Research: Analysis of similar news broadcast - Opening 5 minutes

I have chosen to analyse the first 5 minutes of a Calendar news programme. I have chosen Calendar because, like ours, Calendar is a regional news programme with a formal style whilst also spinning a less formal, light hearted look on the smaller more local stories of music, sports, arts and life in general.

Here is a link to the news broadcast I'm analysing.

The news broadcast starts with a title sequence of a series of images and video clips crossing the screen in turn. The images and video clips are of upbeat events that have been previously covered by the Calendar team or local monuments, statues and buildings of interest. The clips of events give the viewer a sense of the feel to the show with upbeat dance, music, fairs and festivals all being shown in the opening title sequence. This gives off a good vibe of the local area and whilst also informing the viewer of what types of stories are covered in the show as well as the obvious national stories. As well as the pictures and videos of events there is also pictures of local buildings, monuments, statues and places of interest which shows the viewer of the area to which the news is based whilst also giving a welcoming feel to the locals of the area who are watching. These titles are played over an orchestral piece of music with gives a more formal feel whilst authenticating the news to a degree. These title sequences are regularly updated and kept up to date with new events etc.

After the title sequence a fade is used to smoothly transition from the title sequence to a long two shot of both the news presenters sat in a semi-formal studio with modern bench like couches and a small coffee table like desk. This semi-formal set up lets the viewer feel more comfortable and relaxed because the viewer will be in a living room most likely as Calendar is broadcast between 5pm-6pm. The studio is set out much like a living room for this purpose. As well as this the news remains authentic and professional by the attire of the presenters and modern desk and couches.
The news then cuts to a medium two shot of both presenters who go on to briefly summarise the day's top stories and inform the viewers on what's about to be covered in the news show. This entices the viewers to keep watching whilst informing them of the day's news. Images and videos are shown relating to the stories whilst the news readers voice over the clips which is a good way of combining vision and audio to summarise the news. This then leads on to another short title sequence which announces the end of the summary and then a medium close-up of one of the presenters who then reads the first story from the autocue.

The first story begins with the female anchor introducing the story and a reporter in the field. The image then cuts to a reporter at the scene of the story who then reports on the story from the scene with an interview with someone related to the story. This is authenticating and validating the story whilst giving the viewer an inside look at just what is happening with very qualatative information from interviews. A further summary is then given of what is still to come. These regular summaries are constant reminders of what is still to come to ensure the viewer remains watching and knows exacly when particular stories are to be shown. Following this is another short title sequence and then the other anchor, in this case the male one, then begins the second story with another medium close-up.

The second story follows a very similar format to the first with a short introduction from the anchor, then leading to a reporter at the scene of the story who further embelishes the story with interviews and on-scene images of the story. This is then followed by yet another summary of the news to come. The next story is then introduced by the female anchor but the shot is not just of her this time, it's another medium two shot of both anchors. This is to give the show more balance.

After this story the image cuts back to the studio where the weather man has now joined the anchors and a light hearted conversation takes place about the story. This is to further make the viewer feel comfortable and relaxed as well as adding humour to the show for more entertainment. There is then a medium close-up of the third person, the weather man, who then begins to voice over a compilation of photos sent in by the viewers. This further entertains the viewer as well as breaking up the news format and having a short break from the news to mix things up and keep the viewer interested.

From this analysis I have got many ideas on what does and doesn't work when broadcasting news. Some of these ideas and concepts are going to be used by our group as they seem to work very well in a similar news broadcast such as Calendar.