Telefis' posts, page 5

RTÉ News

That's the very worst part of the titles - nothing happens in that shot and it goes awkwardly silent! The crispness of the titles is very impressive, but otherwise they are appalling.

Thanks for those very fast studio caps Phen! The studio really does look so very very small . What a shame.

Very notable on Nine that the laptop was kept out of shot!
Some images of Eileen's MS in 14:9 letterbox - what the majority of Irish viewers see. Note how tiny Kofi Annan's insert is.

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/eileen_multipic.jpg

Again the lighting absolutely flawless, as per her stunning raking shot too:

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/eileen_raking.jpg


Apparently Eileen was rather surprised by the new look on Friday:

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/eileen_shocked.jpg

...whilst Anne Doyle is said to be deeply shocked at the relaunch:

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/anne_shocked.jpg

...and is refusing to leave the old set, camping out in the bowls of the TV Building in protest. Conciliatory talks are ongoing.


I see Robert Shortt was also mercilessly cropped for his US report - no excuse in his case, as they surely would have comissioned this report for Monday in full knowledge of the change.

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/robert.jpg


At least his live link was fine, and nicely composed at that.

Nice Ryder Cup graphic too:

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/graphic.jpg

RTÉ News

Thanks for those Phen – indeed you’d wonder if the laptops are used soley to help cover up the slanting white line! Why didn’t they just lower it to out of shot? Where possible they should zoom to MCU when there’s no insert, as per One today:

http://tvtitles.thetvroomplus.com/images-news/rte/2006-2/one-11.jpg

Preferably with an ounce of headroom

The map graphics look so much better in 16:9 than 14:9 letterbox!


Ah now James, RTÉ isn’t that bad at all. TV3 barely even HAS a set – little more than a couple of veneered flats up against a warehouse wall. It’s absolutely dire!

But on that very point, at least we can be thankful (well, not all of us ) that RTÉ didn’t do for a ‘cutting edge’ ‘cool’ show-all-the-shyte style, bringing cameras and lighting into shot as per TV3 and certain other broadcasters. It wouldn’t have surprised me in the least if they had – so hopefully this move has confirmed that they intend to stick in ‘Establishment mode’.

I think the two-shot on Six One is fine (two pics further down), off-centring aside. In spite of it being very similar to the sleep-inducing 2000-2003 two-shot in terms of plain cyclorama background…

http://thetvroom.com/images-rte-one/rte-one-news/images-01/weekend-six-d.jpg

…it’s still a great improvement on the above, with the interest of the curved desk and white skirting. Those giant supporting pins look ridiculous though!

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/ch045_0828_182716.jpg

http://tvtitles.thetvroomplus.com/images-news/rte/2006-2/one-23.jpg


And the skirting incredibly garish in raking shots as mentioned:

http://tvtitles.thetvroomplus.com/images-news/rte/2006-2/one-14.jpg

If toned down, would the plastic become too evident?
Saying all that, the set does generally look rather classy on a wide in above pics

Overall there seems to be neither LED screens or clever glass in use – just a plain old illuminated cyclorama, which does the job very nicely still. A great pity the colour doesn’t change for various bulletins however – at least it seems there’s going to be a lighting change for Nine, as they advertised the LEDs lighting as changing at least something!
There must be a screen over to the left, for use in News2Day if nothing else – maybe this will become activated once they start off ‘proper’ next week, and the CSO screen was only temporary?

And I’ve only just noticed that the white parts are pronounced from the cyclorama by about six inches, with wood ledges. Does this mean the cyclorama itself can be changed for a different colour/pattern for use in The Week in Politics? (TWIP). Surely the most likely, as it seems the brown colouring is imbued in the cyc itself rather than generated by an external element.


Fully agreed about the overly generous picture window distance from newsreader Phen, especially given the lack of picture visible in 14:9 too – i.e. for the majority of viewers. It doesn’t make visual sense to have so much space between them, and then such a narrow strip of picture.

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/pvr001.jpg

I also don’t like the lines running across the image – they were borderline okay on the One, but looked terrible this evening when imposed over an image of President McAleese. The insert department has always produced RTE News’s finest work; they have a fantastic team in there which is why I’m so glad windows have been retained, but disappointed about the lines. Let us see your work in all its glory!

All in all, there’s a blatent influence of BBC News via the square set with skirting, grey floor, and the astons, and of RTÉ News 2000-2003 via the very neutral cyclorama backdrop and the airbrushed picture inserts which I think they’re acknowledging, like everyone else, to be RTE News’s finest hour.

I suspect we’re not going to get to see half of this studio till this day next week, which is a very odd way of doing things. Very odd indeed in fact, relaunching on a skeleton service, and minus the impact of a reinvigorated RTÉ One to boot…


And just on widescreen, have we yet seen anything as astoundingly unprofessional aspect ratio-wise as Coleman’s cropped report?! It was nothing short of obscene. Even if it was commissioned a few weeks ago and they didn’t know when it was to be broadcast, do they still not have the resources to at least pan and scan?!

Already we’re seeing the disadvantages of News widescreen in terms of imported content too. At least the BBC and ITV shoot a lot of their foreign material themselves, but RTÉ import the vast bulk of it with stories from outside Europe, where the television world is still very much 4:3. At least three of the reports we saw this today were cropped 4:3, with hideous resolution and mauled picture composition. Admittedly there’s little you can do about this, but it’s a great shame . Weekend bulletins with all their acquired material are going to be dismal at times with all their acquired material.

Interesting Coleman said “for RTÉ News”, as she doesn’t work for them anymore

RTÉ News

A very mixed scheme rather - Freudian slip

RTÉ News

Agreed - but I hate the shimmering CSO.


Oh dear - this is rather longer than I thought

Right. It’s very easy to go off on a looper here, so lets try to introduce some balance

Titles
Feckin woeful – truly and utterly astoundingly bad. As described elsewhere: “Some CGI mechanical 'being' with lots of moving parts, what sort of relevance is that to anything, never mind news?!.”
Precisely. None. No relevance at all. They are embarrassingly RTÉ-early-90s in concept, with a tarted up modern-day execution. The colours are equally horrible, with bright orange and jarring blue in the mix; as incongruous as the orange in the 2003-2006 set. The forming of the endcap is particularly clumsy:

http://tvtitles.thetvroomplus.com/images-news/rte/2006-2/one-08.jpg

The music is very weak indeed, somewhat similar to 2000-2003 in terms of its directionless nature, but at least it had drama and gravitas – this has nothing.
All in all, the titles are a massive let down – dismally poor. The previous green titles were miles better, bya long shot.

Set
It does have its strong points. A school photograph backdrop is an excellent description , but I think it looks quite elegant all the same. The Celtic-influenced weird curvy lines are a bit jarring at first, but grow on you very quickly. The brown, and the airbrushed pattern has a muted elegance to it – well designed I think.

In terms of general impression however, the set looks dismally small, embarrassingly so for a national broadcaster. At least we haven’t seen a wide yet, so there may be room for improvement, but so far it’s not looking good – very regional newsish as mentioned.
But the desk is distinctly underwhelming in size too – it looks like a counter-top that the newscasters sit at on stools after bulletins to drink their lattes. There’s no sense of permanence or gravitas. You need a substantial, solid looking desk, not a contrived breakfast bar with dinky laptops perched on the edge. Indeed it’s more the finicky, flimsy little desk that really lets the scheme down in terms of scale, much more so than the size of Studio 3. Good God I’ve realised, BBC Newsline has by far the bigger news set! Cringe or what.

The white illuminated parts look crass, harsh and unforgiving, especially contrasted with the dark brown. In raking side shots, there’s way too much in shot, resulting in a harsh burning out on screen. Also the lower white skirting isn’t even straight with the standard mid-shot which is exceptionally off-putting:

http://tvtitles.thetvroomplus.com/images-news/rte/2006-2/one-01.jpg

Very jarring – the very first thing that hit me.


Lovely lighting of Aengus (though he was slightly over-exposed by camera op), but David Murphy was not as mentioned earlier. Similarly a poor side-profile shot of Murphy too, and what the heck was with the sound?!!! I don’t think I’ve ever heard such poor sound on a news bulletin in my life! Those desk mics – which they still haven’t got rid of - pick up absolutely everything, from echo, to studio buzz, to rustling clothes, to shifting papers. It also made things so feckin obvious that Aengus wasn’t listening to a word Murphy was saying with all that paper shuffling going on. Anne Doyle always does the same.


The picture window/insert is too narrow in 14:9 letterbox to be satisfactory. It looks fine in 16:9 however:

http://tvtitles.thetvroomplus.com/images-news/rte/2006-2/one-15.jpg

The DOG is a bit clunky and pointless where it is, though at least the top of the shot is nice and clear now. The 2002ish DOG should have been reintroduced - why mess with a winning formula?

Note the darker grading of colour in the setabove , which is precisely positioned so as to blend the insert into the set. The contrast with the bright left-hand side is equally clever.
The laptop however is an absolute farce, as all laptops are on formatted news bulletins. There’s simply no excuse for them to be intruding in shot, and it’s particularly embarrassing that RTÉ is using them considering they barely ever have to rely on ENG, and everyone knows damn well they’re just there for effect.
MacGrianna only has Solitaire up on it. I also hate laptops in how they suggest the newscaster is getting information that you're not. I know that sounds silly, but especially during breaking news it looks terrible to see them leaning down blinking at the monitor (that you're seeing the ignorant back of), churning out material to hte viewer. At least if you have desk-sunk monitors, it looks like the newscaster is reading of sheets of paper which have just been handed to them, which looks so much more natural. The back arse of a laptop is so ignorant, and disrespectful to the viewer I think.


At least the desk mics are counter-sunk this time round:

http://tvtitles.thetvroomplus.com/images-news/rte/2006-2/one-14.jpg

Their continued use would suggest RTÉ refuse to use lapel mics for in-studio news guests as this means you need a floor manager to put them for them – just a theory…


Graphics
Astons etc are a BIG improvement on the previous scheme, but they look untidy. They probably looked great on a high-grade PC monitor during composition, but in real life you can barely make out the fine detail surrounding the edges, and the grading in colour. Is the bottom bar brown – I can’t even make it out!

http://tvtitles.thetvroomplus.com/images-news/rte/2006-2/one-18.jpg

The fonts are lovely, so well done there, but again, when the aston appears on screen and sits on top of the DOG, it looks very clumsy with that blank black massing in the corner. This is going to have to be fine tuned I think – you just can’t make out detail, and what’s brown and what’s black. It’s all too dark.
It’s nice though – just needs adjusting/completely redoing
Also, don’t know about others, but that fine line to the right of the DOG is a bit irritating – it could look better without it. Apparently it’s not 4:3 safe on skyboxes by the way!

The shimmering CSO screen is a disaster – back to the good aul days of 1997 it seems. Give us a standards plazma any day over that cheapness. What a shame

The data graphics seem just bit too rich in their brownness perhaps, but overall very nice indeed. However the autocue graphics weren’t 14:9 safe – on the very first day!

http://tvtitles.thetvroomplus.com/images-news/rte/2006-2/one-28.jpg

You can’t see it in the above example, but there were two letter spaces cut off to the right.

Siún looking lovely
Indeed the principal newscaster lighting was absolutely flawless – I have never seen RT News with such surperb lighting. It has never been so beautiful, making it better than many BBC Nationals. Top marks on the lighting front!


Can’t wait for Six one, though remember we’re still seemingly on the half hour by the looks of things, so we may not get the 3-presenter format, nor any decent wide shots. It seems One was limited in that respect too – that shooting script may still change a bit next week. Note in the wide by the way the various paches of luminous brown/orange:

http://tvtitles.thetvroomplus.com/images-news/rte/2006-2/one-23.jpg

These are the carefully positioned presenter backdrop positions (as per One) for the principal mid-shots, so already we can see where they’ll be sitting


All in all a very mixed shame. The titles are an absolute travesty – my Irish inferiority complex makes me mortified to think we’re airing our dirty laundry on a UK pres website like this . Similarly the ‘new’ size of Studio 3 and dinky desk are equally embarrassing for a flagship national news service (not to mention MacGrianna of all people launching the service ) but there’s still many things to be proud about, from the backdrop (I think…), to the quality execution of the desk, to the stunning lighting, to the generally nice new graphics.

Roll on Six One and Nine!

Pictures from www.thetvroom.com

RTÉ News

The titles are HIDEOUS - is this some sort of joke?!
Okay, we only saw a brief glimpse on the news summary, but if that is anything to go by, we're in for a rough ride...

Otheriwse the broom cupboard background looked great, if a bit too close to the camera as the texture of the canvas/board was too in-focus.
Lighting and composition superb - flawless.

But god those titles....

RTÉ News

NOOOOOOOOOOOO - not laptops surely?!!!

Oh God save us all. And to think we've only just seen them successfully banished from BBC News!
Typical of them to go for a silly glitzy 'modrin' distraction - feck it anyway
Here's hoping there's no other concessions to the whims of fashion.

Bah - that's put a real dampener on proceedings.

RTÉ News

Thanks for that rdd

How interesting - I just knew they'd go for the 'room' look! That was the problem of that last studio: it was half room, half studio set. It didn't know what it was, so clearly that was their primary concern this time round, to make no mistake as to what the space is - an excellent move.
So does it look spacious or cramped rdd? Any wood panelling behind Eileen? - walnut seems like a good compromise anyway between the cheapness of washed out beech and the over-bearing heaviness of darker woods.

So 'LED lighting' - does this refer to the backdrops or the studio lighting? Perhaps colour-changing LED screens are being placed behind opaque glass walls? Excellent news about different moods for different bulletins! - fantastic

Interesting News2Day are going to make use of it. I wonder if they'll only use a small section of backdrop that they can change the style of completely, given their pres is completely at odds with standard news output. Presumably News on Two will use the conventional setup...
Overall a heck of challenge for the designers involved, the set also including TWIP and Leader's Questions. It'll be very impressive if they manage to pull it off successfully.

RTÉ News

Very interesting - thanks for that dublinskyboy
They're going out very early this year so. Suppose if Monday was one or two days earlier, they would have waited the extra week.

Wood and clever glass sounds very promising - it really does sound like a quality job this time round, an acknowledgement of the lack of resources allocated to the last scheme. At last it seems RTÉ now appreciate the investment that a decent news presentation package is - it's crucial to the image of a station and the level of authority a news service imparts.

I really hope they change the mood of each bulletin, especially Nine - it makes the world of difference to news presentation. A circular desk sounds promising too - finally moving away from the monolith yokes of times past. Wonder if they went for the LED screens in the end, as it was only a 'testing the waters' tender afterall...

Anyone know of any promotional material floating about? This is the day before the relaunch and RTÉ we're talking about here - never ones to miss out on a branding opportunity! Surely there's some pics floating about by now?! There's nothing on their site as yet

ooooh it's so exciting!

RTÉ News

Just to clarify about the News promo, it is all CG diarmy, as it says on the site link too. Hence Anne and Bryan were simply shot in an entirely green environment, with their hands probably resting on a green box. The computer composed studio set is just keyed in around them: a very accurate one at that.

The camera and studio floor appears to be an overlaid image from another studio - that looks like a standard pedestal camera rather than one of Studio 3:

http://mecridia.com/tmp/studio.gif


The desk is equally CGed of course (in any event the surface is way thicker than in real life), though it's not surprising there's no shelving or anything. It needs to be as spacious and flexible as possible to cater for multiple presenters and different setups. Indeed these roll-on, roll-off units were developed it seems to specifically cater for this need:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/RTE1TV/RTNews-Wires.jpg

They often hold water cups to keep them out of shot (remember when Eileen had her choking fit she had to lean down? ), and probably the odd mic socket block too. They appear to be used on both sides for Six One, with the right-hand one rolled off set for Nine. The cumbersome design of the desk has its problems though, as the lack of support under the newsreaders' end results in rather embarrassing audible creaks - especially with Anne and Eileen who lean on it more than others.

Regarding the set, the plastic panelling does indeed pop out - for The Week in Politics. As mentioned before, this is how the current set design evolved: the chunky solid frame permits panels to be shifted about at ease for different schemes, as clunky as it looks for TWIP. It's odd that they went for solid panels and not translucent ones for this programme. This is also presumably what the two vertical silver strips are for behind the wooden frame in the middle - they allow manageable-sized panels to be shifted about rather than a giant one across the entire back wall. In any event, a giant panel would probably buckle in the middle, so they offer structural support too.

RTÉ News

By the way, here is the current RTÉ News Promotion (link below),

"The first thirteen and last twenty seconds of this promo are virtual spaces - all the environments are built in 2D/3D with the talent shot green screen and matted in. It was an interesting project in that the timings for the reporters predicated how long the sequences would ultimately be, not predicated by the script. The camera was mounted on semi-circular tracks and were dollied manually - a difficult enough feat. Definitely a learning experience for all concerned. "

http://www.intercuts.com/html/rte_newspromo.html


The Studio 3 mock-up is spookily accurate - almost as if it's an original computer generated package composed to demonstrate the design to management back in 2003. Pausing it frame by frame reveals a lot
Also interesting to see the set in white rather than the current overbearing cream/yellow. I wonder if tarting it up mid-life like the BBC did in 2001 would have made any difference? They could have rewallpapered in a more neutral, sharper tone, changed the cyclorama to a light shade of green rather than blue, ditched the orange stripes, and perhaps cleverly introduced an element of deep green (as per the titles) on certain panels, or via carpet on a raised dais.
But it seems they were just to embarrassed to admit what a disaster this scheme was, so left things as they were

One thing that's always amused me about that RTÉ News promo is Paul Cunningham setting up to record a report V/O on the side of a mountain, battling against the blasting wind. At least they're being honest in showing us how unprofessional they are

RTÉ

Fully agreed. I'm still rather confused at the explanation of good aul peaking for the final song problem though - it's too simple an answer, as correct as it is! How the heck could that have happened?!
One can only imagine the mayhem in the gallery, especially with the crew desperate not to end the show on such a negative note - why couldn't the sound op simply bring his levels down?! Did they spill their bottle of Lucozade over the sound desk?! It just doesn't make sense that everyone in the OB van just stood their helpless to proceedings...
And obviously the mic was the correct type, as it would have been used in rehersals. I just don't get it... Surely it wasn't just his positioning of the mic? :

Agreed about the lighting at the end - this is a problem every single year where they just blast on the floods and reveal the set as the flat mish mash of metal and gauze that it is. Such a shame.
But I agree with Phen that they have so few options in the Dome - essentially the world's largest marque . The lighting is so close to the subjects, and the subjects so close to the cramped set at the end, that there's little you can do. Saying that, it was inexcusable that one of Ray's final (rehearsed) positions was two inches away from a set panel, harshly lit in all its stretched gauze glory, and he casting a hard shadow across it - what a mess.
But that aside, the lighting throughout the show, including performances was generally excellent given the location - some really lovely stuff.

And also agreed about the sponsor graphics - an absolute abomination, on so many levels. From an aesthetic perspective obviously, from the cringe-inducing crassness aspect, from a professional point of view, to a public service broadcasting perspective: that such disgusting crass commercialism taints one of RTÉ's principal, if not flagship television productions. It simply beggars belief.

And this isn't even accounting for the fact that they can't even be arsed to make them 14:9 safe!!! Nor the fact that they destroy what are otherwise pretty impressive graphics - layered and complex, rich and visually stimulating pieces of work (aside from the ridiculous zooming oval shaped red graphic they used when introducing each Rose. That graphic worked so well with the petals falling, until the oval then zoomed out like the childish effect you get on a domestic camcorder )

The scrolling rose across the screen at ad breaks by contrast is exceptionally impressive - an indication of the fine standard that lurks underneath all the commercial shyte.

RTÉ News

Yes, agreed. As much as I'd like to see the new look at the earliest point too, I think it would be by far the best move to launch both RTÉ One and RTÉ News on the same date in September. You need a combined relaunch of Presentation and News to generate the necessary impact: a fresh new look across the boards, heralding a new era for the national broadcaster.

Also launching on different dates is a bit confusing for the viewer, leaving one half wondering if the new idents when belatedly launched are going to be permanent, given the overlapping of the old ones over the new News. Far better to make a clean break with Pres and News on the same day, coupled with wall-to-wall transmissions of Autumn Schedule promos and perhaps another station promotion or News promotion.

This is what happened in 2003 as we all recall, and it made for a very exciting, if admittedly somewhat bewildering day! I think as long as a short station promotion is made, making reference to the new look e.g. even just an ident amalgam with V/O at the very end, you're fine.
You just need that impact!

All the same, if they're going for Sept 4th, the new News look will be a whopping five weeks in the making! It better be feckin worth it!

Indeed to pick up on an earlier point, it'll be very interesting to see if they advertise the station or news relaunch in advance of the day - even something along the lines of the BBC's hinting Six clock way back in 1999. Similarly regarding a proper 30-60 sec News promotion to be aired on the lauch day and subsequently. RTÉ News badly needs a decent promo - indeed I don't think they've ever really had one, shot to a high 'feature-length' standard. The current one is rather rough-shod and amateurish, with the silly special effects too distracting for their own good.