Five News Calls a halt to tired filming tricks - here here!

mike65

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,2158344,00.html

Kermode, who joined Five News from BBC Breakfast in June, has told his team that from this week they will no longer be allowed to edit their reports using "noddy" shots - where reporters are shown supposedly reacting to interviewees, but which are actually filmed afterwards.

"Contrived" walking shots in which people are filmed strolling towards the camera are also out.

"These are ghastly," Kermode said. "The BBC bulletins are full of them. They are artificial, so we should ban them."

"Cut-away" shots and staged scenes in which reporters are filmed repeating their questions after they have finished their interviews have also been axed.

"These rarely look genuine - it's hard for a reporter to sit and ask an empty chair a question - so they should also stop," Kermode said.

Its the talk of the town already with Newsnight going all 'interactive'
about it (btw thats something else we could do with less of already IMO).

Mike.

flogen

That seems sensible enough - I do hate seeing contrived shots like that, especially when they get the individuals involved to act something out or pretend to go about their day to day lives.

I hate noddy shots for another reason - because there's no real reason to involve the reporter in a scene or piece unless they're narrating to camera; it seems a little egotistical to me, like they're reminding viewers that they're still there.

silverharp

a bit off topic but reminds me of the predictable RTE reporting. If it's an energy story, send the team down to sandymount strand with poolbeg in the background. if it's something about food prices, Tesco Merrion.

Wishbone Ash

flogen wrote:

....especially when they get the individuals involved to act something out or pretend to go about their day to day lives

Usually involves filling the kettle!

flogen

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Usually involves filling the kettle!

Or looking after the kids

J.S. Pill

Who would have though it would be channel 5 that would be leading the way on this sort of thing?

Here here indeed

fricatus

silverharp wrote:

a bit off topic but reminds me of the predictable RTE reporting. If it's an energy story, send the team down to sandymount strand with poolbeg in the background. if it's something about food prices, Tesco Merrion.

Hehe, yeah... and if it's economic statistics, show a shot of Grafton St, either over all the people's heads, or else a shot of their many feet, then have George Lee enter frame and complete the report.

There's one piece of stock footage that intrigues me though. It's one that they use for house prices, and it shows a load of estate agents' signs, but here's the twist: they're all in Waterford of all places. You can tell because all the phone numbers are 051. Now that's regional inclusivity from the national broadcaster! Years ago, the same suburban for-sale footage would have come from no farther away from Montrose than say, Rathfarnham or Ballinteer.

flogen

fricatus wrote:

There's one piece of stock footage that intrigues me though. It's one that they use for house prices, and it shows a load of estate agents' signs, but here's the twist: they're all in Waterford of all places. You can tell because all the phone numbers are 051. Now that's regional inclusivity from the national broadcaster! Years ago, the same suburban for-sale footage would have come from no farther away from Montrose than say, Rathfarnham or Ballinteer.

Maybe they realised that as handy as it is for them to film, house prices in those areas aren't even close to representative of the national trend - they needed to go outside Dublin to get that!

jdivision

Noddy shots are occasionally used in order to splice together two different soundbites. That way the pictures of the speaker doesn't obviously jump. You could always intersperse with a shot of a place though.
As for RTE you forgot the traffic stories where they walk onto the flyover outside RTE and report from there:)

Milktrolley

Noddys are terrible, but afaik Five plan to replace them with wipes or some other sort of visual transition. I'd sooner some other sort of token footage to that, it'd be less distracting i reckon.

Newsnight's report on it is here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6970000/newsid_6972400/6972467.stm?bw=nb&mp=wm&news=1&ms3=6