20th Century - Murdoch

I love watching films, I love the cinema experience and am the kind of person to spend ten pounds on a good 'premiere' seat at the cinema and a further tenner on drink, popcorn and sweets. For the first time I watched the trailers and saw the logo of 20th Century Fox and beneath it I saw, "A News Corporation Company." This caught my attention as I never knew this before or why it was written beneath the logo. This may have been around for years and I simply never noticed but it got me thinking and logging on to Wikipedia.

Running through the paragraphs I noted that, 'News Corporation' was not simply a term but a company name. The company name of a Mr Rupert Murdoch. I was surprised, although I know I should not have been. He seems to own practically everything. News papers, news channels, magazines and now movie companies. In order to buy the company he had to become a US citizen, which he did with no problem. The company is the third in the worlds largest in entertainment as well as third in the worlds largest media conglomerate.

As a journalist I feel this is something that I should have known. The more I find out that Murdoch owns the more I understand why many people dislike him and the argument that one person owning as much as he does is not good for society; but that is for another blog post another time.

Winol - 23rd March

This week we focused completely on the bulletin, the polish version and sportsweek. This meant we had more time to focus on them and that, fingers crossed we could sort any problems early on and not panic at the last minute. We also had Maria Milano in this week so we wanted to make sure we made a good impression on her too.

We got everything we wanted. This bulletin was perfect, there was not a single problem with it. The tricaster version was up on the website at 4 on the dot. The tape version was captured, logged and uploaded to youtube by 5pm as there was no editing to be done. The only problem we faced this week was that 30 seconds in to filming the live bulletin the fire alarm went off. We handled this by stopping all recordings, closing the studio and gallery and walking out. We were all annoyed about it but found that we just wanted to start again. So when the alarm stopped we all went back in, Justina told everyone we would be going live again at 10 past three so this gave everyone 4 minutes to calm down, get back in to positions and check sound and lighting. We went live at 3.10 and everything went swimmingly. We were later told how well we handled the fire alarm so I am very proud of my team for getting on with it and not letting the fire alarm ruin the bulletin.

Later, we did an interview with Maria and she congratulated us on how well we work together and how well we reacted with the fire alarm. We now have a break for four weeks but I am looking forward to getting back to WINOL at the end of April. When we get back from our Easter break we no longer have sportsweek to do anymore. This is because there is not so much sport happening anymore so there would be nothing to fill the show with. This means that the production team will have more time and we may try another show of our own and make it a little better than what we have had. Happy Easter everyone.

Winol - 16th March

This week was not the best for the production team. We were not able to get in to the studio until 12pm. We had two Skype interviews to do, Japan and Bahrain, Sportsweek, headlines and the bulletin to do in two hours, (before rehearsals for the bulletin).

Of course we all panicked, Justina had the idea to get a camera from the loan counter and film the Bahrain interview on a normal computer. In the end, it looked really good, not as good as it could have looked but not too bad. We then got in to the studio and filmed the Japan Skype interview. The production team worked really well and we got everything done that was needed of us. This made me very proud of my team and happy that we all work well together as well as knowing what we need to do and how to do it.

We worked on the strap lines throughout the morning, before we were able to get in to the studio. Once in the studio we got the Skype done, we did Sportsweek and the headlines were done. However today was the day that everything fell apart. We tried capturing and logging the headlines but when we tried this there were pink fuzzy lines running throughout the recorded footage. This meant we then had to re-shoot the headlines. We did this in one take and Justina edited them quickly.

We then focused on the bulletin. I showed Natasha what to do on the vision mixer and she did an amazing job with only a little bit of training. We then found that the VT's were in the wrong order, there was one missing and there was a spelling mistake on the sports graphic. With all of this going on, we found it hard to hear each other because of the presenters voices being turned up in the gallery, there were quite a few people in there and because we could not always hear each other there were some raised voices. This was not the calmed gallery we are used to and resulted in us all being very stressed. The problems were solved and Justina made the great decsion of pulling the sports graphic before we went live in air.

I recorded on the usual tape and recorded on the Tricaster too meaning we had a back up recording. In future I have to press record as soon as Justina says roll VT because this week on the Tricaster's recording there was about a minute of black where I had been recording too soon. This is one of the points I want to concentrate on next week.

This week was very hectic, some people did not know what they were doing, some were too confused and others work was not fitted in on time on Tuesday and so ran over on to the Wednesday morning when we were busier than normal anyway. Despite many things going wrong throughout the day, we still recorded on time. The tape recorded version of the show did not go on to WINOL at 4 as there were problems uploading it and it had to be compressed but we did have the Tricaster recording on there with the black hole at the beginning.

Next week is our last week and we hope to make the bulletin as near as perfect as the production team can. I have put my team on the areas that they excel in as well as cancelling the entertainment show; giving us more time to work on the bulletin. We do hope to have an entertainment show at some point but want to fully concentrate on WINOL at the moment; especially for our last bulletin before our Easter Break.

Good Luck, Let's make this the best bulletin of this semester.

Winol - 9th March

Well Done guys, this week we again got the bulletin on to WINOL at 4. The beginning recording on the Tricaster ran a little long but thankfully we go the edited bulletin on to youtube quite quickly and by 5.30pm it was on WINOL.

Only a few problems this week. Katie was a little too quiet during the headlines. There were a few black holes, as well as the background appearing before Katie, this was down to the vision mixer, Drew but as it was his first time with barely a rehearsal he did very well. These little problems were edited out in the second version so it was not too bad. Drew also went to camera three instead of the VT for the OOV but it looks OK. A minor problem. Drew, I think you also need more confidence in Justina as your director as she will cue you in when needed. I thought you were panicking a little and maybe you were letting your nerves take over a little.

I love the new strap lines but as we are changing the background at some point I think we should have waited and made a big change overall instead of little bits at a time. We also should not really introduce an interview in a link. Especially when we do not go straight in to an interview but GV's. This makes a package and not an interview.

For next week the reporters would like their own strap lines, as Sportsweek does but I think it may look a little weird that they have a strap line and then say Domonique Jenkins, Winchester news etc. Does the viewer really care, and do they want to see and hear the reporters name multiple times?

Paul Carter made a great point that there are two televisions on the wall that are not used. We should have the news on them all day on a Wednesday. There may be breaking news one day and we will miss it. This would be a huge mistake, especially if the breaking news is about Winchester.

We had a small rehearsal this week due to the script being late again. This is the second week in a row this has happened and it is meaning that the bulletin is suffering as no one on production and the presenters get a chance to rehearse. The script can be started Monday afternoon and should be finished Wednesday morning. Even if there are last minute story changes, the script should still be ready early on a Wednesday and not the one thing running late.

Katie I think you did really well this week. It was your first time presenting and you did not have much of a rehearsal due to the late arrival of the script. You held it together, even when you tripped over your words and remained professional the whole time, I would say maybe smile more though; as a viewer it feels more comfortable when the presenter is comfortable.

Natasha you were amazing on the sound board as you, again had not had much training. You are new to production and you have fit in really well and work hard. Justina, as always is an awesome director, as well as helping with the vision mixing. Sam, you did really well on VT's again, I think you have definitely mastered this. Let me know when you would like to try something a little more challenging. Claire, you did really well on the autocue. I think you were particularly nervous as it was your best friend reading the script and I think this added to your nerves as you wanted it to be perfect for Katie. You did really well and I think you're covering everything in the Gallery really well.

No more subbing. This means we can completely focus on the entertainment program and getting the bulletin out every week. No more going home from a stressful Wednesday to subbing but a chance to relax. You all did really well on subbing and I am proud of you all. You were new to it, it has problems and people are not always reliable but you did your best, congrats.

Goals for next week is to again get the bulletin on WINOL for 4pm and to try and be a little more adventurous with filming and sports. Also lets try and get the Entertainment program up this week.

Winol - 2nd March

The production team has got this job down. Every week we accomplish everything that is asked of us and to a perfect standard. This week we even met last weeks goal of using the tricaster to broadcast live, this then meant that we got the bulletin on to the website for 4pm and no later.

Tuesday was a very hectic day for the bulletin, much more so than normal. Hana's package included a live interview to Bahrain. Ali Al-Jamri set up an interview with his father who is a Journalist in Bahrain. It took us quite a while and we needed quite a bit of help from the technicians but we managed to get the Skype to run through the gallery and out from the vision mixer. This made the shot look better as it came straight from the screen instead of a camera filming a television or computer screen. Everyone was very silent in the gallery and it had a weird, very well accomplished feeling that we were all apart of something much bigger than our normal WINOL packages.

After this we recorded Justina's Polish bulletin; which is doing very well for viewers then lastly Sportsweek. Sportsweek took quite a while this week as we were trying different shots and I found a way that we can change the green screen without going straight to a VT. I was very proud of myself and think that it looks really good, we then included this in our WINOL bulletin too.

We have also decided to get parts ready this week for our Entertainment show; ready to record next Tuesday. We have decided to call it, 'Good Morning Winchester'. It is not as catchy as we would have liked but it does sound good and fits well with what we want the show to be like.

Wednesday went really well. Again, we were all relaxed and calm, even TAB9 seemed much more calm this week. We had guest editor, Tom Hepworth in, who gave ideas to packages and the script. He also congratulated the production team on how well we worked together and the feeling in the gallery.

We did film 20 minutes late but this was a great call from Katie as director as it gave us a small amount of time to do a rehearsal. It was not the production teams fault that we ran late but Katie dealt with it accordingly. We may have recorded later than normal but we still got the show on the WINOL website by 4pm.

Next week we would like to be more ambitious but we are hoping to accomplish this with 'Good Morning Winchester' and maybe an OB that is not only needed but out of the newsroom and in a place that is actually needed.

News was very strong this week, an improvement on the week before and Sport also did well. We mixed up with Andy and Karen as presenters this week and the sports table added something a little different to the bulletin.

The team did very well this week. Justina was on vision mixing, Natasha was on autocue, Sam on VT's, Drew on cameras, Katie as Director and Claire on the sound board. Everyone had a role they were not too used to and did really well with very few proper rehearsals. I look forward to introducing Natasha on to the team properly next week and hope that she enjoys it as much we do.

Well done guys, another great week for production.

HCJ - The Stranger by Albert Camus

This book is short, sweet and to the point, in every way. The Stranger encompasses phenomenology and existentialism.

Existentialism is that you choose your life and your decisions and you then have to live by those choices. It also includes that there is no higher meaning and that potentially you have no soul. Camus explores this in his book when the main character Mersault tells the Prosecutor that he does not believe in God, thus making the prosecutor believe that he has no soul. The chaplain is also shocked when he hears that Mersault does not want to pray or believe in God.

Phenomenology is observing occurrences in the world. Mersault spends large amounts of time observing the street outside of his window, as well as his neighbours observing Raymond and his Mistress.

Heidegger had, 'The Structure of Being' which was three fold.

The past= guilt

The present= dread

The future= fear of the unknown

Mersault does not look to the past or to the future. When Marie asks if he will marry her he does not think about the future, settling down with her. He simply says, "yes" because he would like to kiss her. He does not have an opinion on love, the future or what life may be like with her. He does not fear the future, have guilt from the past or dread for the present. He lives his life how he likes and has routines but is not bothered when the routine is disrupted.

Mersault refuses to be determined by other people or lie. When his lawyer tells him he should lie about how he acted at his mothers funeral he refuses to. Even though this is what condems him to being executed. Different people, throughout the book question Mersault on his actions and instead of agreeing with them he carries on with his life and lives his life not answering to anyone and simply making his own decisions.

Mersault killed the Arab and instead of feeling guilty he just feels like it was an accident. He think about his execution and does try to think of how he can get out of the prison but finally resides himself to dying. He rationalises it in the fact that every person must die at some point and that his is simply coming earlier than liked.

When first starting to read this book i did not understand why he did not feel much for his mother. I kept expecting him to break down in tears and feel guilty that he was not there for her or that he did not want to picture the future without her but he does not do this. He carries on his life with ease and only think about little lines his mother used to say or remembers sense he felt on the day of his funeral. For example on the day he killed the Arab he remarked that the heat he felt was the same as the day of his mothers funeral.

Instead of acting how society would like him to act he repels this and does as he pleases. This is what kept him in prison and eventually his execution. On the day of his mothers funeral he could not remember her age, he did not cry, he slept, drank coffee and smoked cigarettes. He was questioned about many of these things and by simply answering or acting how society expected him to act would have given a different impression on the person and the jury that later heard what he had done. He did not do this but remained true to himself and did not live a lie, this is what makes him an existential hero; he refuses to be determined by other people.