English
中文This study will analyse the skills involved in making a news production. In this case, the study will focus on a non-fiction, hard-news broadcast production for a mainstream news channel during the search for the killer of five prostitutes in Ipswich, Suffolk, during December 2006.
This study will focus on a programme made on the day the bodies of missing prostitutes Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls were found in woods outside Ipswich on December 12. This study will first analyse the content of a production at 6pm on December 12, after the bodies had been found. It will cover how it could have been produced, as well as how it could alternatively have been produced for a middle market national newspaper (such as The Daily Mail or The Daily Express) printed early the following morning. This study will assess the advantages of communication using both formats, as they are two I personally have most knowledge of, by using the same story told in a number of different ways and what I have learned from studying them.
Television:
Television can reach millions of viewers throughout the UK. It is for this reason that this study will first assess the production of a television news bulletin. TV news is seen as immediate and it is important to remember that at the time the bodies of Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls were found the British public were hoping for an arrest any minute. The television news coverage of the search for the “Ipswich Ripper” (a term picked up by national newspapers) became a national pastime.
For the production I personally would produce, much must be made of the location of the bodies to build the tension in the programme. I think it is vital that the bulletin is shot as close to the location of the bodies as possible (the public also like to be reminded that the bodies are still there and have not been removed, so essentially are directly behind the reporter) and near the police station where the investigation is taking place (in this case in the nearby village of Martlesham). This also allows the public to feel like they are a part of the investigation, as interactivity with the news is now key, and is the main advantage of visual communication.
After the location, how the information gets across is extremely important. Television news is often seen as more formal than newspapers, and I think that it my production, this is how the reporters (in this case, three: one at the police station in Martlesham, one at the scene of what was thought to be Paula Clennell’s body, and one at the scene where it would eventually be confirmed Annette Nicholls was found – I would put them there so the viewer felt part of the story) continue to be. Although the presenter should have some personality, the reporters must be careful not to cloud the facts. In this case, the story itself is interesting enough; it does not have to be enhanced by an over enthusiastic ‘personality.’
In terms of design, I have learned that it is important that graphics are included in the bulletin, as they show where the bodies of the women were found. In this case the graphic would show a map of Ipswich and the surrounding area, with a sign for the red light district, (where the women went missing) a sign for where the bodies were found, and a sign for the A14, the road close to which all the bodies were found, and a main route towards the port of Felixstowe, adding to the suggestion that the killer may be a lorry driver. I have learned that graphics are key in building a visual for the viewer, which is why I think it is important that a lot of effort is put in to making them look professional.
In terms of how the bulletin is shot, the camera angles should not be too different or unusual. Working with cameras has shown me that different shots can mean different things to the viewer and I think that my production should start with the main reporter delivering a piece to camera in a medium shot outside the police station filmed at an eye-level angle. I have found that this set-up provides a straight forward, honest image to the viewer and, as Chandler writes: “The convention is that subjects on factual programmes should be shot at eye-level only.” (1994) I would not use high angle shots, as they make the viewer feel superior, and the point of the bulletin is to make the viewer feel like they are part of the action. This is the same for low level shots, which make the viewer feel as though they are looking up at the reporter and that they are not on the same level as them. The camera work would not be unusual, and maybe not the kind that would be found in a fiction piece, but it keeps the right mood of the bulletin.
Print:
The main problem with newspaper print is that it always runs the risk of being out of date. In the case of this story, there was little newspapers could do to keep up. But, where television news doesn’t always completely cover the facts, newspapers can. I think that for a newspaper article I would design, graphics should also be included, they should provide as much detail as possible to cover up for the lack of “action” pictures, which show things happening. Without them, the story cannot always move on for the reader because there is nothing to look at.
Despite the ‘timing out’ element of the story, newspapers have advantages over television, particularly when it comes to background information. This is a huge advantage newspapers hold over the broadcast industry. For example, newspapers can give pages and pages of coverage to not only the crimes themselves, but the investigation, previous unsolved murders, and the victim’s stories. All of the women were heroin addicts, some were mothers, and all sold their bodies to pay for their habit. Many newspapers managed to latch onto the fact that they were “Nice middle-class girls, who became hooked on heroin,” (The Sun 10/12/06) which provides a story in itself, particularly for middle market newspapers such as The Daily Mail and The Daily Express. This can also include more in-depth interviews and backdated stories that do not translate well on screen because of a lack of footage.
In conclusion, I have learned that TV is the most important medium because it is ‘visual storytelling’ for the viewer. It means that the person watching the production can see what is going first hand and feels like they are a part of it. This can be done by using the right camera shots (details on the shots that would be used are described in detail in the running order of the bulletin in the Appendix) which make sure that the viewer feels as though they are on the same level as the reporters. The long shots mean that the viewer can see the whole picture, as it is easy for a reporter to be standing outside any old building and say they are outside a police station, or standing next to a field and making the audience believe they are at the crime scene. Long shots mean that the viewer sees that the reporters are where they say they are, and gives them more information about the story.
I would only use a low angle once, as I have learned that they can make the viewer feel like they are not involved, or spying on the subject. But I would use it in this case when the reporter looks up at the helicopter that found Paula Clennell’s body. Although this is unusual, it would make the production a bit different from every other news programme and would also make the viewer feel like they are in the reporters’ position.
I think the sequence of the film is also important, and more details are included in the Appendix, but it means that the viewer follows the story properly, which is the most important part of visual storytelling. This is the same for the split screens used in interviews, which are always better than interviewing someone over the phone, as it lets the viewer see how they are reacting to the story as it happens.
Through looking at different types of media I have found that graphics are one of the most important parts of a production and the visuals of storytelling are extremely important. Although the graphics in the TV production are important, a lot of the TV film speaks for itself. That it why I have found that the designing of newspaper pages is crucial as it focuses around pictures and graphics. The pages I have designed (also in the Appendix) all focus on pictures. The first page, the more ‘newsy’ of the two, shows pictures of the dead prostitutes, along with an “action” picture of the investigation. If an “action” picture could not be found I would use the graphic instead. The second looks at the back story of the first victim, with the text around a cut-out of Gemma Adams. I think this is very important to visual storytelling as it means that the reader is drawn to a picture of her all the time they are reading. This means that they are really involved in the story.
The most important thing I have learned throughout this course is that the visual part storytelling is crucial. Depending on the way the film is shot or the page is laid out, this makes a big difference to the way it is viewed by the audience, and turns the story from just facts to an actual story that creates interest.
