okcnews 0 Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 As a longtime viewer of newscasts in the Oklahoma City market, home to the #1 ABC affiliate in the nation (KOCO) and the #1 late newscast in the nation (KWTV), I wanted to get opinions from all of you out there. Our broadcasts are now, at times, overrun with what I call “Newscast Choreography”. A year ago we had all two-shots and close-ups, now we have anchors running all over the set, standing by big-screen monitors, walking across the set from a distance, and extremely distant panoramic opens and closes. Close-up face-time for female anchors was about 1 minute a year ago; now we’re more in the 24 to 33-second range. I’ve even seen shows that failed to give their female anchor a single close-up, but luckily they have corrected some of that. It’s my opinion as a viewer that broadcasts like these are just not enjoyable to watch, and they nullify all the reasons you hire beautiful, energetic, female anchors. Most of a female anchor’s best qualities are lost in all those distant, standing shots. I like a touch of Newscast Choreography; it gives a little visual spice to the show, but our market has gone completely wild, as if they are doing choreography for choreography’s sake, without any thought to the human-factors involved. Opinions? Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 1002 Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 Oklahoma City market, home to the #1 ABC affiliate in the nation (KOCO) and the #1 late newscast in the nation (KWTV) Where did you get that from? Hard to believe you would be the #1 ABC affiliate if you are in market 45. : Close-up face-time for female anchors was about 1 minute a year ago; now we’re more in the 24 to 33-second range. I’ve even seen shows that failed to give their female anchor a single close-up, but luckily they have corrected some of that. It’s my opinion as a viewer that broadcasts like these are just not enjoyable to watch, and they nullify all the reasons you hire beautiful, energetic, female anchors. Most of a female anchor’s best qualities are lost in all those distant, standing shots. HOW DARE THEY HIRE A BEAUTIFUL ENERGETIC FEMALE ANCHOR AND NOT SHOW HER BEAUTIFUL QUALITIES CLOSE UP? THAT IS SO SICKENING! WE NEED TO START AN ORGANIZATION! TVNT MEMBERS AGAINST NEWSCAST CHOREOGRAPHY TO PRESERVE BEAUTIFUL FEMALE ANCHORS (OR TMANCtPBFA, pronounced Tuh-man-cu-pibifa)! GET ME AVA AND STEPHEN WEINSTEIN ON THE PHONE. STAT! : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : LOL. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15485 Share on other sites More sharing options...
okcnews 0 Posted July 21, 2007 Author Share Posted July 21, 2007 Yes, I know it's hard to believe that little old Oklahoma City is home to the #1 ABC affiliate in the nation (KOCO), and that our KWTV 10pm news is the most watched late newscast in the nation, but the promos run every few days and I've checked with some insiders. If you've never seen KOCO and KWTV in Oklahoma City, then you're missing out. The competition here is off-the-hook, and the newscasts are slicker and more professional in every way than anything I've ever seen, including any network newscast. Strong statement? Yes, and if you come here and watch for two days you'll know I'm right. OKC has the best of everything, the best and most competitive weather coverage with the legendary Gary England, the first Hi-Def camera mounted on a helicopter, the best anchors, the best sets, you name it. I have no idea why it evolved this way, but it did. KWTV put in a state of the art set designed by the FX Group in November 2006, and you can see it from postings on this site on the "Sets" forum. This is a two-story set with over 3 dozen reporting positions, etc. This is not an average set, because this is not an average market! Anyway, back to the topic. What is your reaction when you see a broadcast that is dominated by choreography? Do you like it, hate it, or do you just ignore it? Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15492 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ntropolis 596 Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 Newscast choreography... like this? Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15493 Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 1002 Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 Yes, I know it's hard to believe that little old Oklahoma City is home to the #1 ABC affiliate in the nation (KOCO), and that our KWTV 10pm news is the most watched late newscast in the nation, but the promos run every few days and I've checked with some insiders. If you've never seen KOCO and KWTV in Oklahoma City, then you're missing out. The competition here is off-the-hook, and the newscasts are slicker and more professional in every way than anything I've ever seen, including any network newscast. Strong statement? Yes, and if you come here and watch for two days you'll know I'm right. OKC has the best of everything, the best and most competitive weather coverage with the legendary Gary England, the first Hi-Def camera mounted on a helicopter, the best anchors, the best sets, you name it. I have no idea why it evolved this way, but it did. KWTV put in a state of the art set designed by the FX Group in November 2006, and you can see it from postings on this site on the "Sets" forum. This is a two-story set with over 3 dozen reporting positions, etc. This is not an average set, because this is not an average market! Anyway, back to the topic. What is your reaction when you see a broadcast that is dominated by choreography? Do you like it, hate it, or do you just ignore it? You sound like the general manager of KOCO, but anyways. I agree there should be more of the close up shots. The panoramic shots are fine for the beginning and the end of the newscasts. I do like that anchors move around. It's so boring if all they do is stay in one location reading off the news. Some different locations is nice. Why would you not want that, if you say KWTV has a nice set? If I had a nice set like KWTV I would want to show it off. Yeah overkill is not good but some shots of the studio are fine. Now if the stations want to get younger viewers then they should keep the camera tight on all those pretty ladies and yes show her moving around that way the younger male audience sticks around longer to watch the news. However if you have a female like the balloon above on the set then by all means keep the shot wide. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15495 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ntropolis 596 Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 However if you have a female like the balloon above on the set then by all means keep the shot wide. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15497 Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 1002 Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 Well then why don't you just plant the camera directly on the female anchor's boobs if you want to attract the young [straight] male demo. ;D Sure why not. That would get higher ratings than the CBS early show. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15498 Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseyfla 207 Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 How is Mary Kay Mallonee able to keep her job looking like that? I read in her bio that she's pulled 9 G's with the Air Force's Thunderbirds. That must have been a pretty big flight suit. I hope management has told her to "tighten up". Of course I've never lived or even been in the Norfolk area before so I don't know if she's an exceptional reporter but "Damn, that's a big woman". Maybe the station manager is like Jack Black's character in Shallow Hal. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15499 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ntropolis 596 Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 How is Mary Kay Mallonee able to keep her job looking like that? I read in her bio that she's pulled 9 G's with the Air Force's Thunderbirds. That must have been a pretty big flight suit. I hope management has told her to "tighten up". Of course I've never lived or even been in the Norfolk area before so I don't know if she's an exceptional reporter but "Damn, that's a big woman". Maybe the station manager is like Jack Black's character in Shallow Hal. Mary Kay's still got her job because she's a good reporter. I wouldn't be surprised if you see her on the national networks doing interviews about the Michael Vick dogfighting stuff, she's been following that from the start (then again, I would be surprised if the national nets will let her on looking like that). It's gonna be hard for WAVY to go HD... Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15501 Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseyfla 207 Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 I don't see what's so wrong with having an overweight female personality.....as long as she can report who cares about her weight? No one complains about overweight male personalities I have nothing against overweight people but when you're wearing a button-up blouse like the lavender one she is wearing in the wide shot, where it looks "tight" when you sit then something's not right. A dark blazer with a collared blouse would look better and would've concealed her "overweight" features. Overweight men like Ira Joe Fisher can pull it off because you never see them wear just a dress shirt, they are always wearing a full suit with coat. That trench coat she's wearing in the other pictures doesn't look good either, maybe it's an old coat that she has filled in. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15502 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Junk Junk Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 How is Mary Kay Mallonee able to keep her job looking like that? I read in her bio that she's pulled 9 G's with the Air Force's Thunderbirds. That must have been a pretty big flight suit. I hope management has told her to "tighten up". Of course I've never lived or even been in the Norfolk area before so I don't know if she's an exceptional reporter but "Damn, that's a big woman". Maybe the station manager is like Jack Black's character in Shallow Hal. Mary Kay's still got her job because she's a good reporter. I wouldn't be surprised if you see her on the national networks doing interviews about the Michael Vick dogfighting stuff, she's been following that from the start (then again, I would be surprised if the national nets will let her on looking like that). It's gonna be hard for WAVY to go HD... You are correct: I saw her filing a live report on the Vick case for FOX 5 Atlanta a couple of days ago. She seems like a very solid reporter. Who cares if she has a little weight on her? Candy Crowley over at CNN is overweight, but she's a damn fine political reporter. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15504 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoadStar 364 Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 Back to the original topic... this is one of the things that most annoy me about WITI's newscast. They have this cavernous set with about 20 different places they can stand... and it seems they try and jam each and every one of them into a newscast. At least they don't try and use the upper level to the set (at least not anymore, if they ever did). And to segue into the second topic in this thread, I don't know how you COULD be overweight and work at WITI... you get a cardio workout just running around that set during a normal newscast! Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15509 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weeters 1916 Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 WITI used the upper level this past week. I hope they never use it again. The monitor is old and the glass cover thing reflects the studio lights, making the monitor more unreadable. Yesterday, the lights in the right side of the desk died, so they didn't have any wide shots of the desk. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15520 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoadStar 364 Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 Well I think it's sort of nice to be able to report news from different parts of the set. WTVT has quite a large set with multiple areas for standups/etc along with the anchor desk. I'm old school, I guess. Wandering about a set adds nothing to the news - it's just distracting. Give me one or two anchors, an over-the-shoulder monitor or graphic... and that's it. I don't mind a weather center, or an interview area, because those at least seem to serve a functional purpose... but wandering from one nondescript area of a set to another nondescript area of a set for no explicable reason other than to move around is just distracting to me. I went on YouTube and watched some video of the early days of ABC World News Tonight, and was pleasantly surprised to see the anchor desk was, literally, an anchor desk. It was an old school 70's style desk that the anchor sat at. I don't know if we should go quite that far back, but it was a pleasant change from the "wandering minstrels" we've got on some newscasts these days. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15540 Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaskanews 113 Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 Well I think it's sort of nice to be able to report news from different parts of the set. WTVT has quite a large set with multiple areas for standups/etc along with the anchor desk. I'm old school, I guess. Wandering about a set adds nothing to the news - it's just distracting. Give me one or two anchors, an over-the-shoulder monitor or graphic... and that's it. I don't mind a weather center, or an interview area, because those at least seem to serve a functional purpose... but wandering from one nondescript area of a set to another nondescript area of a set for no explicable reason other than to move around is just distracting to me. I went on YouTube and watched some video of the early days of ABC World News Tonight, and was pleasantly surprised to see the anchor desk was, literally, an anchor desk. It was an old school 70's style desk that the anchor sat at. I don't know if we should go quite that far back, but it was a pleasant change from the "wandering minstrels" we've got on some newscasts these days. YES! FINALLY SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS! im not even a fan of moving graphics, they are just distracting from what im supposed to be reading. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15547 Share on other sites More sharing options...
okcnews 0 Posted July 22, 2007 Author Share Posted July 22, 2007 Well I think it's sort of nice to be able to report news from different parts of the set. WTVT has quite a large set with multiple areas for standups/etc along with the anchor desk. I'm old school, I guess. Wandering about a set adds nothing to the news - it's just distracting. Give me one or two anchors, an over-the-shoulder monitor or graphic... and that's it. I don't mind a weather center, or an interview area, because those at least seem to serve a functional purpose... but wandering from one nondescript area of a set to another nondescript area of a set for no explicable reason other than to move around is just distracting to me. I went on YouTube and watched some video of the early days of ABC World News Tonight, and was pleasantly surprised to see the anchor desk was, literally, an anchor desk. It was an old school 70's style desk that the anchor sat at. I don't know if we should go quite that far back, but it was a pleasant change from the "wandering minstrels" we've got on some newscasts these days. I'm glad to see people have some of the same views as I do. I'm seeing huge amounts of choreography on my newscasts in OKC. When used sparingly, it keeps the show visually fresh and prevents boredom, but when overused, it removes all the close-up time for the female anchor and destroys the warmth of the show. In a standing-shot, you can't really see the anchor's eyes or smile, and 30 minutes of this really takes a psychological toll on the viewer's perception and enjoyment of the show. Even an "all-close-ups" show, done correctly with a top anchor is never boring they way they do them in OKC. The shots are varied in angle and tightness, and I've seen 5 different close-up shots alone in some KOCO broadcasts. When you have anchors of very high caliber, close-ups are riveting, never boring. On some "over choreographed" shows, I've seen panoramic openings with the anchors barely visible, reading one or two full lines of script before ever becoming really visible. I've seen distant standing-shots. I've seen distant shots while seated, using a big-screen in place of a traditional OTS. I've seen 30 minute shows with a single, 8-second close-up! The rest was wasted in standing shots or in two-shots with the co-anchor. You end up feeling like you watched the anchors "talking about" the news, rather than having them deliver it to you "in person". Just my opinions. Our local FOX affiliate has not succumbed to this choreography. Their anchors remain seated, while letting their reporters do the standing shots. We get the best of all worlds here in OKC with FOX. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15557 Share on other sites More sharing options...
plato 0 Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 it removes all the close-up time for the female anchor That's your problem. That's not what a newscast is about. : Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15558 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoadStar 364 Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 I'm glad to see people have some of the same views as I do. I'm seeing huge amounts of choreography on my newscasts in OKC. When used sparingly' date=' it keeps the show visually fresh and prevents boredom, but when overused, it removes all the close-up time for the female anchor and destroys the warmth of the show. In a standing-shot, you can't really see the anchor's eyes or smile, and 30 minutes of this really takes a psychological toll on the viewer's perception and enjoyment of the show.[/quote'] For me, it's not even a male/female thing. WITI is horrible at having both genders wander about the set aimlessly... there's no connection between where they're standing on the set and the story they're presenting, mostly because the areas of the set serve no functional purpose, and aren't even all that visually interesting. If I get the chance, I'll throw a few screenshots up of the newscast to demonstrate what I mean. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15572 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikePulse 318 Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 it removes all the close-up time for the female anchor That's your problem. That's not what a newscast is about. : You mean to tell me a newscast is all about NEWS CONTENT and not about beauty and boobs? That's kinda how it's been since forever. : : l0l : Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15578 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Junk Junk Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 it removes all the close-up time for the female anchor That's your problem. That's not what a newscast is about. : You mean to tell me a newscast is all about NEWS CONTENT and not about beauty and boobs? That's kinda how it's been since forever. : : l0l : Then you've never watched FOX News or Naked News for that matter... Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/1645-newscast-choreography-%E2%80%93-yes-or-no/#findComment-15586 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.