Codes and Conventions of TV News Broadcasts

Codes and conventions are the 'ingredients' that make up a news broadcast. They are what you expect to see and hear on a broadcast.

A TV news broadcast is an informative video that gives you information on what is happening around the world. They cover all topics ranging from sport to war. They will have both video footage and people talking about these different topics.

Codes and Conventions of a TV News Broadcast:

Studio News Presenters
Studio news presenters are essentially the face of the broadcast and the channel they are presenting for. They are used by News Outlets to present the news to the audience. They are there to inform you by relaying information that they have researched. News presenters conduct there own research on stories around the world and they write and read their own scripts as well as editing copy and conducting interviews. News presenter must be well presented and un-biased and also know the laws that go with journalism.

Field Reporters
Field reporters are like news presenters however they are usually out and about on location reporting a story from a scene, outside of the studio. There reports are sometimes pre-recorded. News outlets use Field reporters to report on stories such as breaking news stories, live events, sporting matches, war zones, ongoing news stories and interviews. They are used as filler to break up stories so that the audience is not just watching the same news presenter in the studio reading the whole thing.

Contributors
Contributors are used by News Outlets in News Broadcasts to add information to a story. These contributors can be experts, that add information to a story based on a certain topic. Experts are used because they are trustworthy and authoritative so the audience believes what they are saying. Witnesses are also contributors. Witnesses are people that give first hand accounts of something they have seen happen, for example a murder or a car crash. They give a realist response which adds colour to a news broadcast. Vox pops are also a form of contributors as they are the voice of the public. They are often used as filler but they also portray the public opinion.
Example - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNEsYrJ34GY 

Links to Studio
Links to studio is when one live news studio will cut to another live studio to give more information on a topic. This other studio could be anywhere around the world. Links to studio are used in news broadcast as filler so that the audience is not getting bored of the same presenter. They also add colour to a story as well as more info from different sources.

Actuality Footage
Actuality footage is real, raw footage that the new team have either recorded themselves or have sourced it from somewhere else. This footage is real and will relate to the story that the presenters and field reporters are talking about. Actual footage is used by news outlets to support a story and give a visual aid to better explain what is being spoken about.
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XCs0Od-wxk

Report Structure
All TV news broadcasts will have a structure they follow. Usually it is the pyramid structure which means they start with the most important news story first and then go down in order of importance. They do this because the audience is going to want to find out about the biggest headline first as it will usually be the most shocking or interesting. The codes and conventions that go into report structure are piece to camera, cutaways, voice overs, interviews, vox pops, graphics, charts and final summary.
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB7MnW7GEwE

Mode of Address
Mode of Address is the style of delivery. It is how the presenter addresses the audience. There are certain rules that the presenter and the news team have to follow in a TV news broadcast. They have to address the camera directly by looking straight at the camera talking to the audience. The presenter needs to be clear and fluent when speaking. The presenters don't usually have a distinct accent. The top stories are always announced first. The news bulletin should begin with a high angle or a long shot of the studio to emphasise the size. When an interview is taking place the interviewee looks off camera and at the reporter.

Codes and Conventions of TV/Filmmaking Documentary

1) What is a film/television documentary?

A documentary is a factual programme that will be based on a subject, either something that has happened in the past or about a current topic. Documentaries involve footage of the subject with a presenter/narrator giving factual information alongside. They are usually filmed out and about on location with one single camera.

2) What is the purpose of a documentary? How might the audience react to documentaries? Give examples from documentaries you have seen.

The purpose of a documentary is to document an event and give factual information alongside visual footage to give knowledge about the subject to the audience. Documentaries provide particular views and understandings of the subject. Audiences might react to documentaries in different ways depending on the topic. Documentaries want the audience to connect emotional and get involved with the subject. Documentaries cause many different reactions, for example some can be shocking and eye-opening, for example Louis Theroux ‘The most hated family in America’ where as others can be happy and light-hearted for example

3) What do you expect to see in a documentary?

There are a number of elements that you would expect to see in a documentary. Almost every documentary has a presenter or narrator that introduces the subject and provides voice-overs and conducts interviews. Documentaries are factual and will have either on screen or spoken facts based on the subject. They often include interviews and witness accounts with real life people depending on the topic. The main thing you would expect to see in a documentary is footage, both raw and real footage and also reconstructions and interpretations of past events.

4) Are there particular subjects that work well for documentaries?

The particular subjects that work well for documentaries are those that are interesting and can be interpreted and explored in many different ways. Subjects that also make interesting documentaries are controversial ones that can cause the audience to debate and get involved emotionally. For example some subjects that work well are nature, war, crime, ethics and human conditions.

5) List some of the codes and conventions of documentaries. Give examples from documentaries you have seen

·      Presenter – giving factual information on the subject

·      Narrator – voice over

·      Interviews - witness accounts 

·      Out and about – filmed on location – single camera

·      Footage – real and reconstructions – montages

·      Facts and statistics

·       

6) List the 5 ‘modes’ of documentary, explain the codes and conventions of each and provide examples to illustrate your points.

Expository:

·      Voice overs – addresses audience directly

·      Images used to illustrate or contradict voice over

·      Editing used for continuity

·      Variety of footage

·      Main opinion portrayed is of logic – nothing to controversial

·      Example -

Observational:

·      Location shooting

·      Direct sound recording

·      No voice over

·      No interviews

·      Documentary makers presence is hidden

·      Subject appear to be unaware of camera

·      Examples – Frozen Planet, Planet Earth

Participatory:

·      Interactive

·      Crew interact with subject

·      Interviews dominate – formal

·      Use of archive material – news, stills, old footage, letters, headlines

·      Location shooting – hand held camera

·      Voice over – by the film maker

·      Film maker visible to camera

·      Example – Louis Theroux

Reflexive:

·      Borrows features from fiction films – for emotional response

·      Incorporates anti – realist techniques

·      Voiceover (when present) questioning and uncertain

·      Example - crime watch

Performative:

·      Documentary maker in a performance – performing for the camera

·      Maker interacts or is sometimes the subject

·      Filmmaker – comments frequently on fact that they are making a documentary

·      Narrative of investigation / mystery

·      Addresses audience in emotional and direct way

·      Subject often to do with identity (gender or sexuality)

·      Example – Grizzly Man

         

This essay is going to analyse the codes and conventions that are used in TV/film documentary filmmaking using Louis Theroux’s ‘The most hated family in America’ as a basis.

1)    Louis Theroux is an interactive documentary filmmaker. This is made clear in the way that he interacts with the subject and gets directly involved. One thing that shows this is the way he has face to face interviews, with no rehearsed questions, with the family, for example when he is interviewing the Pasteur of the church he asks very direct questions that angers the Pasteur. Another way Theroux is interactive is shown when he actually attends and get involved in what the church do. For example he takes part in the church services and interacts with them on a human basis. It is also clear that Theroux is an interactive documentary filmmaker as he gets his own real footage of the family and the reactions of the American public, for example he attends the pickets of the dead soldiers’ funerals and gets a first had experience of what they are like and how other people feel about them.

2)    The main subjects of the documentary are the church people as well as Theroux himself. The documentary mainly focused on a few certain members of the church. One member that was heavily focused on was Shirley, the Pasteur’s daughter, who was a very passionate member of the church that had enforced her strong believes on her children and would not accept any alternative. Another main subject of the documentary was Pasteur Phelps (Gramps) who is the founder of the church. A few of the Shirley’s children were also featured quite a lot as well as a member called Steve who was a journalist himself and went to make a film about the church but was converted in the process.

3)    There are many controversial themes and issues featured in the documentary. The main one being religion. Homosexuality is an ongoing theme throughout as the family target homosexuals and is heavily against it. War is also an ongoing topic as the family believe the troops are all dyeing for nothing and are being punished by god,that is why they picket the funerals of the dead soldiers.

4)    In terms of the size of Theroux’s crew I assume that it is fairly small with one maybe two camera men and a sound man. This tells you that they wanted to show the family in the most natural way and didn’t want them to be performing for a large camera crew and putting on an act.

5)    Theroux is an interactive documentary filmmaker and uses a participatory mode of documentary. The main codes and conventions that are involved in participatory filmmaking are that they are interview dominated and the filmmaker is always visible and on camera. The crew tend to interact directly with the subject. Voice-overs are used as well as archive material. It is filmed on location with a hand held camera.

6)    The style of Interviewing that Theroux uses is very interactive. He asks a lot of questions to try and draw out as much information from the subject as he can and also is trying to catch them out in a way and try and prove them wrong.

7)    It is clear what Theroux wanted to achieve when making the documentary. He wants to cause a debate with the audience and wants them to connect emotionally with the subject as well as have opinions on the topics raised. I believe that he achieved this as I felt a similar reaction when watching this

8)    I think that the audience would react to this in a similar way as I did myself. I believe most people would be very shocked at the way the family put across their beliefs and the way they go about their business. The audience might also be shocked at some of the opinions of the family.

9)    I would personally describe the documentary as interesting as it shows how different some people are and how strongly they can believe in something that is clearly wrong in the eyes of most people. I would say the documentary is very controversial because of some of the themes raised are very shocking and somewhat disgusting, which caused debate within the audience.