WINOL Sport week 5

I am really pleased with Sport this week, but something happened that must NEVER happen again and that put a dampener on what was a good week for us.

Tate - Your filming was great, which made the whole piece a lot more interesting to watch. Your voicing was good and although your script was too descriptive in places, it is easy to learn how to write better scripts. Despite him saying a few good things, the interview with Steve Riley was a bit too long. I know you had problems cutting though, when people don't give outs it can be a problem.

You were fully deserving of Chris Coneybeer's praise.


Charlie - For a first go at producing a football highlights package you did pretty well. Despite being unable to get onto the roof, you did well to film the game at pitch level and on Saturday you will be able to improve your filming if you have to film at pitch level.

Your voiceover was a bit descriptive in places, but it is easy to learn how to not do that.

The massive problem with the VT that went on the original version of Sportsweek was that you had got some of Sholing's goalscorers wrong. This can't happen because if a VT is factually wrong, it is nonsense. Fortunately I noticed the problem and you were able to change your voiceover on Thursday and I could re upload it with the new VT,  but that must never happen again.


Sam - I thought that your piece was really good. The PTC at the start was like something from a real sports programme. My only gripe with that part of the VT was the pan across the signs on Wembley, when I first watched, it looked OK, but after seeing it a few more times, I think you should have cut from a still shot of the 49ers sign to the Jaguars sign.

The filming of the Uni training session was good as there was a lot going on. There was not enough variety of shots though, it would have been nice to see some close up shots.

The interview with the captain was shot well, but you had a building in the background, which is a no-no. I suppose it would have been difficult to have much else in the background because of where the training sessions take place. You could have made him stand facing towards the building, but the light may have been an issue if you had done that.

Your voiceover was entertaining and the shots of you taking part were good, it was a shame that you only had one clip of GoPro footage as having more of it would have really improved the quality of the VT.


Laura - You did well to make a not so interesting story into a VT that I wanted to watch. The opening shot was nice and you left just enough time between the start of the piece and your voiceover.

The shots of the cyclists were nice but the same as Sam's VT, there were no close up shots. The interviews were generally well shot, but the second interview looked a little odd as the woman was holding a gun mic. Even though she was short, you could have got tighter into her face and left less headroom. All you had to do was put the tripod down a bit and re frame until it looked right. Remember that you are in control of an interview, so take as much time as you want to make sure they are framed well.


Drew - Your bulletin package was a good sports news piece and the addition of you taking part in the sport for the SW package lifted it. I thought that you scripted that section well, it made it interesting to watch. The piece could have been improved if you had put on a radio mic and been filmed talking about how hard the sport is whilst you were actually playing. Doing that would have made the piece flow a lot better and instantly engaged someone watching. More close up shot needed!



Notes to all

To make your football highlights scripts less descriptive, watch the BBC's Football League Show. Even if you don't want to watch the football, listen to how the reporters voice the packages. They use quite a few facts about the teams and the players. Viewers can see what is happening e.g. if Newport County player Chris Zebroski hits the post, you can see that happening, so the reporter won't say that the player hit the post, but will say something like 'it was the third time that Zebroski has hit the woodwork in as many games'. This makes the VT more interesting and is especially important at the level of football we cover, the quality of play isn't usually very good so an interesting voiceover is needed in order to spice up the VT.

You MUST fact check every VT and text story you give to me. I shouldn't have to pull you up on wrong information because you should do it right the first time. E.g. if you are producing a football highlights package and you are unsure of which player has scored then feel free to ask me and I can help you identify the player and/or look at a match report and/or call the club to get a list of scorers. Double check and even triple check your facts to make sure you are correct.


There was some great work this week, please keep it up and remember you can always do better.

If there is anything you need me to go through, please ask.