The task for this unit was to create and produce content for a news channel that you have created, with a live OB news item, a news package, and a promotional video (Turrell, 2021).
With this project, I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and try out a different role within the production team than my usual role as producer. I discussed the roles within my group and was then made editor. Taking on a role that I have limited experience in was nerve wracking, but it allowed me to learn and develop new skills that I would’ve otherwise not learnt.
As editor, I was in charge of editing the whole project (the live news item, the news package, and the promo). This was my first time editing a project using both Premier Pro and After Effects. I used Youtube tutorials to help me learn along the way and had to play around with the software to achieve the finished product. It was a process of trial and error.
When filming our news anchor pieces, the reflection of the LED light panels appeared in Ryan’s (the anchor) glasses and the shadows of his glasses under his eyes were distinct. In order to try and deal with this, we moved the lighting panels above Ryan’s head. This didn’t wholly fix it, but a slight difference was made. For future reference, we will aim to take this into account so that we can try to avoid it.
Whilst filming the promo, we realised that the script that was written didn’t sound completely natural so, we edited it whilst filming. This allowed for the promo script to make more sense and allowed for a greater interactivity/connection with the audience. Upon editing the promo, I had to refresh my memory on how to replace a greenscreen with a background. I used a video on Youtube to help me with this process (Ignace, 2019). To fix the issue of the remaining spill from the greenscreen on Ryan, I used the advanced suppressor tool, which helped tidy this up. When exporting the footage, we realised that there was an issue with a cross fade I had used when editing the main video in Premiere Pro and the masking I had done in After Effects. To solve this issue with the limited time we had, Heather White and I put a dip to black transition in between to get rid of this. When editing the promo, I also learnt how to input social media links into the video. I played around with the graphics and eventually worked out how to do this. Through editing the promo, I gained the knowledge of replacing a greenscreen with a background in After Effects, using the keying tool and learning how to input social media graphics into a video clip.
Figure. 1 U2D News Promo
When it came to the graphics, I struggled at first. The graphics that I found most challenging to input was the one that involved the statistics of spikings in the UK. I had to edit percentages, different axis and input various data information in order to create it. After much patience and determination, I learnt how to input and edit graphics into our project.
Figure.2 U2D Fashion Retailer Quote Graphic
Figure. 3 U2D Live OB Reporter
Figure. 4 U2D Spikings Statistic Graphic
With our news platform, we wanted to ensure we had some diversity within our piece. Our aim was to include at least one woman within our piece.
With coverage on violence on women prominent within the media, particularly with the rise in spiking cases at the minute, it was fitting that the story on spiking be told by women, from a woman’s perspective, hence our decision for a female news anchor to accompany our female-led spiking items.
When editing the sustainable fashion item, I struggled to structure it as we couldn’t get a contributor that we wanted (Primark), so we were missing a chunk of our script. There was also no storyboard, meaning I found it hard to find to understand what vision the director had in mind for the story and the piece lacked an arc. Thinking on our feet, Heather White (Producer) and I decided to get Ryan to record various voice overs to place into the item and also inputted stock footage and graphics. By doing this, we were able to piece together and recover the narrative.
Throughout the whole editing process, I was ensuring that I responded to the feedback provided by Beth Turrell. Beth’s feedback provided an outsider's perspective and allowed us to see the project in a different light. As it’s your piece of work, you have a subjective opinion, so gaining Beth’s insight gave us a sense of objectivity towards our piece. Through this, we were able to make most of the changes suggested.
Figure. 5 Beth Feedback Notes 1
After filming the sustainable fashion interview with Trent, Beth mentioned to us that Trent’s background was not the best and appeared to potentially give him less credibility as an artist. The reason behind us not taking Trent’s background into consideration was that we wanted to make him as comfortable as possible. We did ask him to close his curtains so that he was visible and not hard to see because of the light. However, going forward, we will always aim to take the background of any contributor or talent into account, whilst trying to maintain their comfort.
With regards to the background of our anchor, I would use the green screen room next time. The background we used was not brilliant, it was very dark and the room looked quite institutional-esque, not what we were going for.
In the background of Jade’s interview, there was a sign displaying “don’t worry, be happy”. Due to the severity and seriousness of the story, Beth fed back to us that it appeared to be making us seem flippant. In response to this, Heather and I blurred out the writing on the sign in Premier Pro.
Figure. 6 U2D News Jade Rogers Interview
Figure. 7 Beth Feedback Notes 2
With the spiking story, we received the feedback that there wasn’t much purpose why Will was specifically chosen as a contributor, with this in mind, Heather and I went back and watched Will’s interview again and changed the footage that we had in the edit for other moments within Will’s interview. We gave Will more of a purpose within the story, getting a pub manager’s perspective on the spiking situation and giving the story a bit more of an arc in terms of what action is being taken with regards to the situation. After facing rejection from multiple pubs and clubs when finding contributors, we were grateful that Will Gentry had agreed to be interviewed. We wanted to include a pub or club’s perspective to avoid bias. When receiving feedback about Will as a contributor from Beth during the rough cut viewing, I reflected upon this and voiced that we could’ve used Labour MP for Balham, Furzedown, Earlsfield, and Tooting, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, who started a petition calling for local businesses to act now and make changes in response to the rise in spiking cases and violence against women (Allin-Khan, 2021). However, going forward, I will think about the purpose of contributors in terms of development being shown within the story.
Figure. 8 Beth Feedback Notes 3
When filming the anchor pieces, we used the autocue, allowing for the anchor to deliver their lines more fluently.
Due to the time constraints of this project and the amount of footage that we had captured, I had to cut down the footage and leave out bits of footage that we wanted to include. As a result of this, I learnt about the process of carefully selecting footage in order to build a clear narrative that had a sense of fluidity.
As a result of editing this project, I now know how to input graphics into Premier Pro and change a greenscreen background in After Effects, amongst other things. I will take the skills that I have learnt into future projects, and continue to develop them.
Next time, I will ensure that the background is carefully thought about so that it is more visually pleasing to the audience. This unit has helped me to gain a greater knowledge and understanding of how to use software such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, and Adobe Illustrator. Going forward, I will continue to try and develop my editing skills. I thoroughly enjoyed learning how to input graphics into Premiere Pro.
Bibliography:
Allin-Khan , Dr R. (2021) Safe Space Campaign. At:https://www.drrosena.co.uk/safespace.html (Accessed 04/11/2021)
Fig. 1 Potter, Elsie. (2021) U2D News Promo [After Effects, screenshot] (Accessed 04/11/2021)
Fig. 2 Potter, Elsie. (2021) U2D Fashion Retailer Quote Graphic [Premiere Pro, screenshot] (Accessed 04/11/2021)
Fig. 3 Potter, Elsie. (2021) U2D Live OB Reporter [Premiere Pro, screenshot] (Accessed 04/11/2021)
Fig. 4 Potter, Elsie. (2021) U2D Spikings Statistic Graphic [Premier Pro, screenshot] (Accessed 04/11/2021)
Fig. 5 Potter, Elsie. (2021) Beth Feedback Notes 1. [Photograph, portrait] In possession of the author: Rochester (Accessed 04/11/2021)
Fig. 6 Potter, Elsie. (2021) U2D Jade Rogers Interview [Premiere Pro, screenshot] (Accessed 04/11/2021)
Fig. 7 Potter, Elsie. (2021) Beth Feedback Notes 2. [Photograph, portrait] In possession of the author: Rochester (Accessed 04/11/2021)
Fig. 8 Potter, Elsie. (2021) Beth Feedback Notes 3. [Photograph, portrait] In possession of the author: Rochester (Accessed 04/11/2021)
Ignace Aleya - How To Green Screen Removal Like a Pro in After Effects Tutorial (2019) [Online Video] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTh2CWXzOH4 (Accessed 02/11/2021)
Turrell, B. 2021 TV News Production Handbook. Kent: University for the Creative Arts. (Accessed 04/11/2021)
