Weather Report

To have a good idea for what we should place in the script for the weather report I looked at the clip below.

Here is the clip I looked at.

The weather reporter introduces himself first and then gets straight to the point drawing the user in with the image behind him. When he is talking about the weather forecast he turns and points at the image which I think is effective as he draws in the audience by pointing out particular regions on the map. He also starts off by mentioning today's weather then going to over night and then into tomorrow morning with the images on the map showing the change in time. There is also a Met Office weather warning displayed at the bottom of the page showing the real effect of that 'cold weather'. The day and the companies logo is also shown which I feel looks very professional which we need our report to be like. Finally at the end of the sequence he faces back to the camera showing the report is finished and a new clip appears showing the sponsors. Looking at this clip has given me a good idea of what to include in our report. I like all the features that have been used here as they are very effective in drawing the user in and obtains that professional image. I will now adapt these features to my design.

First filming day continued

After we filmed the cars on the A2 we went back to school to film the next part of the title sequence; the graph. First we had to create the graph on PowerPoint. Here is what we produced below.

We made the graph on PowerPoint and made the graph line have a custom animation so that when the mouse was clicked it expanded. This can be seen in the shots which we took below.

Here is the first shot we took of the animated graph. As you can see from the shot that we took it was not of good quality. The camera was not kept still on the tripod which had an impact on the overall quality. Also the camera was too zoomed in as the axis figures could not be seen. Also the camera was not in line correctly with the screen. So we had to film the shot again ensuring that we did not encounter the same problems.

We made sure that the camera was in line with the screen correctly and that the graph figures could be clearly seen. The shot was of good quality and the previous problems were solved, obviously we would cut out the first part of the clip but apart from that the clip was ready to be placed in the title sequence.

First filming day

Today was our first day of filming. We decided that we would start by filming the shots we needed for our title sequence. So during our media lesson we went out to a bridge over the A2.

Here are the shots which we took.

Here is the first shot which we took of the cars on the motorway. We set the camera up on the tripod and zoomed in on the cars as they passed by. This shot covered both flows of traffic which we changed in the other shots to see which looked best.

Here is the second shot which we took on a bridge over the A2. We left the camera in the same position but zoomed in on a particular flow of traffic so only cars in that direction were seen in the shot.

Here is the last shot which was taken on the bridge. Again we kept the camera in the same position by changed the focus to the opposite flow of traffic, zooming in so only the cars going in that direction could be seen.

Deciding Shot

Out of the three shots we both decided that we would use the first one taken which displayed both flows of traffic. Although all the shots were clear and of good quality, the first shot was most effective. So when we edited the shot we would speed the traffic up and then rewind. Hopefully this would create an interesting clip to add to the title sequence.

Mise-en-scene

Today we discussed what we would need to suit the mise-en-scene so we were ready to begin filming. As our news programme did not really evolve around any props there were only several things which we needed to have.



-Desk

-Interactive whiteboard

-Papers/laptop for the news presenter to have in front of them

-Printed scripts to give to cast (large print outs for weather girl to read while being filmed)

-Smart business like clothes for all of the cast

-Hoodies for the youths

-Empty cans/bottles

-'Clicker' for weather girl

-Backdrop to be projected on the whiteboard

-Weather report to be projected on the whiteboard

Storyboarding - title sequence

Today I drew up the different shots which we would include in our title sequence.



















Here is the first shot which will be taken. Runi will be stood in front of the interactive board while a video/or picture of an interview with Donna is on the screen. After Runi has introduced the story the shot will change. The shots of Donna's interview will be shown while there will be a voice over as Runi continues to introduce the story. The camera will be fixed on the tripod and will remain in the same place throughout the shot. Then the title sequence will begin.



















We are undecided whether we will place the interview of Donna in the first section of the title sequence while Runi introduces the main story or whether we will use a shot of some youths. When edited on Premier we will edit it to look like CCTV. As we are undecided we are going to film the youths to see which shot looks better when editing it all together. The youths will be filmed from above as they mess around outside; drinking, smoking pushing each other around. Then once Runi has finished establishing the story the title sequence will begin.


















Here is the second shot which will be taken for the title sequence. After doing some research on ITV's title sequence we wanted to combine the new revamped sequence with old style one which feature around a shot of Big Ben. So we decided that we would film a short clip of the clock tower in Bexleyheath. The camera will be fixed to the tripod about 20 meters away from the clock. We will position the camera so it is tilted upwards and then zoom into the clock. This shot will be placed at the beginning of the sequence like the old ITV title sequence.



















The third shot that would be taken was of some bad weather or travel conditions. We were not sure exactly what we would film but we decided that whatever we filmed would be done in Bexley as there are good transport connections there like the major roads which we could film if there was an accident, roadworks or traffic. We decided that if there was a day that had severe weather, whether it was hail, a storm, heavy rain or snow we said we would go out on that day to capture the footage. Again the camera would be fixed on the tripod as we filmed the shot.



















The forth shot would be taken from a bridge of the cars on the A2. We wanted to speed the shot up when editing it in Premier and then reverse the shot. The camera would be fixed on the tripod and would remain in the same position throughout the shot. If needs be we will zoom in on the shot to how we want to cars to appear.


















The last shot would be filmed in front of a computer. We decided that we would create a graph which was animated in PowerPoint. We would add custom animation so that the graph line moved when we filmed the shot. The camera would be placed on the tripod in front of the computer. We would adjust the zoom so that only the graph and not the computer itself could be seen in the shot.

Locations for title sequence

Now that we had decided on the list of shots that we would include in our title sequence we began to consider the locations where they could be filmed.

Shot list
1.Runi in the studio(we already had a location for the studio which we have already planned when discussing locations for the main content)
2.Youths
3.Clock tower
4.Bad weather/travel conditions
5.Traffic
6.Graph

Locations

For the filming of the youths we decided that we film them at school. This would make it easier for us to organise all those involved in the shot. Also we found a perfect location at school to film it. At the back of the main school building there is a small 'alley/pathway' which could be seen as a perfect location for youths to hang out. When the footage is edited on premier we would make the shots look like CCTV footage. The area does not get much light either so it is dark and dingy which adds to the look we wanted.

For the filming of the clock we tried to think of different places with a clock tower that were reasonably close by. Then we remembered that Bexleyheath had a clock tower along the high street. This was perfect for our programme as it had the same appearance of Big Ben which was used in ITV's old title sequence. So we decided that we would film the clock tower in Bexleyheath.

We were not exactly sure where we would film the bad weather/travel conditions yet, but had some idea that we would film in and around Bexley. It is close by and has good open areas where we can film so we decided that when there was a day of bad weather we would go to Bexley or nearby.

When deciding where we would film traffic from a bridge we both came up with the same idea. The A2 runs right near school and there are different bridges in Wilmington/Dartford that we could film from.

Finally it was obvious that the graph would have to be filmed from a computer as we would produced the file on PowerPoint. So we decided that we would film this bit of footage in F2 the media room, as the screen size would easily fit within the camera shot.

Content of the title sequence

After creating a diagram on the computer to help me combine all the title sequence together we selected the shots that we wanted to use. Here are the shots that we decided to use in our sequence:





1) Establishing shot of Runi in the studio - After looking at different title sequences we liked how ITV had a shot of their presenter introducing the main story.

2) Shot of youths - We are not sure whether we are going to use part of the interview with Donna at the start of the title sequence. While Runi is introducing the main story we will cut to a shot of either the youths or part of the interview with Donna while there is a voice over of Runi.

3) Shot of a clock tower - We wanted to combine ITV's old style title sequence with the new by taking a shot of a clock tower like how Big Ben was used.

4) Shot of bad weather/travel conditions - There is always a weather report in a news programme whether it is at the beginning, middle or end it is there. So we decided that we would try and film severe weather conditions. However we quite sceptical about this shot as the UK rarely ever sees 'extreme' weather so we decided that whenever the weather was quite bad we would go out filming as soon as possible.

5) Shot from a bridge - Most news programmes have a travel report now days so we decided that we would film a motorway from a bridge to resemble this.

6) Shot of graph - This will resemble the current economic climate which is featured in all news programmes daily so we decided that to resemble a real programme as best we could we needed to keep up with the trends.

Planning for title sequence

Here is a diagram I produced on the computer planning different footage we could use in our title sequence.

Title sequence clip

Today we looked at different ideas for the title sequence. I started off by looked at clips on YouTube of ITV's title sequence. I found the clip below which I thought was really effective in how it was all put together and the content in general.

Here is a clip of ITV's title sequence.

The clip starts with the presenter introducing the top story as an image of the related story is projected behind him. Then the shot changes to a video of a soldier with the presenters comments as a voice over. Then the title sequence begins with different images of the topics which are going to be mentioned in that particular show. I think the way that the title sequence has been put together is very effective as it draws the viewer in as they get a 'sneak peak' at the stories which are going to be discussed with simple images. I really like this feature and will adapt it in our design. We will also have a shot of Runi at the beginning of the title sequence introducing the top story. The presenter has carefully selected specific words to draw the viewer in which we will try and do when putting Runi's script together. Where images have been used in the title sequence, we will shoot different clips instead of using images and cut them together to form our sequence.

Here is a clip of ITV's old style title sequence.

As you can see from the image above the title sequence evolves around Big Ben. The camera appears to be in a helicopter showing an aeriel view of London from the Gherkin, to Canary Wharf to the London Eye. These shots catch the viewers attention and encourage audience involvement as it feels like you are in the helicopter viewing London like you have not done before. No images were used in the old style title sequence and it is just an establishing shot of the area the news reported is based on.

As we like the two very different title sequences ITV used we decided to combine them together having the traditional old style focus on the clock but providing viewers with images on the news to be discussed. With the changing trends in society we wanted to appeal to a wider audience combining the old with the new.

Theme Tune


After receiving conformation that we could use ITV's 'theme tune' for coursework related purposes we set about downloading the music.

Here is the site where we got the theme tune from.

Organising our time

Organising our time throughout the project was going to be hard due to Lauren having a job and our different social plans. However luckily me and Lauren both have the same free periods at school which means in a week we have 12 free lessons which we could work together on the project.