Sky News | General Discussion

When I looked it was Gillian on the left of the desk and Stephen behind it and normally going to just a shot showing Stephen - I wondered if it was because the desk wasn't wide enough for two behind it at once - I don't often see Sunrise on Friday's as I start work very early that day.

Yes on a Friday it will be in the weekday formation but on weekends it will be double headed the whole way through

To make it clear:

Mon-Fri - Single headed
Sat&Sun - double headed

There may be more to this than first thought

Seeing the new studio now, I don't really know why they bothered with the glass box. The "screen" in the new studio looks pretty much the same as the real one in the glass box, with a similar background.

Surely more space 1999,

http://catacombs.space1999.net/main/images/spacehd/atap/spatap1402.jpg

To be honest I'm struggling to see what the green screen studio offers so far in the ways they've used it.

The background behind the virtual big screen looks more like a video game than a news channel even if the big screen there looks very realistic and honestly the desk/double big screen area hasn't really impressed me.

If anyone here has presented from a Green Screen, how do you feel working in such an area compared to a normal set? I can imagine it takes a fair bit of getting used to?

Remember the side the presenters are looking is open to the rest of the room, and, as any studio, contains cameras, screens and lights. In my experience, it's worse from behind the lens because you're having to look at the bright green all the time. The harder bit to get used to is interacting with objects you can't see. But that's no different to what weather presenters have dealt with for decades, and it's no different with something overlayed on the screen in a normal studio rather than keyed behind you.

Hi all, have been reading the forum on and off for many years, but have only just started posting.

I have to say, from what little I have seen of the new studio over the past few days, I'm not a huge fan. I think it's a bit dull, and very subdued, especially compared to what we've had in the past. I understand that moving studios was a necessity, what with the recently-vacated Sky Centre about to be demolished, but I personally would have liked the new design to have had a bit more life to it.

I also don't really like how, for the first time in the history of Sky News (correct me if I'm wrong), neither of the main studios have a newsroom/gallery backdrop. I always thought that that was an integral part of Sky News' style, so to speak, alongside the newswall, the voiceover (which, of course, is also no more), and latterly, the rotating desk. Hell, the newsroom was the main backdrop on said newswall, at one point!

Onto (or should that be into) the glass box; in my opinion, while it doesn't look bad or ugly, it certainly isn't anything special, especially compared to the old studio. It does the job, which I suppose is the main thing, but it just doesn't grab me in the way that the old sets did. As I said above, it just feels to me like there is no life to proceedings anymore; rather, they are just going through the motions - with the important exception of Kay Burley's slot - like her or dislike her, she is very charismatic, damned good with breaking news, and does tend to put her own stamp on her programme.

From an aesthetic point of view, I always thought (and I'm sure many here will agree) that 2005 was the best that Sky News has even been. Okay, many elements were over the top (three-presenter bulletins, a little too much walking about) but it made the channel interesting to watch, IMO. I can't help thinking that if said look were introduced now, it would be received far more warmly than it had been at the time. I know it will probably never happen now, but in this era of smartphone apps and YouTube streams, I would love to see them have another stab at that style (maybe sans triple-headedness, though). I think that there could be a real opportunity for it to work - look at Franceinfo.

I realise that the aim is perhaps to 'de-glamourise' things, so to speak, but I feel that they've gone too far in that direction in recent years. Don't get me wrong: the journalism is as good as ever - and at the end of the day, that is what really matters, far more than any fancy studio, cool theme music or shiny graphics - but after all, this is TV Forum, and the presentation is what we're all here to discuss.

Great first post and I pretty much agree with every word. I just don't really understand the two studio approach - I do like that the glass box is something quite different and prefer it to the new studio, but I think in the excitement about visitors to Sky Central being able to look in they forgot most people be watching the action via the TV.

I just find the new set so disjointed - the VR is OK for me and links to the glass box look, so there is some consistency there. The real part of the studio just doesn't match it though and there is no attempt too, and it does just feel cheap. At the moment the Milkbank studio is by far the most visually appealing.

Millbank is quite loyal to the design of the original Sky News Center, both for the on set elements and the work areas and the newsroom there. I can't see it being that way for a huge amount of time longer - I suspect in the summer political recess it may well get a refresh more in line with the other studios since it's very much the odd one out now!

What I'd preferred to have seen instead of two new studios would have been a proper replacement for the old studio using more modern technology and design but also not sacrificing some of the things that Sky News is best known for whilst also allowing the flexibility to produce all kinds of shows there in the one place with more efficient use of space.

I'd agree with the other poster as well it's weird not having a newsroom backdrop - that gives a presence of scale of the channel whereas the current set-up has more of a regional news studio than a major news channel - Millbank for me still has a better 'feel' about it.

Thank you! I would give kudos but I don't seem to be able to right now (I'm guessing that this function is restricted for new members?) The glass box very much strikes me as a Sky vanity project, and I can see it gradually being reduced in use over the next few years.



I agree with everything you've said. I personally would have liked to have seen something more like what Sky News Arabia have - it's very modern, there are several presentation points and the whole thing just looks gorgeous. That, to me, says 'international news channel' - not a small, semi-CSO studio that would look more in place on Midlands Today. Bring back Kay Burley introducing Lunchtime Live from halfway up a staircase!

EDIT: As an aside, does anyone know what's up with Sunrise and its mish-mash of double and not-quite-double-headedness? Seems a bit strange to have Sarah-Jane flying solo, but then Stephen and Gillian together at weekends? Personally, I prefer the latter format.

My assumption is that the glass box is fine for most of the day but impractical at others so they need another. I seem to remember they couldn't use it during the day on one occasion due to a promotional event in the Sky HQ lobby area. I imagine overnights aren't that great in there either

It only seems to be present at the TOTH for a while, best seen here with the white background.

http://i66.tinypic.com/30cuczt.jpg

It then disappears. As others have said, it doesn't do anything if you 'press Green', so I wonder if it's a future feature they are trialling with beta testers?