Journalistic Languages Lecture 1
This document explains;
1. OC (On Camera)
2. Cue
3. Narration or Voice Over (VO)
4. Stand-ups
5. PTC
6. Backgrounder
1.
OC
(On Camera)
In news broadcasting on TV, the
anchor person introduces the news story/package and/or reporter before the
report itself being played. This is called OC and is a brief but compelling
intro to the news report.
2.
Cue
These are the
words a presenter reads to introduce the piece on Radio. It is the introduction to a radio
correspondent's piece. Note that it
must introduce the reporter by name. The cue might introduce a clip
of actuality, a sound bite, or other audio, such as a piece of music.
In radio, the
cue is your chance to sell your story. Good cue writing is a core skill for
journalists working in radio news. Get it right and you'll grab the listeners'
attention. Get it wrong and the chances are they'll turn off - or tune in to
another station.
Neil Churchman,
a senior producer with years of experience in the BBC's radio newsroom in
London, says there are two rules that must never be broken when writing a cue:
"Whatever
you do, don't bore or confuse your audience. Some stories are simple and
compelling; others can be rather dull and complex. Your job is to make people
sit up, understand and take notice. The cue is our shop window and we're
selling news."
Writing cues is a core skill in a
radio newsroom and there's a lot to think about: accuracy, clarity, grabbing
your audience's attention just by the power of your words.
So ditch those sub-clauses; use
short sentences to maximum effect. If you bore or confuse, the cue could have
the opposite effect and turn the listener off, warns Neil Churchman.
Remember, neither you nor your
cue work in isolation. Talk to colleagues about what will immediately follow
what you’re writing. Listeners hear the cue and the piece as part of a whole,
so they'll be annoyed by repetition.
"If the cue and the piece
don’t meet until transmission, this sort of thing happens: Cues are our shop
window and we’re selling news"
Example
Cue: “The supermarket chain “Harshy”
has announced a major expansion in its operations. It says it will be creating
20,00 new jobs countrywide, 8,00 of them in the Peshawar. Here’s (our
correspondent Hameed Yousafzai).”
Correspondent: “Harshy” is
creating 20,00 new jobs across Pakistan, 800 in the capital of
Khyberpakhtunkhwa….
The cue might only be a few dozen
words long but you need to know the story in detail and keep up with
developments. Although the same rules apply to all Cue writing, the tone of
your writing needs to change according to your audience. If in doubt, says Neil
Churchman, “ask yourself how you would tell that story in one sentence.”
References
BBC Journalism
website
BBC Academy
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3.
Narration or Voice Over (VO)
A
narration (voice-over) is done by a broadcast reporter, usually reading from a
script. The reporter’s voice is recorded over a sequence of video clips that
tell a story. Often voice-overs are read from a script the reporter has
prepared beforehand.
Voice
over is a production technique where a voice is recorded for off-screen use.
While prominently used to reference movies and television, voice over can also
be used for telephone services, along with other informational service.
Generally
reporters write their scripts after shooting the video for a story, and then
assemble the clips to fit the script. Reading that script is an art that
requires both smooth delivery and emphasizing the key points in the story.
Here
are some tips for doing voice-over.
Warming
Up
Read
through the script several times to get familiar with it and get over any bumps
in your delivery during practice – not while you’re recording. Look especially
for words that are going to be hard to pronounce or that you might stumble
over. Repeat those words out loud to yourself until you feel comfortable with
the pronunciation. Or try doing exaggerated pronunciations of a word several
times to get more at ease with just saying it naturally.
Do
some facial stretches – opening your mouth wide to loosen up.
Try
humming or singing a song to get your voice alive and prepare it for using a
range of pitches when you narrate your story.
Say
some classic tongue twisters out loud – like “Peter Piper picked a peck of
pickled peppers” – and emphasize each of those words.
To
loosen up and sound more conversational, try laughing through the copy. It
won’t make any sense but it will warm you up and get you to be yourself.
Go
to extremes when practicing your script to compensate for problems you have
with your voice. Thus you might try reading the script in a very loud voice if
your problem is having too soft a voice.
Do
deep breathing exercises – breathing in quickly and deeply several times, and
being sure to force out all the air.
Identifying Operative Words
Read
through your script and underline or highlight the “operative” words – the
words that are essential to telling the story.
These
are words which, if you only read those words rather than the complete
sentences in the script, would still give the listener the gist of the story
and what it’s about. They’re the words the listener needs to hear to stay with
the story.
Usually
they are the classic who-what-where-when-why-how words – nouns, adjectives,
adverbs, titles, names.
Proper
names in particular always should be identified as operatives the first time
they appear in a script.
Emphasizing Operative Words
Once
you’ve identified the key words that tell your story, you need to add emphasis
to those words when reading your script.
You
do that in these four ways:
- Volume – Increase or decrease
the volume of your voice when saying an operative word. Pitch –
Change the pitch of your voice when you say an operative word, going up or
down the scale, high and low, falsetto to baritone
- Rhythm – Change the rhythm of
your voice – the space between the words – when saying an operative word.
Pause before the word, or after the word, or both, to emphasize it. A
pause is especially effective before a word that’s complex or highly
technical in nature. A pause is also effective when you’re introducing a
new idea in a script.
- Tempo – change the tempo or
speed of your delivery to emphasize an operative word. You might pick up
the tempo where the copy is less important, and then slow down when you
hit a section with more operative words to emphasize them. Or you might
stretch out a vowel in an operative word.
Delivery
Besides
marking the operative words for emphasis, you also need to mark your breaths on
the copy – where you’re going to pause to take a breath.
Longer
sentences are going to need a breath, usually taken where a comma appears in
the script or where new information is introduced.
But
don’t be too obedient to punctuation and don’t pause for a breath after every
sentence. Look for other places within a sentence where you can pause for
emphasis and also take a breath.
Similarly
don’t just pause at the end of a sentence. Look for other natural places – such
as the operative words within a sentence – to pause.
Try
to sound conversational when you talk – not like you’re reading from a script
or lecturing to someone. Tell the story, don’t read it.
Think
about how you would talk with a group of friends and tell a story to them –
then adopt that tone when reading your script. Be as animated as you would
telling a story to a friend. Stay in the story while you’re reading it. Think
about what you’re saying.
When
reading a list of things, vary the pitch and the rhythm of each element of the
list to add emphasis and make the list interesting. Don’t sound like you’re
just reading a list in a monotone.
Open
your mouth wide – both laterally and vertically, like a singer. Your voice will
be louder and richer if you do.
Don’t
close your mouth at the end of a sentence. When you’re talking that will create
a popping sound when you open your mouth again to say the first word in the
next sentence.
Keep
your chin parallel to the floor – don’t look down as that affects the sound of
your voice.
You
might try frowning when you talk to add authority and credibility to your
voice. If you frown you are more serious, and your voice subconsciously changes
to a more serious tone, making you sound more credible.
Don’t
“throw away” the last sentence of your script by letting your voice trail off
just because you’re at the end of the script.
Links
http://www.cuvideoedit.com/standups.php
https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-voice-over-definition/
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4.
Stand-ups
A standup is when a television reporter appears
in front of the camera to narrate part of a story – most often at the beginning
to set up the story, in the middle or at the very end. The reporter looks
directly at the camera and addresses the viewers. This shot shows the
reporter's physical presence on location. Stand-ups are an integral part of the
news package; they're useful
for producing verbal and visual bridges within a story; the stand-up also
solves problems with finding suitable shots that tell the story.
Note: PTC is also a type of stand-up
Some types of standups
- Demonstration
(or Interactive) Stand-up: demonstrates a point in the story, using
props or the natural setting.
- Bridge
Stand-up: bridges
the gap or makes a transition between two different ideas in the story.
- Closing
Stand-up: summarises
or wraps up the story (we discourage this because it's more memorable to
end the story on a strong visual and a great line to go with it.
- Information
Stand-up: incorporates
information that you don't have video to cover it with.
- Scene-setting
Stand-up: establishes
the reporter's presence at the scene to add credibility to the report.
Standup
Tips
- Background
and props should be relevant to the story
- Minimal
camera moves
- Can
incorporate multiple shots in multiple locations
You
should plan ahead what you're going to say and do before you record. First
script what you intend to say and then record.
The
stand-up is considered part of the story rather than external to it. The
reporter addresses the camera and advances the story with a brief bit of
information. Sometimes, stand-ups are used as a way of branding the story with
the reporter's and the station's names.
For
most stories you will need to shot your stand-up in the field before you log
the tape and write the story. Learning what to say, and how it will fit into
the story can be a challenge to new reporters. You have to anticipate how
the rest of the story will be told. As a rule, the stand-up includes only basic
information that is crucial to the story, but it must be brief.
·
When
doing a standup where you’re reading from a script, hold the script up fairly
high – just beneath your chin but off camera – so your eyes aren’t jumping up
and down between the camera and the script as much as you read.
·
Don’t
tilt your head – try to look straight on into the camera and keep your chin
parallel to the floor. If you your head is tilted off to the side or up or
down, it gives the viewer the appearance of deception – why isn’t the reporter
looking right at me?
·
Stand
up straight and don’t slouch – the camera will only amplify bad posture like a
slouch.
·
Don’t
breath in by moving your chest and shoulders. Concentrate instead on breathing
through your diaphragm and stomach. This will make your voice sound less nasal
and also reduce the motion caused when your chest heaves with each breath.
·
Try
holding your hand on your stomach to make sure that you can feel yourself
breathing in and out from the diaphragm area, rather than the chest.
·
Keep
your feet slightly apart and don’t move them when you talk. Especially avoid
shifting your weight from one leg to the other.
·
Also
avoid moving your shoulders. Instead put the energy from all that movement into
facial expressions and hand gestures.
·
Keep
your hands loose and at your sides – don’t put them in your pockets or clasp
them together.
·
Gesture
with your hands while you’re talking. This is one way to make the story sound
more conversational.
·
Use
facial expressions, such as raising your eyebrows, to accentuate your face when
you’re emphasizing a particular point. This again is what you’d do in a casual
conversation.
Some more tips
- Look for a
relevant fact in the story you can highlight with your stand-up, or an
important element you don't have video for.
- You may
use the stand-up to set up a sound bite if you've already done the
interview.
- You may
use the stand-up to show yourself at the scene of the action.
- Try to
explain, rather than 'report' or 'read.'
- Speak in
phrases. Relay the information in natural, conversational language.
- Make
maximum use of your surroundings. When appropriate, take advantage of
movement, props, etc., without being contrived, cute or staged.
- The
setting/background should be pertinent to the story and immediately
recognizable.
- Try to do
the stand-up without notes. It helps if you keep it short. Two or three
sentences is all you need.
- If using a
hand-held microphone, hold it close to you, but not in front of your
mouth. Keep the microphone about chest level and hold it firmly to display
confidence.
- It's best
to limit your story to one standup. Stand-ups work best in the middle of
the story as a bridge. Stand-ups don't work as well at the beginning or
end of the story.
- Keep your
stand-ups to one thought, or one idea. Don't combine two different ideas.
Keep it simple.
Links
http://www.cuvideoedit.com/standups.php
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5.
PTC (Piece to camera)
In television, mostly news,
a piece to camera (PTC) is when a television presenter speaks
directly to the viewing audience through the camera.
It is most common when a news
or television show presenter is reporting or explaining items to the
viewing audience. Indeed, news programmes usually take the form
of a combination of both interviews and pieces to camera. There are
three type of piece to camera:
1.
Opening PTC - when presenter opens-up the news, and introduce
himself/herself to the audience.
2.
Bridge PTC - information that presenter gives to bridge the gap
between empty space.
3.
Conclusive or closing
PTC - ending of news where the presenter
acknowledge itself and the cameraman, place and the news channel.
Links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piece_to_camera
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6.
Backgrounder
A backgrounder,also referred to as white papers or a fact
sheet, is an informational document,with
supplementary information, often provided with a press release, as part of
a larger media kit or as a press advice. The backgrounder gives the
press or other interested parties a more detailed background of an issue,
event, person of interest or launch.A backgrounder
is a document that provides additional information about a business, issue,
event, or product launch.
Why?
It is provided because other
press or media documents such as media advisories and press releases are
necessarily kept short and succinct. The backgrounder provides more information
to the journalist or media outlet without compromising the readability or
standard format of the media advisory or press release.
Purpose
The
main purpose of the document is to provide a media outlet with essential
background information and facts to help create a more in-depth story. A
backgrounder typically includes a summary of the document, the history of a
business or product, and the mission or purpose of the business or event.
Things
to consider including in your backgrounder:
·
Bios
for key people in the organization
·
Specs,
data and information
·
Explanation
and description regarding how something works
·
Background
on the company and where it comes from
·
References
and citations for further reading
·
Charts,
graphs and
Links:
https://www.thesmbguide.com/how-to-write-a-backgrounder
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