ELECTRONIC NEWS GATHERING

ENG as the name suggests ,is the gathering is the process of gathering news
on video and conveying it to the news centre ,and is one of the most flexible
,though rigorous operations .

An ENG team normally consists of two people- the cameraperson and the
reporter. ENG s do not require any pre-production ,rather there is no time
to prepare –news events do not give notice before they actually occur.

A reporter has four option in covering as event,

First: Reporters records the event and send video tape to the news station.
The station edits the story along with narration adds appropriate sound
bites, and telecasts the story.

Second: reporter transmits the event as it unfolds using a technique called

satellite news gathering (SNG ) when ENG uses satellite to transmit news
and other current affairs it called satellite news gathering.

SNG van is the heart of any ENG unit .a typical SNG van is a small vehicle
that can accommodate feeds from up two to three cameras video monitors,
audio and vision mixers a power generator, and transmission equipment to
send signals from top mounted dish antenna to the each station.

Third: reporters transmit their news is through mobile phones. The

reporter dials the studio numbers and the news presenter is connected to
the phone for updates .The news station uses photographs of the reporter
to indicate who is on the line.

Fourth: using micro wave transmission method, a reporter desiring

mobility during shoots opts for this method. In this case small battery –run
microwave transmitters are fitted onto the camera. The transmitters
normally weigh about a kilogram. If the distance between the camera and
the news station is not too great, we can relay the signals directly to the
news station.

However if there are tall building in the way of the signal, there can be
interferences. Therefore we might need a transmitter at a height and power
full one at that .the transmitter from the camera sends the signal to a van,
which in turn transmits the signal back to the news station.
Electronic field production : EFP is different from ENG in the sense that
it uses both ENG and studio production techniques.

OB ( OUTDOOR BROADCAST VAN ) : The OB van is the heart of any big

ENG or EFP. All signals both video and audio come to the OB van, are
processed there, and then broadcast. A typical OB van is divided into three
major portions.

The first portion is where the director sits with technicians. This portion
has the video mixer and a wall of video monitors. These monitors get all the
video feeds from various sources, which could be graphics from graphics
workstations, video from cameras and other playbacks videotapes. The
wall of monitors also contains two monitors other than those for the video
feeds- the preview monitors and programme monitors.

The next portion is where the sound is managed. The sound engineer has a
sound mixer, which is fed with all the audio feeds from various sources
such as commentators, location microphones; portable camera mics
etc .The engineer is also supplied with monitors to help synchronise sound
on instructions from the director .

The last portion of the van is the video storage

On the roof of the vehicle is the satellite dish. The main transmitter called
the high power amplifier (HPA),is on the roof too, but all the equipment can
be controlled from inside .A trained satellite engineer operates the
unit ,including the dish on the roof of the vehicle.

Before transmission, the satellite engineer contacts and engineer in the

main

Control room, who is in charge of the satellite transmission. Signal from the
dish goes to the satellite. The signal from the satellite is then downlinked
at the channel’s earth station. The picture from the satellite is then
connected to the studio and can be incorporated into the bulletin.
 • Documentaries

• What is a Documentary ?

Documentary concerns itself with people, things, events, phenomena and

places that exist in fact.

In feature films, real people become characters.

But documentaries are all about real people, real places, and real
happenings. Then what about a film like Gandhi ? Gandhi was a real person
who fought for India's independence. But Richard Attenborough made a
film on Gandhi by the same name.

Would that be called documentary ?

Its called biopic since somebody else played the role of Gandhi, although it
was about a real person.

• How a fiction film differs from a documentary

Setting

F: The setting in a fiction film is planned to the last detail by set designers
and constructed to create a mood or lend authenticity. For example, an
ashram is constructed to show where sages lived.

D: The settings are real. That is, a film on the lives of people living in a
slums is shot in actual slums in various cities.

• Characters

F: Parts are played by someone else. For example, Rama's part was played
by NT Rama Rao in several films.

D:Actual people living in slums are shot on film.

• Costumes

F: Costumes are designed and stitched to perfection to lend authenticity.

Ben Kingsley's constumes in Gandhi were designed by Bhanu Athaiya.
D: Characters appear in the costumes they wear in daily life.

• Lighting

F: sets are lit up to achieve certain objectives. Lighting directors spread a

lot of time trying to light up a set to make the picture appealing on the
screen (although they try not to make it look artificial).

D:Most documentaries use what is called available lighting or the real life
equivalent of practical lighting. Whatever lighting is available in the scene
becomes the lighting for that scene.

• Sound

F: Fictional films use dubbing for dialogues, sound effects, background

music, songs. Sound in the form of background music and songs are used to
enhance the emotional impact.

D: Most documentaries use real sound, i.e., sound as it is available on

location . Barring very few exceptions, documentaries hardly make use of
sound effects. Music too is rarely used.

• Editing :

• F: Fiction, for the most part, employs continuity editing, which

functions to keep the narrative understandable and moving. Such
editing lends clarity and prevents any confusion.

• D: The function of editing in documentary, however, differs from

fictional. Instead of working to preserve the narrative, itserves to
further the documentary's equipment.

• Budgets

• F: Budgets of most feature films run into lakhs and crores of rupees,
particularly if they are period films, and if foreign locales are
involved.

• D: Budgets of documentaries, depending on the topic, can run into

lakhs of rupees too. But more often, they are small budget films and
are made by independent film makers using minimum equipment.
 • Distribution / Screening

• F: Huge funds are spent on publicity, distributing and screening

feature films in theatres to attract audiences. Publicity takes up a
huge chunk of this budget.

• D: Documentary film makers have to sruggle hard to find screening

avenues although the scene i schanging for the better.

• Objective

• F: The main objective of a feature film is to entertain. Therefore, it

employs all the gimmicks to achieve this objective.

• D: Documentaries are supposed to educate, inform and provide social

change.

• Documentaries can be defined a s films that are factual record of real

people, events and happenings.

• But a documentary goes on to explain in detail why and how it

happened. For all we know a documentary could also provide a
remedy.
TREATMENT
A brief narrative description of the program is called a treatment. Some of the
more elaborate treatments have storyboard like illustrations. The treatment
should not only say what the proposed show is all about but also explain its
angle. It should also reflect in its writing the style of the show. The style of a
treatment for an instructional series on computer-generated graphics, for
example, should differ considerably from that of a situation comedy. Do not
include specific production information such as types of lighting or camera
angles; save this information for the script. Keep the treatment brief and concise.
It should simply give a busy executive some idea of what you intend to do.

SCREENPLAY

A screenplay or script is the translation of the treatment into a visual blueprint

for production, laying end to end the particular scenes employing the specific
terminology of the medium to describe what is to be seen on the screen and
heard on the sound track. This means the action and its background and each
new character in the scene must be delineated. Every word of dialogue must be
written down. Every scene must be described. The scene is the basic unit of
visual narrative for thescreenplay and the writer who writes it, whereas the
shot is the basic unit of narrative for the camera and the director who shoots the
movie. The standard margins and layout of the page for a screenplay are as
follows:

This transition from scene to shot is the last barrier between the writing and the
making of the movie. The director has to compose the scene out of shots . This
means a director has to create a shooting script out of a screenplay.

Although writers may indicate the importance of certain camera shots (always
capitalized) and certain transitions from scene to scene (CUT TO, DISSOLVE TO),
the director has both the right and the responsibility to break down the scene
into camera setups or shots that will cover the action of the scene . A director
must shoot the same scene from several angles so that action and dialogue are
repeated in different camera angles in order for the editor to create continuity.
Without this “ cover, ” a scene cannot be edited. This thinking about setups is
not really part of the writer’s thought process. The screenplay is the writer’s
construction of the sequence of scenes in the order and length that will make the
story come alive. Although the writer may dip into detailing a shot for particular
emphasis — for instance, to describe a CUTAWAY that carries dramatic and
visual significance — as a rule, the writer leaves shots to the director. You cannot
and should not try to direct a movie from the screenplay.

To pursue the blueprint analogy to the bitter end, it would make sense to say that
the shooting script is the plan for the builder. It gets down to a list of shots . This
list of shots makes up the shooting schedule and leads to each individual camera
setup that defines the method of working. This is why the director is so
important to a movie production, or indeed any production, because it is the
director who makes that final translation of words describing visuals on paper to
images in a moving picture medium by means of camera setups in shooting and
scenes edited together in postproduction.

STORYBOARD

Once you have successfully locked-in and begun to visualize the various takes and
scenes, you may want to make rough sketches of or otherwise record these
visualizations so you won't forget them. A sequence of visualized shots is called a
storyboard; it contains key visualization points and audio information.

A storyboard is usually drawn on pre printed storyboard paper, which has areas that
represent the television screen. Another area, usually below the screens, is dedicated
to audio and other information. A storyboard can also be drawn on plain paper or
created by computer. Storyboard software programs offer a great many stock images
(houses, streets, highways, cars, living rooms, and offices)

Most commercials are carefully storyboarded shot-by shot before they ever go into
production. Storyboards help people who make decisions about the commercial see
the individual shots and imagine them in sequence.

Storyboards are also used for other types of single camera productions that contain a
great number of especially complicated discontinuous shots or shot sequences. A good
storyboard offers immediate clues to certain production requirements, such as general
location, camera position, approximate focal length of the lens, method of audio
pickup, cutaways, amount and type of post production, talent actions, set design, and
hand props.
There are mainly two types of storyboards, Hand-drawn storyboards and Computer
generated story boards.

The storyboard is a series of rough sketches that help the director visualize and
organize his order camera treatment. It is a visual map of how the director hopes to
arrange the key shots for each scene or action sequence

Directors find that the storyboard can be a valuable aid, whether they are going to
shoot action:
■ Continuously, from start to finish.
■ In sections or scenes (one complete action sequence at a time).
■ As a series of separate shots or “action segments,” each showing a part of the
sequence