Analysis of a relevant news package
In this analysis, I will look at the three minute long, BBC News Package "A Million People Download new NHS contact-tracing app on day of launch." This covers the NHS contact-tracing app and why people are being encouraged to use it. In terms of relevance, it fits well with our news piece as we also look at the NHS Test and Trace app, however from a perspective of the technology behind it and how it effects people. There are different cross overs between this News Package and what we have planned for ours, and watching this impacted my thoughts and ideas.
What did I enjoy?
This self contained news package explores the app launch and how it will hopefully help the UK to have a decline in coronavirus cases. After watching the news package the first time, the main aspect that stood out to me was the use of track. The blend between the reporter appearing on camera as well as speaking the voice over really made me feel that as a viewer I was taken through all the different parts of information as well the tracks use of enhancing information. (Graham-Holm, 2012:7) Also the same voice helped it to flow smoothly and was not distracting. This allowed me to focus on what I was being informed as I was able to see the reporter during a piece to camera set in a wide shot. Hence I knew who was speaking the voice over and felt I could trust that what I was being told was accurate information, which is very important for Television News as it has to be "accurate, concise and clear." (Boyd, 2020:247)
Another aspect of the News package that I enjoyed was the moving graphics throughout the piece. As Graphic Designer, it is my job to create graphics that will reflect our brand, but also "News Graphics illustrate ideas" (Orlebar, 2009:109) to the audience. I felt that the graphics used in the package were effective in portraying the app in a positive light and helps to make it visually entertaining to watch as I always felt engaged. They show illustrated NHS workers using the app, this makes me feel that the app is something that everyone should trust as our healthcare workers are also trusting it. I enjoyed this as it was subtly showing that the app could potentially help us and should be downloaded through a subliminal message, but while remaining what appears as unbiased and neutral. This made me realise that Graphics are much more than something to make a News piece look interesting, but they are there to inform the audience as much as the voice over is, therefore I will definitely be putting lots of thought and research into designing our graphics. Another aspect of the graphics that I felt worked well was the use of colour. They use different colours to reflect the topic that is being discussed whilst also using colour to reflect their brand identity. The BBC's famous house colour is red, hence they use a red ring graphic when discussing social distancing and the app, whilst also using an aston with the red BBC logo in the lower third of the frame. Using this colour represents the BBC brand as a whole and subtly reminds the viewer of the news brand that they are watching. This is something that I will definitely consider in our graphics as our colours for TTV are blue, grey and yellow, therefore I will ensure to use this colours often when designing to make our News pieces recognisable to a viewer. I also enjoy how they use colours to project what is being discussed, for example lots of blue is used in the moving graphics which matches with the NHS blue. This correlation in colour keeps a theme of the app running throughout the piece and is also something that I would like to use in our graphics to keep themes running. We are also discussing the NHS app so we could use a similar technique of implementing the shade of blue into the graphics to keep the theme running through, however our TTV brand also uses blue so this could be a challenge to make sure the two different shades are used whilst still keeping the graphics eye catching.
Fig. 1 Name Aston following branding pattern (2020)
Fig. 2 Moving graphics to illustrate ideas (2020)
During the anchor segment in the BBC studio we see multiple images of the app being used behind the presenter, this replicates that masses of people that are using the app across the UK and it had only been released for a day. Having the images of the app next to the presenter in the frame was effective as it kept the piece engaging whilst also summarising the app to the viewer. This perfectly reflected the BBC's remit of keeping television Entertaining, Educational and Informative. This had led me to start thinking about TTV, and how we will balance our aims and remit for our viewers (Crook, 2009:234); we would like to look at technology in the UK and how it affects the viewer. I started to create the script and decide how we could show this aim whilst not making it too obvious or repetitive. We had decided to have Vox pops from different members of society to show how they feel and this fulfils one part of our aim as it is directly asking our target audience of their opinion. We also researched the technology behind the app and when adding it to the script I tried to break it down so that it is easy for the viewer to understand as we do not want to overload them with too much information. Seeing the BBC relfect their remit just through using images with a presenter speaking at the same time, not only reminded me of a television news convention, but inspired me too really think about our aims and how we are going to show them.
Finally, I thoroughly enjoyed the representation used throughout the news package, even during the graphics. They show a vast range of ethnicities, ages, gender, and even represent disabilities. This made the package feel very inclusive and that it would be relatable for most people watching. This is something that is important that we also carry out as we are reporting on the UK but our website is available online which means that anyone will be able to watch our news. Although we do have our target audience of age 18-50, I would still like to represent as much of society as we can to also make TTV feel inclusive, just as this News package did. I will do this through the use of contributors used, and also by making sure that a vast representation of people participate in our brand research.
Fig. 4 Good representations in graphics (2020)
What I disliked:
Something that I did not enjoy as much when watching the package was the writing that was when there was voice over that was accompanied by a moving graphic and text on screen that was stating something different to what the track was describing. This confused me as there were three different outputs of information at once and "it is easy to overload the viewer with too much information." (Boyd, 2008:77) I did not enjoy this, and when creating our news package this is definitely something that I would like to avoid. I have designed graphics for our package however these will illustrate what the viewer is being told via the voiceover, rather than being a different piece of information. This will therefore prevent our audience from feeling confused as I did in this section of the news package.
Another aspect of the news package that I did not like was the ending. It felt as if it had ended very suddenly. Typically in news packages, a common convention is to hold the last shot whilst the reporter wraps up the story with their TAG. Nevertheless this news package ends with a hand held shot from a contributor and the reporter quickly states their name and 'BBC News.' This felt rushed and did not really add to the flow of the package. During a news package, "the closing shot should hold for ten seconds" (Boyd, 2008:296), this was something that the BBC avoided here and it made the ending feel more rapid. In our news package I would like it to end with telling the viewer where they can find out more information if they wish to do so, and I would also like it to hold on the last shot. This will make it obvious to the audience that it has come to an end rather than it being sudden, as a news package should be self contained with all information, hence telling the audience where they should go to learn more should be added into it too.
Finally, something that I did not enjoy was the length of time that one of the shots was held for. We see an extreme close up of a phone screen sating that the individual needs to self isolate for 10 days, and this shot lasts for eleven seconds. Even though it is good to see the app in use, I quickly lost interest as it did feel that it was going on for quite a long time. Due to News packages being limited with their time and "fast turnarounds" (Boyd, 2008:249), it felt like a bit of a waste to have the same shot in frame for so long, but then to have other moments where different information is being told at once as show in Fig. I would like to avoid this in our News package as I want it to be always visually engaging for an audience rather than having moments where it is not and the same shot is used for a long period of time, and others where it is.
Fig. 5 Shot of phone screen that is held for a long period of time (2020)
What has already influenced our Broadcast:
The main inspiration that this News package has given me is with the graphics, I really enjoy how they demonstrate ideas, as well as information and representations. It reflects that they are more than just something to look at, and that they are actually illustrating news to an audience. As our graphic designer, this package has definitely influenced our own piece as I have followed the conventions that they have, such as using colour to reflect themes of the NHS App, as well as out TTV Brand by using it in images, astons and illustrations. We will use the colour blue in the end graphic to represent the NHS App and carry the theme through, as well as having a Covid-19 particle on the background for the green screen shots of our presenter to show the coronavirus link. We also will use blue and grey moving graphics to reflect how the app works, such as a social distancing moving graphic, and as "News Graphics illustrate ideas" it is important that we will use them (Orlebar, 2009:109). These colours portray our brand and remind the audience they they are watching a TTV news piece.
Another segment that has really influenced our piece is having the mix between voice over and piece to cameras. This will help to keep our news package engaging, as well as introducing the viewer to the presenter. I would like it to have a good flow between the presenter section at the beginning and the following into the news package to keep the viewer engaged throughout. I would also like the package to come to a close at the end by informing the audience where they can learn more rather than letting it come to a more sudden end.
Finally, something that really stood out to me in this package was the representations used. There were a few contributors in it of different ages, genders, and even social positions which was a great reflection of many people in society as an audience would hopefully be able to find someone that they can relate to. As Producer and reporter, when sourcing our contributors I will definitely focus on representing different ages, ethnicities and genders during our Vox Pops. This will make our News Package relatable for many people as they will feel represented in some way.
In conclusion I really enjoyed watching and analysing The BBC News Package "A Million People Download new NHS contact-tracing app on day of launch." It gave me many ideas on what we can include in our news package, as well as what to avoid. It was very relavant due to it also surrounding the App that we are reporting on.
List of Illustrations:
Fig. 1 Emmerson, S. (2020) Name Aston following branding pattern. [Screenshot] In possession of: the author: Kent.
Fig. 2 Emmerson, S. (2020) Moving graphics to illustrate ideas. [Screenshot] In possession of: the author: Kent.
Fig. 3 Emmerson, S. (2020) Images during the anchor segment. [Screenshot] In possession of: the author: Kent.
Fig. 4 Emmerson, S. (2020) Good representations in graphics. [Screenshot] In possession of: the author: Kent.
Fig. 5 Emmerson, S. (2020) Shot of phone screen that is held for a long period of time. [Screenshot] In possession of: the author: Kent.
Bibliography:
A Million People Download new NHS contact-tracing app on day of launch [television news programme online] Pres. Walsh BBC UK (2020) 3 minutes At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQJ7Ca-LtEw (Accessed on 20.11.2020)
Boyd, A (2008) Broadcast Journalism: Techniques of Radio and Television News. [online] At: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucreative-ebooks/reader.action?docID=1074583 (Accessed on 24.11.2020)
Graham-Holm, N (2012) Fascination: Viewer Friendly TV Journalism. [online] At: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucreative-ebooks/reader.action?docID=858735 (Accessed on 24.11.2020)
Orlebar, J. (2009) Broadcast Journalism: A Critical Introduction. [online] At: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucreative-ebooks/reader.action?docID=362312 (Accessed on 23.11.2020)
Crook, T. (2009) Broadcast Journalism: A Critical Introduction. [online] At: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucreative-ebooks/reader.action?docID=362312 (Accessed on 23.11.2020)
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