Wednesday 11 May 2011

Television Assessment Evaluation

Television Assessment Evaluation

For my television assessment package, I decided to cover one of the biggest news stories of the year so far, the Royal Wedding. The sheer scale of the event meant that there were many ways in which I could tackle the story and report on it. I decided that I would report on the main events of the wedding day, as this is what the majority of audience would want to know about. I made the decision to tackle the project alone; however there were certain elements to the production which required help from a colleague. My colleague presented the studio link, as well as being cameraman to record my pieces to camera. I decided that, as presenting is my strength, I would present the pieces to camera.

In terms of production values, I am satisfied with the setting for my filmed pieces. Starting with the studio link, I used a green screen to provide a television studio setting. However, this took several attempts, as the first take was done without a tripod. This became apparent when applying the chroma key, placing an image behind the presenter, and subsequently finding the presenter hovering across the screen, due to a shaky camera. This was resolved by re-filming with a tripod. The settings for my pieces to camera were a little less imaginative, using an area of greenery to portray a London park. On reflection, I should have made the effort to go to London to film the action in one of the major locations for the wedding, either outside of Westminster Abbey or Buckingham Palace. In general, sound quality throughout the production is good, very much improved in comparison to earlier packages, which can be viewed at www.lewismasonlive.blogspot.com. Some of the sound levels differ throughout the package, due to different locations and natural sound interference. However, the clarity of sound is generally good due to the use of a microphone; something that I didn’t use in earlier packages.

A lot of my footage was archive footage from external sources. In terms of using the footage in relation to the voiceovers, I am much happier with the positioning of the pictures in this package. For example, when the voiceover says, “the first kiss”, we see footage of the first kiss. However, in earlier packages, I haven’t done this as successfully. An example of this is during my Lady Gaga – Queen of Twitter package, where I say “enclosed in a giant egg”. We then see the giant egg later in the package, when it would have looked better positioned in time with that part of the voiceover. On reflection, I have noticed that a lot of my clips follow on rather ‘hard’ from the previous clip. It is good for the package to be tight, but I think that there needed to be a little more breathing space at certain points within the production. Also, the last event I cover from the Royal Wedding is Prince William and Kate Middleton appearing in a vintage car. This piece doesn’t seem to flow with the rest of the package. Perhaps this content shouldn’t have been included. However, I believe that it could have worked, had the voiceover been worded differently, bringing the package to a close.

A key feature within the package is that of an interview. In order to bring an authoritative source and a sense of actuality to the piece, I selected someone who attended the wedding for interview. Unfortunately, the only interview I could arrange was a telephone interview. However, my interviewee, who was chief executive of the Child Bereavement Charity - which Prince William is patron of, gave me some really good material and great quotes. On reflection, I would have liked the interview filmed. Also, I attempted to contact more high profile guests from the wedding including Tara Palmer Tomkinson and Ben Fogle. I received replies stating that Tomkinson was too busy and that Fogle felt that he had said everything he had to say about the wedding. On the other hand, I received a positive response from Welsh rugby player, Gareth Thomas, but this response came too late in the production line. However, I am happy with how the interview section sounds, and it allowed me to do more work with titling.

Despite having elements which can inevitably be improved, I am happy with the package as a whole and look forward to developing my skills and techniques next semester.
   

Monday 9 May 2011

Lady Gaga - Queen of Twitter

Evaluative Comments
This is the package that I am most pleased with from this unit. It incorporates a number of different conventions and shows alot of progress from my earlier packages such as Train Near Misses. Within this package, I especially like the use of archive footage and the way the package finishes, using the subject of the story to wrap the story up. Elements which I believe could be improved include:
Relatable footage - Some of the voiceover could match up with certain pictures - which doesn't happen. An example of this is where the voice over states, "enclosed in a giant egg". We later see a picture of the "giant egg". Ideally, this should have been shown when the voiceover said this.
Sound - The sound of the studio link and piece to camera is good, due to the use of a microphone. However, the vox pops needed a microphone, preferably with a boom and fluffy to make the interviewees voices more dominant than natural sounds such as aircraft and wind.
Vox Pops - We gathered some good opinions with our vox pops, however, we use the same person twice within the vox pop sequence, which could suggest laziness, even if they had more than one valid point.

Breast Milk Ice Cream

Evaluative Comments
As a whole, an improved package upon the Train Misses. However, items to be improved include:
Sound - Again, a microphone is needed on the piece to camera. Also, the vox pops needed audio gain.
Setting - The setting for the studio link is better than the Train Misses package, but still needs to be improved as the lighting is still not fantastic. Although, in some respects, having natural light in the piece is positive.
Titling - When quoting Brian Connell, the titling used to illustrate the text was dull, with black and white not being effective in this instance.

Train Near Misses

Evaluative Points
This is an early package created during my BA Hons Journalism course at UCA Farnham. Looking back at the package, I can see that the package is of poor quality with some of the main points needing to be worked on being:
Studio Link - The setting for the piece to camera in the studio link needs to be selected more carefully taking light and framing into consideration.
Sound - Some of the sound is awful, especially in outdoor settings. The use of a microphone is needed.

However, there are some points which I believe work nicely in this package including:

Natural sound - Allowing the natural sound to work on its own is effective. In this case, we used the sound of a train horn.
Phone interview - This is a technique that is effective if you are unable to conduct an interview to camera. Especially with an authorititive source.
Archive footage - The use of archive footage allows you to tell the stroy with a range of pictures you may not have been able to capture yourself.

Friday 18 March 2011

Avenue Q Podcast


Join me as I meet the cast of Avenue Q!
I caught up with Mrs T, Trekkie Monster, Princeton, Kate Monster and legendary puppeteer Nigel Plaskitt.

Enjoy!