Digital News Production: RSPB ''LIVE'' EVENT DETAILS

In our group we found two events that was happening in alliance with RSPB. They would be taking place 16th and 18th of October. The event is a fundraiser for the birds and will be informative in relation to birdlife knowledge and will also be offering food and wine - sounding like a formal event. 

Wine and Wisdom sounds like an interesting event we could attend. We could create a ''live'' report from the fundraising event as it will have lots of tables with people sat down talking, whilst also may be holding activities to raise money so we could stand up and report with them in the background. 

The downfall of doing this is as it's a very public event people may find it off putting and irritating having people filming there especially if they come for a relaxed event and we come in filming around them.

However, if we are allowed to film here it would be a great opportunity to get the publics opinions on the housing estates being built, especially as they are supporting the fundraising so will probably have a lot to say. It will also be nice filming a fundraising event seeing the RSPB earning money through a sophisticated event with food and wine.

Below is the event details:

Digital News Production: LODGE HILL /NIGHTINGALE BIRD RESEARCH

We have decided to research the Lodge Hill/Nightingale story as we want to focus our live piece on the opinions to build houses on a designated place for nightingale birds.

Lodge Hill is a site in Medway which is home to one of the most iconic birds in the UK. The birds come to Lodge Hill every spring during breeding season. However, land securities are planning to build on the site with unto 5,000 news houses and a school, health services and more. Although this is good for medway, it's not good for the RSPB Nightingale birds. However the idea to build on Lodge Hill is in conflict with the national planning policy to protect SSSIs. However, land securities still submitted their planning application in February 2014. Medway Council decided to approve the planning application which has caused a LOT of controversy with the people of medway, petitioners and chancellors whom was told that the council wouldn't allow it.

The site is meant to be a protected area but if it's being built on, who knows what could happen to other so called 'protected' areas? Eric Pickles has the last say on whether the site will be able to become built on, and there is a website where it allows the public to send him an email with reasons it shouldn't be built on. This is helpful for the public as it's hard to speak to people of high importance directly - so they have a chance to speak through emailing him.

As the nightingales are designated in Lodge Hill, the 86 pairs of nightingales will have no where else to breed and they are already becoming extinct.

Digital News Production: SELL A GOOD STORY

In the television and news industry it's extremely important to sell a good story. With the demand of good stories getting higher and the news being in the public a lot of the time, editors must find interesting and 'what's in it for me' stories that will keep the audience engaged in the programme. If a news item isn't at a high quality it won't become a news story.

Here are the different television News Story forms;

There are 5 basic types of news stories;
-Readers ( 'tell' stories)
-VO (voice over) 20-30seconds
-News packages which include graphics, piece to cameras, sequences and actuality.

As we are creating a news piece we need to know what goes into a news package. In the lecture today we found out that these are the main elements in a package:

Interviews -  Usually a few different people are interviewed to receive more opinions and facts. These can also include general views from the public.
Cutaways - These are usually placed when there is an interview and the editor wants to show footage of what they are talking about.
PTC's - Piece to cameras are when the reporter talks directly to the audience usually at the beginning, middle and end of a package to introduce, talk in the middle and end the package.
Graphics - These usually appear on screen and are usually to show facts and figures of something that the reporter or interviewee is talking about, however the graphic can be something completely different if it fits with the story.
Sequences + Actuality - These are both very important pieces of a news package and are often used in every single one. Sequences include a contributor or expert doing something in a certain order. Actuality shows the people you are interviewing doing something they are good at - for example interviewing a chef, their actuality would be cooking on camera. Reporters often get involved in actuality to create a more informal piece and get the audiences attention.
Stunts - This is similar to actuality of the reporter, if the reporter is at a market, it could be good to have him eating an apple at the end of it as a little easy stunt. Obviously stunts can be bigger than this but every stunt is just as important!

So, what does make a story newsworthy?

The news story needs to have a lot of different factors of it to become newsworthy or it won't be interesting enough to put on air. 

The story should be impactful - If the story doesn't make an impact at all, what's the point? The story needs to have a clear message to the audience.

It should also be relevant and update- the news is called the news for a reason, because its new! Stories can't be old and irrelevant to what's happening right now. The story needs to be something happening right now or the audience won't care about something from 10 years ago unless it's reverent (i.e a historical figure being stolen, or someone of the public interest from years ago doing something dramatic)
The news story also should have a public interest - need to know. If the audience don't care about the news or it doesn't affect them or someone of high important, they won't be interested and it won't create a good news story.

Here is an example of how a news story can be set out when in a live interview.

Presenter intro > 2 way live > slot > conference > v/o > PTC > 2way > sign out

Reporters are important however they aren't always relevant for every scene. Usually during interviews we establish the interview with a two shot then end on the interviewee as we don't care about the reporter, we want to hear what the interviewee is saying.

The agenda for the days of news stories is important, often news programmes start with new and bigger headline stories at the beginning of the news as this grabs the attention of the audience and will allow the news to sell the story quickly. News from this country is always put first as it is classed as the most important, international news is only put at the beginning of the news if it is war related or affects our country.

In conclusion, researching how to sell a good story and taking notes from todays lecture has really helped me realise what's important in a news story and what to include in it. Hopefully when creating our news piece we can use these ways to sell a good story to make our news package and live interview interesting and news worthy.

Digital News Production: Hugh Lowe Farms - Research.

After previously discussing ideas we had in mind, I decided to start some research looking into the farm and what else it does.

HUGH LOWE FARMS.

Our group found a story that took everyone's interest immediately - originally we wanted to look at upcoming awards for 'The Garden of England' but whilst browsing we saw a garden called 'Hugh Lowe Farms LTD' (had already won an award) this took our interest as the farm on the website is beautifully portrayed with imagery of the large domes (poly tunnels) that keep the food harvest all year round and the bright strawberries and raspberries that are showed in the image gallery. We thought looking at a farm would be unique and different, and would create a more interesting story talking about why and how they won an award whilst also promoting the work they do at the farm.
After further research we found imagery of all the staff on board and looked at what they each do and what their part in the farm is, begging the question... Why is the farm so different and won an award?

Source: http://www.hughlowefarms.com

I found out that not only is the farm producing, it also gives to the community and wants to help children learn about the produce. Looking on the website I discovered that HLF (Hugh Lowe Farms) donates fruit for charity events, raises money for red nose day and allows schools to visit the farm, showing them around not just the farm but inside the packhouse too. The seasonal staff also join in on local events and run a popular strawberry stall at there village fete which all the community are welcome to visit including promoting careers in farming to students.

The farm is around 400 acres and is protected under polytunnels which allows farmers to harvert from may to mid autumn instead of typical English weather which is during the 'summer' months June and July around 8 weeks. According to www.britishsummerfruits.co.uk Strawberries were previously very hard to grow in Britain. Alot of the strawberries was wasted or used for the processing of jam as the berries was not of high enough quality - unlike Spain, France and America which used polytunnels more frequently allowing more reliable climates and, dominated the UK market with imports. However, now British farmers use polytunnels more which protects 80% of soft fruit in supermarkets including tomatoes, onions, potatoes and obviously strawberries and raspberries.

I also discovered that the farm has had a few famous visitors to the farm including Dame Kelly (athlete) whilst also filming their own TV series with Michael Roux.

Filming their TV series.

Dame Kelly visiting the farm.

I decided to look further into the background of the garden and who runs it.

THE REGAN FAMILY.

The Regan family is the 5th generation that farms the land, having grown fruit for well over a century. Tom Pearson is the Farms manager and leads a team of 37 employees and 500 seasonal staff. The family encourages job applications from local residents as work is always grateful, as well as a lot of the seasonal staff being students from EU countries in the accommodation. The family not only works on the farm but they live on it too. The farm grows a mixture of fruits from Driscolls Jubilee heart shaped berries to Tulameen and Driscolls Carmel.

Source: http://www.berrygardens.co.uk/Pages/default.aspx

The farm came under a lot of scrutiny in July 2011 when campaigners had complained that the Poly tunnels was 'damaging the environment' and 'a blot on the landscape'. However, the locals opinions on the poly tunnels was extremely debated - with '191 letters of objection' and '147 letters of support'
Alot of the main objection was that poly tunnels took rain away from the fruits, which meant as the fruits needed to be watered, it would be 'wasting' water as it could receive water from the rain.

However, Mrs Reagan said: "We had no objection from the Environment Agency, no objection from Natural England and no objection from the Kent Wildlife Trust. The people who do know the detail of the application and the science behind it - they did not object."

Luckily, the Farm was able to keep the 400 acres of land and the poly tunnels and grow more fruits!

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-14137447

Not only does the farm donate to charity, grow berries and fruit, get in touch with students and school I also found out that it has built TWO polytunners for two local schools which allow the schools to grow their own fruit and vegetable. Also the farm hosts a Barn Dance every year for local charities. I found out on the website that the farm is affiliated with the other news story piece we may be looking into, The RSPB charity.

After all this research I understand why they have won an award for the 'Garden of England' champion - their award was won for Strawberries, the baby Jubilee variety.

I think this story would be interesting for our package news story as the elements in a package include;

• Interviews - we can interview the family and workers.
• G/V's (general views) / Cutaways - shots of the farm and the food they grow. 
• Set ups - The workers, any events happening.
• Graphics - Statistics on the farm.
• Sequences and actuality. - The process of picking fruits to the packing room.

I have wrote down all the details on a picture below so when we contact them we have all the information needed.

Hopefully the farm is interested in being in our news piece package as I think we could get some amazing shots from the farm and some actuality shots along with footage from any events on and the family.

Digital News Production: IDEAS

In our groups we needed to work together to find different ideas for our channel. Vic, Charlie and I all decided to first begin brainstorming a variety of ideas, then we would decide what genre of website we wanted to create.

I have put together some of the ideas our group thought of on the Prezi below.

(click play and follow the arrows!)



Below I will give a very brief explanation of our two current MAIN ideas. (full individual research on my next post!)

After a lot of research and discussion into each topic and subject including looking at the positives and negatives such as;
Will it be allowed? Can we create content from the story? Will it fit into a package or a ''live'' news report? Will we cause too much bad publicity (food restaurants under investigation), How easy can get in contact with people and is it interesting? we soon narrowed it down to looking at a 'rewarding' story (for our package piece) which we found off www.tasteofkentawards.co.uk whilst looking for reward/food/competition stories. We found a garden called 'Hugh Lowe Farms LTD' which is an established garden of over a century that has won an award for 'The Garden of England' the farm also takes part in a lot of other activities which we have yet to research fully into.
Source: http://www.tasteofkentawards.co.uk/

For our ''live'' piece we decided to choose a similar theme which also pushed our decision to have our channel as a nature/wildlife theme.

We found a charity called The RSPB which is a nature conservation charity found in 1889, also working internationally to protect birds and wildlife. We also found an event called The Big Garden Birdwatch on the 16th and 18th of October which are fundraisers that we thought we could attend and interview the fundraisers for our ''live'' piece.

Source: http://www.rspb.org.uk/

On my next blog I will further discuss the ideas we found including research into Hugh Lowe Farms LTD Gardens and The RSPB.

Digital News Production: TYPES OF INTERVIEWS

In todays lecture we looked at different types of interviews in journalism. There are 3 different types which can be applied to different styles of programmes.
The first is hard exposure this is an investigative type of interview and often puts pressure on the interviewee to answer.
Another example is informational the interview is heavily based on information for the audience and doesn't focus on opinions at all.
The last interview is emotional these types of interviews tend to be engaging and often reveal the subjects real emotions which often entice the audience into watching especially if it's a person of high importance subject such as a celebrity or a Royal person.

Different types of interviews are applied in certain situations. Emotional interviews are often shown in hard hitting documentary styled interviews as they want the viewer to feel more relaxed and show their true emotions. Hard exposure interviews are often found on TV shows and dominant news interviewers such as Paxman as he is very 'in your face' and demands answers until he gets them.
This also relates to adversarial interviews these are very cross examination based as public want answers.

There are many different forms of interviews that can address the news differently.
Usually hard hitting news is quite short as it gives quick essential facts, information and contributors giving there opinions.
Interpretive interviews want reactions and explanations of events, these usually consist of questions such as who, what, where when?

Entertaining pieces of news are often shown towards the end of the news as a more light hearted piece to end on so the audience don't go away feeling drained and full of factual information.

Vox pop interviews are often used as sound bites as quick snippets of the publics opinions to fit into informational pieces. They can also be used from people of high importance as sound bites in news articles. Often politicians use keywords as they know that the media will use them for sound bites in news reports to reference them by.

News packages are much more informative as they used multiple interviews combined together to create one story. Packages are setups and usually include graphics, sequences and actuality.

Emotional type interviews are intended to touch on peoples emotions and get the audience engaged in the programme.

When a story is in the public interest and have a 'need to know' the media turns to the door step approach. This is when the media turn up at someones door step and demand to know answers off them. This has to have a interest motive though, or finding a perpetrator.

At the end of a report, the reporter always ends with their name and location and sign off back to the studios.
The basic narrative of a news report always starts with the introduction > body > conclusion.

Digital News Production: WRITING FOR A SCRIPT

Today in our lecture we look at how to write for a script. We discussed writing techniques, necessary facts and ensuring balance.

Looking at a few videos we found that when writing a script we must concentrate on the following factors:
We need to have something to say - don't just talk about something irrelevant!
Try writing one syllable words - this allows us to take a different look on the writing.
Evoke atmosphere - We should be descriptive throughout the script and provide an atmosphere in the script so it's not plain and boring.
Provide context - We should make sure we're actually TALKING, not just telling the audience a bunch of facts, tell it like a story.
Simple chronological order - When writing a script we need to make sure everything is in order from beginning to end.

Looking at an Allan Little piece he talked about how a sentence should be around 16 words average. So we should follow this when writing our scripts so we're not rambling on, but also so our sentences aren't too short and snappy.

Source: D Day Talk Allan Little - Boxing Day 2004.

Allan also discussed 'What makes a  good piece of writing?'

I picked up on certain writing techniques he mentions such as; the use of alliteration to make it more catchy, but also avoiding repetition throughout the script as it becomes boring. Allan thinks we should use similies and metaphors and exaggeration, but don't make it too over the top as it needs to be realistic and accurate.

During the lecture we also discussed the PAGE F TEST whilst writing a script.
We should make sure our script is;

P RESICE
A CCURATE
G ERMANE
E QUITABLE
F LOW

When writing a script, we must check facts with reliable sources, if we don't our facts become unverifiable and less important. It could also cause distress if we use the wrong sources especially if writing a very sensitive piece or something which involves a family. When writing a news report or article we should also note down when we accessed the information as stories are always updating changing and could become inaccurate.

sally bercow bbc twitter

ordered to pay £15,000 + damage six fig costs in liberal case
lord mcalphone child sex scandal
bbc also paid defamation (ruin rep) damages £185,000

When researching a story we should do in depth research and look at everything! After finding facts and a relevant story, we can narrow the research down and eventually come up with a story and an interesting lead. However, when we research into the story, we must look at the story objectively and take both sides of the story - even if we believe one side we cannot be seen to interfere or take sides - this ensures balance and considers peoples representation.

TIE WRITING

When having two or more stories, news reporters try use tie writing. Tie writing is when you try to naturally link two stories together, this is to help naturally go from one story to the other.

Eg: moving on, on the other hand, therefor, however, moreover, furthermore.

The script must be in the correct order to form continuity and balance. Usually the story starts with

THE LEAD IN - COMING UP

THE PACKAGE

TAG  - PAY OFF - EG: RUBY ROGRS, BBC, HULL.

The introduction should be 10-15 seconds, the 2 way 10-15 seconds and the live tag should be 10-15 seconds.

THE LEAD:

The lead is extremely important in a news report as it's what the audience see's straight away, if it's boring and doesn't entice the audience in, nobody will watch. The audience shouldn't respond in a 'so what?' way, they should want to know 'what's in it for me?' and feel drawn in to watching the piece.

The lead should be:

-Attention grabbing
-Concise - dont overload facts
-Fresh + new
-Use an active voice
-Be creative
-Have a conversational tone
-Use narrative

Source: www.channel4.com/learning/breakingthennews/schools/channel4newsroom/ad_leadinscripts.html/

The report should be interesting and informative, however don't weigh down the leads with facts or it will become too much information for the viewer to take in, not to mention boring. The facts should always be in the main body, not the lead or the sign off.

When speaking the presenter/reporter should use an active voice:
subject -> verb -> object

EG: england beats argentina, celebrations on the pitch as they take a step closer to world cup glory

conversational tone -> tease audience

And finally, we should always make sure there if synergy between what we're watching and what we're saying - if you're watching a clip of a corner shop, but talking about wild life animals it's not going to make sense at all and the visual footage will be completely irrelevant.

Introduction to Second Year: UNIT BRIEFING.

Today we started our first day as second years and was introduced to the new space and equipment in the studio.

As second years, we have been challenged this year to do two units at once. Helen explained that the two units she briefed to us are:

     1. Digital News Production;

When first being introduced to this unit I was quite worried as my strong point isn't journalism - however it will give me a chance to try challenge myself and become more confident working on different platforms and let out my creative side through making a title sequence and also allow me to practice interview skills and creating a ''live'' production which i'm excited for.

In groups of 3/4 we must design our own, original news channel through websites such as Youtube and Vimeo.

We must include;

• An original title sequence/GFX/branded strapline/stings that fits your own original channel identity
• Promotional Package - a presenter led teaser for your news items.
• Appropriate branding/banner at top.

-1 news package per group - 2'00 - 2'30 duration.

-1 ''live'' OB report with a reporter on location (recorded as live to the specified duration of 2'00'') which may include some pre-shot material.

-All video material from workshops on the unit should also be uploaded to your channel.

-Films should be accompanied by supporting written material about your news stories and published on your own news channel. 

As part of this unit we must also write a critical case study which should be 1,500 words.

We must contrast two main evening news programmed from the same day - this could be either Channel 5, ITV, BBC ect. 

We must discuss and consider how the stories are covered for example who was interviewed and where? 

How packages, OOV's (out of view shots) and intros are used.

The impact of new media on their coverage.

Comparing two evening programmes will allow us to see how different conventions and styles are used in news programmes, for example, are they formal? What sort of audience are they based at? Is it for a niche audience?

      2. Fictional Adaptation.

When first being introduced to this unit, I wasn't looking forward to it - however when discussing how texts can be adapted and experimented with and the different methods used such as contemporary, abstract, animation, modern and many other creative decisions, I became much more enthusiastic and wanted to make sure I chose my poem with deep thought and make sure I felt connected to the poem and know how to adapt it to my short film. 

Poems of the Great War.

In this unit we are challenged to adapt a poem from the Great War into a short film. It can take any form and style we want which can include anything from time lapse to dance. The words from the poem must be present somehow through the film whether this takes its form in dialogue or part of the short film on the screen.

We will be working on the project by ourselves but we will need to seek collaboration from other people to help with camerawork, sound and casting - however we will be the director and editor of our projects which i'm happy about. We must adapt the poem using our own ideas into a short film and try show what we think the poem is portraying using experimental and creative thinking.

The film must be 3-5 minutes, including opening titles and end credits.

If we use music it must be original or royalty free.

Quicktime file and uploaded to channel.

Whoever picks the same poem as us will be working in a group together to create a series title, we must all come together to design the title and it must be exactly the same for all our poems. 

As part of this unit we must also write an essay which should be 2,000 - 2,500 words and include Harvard referencing.

The essay questions we must pick from are found below:

1) Discuss the view that ''with a successful adaptation, the original work is transformed into something new and different, although retaining many traces of what it was formerly'' with reference to at least one text adapted for broadcast on television.

2) To what extent is it true that ''Adaptation of classic texts enable contemporary audience to re-visit the past; as such they can be situated within the broader context of postmodern appropriations of history''? Examine with reference to at least one text adapted for broadcast on television.

3) In adapting a novel the adapter inevitably infringes the integrity of the original text - discuss with reference to at least one text adapted for broadcast on television.

I'm quite excited about the projects and looking forward to the Fictional Adaptation unit as it seems very creative