This is all the information I learned yesterday - October 6 - when I spent ALL day at the BBC on tour. :-D
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| Pretty self explanatory, I'd say! It was so cool. |
SECTION 1: BBC WORLD NEWS
The office for BBC World News is about four years old and located near the White City tube station. There are about 2,000 - 5,000 people staffed for the news broadcasts. This includes journalists, background checkers, travel agents (for free lance journalists who are sent on location at a moments notice with a ready visa and passport), and editors and news directors.
Three-Quarters of the news is Planned News: which are stories that are reserached and put together and the resolution of which are easily predicted.
---> Theses include: Politics, Coverage of Parades and Marches, Sports, Entertainment, and a few other categories.
One-Quaeter of the news then is Breaking News: stories that are covered by on-location free lance journalist the outcomes of which are not predictable.
--> This would include: Court Trials, Shootings, Riots, etcetera.
In any case all news stories have their background checked and this includes sifting through Civilian Journalists (the public as large's) input or what they call Public Generated Content.
---> This includes: Photographs, Text Messages, Phone Calls, Tweets, Face Book Statuses, Videos and Sound Bites submitted by the public at large - all of which must be thoroughly checked to make sure information is up to date and that images haven't been digitally remastered through Photoshop or other means.
After all of this is done the BBC can access extra information through their Yearly Subscriptions to other information hubs like ATPN or Eurovision.
Then when all footage is compiled, it's the job of Editors to sit down and put together a broadcast. All information is then put into a system and transmitted to a Rolling Script (teleprompter) which puts one anchor's text in White and the other's in Red. Since the broadcast is pre-taped and Static there are several stepd that are taken beforehand:
---> All cameras - about 7 - are manipulated through a sound board by the Director of the broadcast to catch the anchors in the best lighting and at the right angle.
--> current BBC World News backgrounds are on Green Screen - which means the anchor's always have to look ahead of themselves, they see themselves on a tiny TV screen that viewers of the news can't see. That' show they know when to being.
Fun Fact: BBC World News used to be taped live, but then they had issues with scrambled images - for example an anchor would be seen sitting but also walking around the room at the seam moment. So They switched to Green Screen.
Now, just in case you're wondering why you should be in awe of newscasters:
They also have an earpiece which allows them to hear every sound, conversation, sip of water, que, etc. happening within the studio and they have to filter all the sound out and only pay attention to the Rolling Script, which I found out - when I got to practice a new cast (I will post the video on youtube and get you a link) is not an easy thing to do.
ALL BBC broadcasts are funded by public
donations. Another reason I have huge respect for the BBC - it is well liked
and funded only by the public. Now in current times the offices are moving from
White City to Central London - so the place I got to tour may no longer exist
in the next couple of years.
SECTION II: WEATHER
The BBC has 16 meteorologists working there
currently - and as individuals each meteorologist runs their part of the
broadcast by themselves, using a switchboard to indicate the height of the
green screen, the lighting for their skin tone, and the sound.
----> They used to use Blue Screen with
the weather but found that Green Screen offers crisper images.
----> Each meteorologists compiles the
weather forecast before the taping allowing them - as I said before - to adjust
the green screen to their height and the lighting to the skin tone. Also used
in news casts is:
Color Separating Overly: These are either
blue or green - because the shades of true blue and true green are farthest
from the natural skin tones of humans allowing for the effect- when the overlay
is used- of a disappearing body (invisibility cloak - Harry Potter) or the
illusion of having no head (think Headless Horseman).
----> Instead of being a mirror image
(as the new anchors see on their TV screen) Meteorologists see themselves on
screen the correct way around so they have to retrain their brains to process
that image. So if there are ever technical difficulties with the news cast it's
actually a very difficult task to keep going without feeling out of place.
Section III: Television in General
Sets: all sets are made from Plywood and
come in ready to make boxes (like when you buy a desk form Ikea). Once the set
is assembled hooks are attached to it, each hook has a number which corresponds
to a switch board key. Hooks can be manipulated to make it seem as if the set
is rocking (like a boat) or to change elevation in the set.
Studios: all studios are completely empty.
All the seats you see in shows like Doctor Phil or Opera - for example- slide
back into the wall of the studio for storage when they aren't being used. that
means there's about 100-300 seats stored within the wall. The studio floor - at
BBC- is also painted a different color depending upon what show is being
filmed. At the end of filming a Zambodi-like machine comes in and peels all the
paint off. Having a smooth surface of paint is important for ease of camera
movement. If they didn't put single layers of paint - so if they painted over
instead of peeling it away- that cold cause the camera to get caught up and
make a bumpy shot.
Lights: All the studios are flooded with
cold air during a taping session. This is because the expensive cameras need to
stay cool- and if they don't the lenses will crack. But- this is all about
lighting. The air conditioning is needed because all the light in a studio run
between 2,000-5,000 volts of electricity each. Making the room very hot. But,
as I said before, lighting is important, is it mainly due to lighting that sets
look glamorous and realistic.
Dressing Rooms: Are unglamorous. The BBC as
70 dressing rooms dating between 1960 (Doctor Who's first year) and 1990s. They
are sparsely furnished with a wardrobe, counter tops, mirrors, and chairs. The
more glamorous rooms may have sofas
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| An Example of a dressing room! |
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Some of the stories we heard about stars
requesting things (that you may know):
Paul McCartney wanted a 1970s dressing room
and a full of fruit. (this request was granted)
Lady Gaga wanted extra fridges to be put in
her dressing rooms to keep her wigs in. (this request was granted)
J-Low wanted puppies to play with before a
show because they relax her. (this was denied on basis of protocol for the BBC)
There are also 5 Green Rooms at the BBC
Studios we visited which are used as Hospitality Rooms - sometimes for
wine/champagne and sandwich parties after a successful filming session. Or if
stars request to use them for their personal room.
Fun Fact: I got to see John Barrowman the actor who played Captain
Jack Harkness in Torchwood during a filming of his new show for ITV1 Chris
Mollasses' Quiz Night.
Fun Fact 2: I also got to see the Tardis
used by the most current Doctor and companions as well as a Dalek that starred
on the show, the heads for the Oud, Cyberman, and another creature. As well as
other props
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Also, I took a picture of the ceiling in
the BBC - which is now a registered ceiling -which means it can't be destroyed-
because the ceiling was what inspired the creation of the Tardis's console
room.
So that was my great Journey into the BBC!
It was fanstaic. Except the part where David Tennant was there that morning and
I missed him .
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