TV News Reporting and Production – MCM 516 VU TV News, reporting and Production MCM 516 Table of Contents Page No. Lesson 1 Creativity and idea generation for television 3 Lesson 2 Pre-requisites of a Creative Producer/Director 7 Lesson 3 Refining an idea for Production 10 Lesson 4 Concept Development 14 Lesson 5 Research and reviews 16 Lesson 6 Script Writing 18 Lesson 7 Pre-production phase 21 Lesson 8 Selection of required Content and talent 25 Lesson 9 Programme planning 29 Lesson 10 Production phase 35 Lesson 11 Camera Work 38 Lesson 12 Light and Audio 43 Lesson 13 Day of Recording/Production 52 Lesson 14 Linear editing and NLE 61 Lesson 15 Mixing and Uses of effects 64 Lesson 16 Selection of the News 69 Lesson 17 Writing of the News 72 Lesson 18 Editing of the News 75 Lesson 19 Compilation of News Bulletin 77 Lesson 20 Presentation of News Bulletin 80 Lesson 21 Making Special Bulletins 82 Lesson 22 Technical Codes, Terminology, and Production Grammar 84 Lesson 23 Types of TV Production 89 Lesson 24 Drama and Documentary 91 Lesson 25 Sources of TV News 93 Lesson 26 Functions of a Reporter 97 Lesson 27 Beats of Reporting 98 Lesson 28 Structure of News Department 99 Lesson 29 Electronic Field Production 101 Lesson 30 Live Transmissions 103 Lesson 31 Qualities of a news producer 108 Lesson 32 Duties of a news producer 111 Lesson 33 Assignment/News Editor 112 Lesson 34 Shooting a News film 114 Lesson 35 Preparation of special reports 117 Lesson 36 Interviews, vox pops and public opinions 121 Lesson 37 Back Ground voice and voice over 125 Lesson 38 Spoken words and relevant visuals 130 Lesson 39 Talk shows, forums and Discussion Programmes 141 Lesson 40 Functions of various departments of a TV set up 143 Lesson 41 Programmes department 146 Lesson 42 News and Current Affairs 151 © Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan 1 TV News Reporting and Production – MCM 516 VU Lesson 43 Coordination among Different Departments of Television 1: 155 Lesson 44 Coordination among Different Departments of Television 2 164 Lesson 45 Recap of the course 168 © Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan 2 TV News Reporting and Production – MCM 516 VU LESSON 01 CREATIVITY AND IDEA GENERATION FOR TELEVISION Importance of Television among other media In this age of Globalization and information mass media are indispensable tools of communication and in this era of science and technology the space and time have been squeezed. History witnessed the traditional warfare, followed by Cold warfare, Psychological warfare and then the modern warfare but in today’s media warfare the words are weapons and the satellites are the artillery and due to information imperialism it’s the matter of information haves and information have-nots. Other tools of Communication Leaflets, pamphlets, flyers, brochures, booklets, books, magazines, digests, posters, mountings, buntings, flags, banners, billboards, hoardings, radio, film, theatre. Purposes of television Information Education Edification Acculturation Persuasion Propaganda Entertainment Amusement Info-tainment Picture is the base of Television Production Earlier the term of “Motion picture” came based on the same fact that on the screen there were “pictures in motion”. Later the term was replaced by the “Film” and “Movie”. Phases in preparation of a TV programme Pre-production phase Production phase Post-production phase The first stage involves the “library work” i.e. research and script writing. The second stage involves the “leg work” i.e. field and studio work. The third stage involves the “laboratory work” i.e. editing and mixing. The prime job of a Producer is to: Generate an idea of a programme Presentation of the idea Refine that idea for production Develop a concept Decide the contents Engaging a researcher Getting the script written Hunting the talent i.e. actors, anchors, newscasters Preparing the Programme Budget Estimate Making the arrangements Coordinating with different sections Discussion with the set designer for indoor programmes Reconnaissance or survey of location for outdoor programmes Discussion with the cameraman Planning for the programme © Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan 3 TV News Reporting and Production – MCM 516 VU Casting of artists and performer Scheduling the recording Rehearsals of the participants Recording the programme with production crew Editing the programme with Editor Audio mixing Adding graphics Making title and promos A good director and producer need to carry on all these steps to the best of his capabilities and to the optimum level of his efficiency. Better the programme planning and the time management, greater the quality and value of the production. The creativity will not be well on screen if the whole process is not executed properly and timely. Video Procedures TV Production Crew Positions Following is a list of crew positions you could encounter in a multi-camera television production. Not all positions will be filled all of the time--smaller productions will not have some of the more specialized job duties or one person will fill several positions. Larger productions will have more specialized positions and assistants or associates to provide, well, assistance. For a detailed description of the job performed by each, see your text. Producer: Executive, Associate, Line, etc. Director: Associate, Assistant, Floor, Technical Writer Set Designer Makeup/Wardrobe Talent Audio Engineer Video Engineer Videotape Engineer/Operator Camera Operator Production Assistant It is important that each person understand and perform his/her job responsibilities with maximum efficiency. Multi-camera television production is team-work, and for the team to operate effectively, it must coordinate and communicate. While the television production process may at times appear to be a confusing ballet (lyrics in Italian), there is a method to the madness. Please read and put into practice the following procedures for studio set-up and strike. Future Trends High Definition Television Production Production and transmission need not share the same technical system. In fact, as long as a production standard is readily convertible to the transmission standard, it makes a great deal of sense to use two different systems, according to many HDTV experts. For years, broadcast television has used 35mm film as its acquisition format and as a source for transfer to NTSC video for post-production and distribution. Despite the availability of HDTV production technology since the mid 1980s, 35mm film remains the premier worldwide acquisition standard for high-quality television. In fact, all the talk of HDTV may have resulted in the promotion of film as a production format. Due to all the uncertainty as to which HDTV transmission system will finally prevail, many producers feel that the safest route is still to shoot on film; they reason that they will eventually be able to transfer the film images to © Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan 4 TV News Reporting and Production – MCM 516 VU whatever HDTV system wins out. Currently, the closest thing that the video community can promote as a worldwide production standard is D-1, which records both 525- and 625-line systems. The NHK 1125/60 system was being promoted as a worldwide standard with the assumption that once the material has been recorded and edited, it can be down-converted to either NTSC or PAL, or even transferred to film. And once the HDTV distribution systems have been standardized, the 1125/60 video could be converted to whatever HDTV transmission system is required. The unknown variable here is the quality and cost of the conversion. Two glitches in the HDTV production process are still being resolved. One is constructing an imaging device that has both the resolution and the sensitivity necessary to produce an image suitable for HDTV pictures. Tubes, which were quickly replaced by CCDs in almost every other production environment, have disappeared more slowly from HDTV camera. Tubes still have an edge in resolution, and resolution is, of course, central to the whole idea of HDTV. The tubes used in some HDTV cameras were high-gain, avalanche rushing amorphous photoconductor (HARP) tubes. Unfortunately, resolution is achieved at the expense of sensitivity. The smaller the focus of the electron beam, the higher the resolution and the lower the sensitivity, thus requiring more light on the set. Especially when compared to the newer and faster 35mm film stocks, HDTV production using tube cameras required extra lighting, which in production means more fixtures and increased setup time. Another complication has involved achieving the necessary optical resolution for the lenses used with HDTV cameras. While lenses for high-quality 35mm film production have evolved to become high quality imaging tools, the history of video production has not, until HDTV, required similar performance. Also known as advanced television (ATV), extended-definition television (EDTV), and improved- definition television (IDTV), HDTV is an improved television system with at least double the horizontal and vertical resolution, wider aspect ratio, and superior audio when compared to the current television broadcast standards, e.g., NTSC and PAL. With approximately twice as many scan lines as current television systems, a larger screen with a wider aspect ratio, and six-channel, compact-disc-quality, surround sound, the HDTV experience will approach projected 35mm film. According to CCIR Report 801, HDTV is described as able to replicate reality when the viewer is seated three screen heights away from the display. Higher resolution, better color reproduction, separate color and luminance signals, a wider and perhaps larger screen, and life- like audio will all be combined to make the HDTV experience larger than life, especially when compared to the current NTSC system. HDTV also has professional and business applications beyond television entertainment. Some suggested applications for this new technology include; telemedicine, computer design, and teleconferencing. Yet another suggestion is that HDTV will finally make possible a concept sometimes referred to as electronic cinema.