WINOL Sportsweek 16/10/13 Feedback Review

Presenting – DREW RICHARDSON

·         Lighten up, smile, relax, it’s important the viewer feels comfortable for something like sport. This isn’t a court story. Sport is entertainment- so entertain the audience.

·         Could we have done it in different areas? Buildings are a no-go – why do we want to see buildings on a sports programme?

·         Sound enthusiastic too. Tone linking into each story and knowing when to pause, when to smile and when to put emphasis on words - it’s all important.

·         Anybody can read an autocue like it’s a memo or a dinner menu; real presenters leave you remembering THEM as well as the programme. SELL YOURSELF!

Location

·         The Dytche looked an unprofessional background. Sure it’s a sports show so have it outside, but this seems a waste when there’s a fantastic studio and gallery to use. Perhaps use one of the club stadiums? Winchester? Totton?

Headlines

·         You must lead with Eastleigh as often as possible.

·         Volleyball good, although perhaps the last headline?

·         Nobody cares what the VICE captain has to say – who is he? What is the ‘news’ line that makes it a headline?

Eastleigh v Oxford City – TATE SLYFIELD

·         The V/O sounds like you want to be elsewhere, however the Pronunciation was very good.

·         Sound levels sometimes very jumpy, but good use of second camera angle.

·         As for the scripting, I enjoyed seeing Richard Hill pick up the manager of the month award – it was different and a nice intro but WHY did he win it? Are there no stats? 7 wins out of 7? 5 wins in a row during September? Tell us why he won it.

·         Stuart Fleetwood – sell the fact he has played in the Football League. He would be a great sit down interview. He was widely regarded as a top talent when he broke onto the domestic scene – will make for a great feature.

·         Damien Batt – he has also played in the Football League, most recently with Oxford United.

·         Ben Strevens – Former Dagenham, Gillingham and Wycombe. These are interesting players – do what you can to get feature interviews.

·         Post-match interviews? Disappointing defeat by their standards? No reaction from anybody? This has to be a MUST for EVERY game in the leagues you cover.

Volleyball – LAURA ALLEN

·         Nice to see you getting involved Laura. Always make it for a more interesting watch.

·         Intro is great – informative, and interesting to know.

·         Auto focus used on camera, don’t do this, manual focus instead. As the background was more in focus than the person being interviewed? This happened 3 times.

·         Also, move the camera, swing it round to follow the action. There were too many still shots of the camera focusing on one area but then not turning to follow the action accordingly.

·         Sound was awkward at times. It’s tricky filming in that hall because it echoes like anything, but maybe a radio mic should have been used while you were actually on the court instead of a V/O.

·         I liked the outro. It was nice, different and kept me engaged.

Winchester Mens Football – LEWIS SALTER

·         Two university men’s football pieces in two weeks – get noticed by demonstrating your versatility and variety.

·         I used the uni teams very rarely – I know our audience is primarily students, but nobody cares how many players the 1s have lost (It’s not a transfer window) or how the 3s are getting on in training.  You need to target Basingstoke and Totton. This is where you will find local reporters who you can network with, leading to potential opportunities in future.

·         I like the fact you linked to WINOL Woodwork, Lewis. This is always a great feature and we used it quite commonly with the likes of Basingstoke, Totton and Eastleigh.

·         Why did you come back to general shots after WINOL Woodwork? Surely we could have ended with a slow-mo replay of the person hitting the bar, with the music slowly fading out rather than you coming back in just to sign out again?

·         Camera focus. Check and double check EVERYTIME. Again, I know lighting is tough at night but it looked poor at times.

·         Move away from university now. Be a bit more adventurous and really test yourself. The industry is a hard worker so you have to be up to the challenge.

General

·         The length is not good enough for the teams, facilities and manpower you have.

·         10 minutes should be the target every week AT LEAST.

·         Thomas Baxter – you have to contribute to the programme. People see your name at the end, that’s great, but where is your voice? Where are you on screen? The audience doesn’t see you. As Sports Editor, this is your programme and you MUST lead from the front. Some weeks I had to do 3 VTs and produce the show, and provide content on Wednesdays for the bulletin. You HAVE to keep extending and enhancing your showreel.

      Everybody - Always think you can do better. Never be satisfied with what somebody says is a good job. Always push further and create more exciting, solid and intriguing content.

·         You have a short amount of time to get as much practical experience possible and as many opportunities to meet people and interview players which will only enhance a future showreel – you must show your versatility.

·         Views? Why are the views so low? Are you plugging the programme on the non-league forums or on university FB pages? When I was Sports Editor, we were averaging 1700-2000 views a week from our programme which at student level is fantastic. Why bother creating content and doing the work if nobody’s going to see it?

I look forward to seeing next week’s WINOL Sportsweek, and really hope this advice helps you over the next few days. Please feel free to email me to messengerg@aljazeera.net or gareth_messenger@hotmail.com