RTE News Revamp

fegsmoke

It has been 3 years since RTE last revamped its news broadcasts and traditionally this is the typical duration period for any RTE News newsroom deco and intro idents - any updates on when the next change is coming into effect if at all this time?
J

Telefís

It'll definitely be this year fegsmoke, just a question of when.
95% sure it'll be September as it nearly always is - a slightly earlier change is conceivable around May but highly unlikely. RTÉ like the dead summer period to prepare.

They're limited in what they can do for a new look in terms of space and set. The small Studio 3 that they use upstairs right next to the Newsroom has been in use since time began, and this is unlikely to change. No major restructurings will happen so unless quite literally a news centre is built, which is a possibility in the future if some sort of 24 hour news service is launched, even if in a limited form.

So this time anyway we'll get new titles, new astons (titles bars), new graphics packages for reports, new set, possibly slight tweaks to presenting 'techniques' i.e. stupid distracting gimmicks as per BBC Six like stand-up acts etc, and new closing titles, as well as a different directorial style like perhaps a tracking wide of the studio at the start, maybe slight zooms like the BBC, maybe a sting between the Presentation introduction and the headline sequence etc etc - things as viewers people just don't think about but all come together to form a particular 'look'.

The main thing though this time to to do away with that monstrous set - it has proved exceptionally difficult to light given the bright colours, and maintain, particularly the floor which is always manky filthy with scuff marks. Similarly those cream walls are wallpapered and the joints are becoming ever-more evident, there's heat dmage in places, and even dirty finger marks you can see behind the sports presenter on Six One :rolleyes:
Similarly there's the odd punch mark in the blue cyclorama that surrounds the set, very notable over near the monitor when guests are interviewed.

The design of the desk is appalling, lacking the slightest element of finesse, modernity or style, whilst the set 'units' are very crude, both in themselves and where they join the floor:



The lighting can prove incredibly harsh at the best of times, but especially on that cream set, with the hard lines casting shadows everywhere (sure look at that box flood blasting down on top of the monitor unit :rolleyes:).
And when guests are interviewd to the left there, they cast shadows on the set behind them they're that squeezed in! I mean that's just appalling for a professional broadcaster.

Major changes are needed, a darker look will look so much better. Natural dark timbers this time, quality joinery and metalwork, carpets carpets carpets - for goodness sake do away with those ghastly harsh shiny floors RTÉ are still in love with since 1994.
Raise the desk up if possible on a nice deep green carpeted dais with timber surround and underlit step. Nice quality wall and set treatment. Integrated light features perhaps. Distinctive overall look for wide shots.

And other features like lights up at the start and down at the end - a complication most broadcasters have done away with I know, but it's a nice distinctive option and would really make RTÉ stand out from shoddy TV3 in particular.

And for goodness sake keep the picture windows! If there's one place that RTÉ must make a stand, and deliberately avoid the BBC route it is the retention of picture windows beside presenters - an absolute must that is sorely missed by most presentation fans in the UK. Widescreen is no excuse - it's more than possible for them to be retained.

A ton of RTÉ News pres info (ranting) available on this thread here - 25 pages long at this stage!

http://www.tvforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15258&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

JohnC.

Interesting post. I didn't ever take much notice of all those faults you pointed out before. But then again I'm not really a regular viewer of RTÉ news due to timing of my job and other shows.

But the one thing which has always really annoyed me is that bit of the glass desk top which is sticking out over the edge at the front. I find it somewhat obtrusive and it looks a bit like they put a sheet of glass on at a 45 degree angle for sticking monitors underneath, but then couldn't be bothered cutting that corner off and fitting it corredtly.

fegsmoke

Many thanks for the great reply which echoed many of my own thoughts. I also think that RTE has appaling taste in music for news - the problem is that it seems to record the music in a dampened context - none of the great reverberation u need to command authority - they need to produce a good piece plus use it properly - i mean how many times do they cut the music short or introduce it too early before ad breaks only to have to cut it and restart it - its crass in the extreme.
You're right about the lighting too but another thing. They need a little more space between the presenters and the back wall of the studio - it looks too cramped - more akin to what you might see in a regional news broadcast in the outer reaches of the planet not the commanding view of a national broadcaster.
And one last thing the astons RTE uses should be less clunky with a finer type face with more definition. Even on digital you can almost see the pixles dancing around the already dull fonts being used - its horrible.
Well just one more - they need to make the "Six-One with Bryan Dobson and Sharon Ni Bheolain man" less countrified and at least give him some reverb. RTE's fetish for regional accents gets to me - especially that guy on RTE radio at 1 who says "AR TEE EE Neouwws and Corrent Afeers" - Come on! Maybe it would be better to do away with this type of intro altogether
Anyway - like you I could debate this happily for ages. I hope some RTE insider actually reads your valid comments mate - they need a dose of style reality!

watty

And why is there a lurid green stripe down left hand side of picture so often?

At first I thought my TV had broken

Telefís

This?



I think it works reasonably well, if a bit half-hearted alright. On the very rare occasion it is used alongside the presenter instead of a picture window, but retaining the picture window caption. Looks okay if used for a brief story.

Agreed about the astons fegsmoke - utterly hideous in every respect. Worst of all though is that they are not standard! For a standard Minister or whoever their name will be displayed in the upper bar, and their title in the blue - fair enough. However if average Joe Soap appears, then the blue bar is done away with and just the white is used! And worse again if an anonymous person or homeless person perhaps is featured, nothing but 'Ann' or 'John' or whatever appears in a little white cube at the bottom of your screen!!!! I mean it just beggars belief!!
Astons must always be of a standard size regardless of what text is featured on them, and generally feature the news service's ident too.



Also, as above, the way the aston only begins a couple of inches into the screen is horribly crass and ill-proportioned - just flaoting about as it does. Similarly the lack of any sort of animation or movemnt in the aston, nor any innovative method deployed in bringing it on screen save a predicable dissolve is equally mundane.


And don't get me started on the astons of late night bulletins coming from the Single Operator Control Studio/Gallery! :eek:



The feckin bars don't even allign! The blue used in the DOG isn't even that of standard RTÉ News! The text on the astons often just rolls off the bars because it won't fit on! The font used isn't that of RTÉ News either, not to mention just looks feckin awful!

The output from the SOCR is simply hideous - look at this for prouction values:



A faded, jaded computer generated backgound.
A black shimmering line at the bottom of the ascreen that has nothing to do with aspect ratios.
And woeful picture quality.
Usually lighting is a million times worse than this too, sound poor, and the presenter sitting off-centre as was the case with John Finnerty a few nights ago - he was sitting over to the left! The director couldn't even be bother to tell him to move over a bit more!

There are so many problems with the presentation of RTÉ News it'd drive you insane to factor them all in. Presentration-wise TV3 is far superior to RTÉ - their design may be horribly crass too but their production values are second to none. One of the few areas in which TV3 have really shown RTÉ up.

watty

Telef&#237 wrote: »

This?



I think it works reasonably well, if a bit half-hearted alright. On the very rare occasion it is used alongside the presenter instead of a picture window, but retaining the picture window caption. Looks okay if used for a brief story.
-- snipped stuff--
.

My TV perhaps overscans a bit (28" 4:3 set), when it does WS (which it does by reducing height drive, not letterboxing) the picture is nearly the same height as on a 28" WS TV, so it must overscan a bit.

IMO it looks bad on your excellet screen shot and hideous on my TV.

What is it supposed to do apart from distract the eye?

Telefís

Well it has to be considered within the broader context of the titles package:




Aside from being used the very rare time in place of a picture window, the green line only features in the headlines package, in 'still to come' links, and 'tonight's sport headlines' links - all used in the context of a bed of music being played under, and directly before or after titles - so they do integrate rather well I think.

And it looks rather good with full picture window too I think:



...though admittedly it did jarr a bit the first time I saw it.

What I don't get is the use of orange in the set - it seems like it's just been thrown in for a dash of colour. Whereas we've all since got used to it, objectively it doesn't work at all in the 'blue n green' scheme they've got going.

ethernet

Ever noticed that the lunchtime news always has "RTÉ NEWS" way bigger than the "6:01" or nine news?

Also, the titles [as in name of speaker] are also all in uppercase, in contrast to later broadcasts.

I'm mad about consistency [excuse spelling].

Ulsterman 1690

Do any of ye actually pay any heed to the news itself ???

L1011

Ulsterman 1690 wrote:

Do any of ye actually pay any heed to the news itself ???

Not a chance! Thats like asking someone with multisat do they actually watch TV!

watty

When the fingers get tired flicking through the 1500 stations, it is like the roulette ball falling in to the number.

You could end up watching anything. I was watching some wierd cartoon animation in english with Croatian subtitles yesturday, assuming they speak Croatian in Croatia and they had their own language of subtitles. Which given stuff I seen on other channels, both assumptions could be wrong,

I LISTEN to RTE news on the Wireless Set. I watch BBC World TV News and read its teletext pages, which oddly has no connection really with BBC World Service or the proposed BBC World Service TV channel.

I used to watch RTE news, but the green band thing and their sets makes me tummy queasy...

Ulsterman 1690

There is a Croation language although some maintain its just a dialect of Serbo-Croat while others maintain Serbo-Croat itself doesnt exist but is a (politically motivated) invention

If that doesnt make sense initially think Gaelic/"Irish" or English with a heavy Scots accent spelt phonetically/"Ulster-Scots" and youll have the general idea :rolleyes:

Not a chance! Thats like asking someone with multisat do they actually watch TV!

LOL I rarely have time to watch TV

fegsmoke

Any word on the news revamp yet. RTE News would need to go hell for lether to get a decent equivalent to the new BBC1 news wall and ITV 9as well as Newsnight and Channel 4). I have a feelin that the next set will only reach the standards of the last BBC1 set if it even gets as up to date as that. The studio will be too small for a large presentation wall. Its hard to know what way they will go in light of all the recent developments over the water. Having said that the French France 2 and TF1 news look just as dowdy as RTE at the minute. They are incredibly slow at adapting to new presentation styles. The current TF1 studio dates from 1994 and the F2 one from 1998. So at least with RTE, we are guanteed some sort of shift towards the recent past rather than a mid 1990s time warp!

DMC

RTÉ are limited in the size of studio that they have for news transmissions, I can't see them getting another, so a studio as large as the current BBC 1 or ITV News studios wont happen.

bungeecork

TF1 and F2 have always been much more about news content rather than presentation. Their currents sets have been around for a while but they used to change every year or so (expecially F2 going back to A2).

superdudeman007

I bet RTE will go for the France 3 approach (a plain grey background, no graphics and a black stripe at the bottom of the screen with the name of the bulletin displayed throughout the programme).


BUT they have moved the entire news studio to Studio 3 at Montrose recently. It's obvious if you compare footage from about a month ago to footage now; the lighting is very gloomy around the desk, the plasma screen has disappeared and the large square-shaped frame from behind the news desk appears to be upside down.


Maybe if they can temporarily share a studio with other programmes for the news, they could do it permanently to create a larger set, couldn't they?

Mossy Monk

whats the big deal about huge presentation walls. they look tacky or am i the only one who feels this way

superdudeman007

Red Bee media are producing a new look for RTE One and RTE News, which will be introduced in SEPTEMBER for the NEW SEASON.

As usual with RTE, the news set has moved to Studio 3 at Montrose for the month of July (It could only take RTE that long...). It's obvious when you compare stills/footage from about a month ago to now. The plasma screen has disappeared, the lighting around the news desk is very gloomy and the large wooden frame thing behind the news desk looks like it's been placed upside down.

I don't know what the new RTE One look will be like, but a lot of footage for idents was filmed in Greystones, Co Wicklow. A lot of people think it will include a new RTE logo and a new look for RTE Two, but if that was going to happen, they wouldn't have bothered creating ads for the new season with the old RTE logo. And RTE Two's current look has only been there for about two years anyway. When the current look on RTE One was introduced, RTE Two was stil branded ad Network 2.

superdudeman007

Ulsterman 1690 wrote:

Do any of ye actually pay any heed to the news itself ???

With such an appaling layout that's a VERY difficult thing to do

DMC

superdudeman007 wrote:

A lot of people think it will include a new RTE logo and a new look for RTE Two, but if that was going to happen, they wouldn't have bothered creating ads for the new season with the old RTE logo. And RTE Two's current look has only been there for about two years anyway. When the current look on RTE One was introduced, RTE Two was stil branded ad Network 2.

And if you recall, all adverts for programmes after Network 2 changed back to RTÉ TWO, were advertised as Network 2, even though the channel would've changed its name by then.

eg. Sunday Game Live... advertised on a Wednesday as being on Network 2, but the channel name changed to RTÉ TWO on Saturday.

There will be no change to the current corporate logo, but that doesnt stop new idents or news branding occuring.

byte

Nah, big video walls just seem tabloid-ish to me, maybe it's because they're a prime focus on Sky News.

Phen

superdudeman007 wrote:

BUT they have moved the entire news studio to Studio 3 at Montrose recently.

I think you mean to say from Studio 3. That is the studio which is being refitted at present so they aren't in Studio 3 now. And they will definately have a videowall in the new set so they're obviously going for the BBC look.

lostexpectation

oooh are they going to be standing up?

superdudeman007

Sorry Phen - meant to say from.

I've actually been in the RTE News studio (ages ago - when they had that "purple" look) and it really is tiny; Are you sure they CAN get a news wall in there?

A lot of people seem to think RTE will need a new News HQ building with new studios that they could also use for a 24 hour news channel. I think they've forgotten that this is RTE!

Phen

Its quite possible that the videowall will stretch all the way around the studio. In the tender, they specified that it be about 13m long so I imagine that won't all fit on one wall unless they enlarge the studio. Its possible that they might extend the studio or even move to a new one but to be honest that really is highly unlikely. The last time they relaunched (Sept 2003) they only broadcast from a temporary studio for 1 week - this time it'll be about a month so who knows what they're at! My guess is that they're completely refitting all of the hardware for 16:9 broadcasts so that is the most plausable reason for the long stay in the temporary studio.

Scottish paddy

Can I refer you to my posting on 10/8/06 http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054974533

Phen

superdudeman007 wrote:

Red Bee media are producing a new look for RTE One and RTE News

Can I just ask - are you sure that the news is being done by Red Bee?

superdudeman007

13m???!!!

That is DEFINATELY too big for the current studio. I'm not sure if they have the space to enlarge it either.

I just don't understand why they can assemble and take apart sets for shows like prime time etc as they're needed and not do the same for the news. If something urgent happened and they needed to put on a newscast, they could use the studio they already use for afternoon updates.

Rick_

So are the idents going to be just live action crappyness again like the current RTE 1 ones but without somehting changing from 'old' to 'new'? A chance wasted methinks...

Paddy

Telefís

superdudeman007 we don't know that Red Bee is handling the News relaunch, and it's pretty likely that it isn't them - more than likely an in-house job, with some comissioned outside help. Interesting about Greystones though...

Agreed about the general trashyness of newswalls and walkabout sequences, but again remember all we know is that RTÉ have put a 13m x 1.5m LED video screen out to tender. This can mean absolutely anything. All we do know is that they match the dimensions of Studio 3 very well: eg 5m rear wall x 4m side wall x 4m side wall, as a rough example. Given they are LEDs and not projector cubes like the BBC use, the wall may only be used as a decorative illuminated backdrop - no idea frankly. But let's not jump the gun here about newscaster standing or flashy news sequences!

As for strikable sets for news superdudeman007, it's a complete no no. 1) because the news facility must be ready 24-7 (that includes gallery preperation and bulletin rehersal), 2) it'd cost a fortune to be striking such a regular set so often, and 3) it'd look hideously cheap and lacking in solidity were it to be 'dismantleable'. News facilities are also exquistely tailored (yes even RTÉ's!) for lighting, camera and audio - impossible to replicate on a strikable set. It also needs to be adjoining the newsroom proper, hardwearing and generally practical - the precise opposite of the standard television set really! So all in all, utterly, madly, incomprehensively impractical!

flogen

Paddy C wrote:

So are the idents going to be just live action crappyness again like the current RTE 1 ones but without somehting changing from 'old' to 'new'? A chance wasted methinks...

Paddy

They've used live action ones on numerous different sets of idents, most stations do rather than having a static image (or animation, which is what RTÉ Two does because it's hip and cool )

Rick_

The best idents RTÉ 1 ever had were the ones from around the mid to late 90's, where they shown something close up, like that drop of water and as it came close to the screen it went frosty. It also has that soundtrack which was great. Pity they changed it to what we have now...

Paddy

Mossy Monk

agree about those old RTÉ idents but i do like the current RTÉ One idents aswell

superdudeman007

Yes the current RTE Idents and menus look great but when you watch them on a widescreen set in proper widescreen, that blue panel on the left with the RTÉ logo in it takes up about a quarter of the screen. I'm sure it looked fine when it was shown in 4:3 before the switch to widescreen, and also looks fine when I watch it with an aerial in 14:9. But in 16:9 it looks crap.

icdg

There's a pic of the new set, which launches tommorow, in today's Tribune. Lots of brown, and the lighting will change for each programme. The news will also be going out in widescreen from now on.

cmull

http://tribune.televisual.co.uk/article.tvt?_ticket=9NTHLXD4YGSGX4YOHONDL1Q39LLDPJSG0RZHQONCBNTDALOLYR4FURUSIOMAAP6EGKLAEUXRTRRHV3Q9ANVRDMKACJ5N1QRFLZHSNMTEDYMFKIWFURUQCB99ANWR9LLGFGSG04QFIVS9ANZQ9LLGOGSGX258Z2FO3B86&_scope=TribuneFTF&id=77003&SUBCAT=&SUBCATNAME=&DT=27/09/2006%2000:00:00&keywords=rte%20news%20revamp&FC=

No pic though

superdudeman007

The new set id being used from 1pm tomorrow. It will be used for News bulletins, News2Day, The Week and Politics and something called "Leader's Questions".

There's a pic in today's Sunday Tribune but it only shows Eileen Dunne sitting at the news desk, with a red/brown backdrop. The front of the desk (or the part you can see) is silver, and the newsreaders will have laptops.

superdudeman007

RTE news will be broadcast in widescreen format from tomorrow night as part of a revamp of the station's televised news coverage.

A new-look set, together wth new lighting and graphics, will be unveiled tomorrow to coincide with the station's adaptation of the widescreen format. The broadcaster has said that the move will not negatively affect viewers who do not possess a widescreen television. According to a spokeswoman for RTE, other programmes, including Prime Time, were switched to widescreen last year without any problems.

The switch to widescreen will be accompanied by a redesigned set and state-of-the-art LED lighting. It will be the first time in three years that the graphics and set of RTE News will have been altered. According to RTE, the set, designed by Fiona Cunningham, is "a composition in walnut glass and aluminium.

"Created in a small studio of just eight metres squared, with all the restraints that necessitates, the result is strong, contemporary and confident, " said the RTE statement. "The feel is of a room, with real materials and textures, rather than a studio set, creating a mood of warmth, strength and authority."

The new studio will be used for the Six One and Nine O'Clock News programmes, as well as the five daily bulletins on RTE One. The weekday news programme for children, News2day, will also use the set, as will the political programmes, Oireachtas Report, Leaders' Questions and the weekly review programme The Week In Politics.

The new LED lighting system will alter lighting for each programme, "reflecting both the time and each programme's individual style."

I guess LED means the studio lighting, not a news wall.

gipo2

I seen the new set, it was used on the 11o'clock news this morning, also in widescreen.

Rick_

Erm... well... my my. What can be said about those opening titles, eh? The only thing that springs to mind for me is... "What the f**k???"

Some CGI mechanical 'being' with lots of moving parts, what sort of relivance is that to anything, never mind news?! Also, the RTÉ News DOG, although now at the bottom of the screen is cut off slightly if you have your digibox set to 4:3.

This looks awful really, I hope they did a better job on the RTÉ ONE look...

Paddy

Mossy Monk

on one of the news reports they zoomed in to make it look widescreen, by doing this you could only see 3/4 of the head of the reporter

also on the news in Irish with the writing, in 4:3 some of the text is cut off

havent seen the opening titles but caught the ones on the news in Irish

seamus21514

What is with the titles! You didn't see the set, you saw the cso "broomcubord"
This is the set:


Somebody at TVF saw this oicture in the Sunday paper and scanned it. I like it, it is very classy

Mossy Monk

Mossy Monk wrote:

also on the news in Irish with the writing, in 4:3 some of the text is cut off

I saw that too. Hoping its a once-off, I'd rather watch something in 4:3 than cropped widescreen.

seamus21514

http://tvtitles.thetvroomplus.com/titles-39.html

This has many photos

superdudeman007

It got the new look today at 1pm. Usually the set of RTE bulletins is a copy of something the BBC use already. This one reminds me of "The World" on BBC 4, but with a brown colour scheme instead of green. The desk has a wood effect, and there's a large screen to the right of the newsreader that's used for interviews (much bigger than the old plasma). The presenters have laptops and the scripts are gone. The opening sequence shows the RTE News logo appearing in front of a brown thing (not exactly sure what it is).

Unusually for an RTE bulletin presented by Aengus McGrianna, NOTHING WENT WRONG! There was just one slight feckup : A report by Carol Coleman about women who worked in sweatshops in Guatemala (obviously filmed in 4:3) wasn't cropped to 14:9 or shown with bars either side of the screen. Instead, they cut off the top and bottom of the picture, so people had no foreheads.

I think the LED wall just lights up the backdrop, and maybe the colour scheme will be slightly different at different times of the day.

If I can, I'll add some pictures of this set compared to BBC4's "The World". They're very similar, and the LED screen is mounted on the wall behind just like the old newsroom backdrop on BBC1.

Round Cable

I think it's a big improvement, not so loud, and looks very good in widescreen. There is advantages to having graphics in the 14:9 safe area, like more room. It's not great for watching 4:3 though.

Rick_

Shock Horror! They STILL havn't got their graphics in line! Look at this:

http://tvtitles.thetvroomplus.com/images-news/rte/2006-2/one-23.jpg

Check the right side of the RTÉ NEWS DOG and the credits bar... Shoddy, disgraceful.... nothing new really.

Paddy

doh.ie

superdudeman007 wrote:

Unusually for an RTE bulletin presented by Aengus McGrianna, NOTHING WENT WRONG!

Well, he did say, "That's all the news this Wednesday... Monday lunchtime..." at the end...

And I'd pretty much count their new titles, graphics and set revamp was being something that went seriously wrong somewhere... Absolutely hideous.
The set prior to this are far superior.

superdudeman007

Here are some pictures of the studio screen. Those pictures from BBC 4 were taken a while ago - I'm sure their curent desk is a lot more like the new RTE one.

superdudeman007

And wide shots of both studios. The current BBC4 desk is almost exactly the same as RTE's new one but I can't find a picture of it.