Why are the two of you missing the point that one of the biggest reasons for...less use of the studio, was because of the substantial cut backs implemented over the last two years?
Woah, are you suggesting that it costs money to use another area of the studio? Come, come, you're fooling nobody with that tripe.
well I thought you were the expert/insider? Even a complete know nothing like me can see that it would be cheaper to use one shot for four hours rather than several from different areas of the studio, requiring less people to do the job.
They don't turn any lights or cameras off do they? Any way the camera are remotely controlled, so that shouldn't be a problem.
It's a picture of the Ninentdo Wii. So what's this got to do with theatre and film, I hear you ask ?
Well, it was just one of the six stories I was given one hour to read and digest and comment on as part of last night's Sky.com News programme. They take some of the rising stories on the internet in terms of hit counts, and get someone in the world of the internet to comment on them.
I was called yesterday afternoon and the conversation went something like "Mr McFarlane, we liked your interview on Sky last week and wondered whether you would be interested in doing a regular monthly slot on one of the evening programmes." Nice I thought. It's a good way to get more audiences clicking on UKTheatre.Net. I agreed. "I also wondered whether you would be available tonight", the researcher added.
This was my second time on live television and the nerves still kick in. They are the same nerves you get before an opening night performance, as you are waiting in the wings getting ready to come on stage while the audience take their seat. I welcome the butterflies as I know they are merely a preparation for the mind to kick into action, and it does.
It's a strange experience being on live TV. The atmosphere in the studio is very relaxed, and everyone smiles and says hello. You head for make-up first and a team of busy women, some in the middle of eating their dinner on the hoof, welcome you like a friend and delicately powder and brush your face before you return to the green room. The producer arrives, "We have six stories for you and here is the running order" he says before he walks out and on to his next activity. I noticed my stories are in perfect reverse order from the notes that I'd taken, so I number mine from the bottom up so that I have reference points.
Here's what I was faced with:-
Babies May Hold Social Judging Skills
Wife Busted After Wii Proves Affair
Plastic Shopping Bags On Their Way Out
Hunger Levels in New York Rising
Swiss Army Knife Sets Record
Jellyfish Wipe Out Salmon In Northern Ireland
The floor manager came to collect me and put a mike on. "There's a lot of cables on the set so just be careful". I was introduced to Martin Stanford (pictured below), who said that he was just going to do a few minutes on the top stories and web videos before coming to my bit. 5 - 4 -3 - 2 ........ we're on air.
I sit waiting for Martin to come to my bit. He's talking live to millions of people, reading from an autocue as well as a monitor in front of him. There's videos he's commenting on as well as images of the top stories and then it's "over to Douglas McFarlane of UKTheatre.Net"
I'm relaxed by this stage. I've sat up straight in my seat, shaken loose, made sure my face doesn't look as nervous as my inner thoughts, and start a casual conversation about six topics which I knew nothing about an hour ago. I opened up well with the baby story and quipped "it brings a new meaning to throwing your toys out of the pram". Martin smiled and we moved on through all the stories, with quips like "I think you'll need another golf bag to carry the knife" and "an entreprenurial Scottish salmon fisherman may call and help out with the Irishman's customers".
It was over in a few minutes and I waited until I got my cue to go off set. I shook Martin's hand and the floor manager said it was great, she took my mike off and I headed for my chauffeur driven car back to normality.
It was great fun and I look forward to the next one.
The Sky News screen at the train station made me laugh this morning. It had a story up saying something about experts fearing that killer robots could be used by terrorists, and was illustrated with a picture of a Dalek!
So, the final nail in the coffin....presentation wise. I notice Kay just presented the TOTH from the elbow I noticed this on Monday aswell, so I presume they've stopped her doing the TOTH from the stairs. It really is bad now, all of the presenters are just locked to that central podium with the Elbow and the desk.
Oh my goodness, it really is the end now if Kay is not presenting from the stairs. Well, I guess we had all better just resign to the fact that Sky News is over, it's not like they could perhaps present from somewhere else in the studio instead.
True, however that different views of the newsroom would make more interesting viewing, but we know that people at Sky News seem oblivious to good presentation on all levels.
The current graphics aren't entirely vile, in some respect they actually look okay, I think it's just that they do not suit Sky News on any level. In fact they would be more suited to Sky News prior to its relaunch.
Returning to a Blue colour scheme for Sky News would be nice, I think. It would at least make the channel look less like the "Sun TV" and would appear more authorative. Semi transparent staps would be less offensive and returning the logo to the ticker would be good, they could then plop a square on screen to represent the programme identity, like Live at 5 etc or weather updates for sunrise where the current logo is, again, making it slightly translucent.
But of course most fundamentaly they must abandon this single headed programme, it is truly awful, absolutley crud. And for god's sake sort out the stories they put out too, either its Sky News or Sky Entertainment News, make the choice. And please please please have an actual differential between the programmes or don't bother labelling them.
