| CHAPTER 12 | |
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TV: Story Forms |
STORY FORMS
A television newscast is made up of a mix and match of five basic TV story forms.
• The reader,in which the anchor appears on the screen reading the story, with or without graphics.
• The voiceover (VO,pronounced V-O or VOH), which typically starts with the anchor on camera reading the first line or two of a story and then continues with the anchor reading live over video, with natural sound under.
• The VO/SOT (sometimes spoken as letters, V-O-S-O-T, and sometimes pronounced as VOH-soht), which typically starts, as with the VO, with the anchor on camera reading the first line or two of a story and then continues with the anchor reading live over video, with natural sound under, and then goes to a bite (SOT: sound on tape). Variations can include going to VO again after the bite or starting with SOT, then going to voiceover and perhaps then going back to SOT.
• The package (or pack), a prerecorded report normally with reporter narration over video, a stand-up and bites. If the package is introduced by the reporter live on location, the internal package stand-up may be omitted.
• Live, in which a reporter or anchor broadcasts live directly from the scene of a story, often wrapping around a package or including voiceover video either shot earlier or live.
Readers
Readers are basically radio reports read on TV, and the writing style and approach are exactly the same—with one exception. If graphics accompany a reader, usually in the form of an over-the-shoulder box showing a picture or symbol, then the writer needs to structure the story in such a way that the words make clear what the audience can see in the graphic box. If the box includes a word or phrase, then that word or phrase should be included at the same general time the box appears. If the box appears with the anchor at the beginning of the story, then the lead should include that word or phrase. You can’t make the graphic clear somewhere later in the story; it must go with the lead. For example, if you’re using a picture of someone—or a picture and a name—on the screen with the anchor, you can’t wait until well into the story to identify or talk about the individual. If the story starts with a graphic, then sentence one of the story must reference it in some way.
| ANCHOR WITHOUT GFX: | City officials are scrambling to meet a Monday deadline for a court-ordered plan to integrate a south side housing project. |
| ANCHOR WITH GFX (MAYOR): | Mayor Dan Smith and members of his administration are scrambling to meet a Monday deadline for a court-ordered plan to integrate a south side housing project. |
| ANCHOR WITH GFX (HOUSING PROJECT): | City officials are scrambling to meet a Monday deadline for a court-ordered plan to integrate this south side housing project. |
Without graphics you write the story exactly as you would for radio. With graphics you must incorporate whatever the audience sees in the graphic into the writing.
Voiceovers
Most anchor voiceovers,or VO stories, are read live by the anchor, with the accompanying video started on cue. That means that the video can easily start just a little early or a little late. Most voiceover copy should not be written so pointedly that it will not make sense if the timing isn’t perfect with the visuals. The two best ways to avoid the problem are to have the anchor who will read the VO on the air time the copy before it’s edited and to have anchors who can keep an eye on the monitor and know whether to speed up, slow down, or just ad lib a bit. Live voiceover narration that points to the picture works well if you have the anchors who can do it. Phrases like as you see here and watch the upper left of your screen really help focus the audience attention on the story and get people to pay extra attention to the TV.
| POINTING NARRATION: | An armed man charged into the store … you can see him there, in the upper left of your screen. … |
Phrasing like this works every time to bring the casual viewer back to the screen. But few things look worse on TV newscasts than having an anchor say … as you see here … and there’s something else on the screen because the timing was off—or, as happened to a weekend network anchor a number of years ago, there was nothing there at all because the video didn’t run.
VO/SOT
TV stories that are constructed for the anchor to read voiceover pictures leading into a bite (VO/SOT or VO/SOT/VO) must be written with particular care. The slightest error will result in either the anchor talking over the start of a bite or what will feel like an interminable pause between the anchor lead-in and the start of the bite. Two procedures help to minimize the chances of error. First, have the anchor time the voiceover copy carefully to calculate the amount of video to run before the bite starts. Second, the less voiceover copy before the start of a bite, the more likely that the anchor’s timing will be correct. Conversely, the more copy to be read VO before the bite, the greater the chances that the anchor will read faster or slower than expected or stumble in the copy and run well behind the video.
The best way to hit the SOT cleanly in a VO/SOT or VO/SOT/VO is to have the bite separate from the video voiceover material that precedes it. That way, the video with the bite isn’t run until the anchor is at that spot in the script, minimizing the chances for mistiming.
Packages
Packages,because they are prerecorded, allow maximum use of the medium. Because the material is prerecorded, lots of natural sound and many short bites can be used, and sound and picture can be layered on top of each other. The challenge is for the TV reporter to write and structure a story as it’s being covered.
STAND-UPS. Stations expect a reporter to do an on-camera stand-up somewhere in the piece. Stand-up opens are now rare except in live reports, and most stations don’t encourage stand-up closers either, although networks and some stations still use them. Most stand-ups are now internal bridges. Because the stand-up must be recorded at the scene of the story, the reporter needs to calculate in the field how the piece will work and how it will be put together. Some reporters record more than one bridge, allowing an option in case one doesn’t work well, but that involves a time luxury that’s not often available.
What a reporter needs to do is assess a story quickly and write in the mind. The stand-up section(s) should be scripted—mentally if not in writing. Some reporters are quick studies and memorize their stand-ups; most use or memorize notes and ad lib. A reporter who relies too heavily on notes on a pad isn’t making good eye contact with the audience. If you can’t remember what you want to say in the stand-up, maybe you’re trying to say too much. The only notes you should need to rely on at all for a stand-up are names or numbers. Generally, stand-ups work best within a package when
• available visuals are the weakest, particularly background material in a story.
• the story requires a transition from one aspect to another.
• the reporter can actually demonstrate or point out part of the story.
Regardless, the setting for the stand-up must be appropriate. A stand-up that could have been shot anywhere probably shouldn’t have been shot at all.
| ANYWHERE STAND-UP: | The robber then ran from the store, firing shots at people walking by and passing cars, and then disappeared in nearby woods. |
That’s just a recitation of facts and could have been shot anywhere.
| BETTER STAND-UP: | The robber then ran from the store, right by where I’m standing, firing shots at people walking by and passing cars, and then disappeared in those woods over there. |
Now we’re using the location to help tell the story, and we’ve built in some movement on the part of the reporter to help the audience understand what happened.
Live
Live reporting includes a number of different scenarios. It could just be a reporter on camera live on location. It could include that reporter, live, talking over edited video shot earlier or live pictures. Most often, it involves a live open and close with a prerecorded package in between.
PUTTING PACKAGES TOGETHER
Because packages are prerecorded, they can be precise. Before writing anything, the reporter should see what visuals are available and think about how those pictures will tell the story. Pick out the natural sound bridges that should be interspersed throughout the story to give the audience a better feel for the characters and setting. Write the script based on what the pictures say, what they don’t say, and the most logical sequence for telling the story—trying to spread out, throughout the story, bites from those interviewed and natural sound to be used full.
Pacing
Pacing is critical, and long stretches of narration are boring. Generally, start your package with natural sound full or a strong, short bite. After that, keep the narration short before hitting the next bite or sound bridge. Think in terms of 8 to 12 seconds at the most. Shorter is better. That means you need to resist the temptation to start stories with background and history. Those things may be important for the story, but they’re probably the least interesting part, they’re not why the story is on the air today and it’s far better to intersperse that material here and there throughout the package. The package will be far more interesting if you keep it moving back and forth between natural sound full, reporter track and bites.
After recording a voice track, that track and the natural sound full and bites to be used are put together. The pictures used to cover the narration (with natural sound under) can then be edited precisely to match with the script so that the audience sees what you’re talking about. Generally, place edits at logical pauses in the script.
Don’t Outdate Packages
Reporters must also be careful about putting potentially dated material in prerecorded packages. Think about what might change between the time the script is tracked (recorded) and when it will go on the air. In any kind of accident or disaster the number of dead and injured can easily wind up wrong by air time as more bodies are discovered, some of the injured die or numbers get corrected in the aftermath of a chaotic situation. People sought by police could be arrested; people lost can be found. Before you record anything, think about what could easily and quickly change, and reserve that material for the live portion of a report or the anchor lead-in.
If new information seriously outdates a package, the package should be dropped. A package that has to be corrected at the end should never have been on the air. That’s like lying to the audience. Given the difficulty of filling that much air time at the last minute, it’s critical that the dilemma be avoided completely. Don’t prerecord potentially dated information.
LIVE REPORTING
More and more reporting careers are made—and lost—on the basis of live reporting.The audience expects up-to-the-minute information, and they like the immediacy and feel of live reports. That’s why there are so many of these, even if there is no longer much going on at the scene.
In live reporting, the typical structure involves some variation of an anchor lead-in to live reporter. Generally, the station starts on the anchor, then goes to a double box, where we see the anchor on one side of the screen and the reporter on the other side. Then the reporter starts talking, and we switch to the reporter full screen at the live location.
Depending on the situation, the reporter may present the whole story on camera (usually because the story just broke and the reporter and crew just got there) or will start and end on camera with video in the middle. That video could be live pictures, video shot earlier or an entire package recorded earlier. Frequently, live reports end with anchor-reporter question and answer (Q & A).
Note that the story starts not with the reporter live, but with the anchor lead-in, which should say that the reporter is live at the scene. Note also that the lead-in to the reporter contains meaningful information about the story, and the introduction goes right to the heart of the critical question: Is there any danger? Different stations may set varying time constraints on stories, but the above structure and time are reasonably representative.
The anchor lead-in runs 8 seconds before the double box and another 6 seconds afterward for a total of 14 seconds. The reporter then talks for 8 seconds before the video runs. That 8 seconds includes the scripted very smelly mess out here,which is the cue for the director to start the prerecorded package. The total video time is 1:07. Note that within the package, the longest single continuous element is a bite that’s 12 seconds long. The longest single stretch of the reporter track is only 7 seconds, but that hasn’t stopped the reporter from including plenty of information on the story. The reporter live close is 9 seconds, followed by 21 seconds of Q & A—all worked out in advance. The entire story, from anchor lead-in to final answer, is 1:59.
Planning
The key to live reporting is planning. Some reporters are such quick studies that they can write out a script and memorize the material almost instantly. Most reporters are not quick enough studies to rely solely on memorization. Still, you can’t leave the report to chance. Plan what you want to say. Make notes—one or two words if possible on the points you want to raise—in the order in which you want to report them. If a particularly good phrase occurs to you when you’re sketching out your notes, write it down. Just the act of writing something will help you remember it.
Glancing down occasionally at a clipboard or notebook is fine, but simply reading won’t work. And if you’ve got a clipboard in one hand and a mike in the other, gesturing is going to be pretty difficult.
As in the example above, recorded packages inside a live shot should start and end with natural sound full or a bite. Those front and back sound bridges mask the different sound of the reporter live in the field versus the reporter’s voice track prerecorded at the scene or in a sound booth at the station.
Crosstalk
In live reporting, probably the greatest opportunity for foot-in-mouth disease comes in the live crosstalk between the anchors and the reporter after the story. Whenever possible, crosstalk should be scripted at least to the extent of what question(s) will be asked or subject(s) covered.
Everyone’s credibility is on the line. Anchors who ask questions that have already been answered in the report look like they haven’t been paying attention. A reporter who can’t answer an unexpected question looks inept. Producers should determine whether there’s going to be Q & A after the report, and the reporter should go over with the anchors and producer what that Q & A should include and not include.
Perhaps some better planning would have prevented this bizarre—but real—example of live phrasing:
| TERRIBLE: | Now, Lou and Michelle, I’d be lying to you if I said there were absolutely no problems. |
Lying? What kind of brain fade would have a reporter even suggesting that as a possible approach in reporting? Then there’s the time that an anchor in a top 10 market asked the live reporter whether he agreed with a jury’s verdict of guilty in a murder trial. Save that kind of editorial viewpoint for private discussion off the air. Fortunately, in that case the reporter had better sense than the anchor and managed to dance around the question.
Live reporting is both so important and so potentially hazardous that good reporters regularly study the recordings of their live reports to assess strengths and weaknesses—and improve.
Live Look
Stations also use what they sometimes call live look or look live.As the name implies, this isn’t live at all. What’s typically involved is a recorded open and close from the scene, introing a package and tagging it out. It looks live, but because it’s prerecorded, there’s no crosstalk. And the reporter should not be introduced as being “live.”
GOLDEN RULES
• Reporters sound far more articulate when they’re scripted than when they’re off-the-cuff.
• Reporters never sound as articulate off-the-cuff as they think they do.
SUMMARY
TV newscasts are made up of five basic story forms: reader, voiceover, VO/SOT, package and live. Packages, because they’re prerecorded, can be the most complex and sophisticated story form. Packages generally include reporter track, video (b-roll), bites, nat sound full (and under) and a reporter stand-up. Because live reporting plays to TV’s strength of immediacy, packages are frequently introduced and ended with reporters live in the field. Generally, start packages with nat sound full, hit the first bite or nat sound full bridge within 8–12 seconds. Don’t start a package with history and don’t outdate a package by prerecording changeable information. Preplan crosstalk so no one is embarrassed.
KEY WORDS & PHRASES
basic TV story forms
reader
voiceover or VO
VO/SOT
package live
stand-up
bridge
crosstalk
EXERCISES
A. Watch a morning newscast (half an hour), a 6 P.M. newscast and a late (10 P.M. or 11 P.M.) newscast. Make a short list of each story covered and what form it took. How many packages were in each newscast? How many included a reporter live on location? Did any start with a reporter live in the newsroom or on the set? If so, why do you think it worked that way?
B. Record a local TV package and break it down by individual elements. Did it start live with the reporter on the scene? How long did that run? Could you tell what the roll cue was to start the prerecorded video? How did the package start, and how long did each element go: reporter track, bites, stand-up, nat sound full, etc. Note also what the reporter was trying to get across in each different element of the story. Do you think the story was effective? Why or why not? Were there elements of the story that you think the reporter could have left out? What and why? Were there things left out of the story that you think the reporter should have included? What and why?
C. Prepare a 20–30 second “live” intro to a prerecorded package, and deliver it—without notes—to the rest of the class. How did that go? How did the class think it went?