So, just a few important points made at the TV Masterclass
Overall:
contact book - contacts, relations - not only phone calls, face to face contact will give you more information and more detail straight away
targeted audience - think WINOL land - 500 viewers would be the golden target
be more ambitious than last year since were a bigger team - team work absolute vital!
Generally: sport - men, feature - women (balance)
Bulletins:
put work in before monday morning - always bring at least two stories - it's about people not an issue
press officers will not help you and call you back and won't be helpful
talk to the affected people first - for example the Union if job cuts - then council
hit problems and overcome them = success
no need to explain how we've done things or haven't been able to do something
we are journalists
persistance!
right place right time!
you need to write text stories and have photo to go with it this semester and publish on the site alongside with the VT
Harry Evans book! to get the style right
take still photos when you're out and about
fight for your stories to get them in the bulletin and justify why you want it in there
prep before output - watch and scrutinise daily TV bulletins - half hour every day
running order - why to put which story in what order - think of your audience (1,2,3 story)
organisation of bulletin
balance
reporters - hero reporter/presenter that you respect, story crafter
deconstruct, interpret and use in your own work
listen to links (!) - worst aspect at minute - ours are being overlooked at minute - not least important - explain it in link prior to it
*start piece with natural sound - not through reporter
*conflict = story = angle
*develop a story
*soften things - it makes things more natural
*humanise/personalise the story
*change camera around to get different angles for same shot (sequence)
*framing - we shoot in thirds
*best picture first to engage people in your story
*don't start with PTC (piece to camera)
*no guilty signs
Phrases to ban:
I couldn't find a story/feature (- lots of stories going all the time)
I want to do a story about the ... recession (worse than 1)
you have to talk to actual real people, most read papers - especially local ones, listen to radio stations, bulletins
I couldn't do the story cause they didn't ring me back - you can't be passive as a journalist
too little too late - don't use
remains to be seen - don't use
I spoke to (name)... / I'm at (place)... - don't do - use captions
Targets:
women sport and other sports (not only football) better mix
not rely on highlight packages every week
one featured team from campus in bulletin each week
cultivate sport
Production:
a bit more ambitious with production - especially since we've got the tricaster now so use it more from outside the studio (OB's preferably 1 a week etc)
work on projects, not only the bulletin, such as updating the intro, the look at the show, green screen
team has to get trained in using Joomla (CMS - content management system)
and also some Flash training to be able to make headers and such on website
Features:
a lot more pictures, photography, think visually!
feature program to go on back of WINOL bulletin
booker - someone to book guests etc - maybe a first year student?
need to be more fun and eye catching
cross pollination between departments to promote each other
