Q2 MODULE 6 LESSON 2 WEEK 15

IN

DISCIPLINE & IDEAS IN APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES (DIASS)

BY: SALVADOR DOMONA
Most Essential Learning competencies ( MELC)
illustrate the different processes and methods involved in journalism ( communication)

What I need to know?

News conferences

These tend to be less than satisfactory for the keen reporter intent on uncovering some
in-depth information as, more often than not, they are ‘stage managed’ events by
governments, sports clubs, financial institutions publicity agencies, etc. If the topic is of
major significance the conference will be held in a large room and be attended by
numerous reporters from all types of media, often with accompanying sound and camera
crews and still photographers. The resultant amalgamation of shouted questions, flash
bulbs and whirring camera zooms can often lead to the reporter either getting poor
responses in terms of sound and picture quality or at worst not even getting the
opportunity to ask a question at all.

ACTIVITY A
QUESTION: Describe the news conference.

Note: Your answer will be on a separate sheet of paper, either 1 whole yellow pad or 1
whole bond paper, to be attached in module when submitted.
For online class submit copy in pdf form and upload in google class.

What I know?
Vox pops
As previously mentioned, the recording of vox pops for television can be more
demanding if members of the general public do not wish to be seen. However, the
general principle remains that vox pops attempt to gain an insight into the views of the
public on a topical issue. The same one or two questions are asked and the responses
recorded. As with radio the voice of the reporter is not needed and, in the case of
television, neither is their picture. For this reason most vox pops are recorded by the
camera person standing behind and slightly to the right or left of the reporter. This is
known as an ‘over the shoulder shot’, which concentrates on the person being asked the
question and not the reporter. Sometimes the reporter’s shoulder is included in framing
the shot, hence the terminology. In poor lighting conditions the camera person will often
illuminate the subject with a camera-mounted battery-powered light. Of course this so-
called random expression of opinions can be decidedly slanted in the editing suite to suit
differing editorial viewpoints and some editors and producers question the validity of
such disparate answers, although the tradition of seeking the reactions of the person in
the street makes for lively television and satisfies audience expectations..

ACTIVITY B
QUESTION: Describe vox pops recordings.

Note: Your answer will be on a separate sheet of paper, either 1 whole yellow
pad or 1 whole bond paper, to be attached in module when submitted.

For online class submit copy in pdf form and upload in google class.

What’s new?
Television
Eye witness
Eye witness or ‘on the spot’ interviews are favoured by news editors when a major
incident or disaster occurs. Normally a reporter and crew will be dispatched as quickly as
possible to the scene with the purpose of filming instant reactions to the event.
Interviewees might be members of the emergency services, the general public,
spokespersons for the organization involved or even victims of the incident. In many
ways the aim is to ‘colour’ a news report of the event by inserting brief or ‘grabbed’
comments from participants and observers. As with vox pops a single over the shoulder
shot of the subject is normally used. Often in the chaos of the situation the responses
may be inarticulate, muffled or nonsensical as a result of the traumatic events and it is the
job of the programme director to decide on the validity and effectiveness of such
remarks, also taking into account legal, ethical and moral considerations. Many of these
short interviews will involve emotional situations and the reporter should adopt a
sensitive attitude to the type of questions asked. However, these ‘sound bites’ may give a
‘theatricality’ to such events that unfortunately viewers expect in an age when news is
sometimes also seen as entertainment.
Door stepping
Door stepping, as the term suggests, involves the reporter and camera person waiting
outside a person’s house, hotel, theatre, restaurant or night club in the hope, often vain,
of capturing on video a few comments from the person on a topical issue, be it an
impending divorce from their partner, a fraud enquiry, a scandal, a lottery win, the result
of a planning application, etc. In the case of nationally and internationally recognized
public figures, some video journalists and press photographers wait for hours and even
days in the hope of catching a glimpse of or comments from the person, who can be
caught off guard by such attention and reply quite out of perceived character to shouted
questions from a waiting reporter. George Best, the former Manchester United
footballer, was frequently pursued in such a manner, as are other people in the public
eye. However, standing outside a night club in Chelsea on a frosty winter’s evening is
not everyone’s idea of broadcast journalism yet sometimes the reward of an ‘off the cuff’
remark provides adequate compensation.

The formal interview

This is also referred to in television as the ‘set piece’ interview in that it follows accepted
conventions as regards location, camera angles, shot composition, stages in shooting and
style of interviewing. The interview, which is face-to-face between two people, can be
recorded in various locations such as the workplace, Television 145 the home, the open
air or the television studio. The latter pre-supposes the use of all studio facilities,
including a set with multiple cameras, lighting, microphones, gallery with vision and
sound mixing and production director and crew. This makes for ease of operation as
there may be three cameras filming the interview; either boom or tie clip mics; extensive
lighting and a floor person receiving instructions from the director in the gallery.
Everything should run smoothly technically but live studio interviews can also take
unexpected turns when contentious issues are raised by the interviewer or guests have
spent too long in the Green Room prior to appearing on set; the well documented
excerpts from the Michael Parkinson interviews with world heavyweight boxing
champion Mohammad Ali and actor Oliver Reed are legend of what can and did go
wrong. However, the aim of this section is to concentrate on the procedures and
techniques for a single camera shoot of a face-to-face interview on location in daylight.

Face-to-face interview
with a single camera on location As with all interviewing research is essential for a
satisfactory result but other technical factors are equally as important in this case. As the
term ‘set piece’ suggests, the interviewee has already agreed to the topic, the location
and the time and length of the interview. Normally the reporter will have outlined the
brief and the issues that might be raised during the interview at an early stage in the
negotiations and the interviewee would normally accept these as a broad basis for
agreeing to appear. Subsequently the reporter should plan the way they are going to
approach the topic, whether it be serious or light-hearted but never forgetting that it is
the interviewee that is important, not themselves. Indeed it may be possible at the post-
production stage to simply see and hear the interviewee if suitable leading and open
questions have been posed, thus eliciting fulsome and meaningful answers. As discussed
in other chapters it is not necessary or advisable to write down verbatim the questions to
be asked but rather to write down the opening question and then jot down a few
pointers for future questions as the interview unfolds. Some reporters may write out the
last question but this is normally unnecessary as experienced reporters tend to use the
standard ‘Is there anything more you would wish to tell me?’. For the purpose of this
scenario it is assumed that the interview will take place on a bench in the garden of the
interviewee’s house at noon. Normally the reporter and interviewee would meet and
have an informal chat away from the set piece, which would involve an explanation of
the procedures of the shoot and a final discussion on the way the interview might be
conducted. At the same time the camera person will be assessing the location for
ambience, light, sound and vision and may carry out a trial recording by filming 30
seconds of ‘wild track’, which may be of later use to the video editor. It may be
necessary at this stage to re-position the bench to avoid shooting into direct sunlight or
against an unsuitable background. If it is raining or there is excessive unobtrusive noise in
the locality a decision may be taken to re-locate indoors. However, if the location is
suitable the participants take their positions on the bench and an audio and sound check
is carried out. After confirmation that all is in order the interview commences as follows.

Stage one.
The interviewer will have a hand-held microphone connected by lead to the camera and
should wrap one loop of the cable around their hand to prevent cable rattle on the
recording. Also, removing jewellery from this hand will stop potential metallic noise on
the recording. It is essential that the interviewer holds the microphone in the same hand
during all stages of the interview. Otherwise without careful editing the microphone will
appear to jump from one hand to the other during the transmission.
The camera is placed at a distance behind and pointing over the shoulder of the
interviewer at the interviewee. The composition of this shot should be a MCU (medium
close up) or MS (mid shot).

After countdown and the ‘cue’ signal the reporter will begin the interview. The
interviewee will answer the questions to the best of their ability and if they falter at any
time the camera will keep recording whilst the particular question is either repeated as
was or is re-phrased. Once all the answers are recorded the recording will be stopped
and the participants asked to remain in the respective positions on the bench.

Stage two.
The camera person will move the camera to a position behind the interviewee and
pointing over their shoulder at the interviewer. Again the composition of the shot should
be a MCU or MS.
In a studio situation it is possible to match the size of the image of the interviewee with
that of the interviewer by superimposition, i.e., layering one image on top of the other
and asking the camera person to adjust their shot composition. On location the expertise
of the camera person will ensure a similar result. Once the camera person is happy with
the composition the countdown and cue will be given and the interviewer will repeat
the original questions asked but without reply from the interviewee. In some instances if
a Production Assistant (PA) is on the shoot they will have noted the wordage of the
originals; if not the reporter will have to recall them. The recording will stop after all the
questions have been recorded.

Stage three.
With the participants in position the camera person will compose a CU (close up) of the
interviewer’s face and ask the interviewee to comment quite casually about the questions
previously asked. They will then record, without sound, the ‘reaction shots’ or ‘noddies’
of the interviewer. These seemingly disparate and often ludicrous reaction shots will be
used as ‘cutaways’ in the interview to cover over ‘jump cuts’ or flaws in visual continuity.
Invariably it is up to the editor to decide on the need for these shots and, although they
have become something of an anathema, the trainee broadcaster should practise them in
the event of a disjointed interview, which is often the result of poor initial preparation.

Stage four.
With the participants still in their original positions the final stage is to shoot an
‘establishing’ or ‘two-shot’ of the interview. This simply involves positioning the camera
directly facing and some distance away from the bench and recording a short sequence
without sound of the two people talking together as though the interview was in
progress. This helps establish the atmosphere, ambience and location of the interview
and once again can be used by the editor to cover over lack of continuity and introduce
‘wall paper’ shots to vary the monotony of ‘talking heads’ or hide ‘jump cuts’.

Stage five.
The camera person will check that the recording has been made by replaying a section of
the tape. Once satisfied they will inform the participants that the interview is a ‘wrap’
and begin dismantling and packing the equipment. Meanwhile the interviewer should
thank the interviewee for their contribution but decline to confirm whether or not the
interview will be broadcast or what may be left in or taken out at the editing stage; these
decisions will be taken by the producer and could be dependent on the actual footage
and the way the interview has progressed. The reporter should then begin considering
and writing the ‘intros’ and ‘outros’ for the interview ready for editing and ultimately
transmission.
Stage six.
The recording of the interview or ‘rushes’ will be taken to the editing suite where
decisions will be taken as to what to leave in and what to leave out of the interview. It is
important to note that the majority of set piece interviews on location are shot
sequentially as described above in order to allow for quick and tidy editing. Once the
editing is completed the interview will be inserted into the relevant programme at an
appropriate time.

What I have learned?

ACTIVITY C
QUESTION: Discuss Eye witness in television.

Note: Your answer will be on a separate sheet of paper, either 1 whole yellow
pad or 1 whole bond paper, to be attached in module when submitted.

For online class submit copy in pdf form and upload in google class.

ACTIVITY D
QUESTION: Discuss the conduct of door steeping in television.

Note: Your answer will be on a separate sheet of paper, either 1 whole

yellow pad or 1 whole bond paper, to be attached in module when
submitted.

For online class submit copy in pdf form and upload in google class.

ACTIVITY E
QUESTION: Discuss the conduct of face to face interview in television and its
stages.
 Note: Your answer will be on a separate sheet of paper, either 1 whole yellow
pad or 1 whole bond paper, to be attached in module when submitted.

For online class submit copy in pdf form and upload in google class.

ACTIVITY F
QUESTION: Discuss the conduct of formal interview in television.

Note: Your answer will be on a separate sheet of paper, either 1 whole yellow
pad or 1 whole bond paper, to be attached in module when submitted.

For online class submit copy in pdf form and upload in google class.

Reference:

Introduction to Journalism By Richard Rudin.pdf