[Pro-diary] Response To Brief

We responded to the brief by sitting in our group and discussing possible angles that we could approach this assignment from. We brainstormed our ideas using knowledge that we already had of The Manchester College to see if our combined knowledge could create a unique, interesting and informative news story.

As we have only just started the course, collectively we have a fairly limited knowledge of the college so some research into its history needed to be done. The best way for us to acquire some knowledge of the college would be to talk to some of the more seasoned staff members to see if they had any insider knowledge. I responded by quizzing the reception and library staff on the merger that happened between the two colleges. 


The librarian went on her computer for a few minutes and responded by handing me a piece of paper with this website written on it: “www.themanchestercollege.ac.uk/about/history”

She told me that all the information I needed to know about the merger could be found on the website she had given me. This, although was very helpful of her, it created a problem for me as when I checked the website, I  found all the information I needed to know to create a news package. This meant that if I were to produce news package on the history of the college, it would lack uniqueness and originality as I would just be pulling information from an alternative source and reproducing it, and the aims of a journalist is to research, probe and find out new information worthy of a report. Although this technique of reproducing information to create a news package is still very present in the industry, it was not what I was looking for in an original and personal news package.

Our brainstorm continued, and we looked at fairly broad and general topics in the hope that we could find a new angle on an already covered story. Some of the ideas we came up with were quite generic and felt that those areas had already been explored, and would not produce any new and exclusive information. 

An extremely half-hearted mind map shows our initial discussions- (or the lack of it). It turned out that we, as a group, were better at communicating on a verbal level and that not much pen was put to paper during that first group discussion. Although the information on the mind map is almost useless to assess from an educational standpoint, what it does represent is that start of us working together, a wall that has to be broken down when starting any new course.

As is evident, we didn't really find anything of descent quality. One of the 'unique' ideas that we looked into was regarding the headmaster of The Manchester College. As 1st years at the college, we are yet to meet the head teacher of our institution. I looked into, and developed an innovative take on a very classic situation, giving it a twist.

Online Link to VT

Here is the link to our VT - uploaded onto popular video hosting site youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krSaqeydFsI&context=C31925b6ADOEgsToPDskI0xVoHZSPsy_23Br-SVnKE

Signal Pathway

This is how i plan to wire the studio on assessment day:

Running Order

By Fred Velody

Cumulative Time (mins)	Item Time (mins)	Item Title	Video	Audio	Graphics
0.15	0.15	Title Intro	Intro	Intro Theme	Pre-prepared graphics on VT – not live
0.30	0.15	LIVE Introduction Of Presenter	Presenter to camera infront of Musician	Presenter talking on clip-on mic	Graphics on lower third of presenter already added on the vision mixer
2.00	1.30	RUN VT of Performance In Lesson	Pre-prepared video	VT AUDIO	n/a
3.20	1.20	LIVE Presenter Introducing Media Students	3 camera’s on dolly’s intercutting	2 clip Microphones	Graphics in the lower thrid of the interviewer and the media student name already added on the vision mixer
8.20	5.00	Pre-recorded Performance of Music Students	3 Camera Set Up	Music from the band	Graphics in the lower thrid of the band name

My Programme Proposal

The brief was to divide into groups to plan, develop and produce a news package that relates to The Manchester College. The package is to be broadcast online, through a popular streaming website called Ustream. In order to complete this task, we need to split ourselves into roles in order to fulfill all the neccessary jobs required. The roles that we are assigned must be stuck to throughout the process as each role has specific tasks that must be completed in all stages of production (eg Vision Mixer - Running Order). These roles are identical to those already used in the Industry.

The brief outlines that the broadcast must be around 5 minutes long, and needs to include a pre-edited VT as well as a Live broadcast from a studio set up by the group.

 Our broadcast is to be about students from different subjects that are working towards a common goal. During the 1st term of our course, our tutors kindly created a mutual relationship between students from our Broadcasting course, and 2nd year students from a Music course. In the media industry, it is essential for all aspects of audio and visual to come together and work collaboratively. This project is allowing us a jump start into this industry as both parties can benefit from the exchange. The media students are given subject matter to film, and music students are given an oppertunity to have their performances immortalised to tape. This is common practice in the production of music videos and often, production companies offer musicians the oppertunity to create a music video and to create a symbiotic relationship in which both companies can benefit.
We plan to document this process over the next month, in order to produce an informative news package that explores the expectations and relationships of students from both courses during this process. We will be filming the sessions in which both parties are involved, documenting the relationship and recording 1 on 1 interviews to find out about the personal experiences and expectations.

The programme should be five minutes long and is roughly broken down into this layout:
15 sec title
15 sec presenter intro
1 minute vt of music students
1 minute live of music students
1 minute vt of media students
1 minute live of media students
15 sec presenter outro
15 sec end credits


In total, there will be about 2minutes of pre-shot tape that will be cut to twice during the live broadcast. The newscaster/anchor will read an introduction to the tape while live and then the pre-recorded story will follow. The transition between the live studio and the pre-recorded material will have to be repeatedly rehearsed until our group is able to seamlessly switch between the studio and the tape.


Looking at forms and conventions set by already established news broadcasts, we are able to begin thinking about our news style and graphics, which leads me to think about our broadcast in more general terms. 
In order for our broadcast to attract our audience, we have to work with what the audience aleady know and understand. The style of our broadcast and graphics that we are using have to work with the audience, building on pre-concieved ideas of what a typical news broadcast should contain. 
Since the creation of television broadcasting, audiences have been able to associate and relate to programming by being able to recognize key features of each prgoramme, helping the audience to distinguish between them. This is not any different for our production. From the first second of our broadcast, the audience need to know and understand what type of programme they are watching. It is important that this happens and is what will help influence our choice in everything we produce, ranging all the way from the style of graphics to the clothes the presenter wears.


By Fred Velody

VT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krSaqeydFsI&feature=youtu.be

Personal Performance

To evaluate myself on the performance I gave throughout the project, I have no problem in saying that without the effort and contributions I made to the package, we would not have ended up with such an original piece. On the flip side of the coin, I have no doubt that without all 3 other members of my team, we would not have had the same result.

All my fellow project workers put in equal efforts throughout, and the combinations of skills we possessed  meant that we could individually excel at the areas that others were lacking in, meaning that we had all aspects of production could be covered by one or more members of the team. I found that one of the areas I was able to greatly contribute to was positive attitude and direction. I feel that encouraging your peers is always crucial in a team activity, and work is no different.

A constant positive attitude and willing to succeed will boost the confidence of your group and others around you. In reference to direction, I felt I was always encouraging the other members of my group to go to the next level with their idea. If one of them came up with an idea, I would either try and directly build upon it, or ask them related questions to see if I could help find deeper meaning to the idea at hand. This sort of exercise helps to greatly develop ideas as well as getting the group all on the same page. I believe this to be a key skill, and one of the reasons I would grade myself highly on the content, styles and techniques of the package. To evaluate my progress, I learnt to take initial ideas to the next stage of the process, where I was able to develop potential stories and “run with them” as I believe a good story sells itself, so finding a good story is crucial to the success of your broadcast.

 There were a few moments in the project, mainly towards the later stages, in which I noticed that everyone was starting to have the same visions and discussions on content and style would become more intense as we were all able to visualise each other’s ideas.