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MUMBC News Flash Bulletin

Coursework 2

1/3/2013

Student Number: - M00434120 Student Name: - Ahmad Shibli Harouni

Jeerooburkhan Tutor Name: - Mr. Girish Bekaroo Middlesex

University [Mauritius Branch Campus]

CMT3331 (New Media) MUMBC News Flash Bulletin M00434120 (Ahmad Shibli Harouni Jeerooburkhan)

Table of Contents

Introduction......................................................................................................................................5

Brief description of the concept.................................................................................................................5

Video Recording..............................................................................................................................5

Video Manipulation.........................................................................................................................6

Choice of Software....................................................................................................................................6

Intro Animation and Sound........................................................................................................................6

Logo and Background................................................................................................................................6

Video Editing.............................................................................................................................................7

Further Enhancements.....................................................................................................................7

Reflective Conclusion......................................................................................................................7

References........................................................................................................................................8

Appendix..........................................................................................................................................9

Storyboard..................................................................................................................................................9

Script for MUMBC Flash Bulletin..........................................................................................................10


IntroductionThe aim of this coursework is to create a news bulletin for a fictitious news agency. A list of

guidelines had to be covered. This report explains on how the coursework was tackled starting from the

idea generation until the video manipulation to attain the final result.

Brief description of the concept A famous aphorism from a radio commentator, Wes (“Scoop”) Nisker stated “If you don’t like

the news … go out and make some of your own”. From an analogous perspective, this inspired me to

choose the topic “Middlesex University (Mauritius Branch Campus)” for the second coursework in new

media regarding a news bulletin with an approximate length of one minute. The goal of such a news

bulletin is to promote the campus by depicting the numerous novelties and improvements that were

implemented. Besides, since the birth of the Mauritius campus, this year is particular since it is the first

time that a new January intake was planned. Experience gained from the first coursework helped to plan

wisely. A storyboard was used to illustrate the different video sequels. The storyboard was followed in an

exhaustive manner. Such a storyboard can be found as per Figure 1 in the appendix.

Video RecordingBefore the video shooting, a thorough research was accomplished in order to identify the best

practices when filming. In his paper ‘Editing Out Video Editing’, (Davis M, 2003) accentuates on the

history of motion picture capture from mechanical to computational. The evolution of the different

technologies were studied and analyzed thoroughly.

Then, the first challenge encountered was to find a decent video camera that would allow

capturing the diverse shots and voice recordings. While contemplating the different choices that were

available, I finally selected an iPhone 4 (with an iSight camera of 5-megapixel and HD video recording

up to 720p and 30 frames per second with audio) and a video camera (Canon Legria FS306 of 5-

megapixel). The choice for the iPhone 4 was crucial due to one of the features known as “Tap to focus

video or still images” which was found to be very useful especially to emphasize on the details of a

peculiar area. On the other hand, the Canon video camera was utilized as it was the only camera provided

by the university. A dictaphone was used for voice recording for a better sound quality.

The second challenge experienced was to locate a setting which could have been used as a studio.

As a matter of fact, an IT laboratory on the university premises was used and a green cloth was used as


the initial background which was later sliced out using “Chroma Key” and “Ultra Key” during the video

editing process. With regards to the actors, many friends volunteered but finally, Mr. Anwar Bapikee

(known as Baps was chosen to act as the news caster and Mr. Pradeep Nuckchady who performed as a

news reporter during an interview. Baps was chosen since he has a good pronunciation and articulate well

while Pradeep was selected due to his charisma. To preserve the authenticity of the campus, all the video

shootouts took place within the university courtyard.

Based on the research done before, different takes were taken so as to filter the best clip with

decorous quality. In this way, only the most appropriate videos were used in the news bulletin and to

preserve the overall presentation of the news flash.

Video Manipulation

Choice of Software Once the video shooting stage was completed, the next step was to make use of a wide variety of

software for the assemblage of the final news bulletin video. This technique is hereby known as

“Montage”. Being the most common and efficient video tool on the market, the Adobe Suite (Adobe

Design and Web Premium Package (CS6)) was used. The diverse software that was used is namely

‘Adobe Premiere CS6’, ‘Adobe Photoshop CS6’, ‘Adobe After Effects CS6’ and ‘Adobe Flash CS6

Professional’. Adobe Premiere CS6 was mainly used for video editing purposes as it comprises of a broad

number of tools and features. In addition to that, the unification of the different Adobe’s software (i.e.

projects from After Effects and Flash as well as photos from Photoshop are easily imported into Adobe

Premiere) proved to be of crucial significance as such practice is beneficial to the final outcome.

Intro Animation and SoundPrior to the video assemblage, Adobe After Effects CS6 was used for the transition from the

copyright disclaimer to the beginning of the news bulletin. A free template known as Light Show was

downloaded from BlueFx.net and the template was amended for MUMBC News. The fonts that have

been used for such a template were Times New Roman as the aim of this transition was to represent a

classic news bulletin’s animation. Furthermore, the default jingle of the template was used. Fine tuning

the template required a considerable amount of time but the final result proved to be value added for the

news bulletin.


Logo and Background For the design of the logo, Adobe Photoshop CS6 was used and the logo consists of three layers.

To migrate the logo in Adobe Premiere, the picture was first imported. The next step was to specify the

start and end time of the logo on the timeline tab. Furthermore, one attribute of the video effect known as

fx Motion was fine tune by changing the position and the scale of the logo so as to fit the news banner on

the extreme left of the video.

Video EditingTo begin with, all video sequences were imported to Adobe Premiere CS6 and the videos were trimmed

to obtain the desired part only. To be able to do so, the ‘Mark In’ and ‘Mark Out’ tool was used to specify

the start and end of the required video segment and the segment was then dragged and dropped on the

timeline tab. One of the prime issues that were faced is the video quality when manipulating the different

video sequences on Adobe Premiere. Based on a study carried out by (Girgensohn, A et al., 2000), the

author critically analyzed the criteria that should be considered by video editors. These are firstly, a clip

must consist of a minimum amount of brightness, secondly, a clip should be of a reasonable length and

finally, clips with fast movement should be avoided. A dictaphone was used for better sound quality.

Since a green background was used for the studio setup, two effects namely “Chroma Key” and “Ultra

Key” were applied to the video slices regarding the studio in order to remove the initial green

background. Moreover, the news banner for the bulletin was created by using the Crawl Tool with the

crawl direction set to “Crawl Left” and a credit roll was also produced by utilizing the Roll Tool with a

peculiar start and end time and the ease in set to two seconds while the ease out was set to eight seconds.

Further EnhancementsThis news bulletin could have been improved by utilizing a better video camera with better

quality for the video shooting. Moreover, other effects such as “Exponential Fade” and “Block Dissolve”

could have been utilized to improve the transition between the diverse footages. Adobe Flash Professional

CS6 could have been employed to animate texts for the logo thus rendering the news bulletin more

appealing.

Reflective ConclusionAs this news bulletin started from the initial concept via storyboarding to the final outcome,

various tools and techniques were mastered. On a different note, this coursework was a successful

educative experience since a wide variety of software was used. The most challenging part of such a


coursework was “Time Management” as numerous sequences had to be rearranged to achieve a final

video of approximately one minute. On the overall, I am satisfied with the news flash and sense that the

message has been successfully conveyed.

References[1] Davis, M. (2003). Editing Out Video Editing. IEEE MultiMedia. 10 (2), pp. 2-12.

[2] Girgensohn, A et al. (2000). A Semi-automatic Approach to Home Video Editing. CHI Letters. 2

(2), pp. 1-9.

[3] Nack, F (2010). Semiotics in Media. Isla: UvA. pp. 2-20.

[4] Nisker, W (1994). If You Don't Like the News, Go Out and Make Some of Your Own. California:

Ten Speed Press.

[5] Qi, W et al. (2000). Integrating Visual, Audio And Text Analysis For News Video. IEEE

CONFERENCE PUBLICATIONS. 3 (1), pp. 1-4.

[6] Szilard, G. (2011). Free After Effects Template: Light Show. Available: http://bluefx.net/after-

effects-templates/free-after-effects-template-light-show/. Last accessed 20th Feb 2013.


Appendix

Storyboard


Script for MUMBC Flash Bulletin

Copyright Disclaimer (All characters are fictional ...)

- Prelude

Peter: “Good morning, my name is Peter Smith”

“Headlines”

“The Middlesex University (Mauritius Branch Campus)”

“Life on campus”

“Brief description The Cafeteria (The Jam)”

“The Student Lounge”

“The Learning Resource Centre (LRC)”

“Interview of a member of student council representing international students”

“Breaking News”

“A brand new IT Lab has been launched for the new January Intake”

- Transition

Intro (10 sec)

Peter: “Welcome to MUMBC News on Channel 5 with Peter Smith

Fresher’s Week (5 sec)


Peter: “This year is a landmark since the existence of the Mauritius Branch Campus. A batch

of 33 students was expected for the new January Intake scheduled for last week. Staffs and

students were preparing for the fresher’s week.”

LRC (10 sec)

Peter: “Next on MUMBC News, new shelves have been installed in the Learning Resources

Centre. A wide range of books have been ordered for all the different courses. New MACS

have been installed to offer students a new computing experience especially for advertising

and graphic design courses.

IT Lab (10 sec) (Breaking News)

A fourth IT Lab has been launched for the new intake planned for January 2013. Brand new

software and hardware have been made available to students. This lab is mainly equipped for

graphic design and video editing activities.

Cafeteria (10 sec)

Peter: “The cafeteria has been refurbished for the occasion. A new variety of snacks and

exotic cakes have been prepared. Special meals were available for African students. New hi-

tech speakers have been installed as well as a brand new television for entertaining our

students. Back to the studio. We now join our reporter Brad Norman to interview an

international student.”

Interview (5 sec)

Script for Abolade

By Prad Diesel

Good Morning Abolade.

How does it feel to be part of the history of this campus?

Can you elaborate on your role as a member of the student council committee?


As a foreign student, what are your views regarding the Mauritius Branch Campus?

Thank you Abolade. It was Brad Norman for MUMBC News.

Student Lounge (5 sec)

Peter: “New recreational area has recently been made available. The Student Lounge comprises

of pool tables, table football, cable TV and resting area.

Closure (5 sec)

Thank you for watching MUMBC news. This was Peter Smith from Channel 5.

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