WINOL 24/10/2012

Overview
This was a very good week in terms of story quality. We had some genuinely interesting stories, including those that didn't make it into the bulletin.

Also most of you seemed to work hard to try and get yourself into the bulletin this week, their is a genuine hunger, and I'm starting to sense more competition, which is ideal. It's becoming more and more difficult each week to decide the bulletin line-up.

You all seem to be throwing forward at the end of your packages now, which is great.

Please read the 'things to improve'at the bottom of this post, I will likely go over them again sometime on Monday, but it's still good to get

Individual Feedback

Flick
A nice oov package that could have been used this week if we had the room for oovs in the bulletin. However, the interview clip looks great alongside the written story on the website.

Lou
It's great that you've been able to keep up with these HPCC profiles, it's so important that we maintain balance overtime with this subject, and you're achieving that. A solid piece this week.

Harry
I really liked your package this week. It had some really good elements that will hopefully come naturally to everyone over the next few weeks. Things like natural sound at the top of the piece are so simple and yet this was the only package to have it this week. NATSOT starts a news package with a bang, and grabs the audience's attention. You had some really good interviews that added to your piece, and worked hard to get some sort of balance.
I also liked how your 2 PTC's connected in a way that told the whole story.

Faith
A very good week from you. You showed a lot of determination to make the feminist march story in London work. We did a skype call which seemed ok at the time, but after getting it edited, it was decided that it just wasn't broadcast quality. But don't be too disappointed by that, it was a great experience, and something that you can now say you've done. We'll be hoping to look into more skype calls in the future, and your now one of the people that have experience in doing it, which will be invaluable. You had a decent script, and knew what you wanted to get across. Time and video quality was our enemy this week, but I can see you growing in confidence as a reporter. You also did really well to get the written story up while in London. It meant that we had the written piece from when the story was fresh. A really good week.

Ellen
An interesting story this week, it's something that would turn a lot of heads, and would likely be talked about at the pub. You have a good voice, but it needs some work. You don't sound very interested in what your covering, and if you're not interested, then why should we be interested?
You had some good shots this week, and it was easy for anybody to understand what the story was.

Jack
It was a good piece this week, and it looks great on the website because the video footage tells the story a lot better than a written piece in my opinion. You did well with it, and had some good scripting, but I don't think you were cheesy enough. I think we needed to see you in the package getting involved. You said they asked you to do some serving, and it would have been great to have some footage of you doing it, maybe even doing a piece to camera too.

Spence
A solid package this week. You're very good at PTC's, but try to avoid making the story rely heavily on them. You won't be able to always rely on PTC's to save your package. However, I think they worked well this week, and you told a good story. You did the best you could with the pictures you had, and you did well to get the images and footage secured to use. Would be great if you can keep up with the story and see how  it progresses for a possible follow-up in the future.

George
You came in on Wednesday with the news that your story had to change after the inquest was launched, and you immediately had ideas of how it could work, which was great. I knew I could trust you to make the story work and sort out the majority of the in-studio discussion while I was busy with the 2nd years, particularly Karina and Faith in London. Looked great when recorded, and was a good way to start the bulletin.

Shona
It's good to see your keeping up with all of the latest news events going around. We need some more events for November, we only have two at the moment, but seeing as it is November in a few days it's important that we have a list of different potential news events on the agenda. So that's something to look at this upcoming week.

Christina
Your court story this week was your best one so far. You've been building up confidence, and contacts over the last few weeks, and it paid off for this story. You had all of the information that you needed, 

Tom
You worked hard to get your package done, but you struggled for shots, which can often be the trouble with political stories. You need to get creative. You zoomed on the same sign twice within about 15 seconds, which isn't good for tv. It was full of guilty signs and guilty buildings, which you need to try and avoid as much as possible. You had some good interview clips that gave the story some balance.

Tammy
You were ill this week and your story idea was out of your control. We can just move forward to the next week.

Emma
I am very pleased that you were able to deliver the scabies story this work. It's a perfect example of a story that directly affects our target audience. It's something that interests people and will get them watching. You also did well to get some pictures that we could use in the package showing the affect of scabies and what they look like, it was key to the package. We had an issue with your final line before your SOQ, you said the word 'pandemic' which it isn't (considering around 30 people have been affected). You also ended with a cliche' line, which you should try to avoid.

Karina
Much like Faith you did great to cover the feminist march in London, and you did a good job of it Your package had some decent footage, and a decent sign off. We removed one of the interviewee's, which made the package a lot tighter. Don't be too disappointed that it wasn't in the bulletin, the footage didn't reach us in time, and I had to make the decision to spike it, as we wouldn't have it in time even to slot in for the upload. However, it looks great on the sight, and compliments your written article well. Speaking of the article, you both did great to get it up on the website so soon, was on the website while the story is still fresh which is exactly what we want.

Amy
You worked to get a package done this week which was good, and yo got your written piece up pretty quickly. Although I'm quite disappointed that you didn't go to the meeting with the police, even though I told you to still go. It would have given your story a lift either with an interview or some extra background. There was no real reason not to go, you should be keen to make your package even better and to try and force it into the bulletin instead of giving up on getting into the bulletin on Wednesday morning after not going to the meeting.

Things to work on

Natural sound is still a rare sight in our bulletins. I think Harry's package was the only one that had it this week. You also should be putting your best picture at the very top of your piece, theirs no need to save it for the middle or the end, you should put it right at the front.

Wind noise. Headphones are very useful when filming, particularly for outdoor interviews, use them to make sure you're getting good sound from your interviewee and no wind noise. It can be really distracting and annoying. Angus said that it's best to use the gun mic, particularly in windy situations. I often try to shield the wind with my back while holding the gun mic for them, as long as it doesn't affect the shot too drastically. Alternatively you can ask to film the interview somewhere else if it's a big issue. Just think what will look best, and what will sound best. Both elements are important.

Also on the subject of sound, voice over sound quality still needs work. If it doesn't sound good while you're editing, film it again. Angus mentioned the sound booth we now have booked out, you can go there if you feel the lip mic isn't working for you. But we do have the lip mics which should provide good quality sound.

Sequences. I don't think I saw any sequences this week. The closest to a sequence has been the 'walky talky' which has been used to set up a number of shots. To be honest, I'm getting a bit sick of seeing them, so can you try and be a bit more creative with how you lead into interviews, and how you patch over a jump-cut. Sequences are a great way to do that. Don't feel embarrassed to ask, or to get in close with the camera. Even something as simple as 3 shots of the person working at their desk, or looking through a book is fine. It gives you more options during editing. Some interviewees(like scientists or carpenters) will be in interesting surroundings, utilise that and get some good shots, instead of walking away with not enough footage.

Pictures are getting better, but we're still struggling, particularly when looking at our headlines. All 3 were taken by us in the first week, 1 in the second week, and 1 in the third week. That's not always a bad thing, sometimes the pictures we've been given look better or tell the better story. But their wasn't even competition for a better shot. We need to be more creative with what we're filming, and think what kind of shots would compliment the story.

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