the subject is the director's aim. Performative documentary emphasizes the filmmaker's own involvement with the subject. In performative documentaries, the filmmaker gives a strong “what’s it like to be there” perspective on a world, a culture or an event in history that the audience would otherwise never know.

An example of this is “Tongues Untied” (1989) by Marlon Riggs. In this particular film, actuality, re-enactments and his personal account are used to shine a light on black gay American identity. 

Re-enactments are used to not only show what it would of looked like when it happened, but to also make it more "viewable" for the viewer, meaning it is more pleasing to watch, as it shows them what it was like.                                                               


Conclusion
• What is your documentary film making philosophy?

I think that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to making documentaries, there are a lot of things that happen, that the average viewer doesn't know about that are underappreciated.

• Do you think that a documentarist has a contract with the viewer to present them with truth and authentic information? E.g., do you believe that the ‘ends justify the means’ is an appropriate for documentary filmmaking?

Yes, i believe that the aim of a documentary is to inform the viewer on events, or a certain subject, and this should be done in absolute truth. The only exception to this is a 'Mockumentary' which is a parody at a documentary. 

My favourite type of documentary would be ones that are based on animals and the world around us, this could be an interactive one with david attenborough, or perhaps an expository documentary with a narrative voice over. I really like to learn about the wonderful world we live in. I also like these as they are accurate, giving nothing but facts. 

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TV advert evaluation

Evaluation

The brief for this unit was to create an advert that will re-brand an already existing Unilever product. Owen, Billie and myself decided to focus on Marmite. A condiment by Unilever. Our idea was to interview fellow classmates, as well as teachers and members of staff; and ask if they liked marmite. The responses came back and some were positive, some negative. Proving Marmite's motto 'Love it or hate it'.

               We decided to film at an angle that looks similar to one that would be seen in an interview or a documentary, this being with the camera slightly to the side or having it face on, with the interviewee on a sofa or chair. I think that the editing in the video was well done, it was a suitable length of time, and i think that the colours look nice too. Overall, i think the aesthetics of the video are good.

              When it comes to audio, i feel that there are parts where there is too much background noise in the clip, or banging and such. But we tried to eliminate this factor by adjusting volume levels within the video, and adding stabilizers and effects that can reduce the amount of excess noise.

              We deliberately didn't include the question that we asked the interviewee; this being "do you like marmite?". This was done for effect, we didn't want the viewer to know what the advert was about until the end, adding a sense of mystery and enticing the viewer into keep watching to find out what it was about.