CRITIQUE ON A LOCAL PRODUCTION: CITIZENS ‘LIVE AT NINE’ NEWS
Introduction
‘Live at Nine’ comes every nine o’clock on Citizen TV. It is a production that fully concentrates on giving out news on the recent happening in our country and also from around the world. The production mainly concentrates on hard news.
I chose to critique the Live at Nine production: first, because the nine o’clock news are the central news of the day and therefore a lot of production work is put into it, second, because Citizen TV has a news studio that differs and is therefore unique from the rest of the local stations.
The following is a general critique of the ten episodes that I have watched.
Production Characteristics
The studio
The production takes place in a real (not virtual) studio which has been acoustically treated. One can see that the floors have been well carpeted and the walls of the studio have raised areas to prevent echos. The carpeted floor not only improves the sound in the studio but assures that the anchors can walk comfortably. The studio has also been given a strategic setting which allows the anchors to be able to comfortably walk around the central desk. There is also a big screen fixed in the side of the studio where information being presented on is displayed to the viewers. A significant t amount of space has been left for the side where the screen is as the anchors stand beside it when presenting. The layout of the studio was obviously well thought out by the floor managers.
One can also tell that the studio is air conditioned as the anchors are not over sweating like in the other studios of local stations.
Sound
In the 10 episodes that I was critiquing, I found that the live at nine production team do not compromise on sound qualities. The levels were never too low or too high but just enough for the viewer.
The microphones used by all the anchors were lavalier microphones attached to their top clothing, not too close to their mouths. This hand free microphone allows them to move around the studio without causing any wiring complications which may affect the sound quality.
The reporters use hand held microphones for their field activities. The hand held microphones reject any handling noise as in the stories covered the viewer could hear the sound clearly without unwanted interference. I also observed that most of the microphones used are dynamic microphones covered with a sponge which also filter out unwanted noises
Lighting
The studio is well lit. The viewer can clearly see the anchors and the studio happenings. There are no visible shadows in the studio and that brought me to concluding that the studio is using flood lights placed on the floor of the studio.
Camera shots and movements
At the beginning of the production the show starts with a montage which identifies the programme. After this the programme starts with an establishment shot of the whole studio and them the anchor walks into the shot. The camera man concentrates on the anchor by taking a long shot of the anchor which includes his /her full figure and a small part of the studio.
At times the show begins with an establishment shot taken from an elevated point by a boom camera. Another way that the camera man starts the show is by taking a long shot of the two anchors seated at the desk, who then move in front of the desk.
During the show, when the anchor is presenting, the long shot of the anchor seated down is what is mostly used. This shot includes the anchors bust and a small portion of the desk around where he/she is seated. When both anchors are talking the shot is made into a long shot that covers both anchors. When one of the presenters is moving towards the big screen on the side, the cameraman tracks the anchor up till the point where the presenter stands. If the camera is moving from a shot of the presenter on the desk to another at the big screen on the left, he pans the camera from right to left. In few cases does the camera man zoom in on the anchor to take a close-up shot. Close-up shots are frequent in the clips found in the reporter packages. They are mostly used to capture the emotion of the news subject who are interviewed by the reporters.
Editing
The show uses very effective transitions of the productions symbol between different clips. This transition is used mostly when the talents are presenting the news headlines. Other transitions are used in the reporter packages and are mostly of a direct move from one clip to another. The direct transition is effective in reporting news as it does not consume any time and it immediately brings the viewer to a clip that he/she is eagerly waiting to see. The headline transition of the Live at Nine logo helps the viewer to be able to absorb the previous headline before the next one is aired.
The name tag, lower thirds and scrolls that crawl at the lower part of the screen when the anchor is presenting have been produced by a character generator. Each name tag and headline changed as the anchors moved from one story to another.
Conclusion
I conclude that it is very evident that the production team of ‘Live at Nine’ work as a team. The talents seem to be comfortable and well prepared. The flow of the whole production would not be as good as it is if everyone did not do their work as they should be doing it.
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