The only thing is that it'll undoubtedly look midgety (if such a word exists) against the giant two-tiered studio on BBC One
Looking at the Sky News Studio it does seem that size is the main problem, BBC have that two storey set, and ITV's although it comes from the normal studio will be made to look as though it is hanging in the atrium, however that will work. Hopefully Sky will use VR to make the set look bigger etc. maybe projecting a newsroom in the panels in the wall.
Wouldn't surprise me to see - like last time - there being a Houses of Parliament backdrop.
I'm sure with the 'windows' used properly, it'll look very smart.
I can imagine it looking really quite impressive with a floodlit Parliament and River Thames in the background.
The Vote 2001 backdrop also had Downing St. in the background, but they had to adjust it after a while because the camera angle made it look like Boulton was sitting in the street.
Being the obsessive that I am, and attempting to find anything that can distract me from uni exam revision - so far we've had Shrek (1 and 2), the bizarre stumbling across and REM album, and at present the Father Dowling Mysteries - I had a closer look at the studio.
The blue keying areas have a very feint pattern on them, as they will do to help presenters know what's on them. From what Etchingham is standing in front of, it looks as though they are showing the red/blue/yellow swirly things.
If this is going to be on all of the screens, will it not create some sort of swirling electoral vortex of terror? It'll like being in the eye of a tornado, surely.
Anyway, back to Father Dowling, some nun is about to be bumped off.
Being the obsessive that I am, and attempting to find anything that can distract me from uni exam revision - so far we've had Shrek (1 and 2), the bizarre stumbling across and REM album, and at present the Father Dowling Mysteries - I had a closer look at the studio.
The blue keying areas have a very feint pattern on them, as they will do to help presenters know what's on them. From what Etchingham is standing in front of, it looks as though they are showing the red/blue/yellow swirly things.
If this is going to be on all of the screens, will it not create some sort of swirling electoral vortex of terror? It'll like being in the eye of a tornado, surely.
Anyway, back to Father Dowling, some nun is about to be bumped off.
May I suggest Cadfeld? (ITV 3) Set in the excellent Shropshire with no plot what so ever....
I'm not hugely impressed by what I've seen of the studio so far, but obviously I'll reserve judgement until Thursday night. I can't imagine they'd actually have a blue election studio, though, so hopefully the blue panels will be replaced by something more exciting.
The graphics look nice - I wonder if the sidebar will be constantly on screen (Sky Sports style), or if it'll just make an occasional appearance?
I am more of a Murder, She Wrote kinda guy, in truth.
Mark: They aren't going to stay blue, they're just keying areas for 'virtual' elements of the studio to be added. I imagine they'll be used for everything from graphs and interviews to random backdrops.
To be honest, much though I like the Beeb's election studios, I don't think there's a massive justification for building absolutely huge election studios when you're only going to be using them for about 12 hours.
From the schedule, Sky will be in their studio right up until 7pm the following evening - 23 hours solid.
Out of interest, is there any concensus as to where this is coming from? If only because the graphics seem so much smoother than usual, tempting to believe it's from the new studios. Any ideas?
Not sure if this question arose last time round, but Sky's programme begins at 9pm (BBC/ITV 9.55-10pm as usual).
So what can/will Sky actually show in the first hour that doesn't contravene the election laws? Not a great deal I would have thought, or at least probably not enough to fill a whole hour?
I'd say there is more of an argument for starting at 9pm than 9.55. That gives the BBC and ITV just five minutes to explain how their coverage works and what to look out for before they kick into things.
Last time, Sky spent the hour talking to some guests, getting predictions from David Butler (who I hope is still there, but it says nothing in the press release), interviewing various correspondents at key polls, and having Stanford explain what was needed to win and how his graphics worked, etc.
The only thing they can't do is say who they think will win. They have to wait until 10pm for that. Sky have never used exit polls, though, so their first 10pm prediction is based on the poll of polls. They have a much more sensible way of doing things - getting a few results in, seeing the swing, analysing it, and then working out what sort of majority that would give if it were repeated across the whole UK.
This means that Sky have had the overall majority correct before the other two for the past two elections. When ITV were reporting 170 and the Beeb 175 in 2001, Sky already had it bang on at 167.
Can someone please explain to me what the Interest Index on Sky News is? It was on about -20 yesterday, but was earlier today on about +27 (the first positive value I have seen)
Sky commission YouGov to ask people 'are you interested in the campaign, yes or no'
They take that, split the difference, and come up with a result.
More people saying they aren't interested than saying they are gives a -ive result, more people saying they're interested than not interested produces a +ive result.
Another one of those things on Sky News- I've read repeatedly (often cycilng through the ticker every few minutes) that key speeches will be analysed by the "smileometer" (?sp) worm thingy.
Has this been done?
I'm sure I've seen a fair few speeches by Howard, Kennedy and Blair on Sky News but never seen this on the screen.