Peter's Blog- Practice

Peter's Blog

Roles that I've played.

• Camera operator
• Sound mixer/operator
• Director
• Floor manager
• Camera assistant

During our production days there are different musicians coming in from another campus. We have two roles per day; one in the morning, one in the afternoon and because there are more students than there are job roles if you don't have a role you have to assist someone on their job. The reason for the production days is to give all of us students enough practice on setting up and using the equipment before the 10th and 17th January, which are our assessment days.

Day 1
When I turned up in the morning I was a few minutes late so I missed my job role and I had to assist Danny J as floor manager. It was our first day practicing our multi camera shoots so we weren't very quick. I helped out every one that needed me. I found leads and adapters for the camera operators,

Production Roles

Production Roles

Roles that are included in a production package for Broadcast News are:

• Producer
• Researcher
• Director
• News Anchor/Reporter
• Camera Operator
• Sound Operator
• Editor
• Graphics Designer

News producers are very organised and pay attention to every little detail. They have the ability to stay calm in pressure situations and have good news judgment. They can write stories in a short period of time and with very little notice. They write the news stories for the news anchors, organise the show, find leads for stories, time the program and they are the link between the director, anchors and the studio crew while filming.


A researcher works closely with the producer on finding a story and also getting information about a certain story. As well as contributing ideas to the show they also find sources for stories. More roles include organising, planning and researching everything that will happen during the program such as the location, who will be interviewed and if the budget will stretch.


The director works closely with all staff and is in charge of the design of the news package. They direct other staff such as the camera man, anchors and also work closely with the editor to project their ideas. Another important role for the director is to make sure everything flows well and is consistent so that the production meets the deadlines set.


A news anchor/reporter is what everyone at home sees when the news package begins. Job roles include telling the audience the news, which is usually read off a teleprompter unless they are at a location. The anchor will introduce the story and then move on to the reporter. Sometimes a news anchor will also make changes to the script to make things easier for them. The news reporter acts as a witness to the story as well as telling the audience. A key skill included in both roles is being able to present a news story.

Camera operators work closely with directors and using their creativity and operating skills they produce a wide range of filming styles that contribute to the overall view of the news package. Usually a camera operator on a news package will also work alongside other camera operators as many studio news shows are multi-camera. When outside of the studio a camera operator can also be a sound man if a boom microphone isn't needed.


Sound is very important in news because without it the pictures don't tell much of a story. Sound operators working in studios are in charge of setting up clip mics for the news anchors and also boom mics. During the news package the sound operator will keep an eye on sound levels and if needed they can turn down the noise levels if they are too loud and versa.


Editors create the overall news package. Putting together all parts of the news show to give the audience a complete package. They work with the director and channel the directors ideas and creativity onto screen.


Graphic designers are responsible for what you see on screen before, during and after a news package. Usually a graphic designers largest task is the graphics before the news starts when they have to design artistic graphics that lead to the opening of the news show. During the show the graphics we would see, most likely at the bottom of the screen are also done by the graphic designers as well as the graphics after the news show.

New Program Proposal

New Program Proposal

We have decided to change our program idea because we couldn't get hold of Emily, our main character from the last idea we had. So we have decided to change our story to the collaboration of the music and media students at the Manchester College. We have already got some footage and also shot some interviews with two of the music students when they came to perform. The news package interviews will include the expectations of both music and media students and also what they thought of it after it was all completed.


The news package will be 1-2 minutes long and will include interviews of both sets of students and also cut-aways of the music students performing. The program it self will be longer than 1-2 minutes, it will be 5 minutes long. The extended version will be the overall program which will also be used for Ricardos' lesson. The news package will be used as part of a News Broadcast to be aired.


Our target audience 15-25 year old males and females. Largely targeting college students that are interested in new up and coming bands.


VT will include bands playing along with the media students filming them along with voice from the interviews.

• Production style
• Title sequence - Follow codes and conventions already laid out by industry.
• End credits - Either scrolling or maybe not any credits
• Set design: 2 chairs, white background or possible green screen

The music students are on a similar course to us and both courses combine in an effort to help one another by helping the other students practice what they will be doing once they have finished their studies. Like us they also get an option to choose what they want to do in their field. They have many options from music performers, producers, musicians or technologists. We thought it was an interesting story because its not something you would usually see. Two opposite courses coming together to give each other experience in their own field as well as another and to give each other a piece of work for them to take away.

These students are also given the opportunity to work with professional bands and perform live shows as well. They use professional level equipment such as recording studios, live performance venues, industry standard software and industry level sound equipment. This gives them the opportunity to produce industry level music and performances.