Liberal Democrat Party

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome, and thank you for coming. I am <insert name here>, producer of the Liberal Democrat Party’s election broadcast. I am here tonight to present to you the video, and describe the different techniques used within the broadcast. I will also explain why I used them, and why I think it makes the broadcast more appealing to the viewers, and ultimately encourage them to vote for the Liberal Democrats. I am; after all, here to answer your questions, so please, do feel free to ask me anything you like at any point during my presentation. (Plays tape to audience)

Okay! Firstly, I would like to start by talking about the different types of lighting used. We used a range of different techniques in order to give the viewer different impressions on certain things. For instance, top lighting was used in many scenes. We felt this necessary in order to give a realistic effect. Even at the very beginning, with Charles Kennedy introducing himself, you may have noticed we used extra top lighting and a few filler lights to give the impression of a bright pleasant day- something which may lead the viewer to associate a bright and positive future with the Liberal Democrats. Also, in the classroom, we have used strong top lights, which draw attention to the considerable amount of children in the room. The lighting in the room creates harsh and sharp shapes. This helps emphasise the fact that Labour have caused classrooms to be so crowded. But then, when 10 pupils have been cut out from the front desks, you may notice the subtle change in the lighting. We used a couple of filler lights here, and the room becomes softer and lighter to give the room a happier and brighter look. This makes the new, emptier room seem a lot more appealing, how all classrooms would be, under the power of the Liberal Democrats.

We also used the advantage of harsh lighting at points in which the problems of the Labour Party were being outlined. For example, in the scene with the commuter Jill Whitehead, harsh spotlights are used inside the train. It’s extremely dull – but bright enough to see, and the spotlights highlight the fed up looks on everyone’s faces. Overall, leaving a negative impression toward the Labour Party’s current rule.

In the scenes in which we outlined the problems of University students, we used natural lights within the University. Although, when we compared the Scottish Student against the English student, we used lights a little less bright. Also using a little backlighting, as we explain how Scottish Student’s needn’t pay tuition fees. The lighting given to the English student is dimmer, as we show something unfair, leaving a negative impression upon the Labour Party.

Then, at the end, with the celebration, we use exaggerated top lighting and filler lights, to give the all-round effect of a brighter future with the Liberal Democrats.

That just about covers lighting, are there any questions before I go any further? (Waits) Ok then.

Secondly, I would like to explain to you the use of colour given in the broadcast. We take advantage of playing on the subconscious of the viewers, subliminally using colours of the various parties. For instance, as Charles Kennedy introduces himself, only your mind’s eye may have noticed the large yellow wall in the background. This technique causes your mind to acknowledge the fact that he is talking about the Liberal Democrats, while the party colour painted on the wall helps associate the two.

He speaks of how things would be better with the Liberal Democrats. This technique is used again in the classroom scene, when Frankie Fawcett’s father is speaking, with a yellow wall in the background. In contrast, the use of party colours can be used to create a negative impression. When you see Charles Kennedy talking about how bad the train service is, you will see him wearing a blue tie. Blue being the colour of the Conservative party, suggesting that things haven’t changed even since the Conservatives were replaced. But then he speaks of how the Lib Dems can improve the situation, just as a yellow train goes by. Their super-imposed graphics used throughout the broadcast are also yellow.

Some colours used in the broadcast help portray the mood of the situation. For example, near the beginning of the broadcast, in the classroom, the white painted walls maybe reflect the innocence of the children, however this may also symbolise hope – hope that if the Liberal Democrats win the election, the class sizes will ultimately reduce. Furthermore, the red colour of the chairs and books inside the classroom may signify the cause of the large class sizes to be Labour’s fault, although it may stand for the anger towards the situation – emphasising negativity towards the current ruling of Labour.

We use drab colours in the station scene that involves the commuter, to show how dull and depressing the process of commuting is. If you look carefully at the shots inside the train, you may notice a blue train rushing past. Even the colour of the clothes worn by commuters may suggest their emotion – red, their anger toward the problem of the rail service.

During the scenes involving the University Students, the Student Union Cards are red, emphasising the negativity towards the fact that English students must pay tuition fees. And then, finishing off with lots of yellow- using the party colour to reflect the bright future and celebration.

Moving on from colour, I will now explain the different uses of sound. Firstly, I thought it was interesting to find, that research shows that most people find the Scottish accent to be trust worthier, compared to harsher accents such as Liverpudlian. So it was convenient to have Charles Kennedy speaking at regular intervals in the broadcast. We also managed, when it came to non-diegetic speakers, to balance the ratio of male and female speakers. This was used to avoid sexist impressions and also suggesting both genders show concern towards politics.

Concerning the music used, we felt that we had to make a careful choice as to which music to use. With the music at the opening, we tried to make it sound universal- we want this broadcast to appeal to everyone, so we avoided using over-trendy typed music, nor did we opt for using old fashioned music that would deter the younger generation from watching. We used bright and cheery music for the opening, as the music sets the mood. The music at the end shared a similar style, although we included relevant lyrics ‘I’ve made up my mind’.

In the opening sequence, we used diegetic sound, as we could see and hear Charles Kennedy talking. He uses a clear, bold assertive tone of voice, thus attracting the full attention of the viewer. We could also hear everyday sounds in the background- the children laughing and playing – using parallel sound as Kennedy describes how schools can be better with the Liberal Democrats. Within the classroom, everyday sound is included again, with the scraping of chairs and other typical classroom sounds. When Frankie Fawcett’s Father begins to speak, we use diegetic sound once again. Seeing the face of the speaker makes it more personal, and easier for the viewer to empathise, after seeing how ordinary people can be affected.

In the sequence concerning the commuter, we emphasised the awful ordeal of using the rail service by using exaggerated parallel sound. This sound device helps show the viewers how the Labour Party is affecting ordinary, everyday people. The everyday sounds inside the train appeared louder, and there was loud prominent coughing that further outlines the terrible, cramped conditions.

We used a few sound bridges, which helped smoothen the link between two scenes. We felt it unnecessary to use techniques such as contrapuntal sound, as it might have confused the viewers in such a straightforward broadcast.

Before I move onto the next section, are there any questions?

Okay. Now onto camera shots. A number of different techniques were used during the broadcast to outline certain aspects and messages put out to the viewers.

When there was a speaker on screen, we tended to use more mid shots, which feel friendlier, as we thought that maybe close up shots might have given the impression that you’ve no option but to listen to this person. But by using mid-shots, you can see the speaker as well as seeing what is going on in the background. Charles Kennedy introduces himself whilst in mid shot, and we can relate to what he’s saying by seeing the school children in long shot.

In the classroom scene, we use a crane shot, and angle it to further aid the viewers to understand just how crowded the classrooms are.

When Kennedy outlines the problem with the rail service, we included a long shot of the train, and also included Kennedy himself, in a mid shot. In the commuter’s sequence, doing an extreme close up on the watch creates an emphasis on the late time keeping of the trains. Whilst the commuters are inside the train, we used close-ups, to create the feeling of extreme cramped conditions. You will have noticed the shaking of the camera, suggesting the train journey to be bumpy and uncomfortable. You may have noticed that we didn’t use tracking shots, as we wanted to concentrate on the inside of the train.

During the University Student sequence, we did a long shot of the two students, and then zoomed in on each one. On the red student union card, you can see a close up of each of the students’ faces. This makes it easier to see their expressions and feelings towards the situation of whether or not they have to pay tuition fees.

At the end, we used a range of different shots to show the celebrations. We used panning shots to show just how many people were joining in on the celebration. Also, using tilt shots to follow the movement of the balloons and fireworks helps develop the celebratory mood.

I would now like to move on to which editing techniques we used and why. Firstly, editing is the way in which shots are joined together, and you may have noticed that the majority of our editing techniques involved straight cuts. This was to keep areas of the broadcast clean and simple, and to minimise confusion. For example, we used a straight cut from the point in which Charles Kennedy introduced himself, to the point that showed the school children sat in the classroom. We thought this was a good choice of editing as the two scenes were related and the straight cut keeps things simple. A dissolve shot may not have been appropriate here, as the viewers may view the next scene as one of a different subject.

We took full advantage of jump cuts within the train. This gives the viewer a clear idea of the discomfort of the journey and the fact that commuting with trains under the Labour government is quite bad. We tended to use jump cuts in areas that portrayed the bad aspects of the Labour rule.

We avoided using editing techniques such as dissolve as it was only a 5 minute broadcast and we thought that using this technique would consume too much time, and also be quite confusing as there wasn’t really a relevant place for one anyway. Other techniques such as wipe cut we found inappropriate for the broadcast, although there was a point in which we used a fade out to black, which signalled a change in subject.

If there are no questions, (pause) I should now like to move onto the special effects we used within the broadcast.

We used a range of different techniques. Even at the beginning, we did a triple shot that included three different mini screens showing all the different people being affected by the government. This gives the viewers the idea that everyone is affected by the ruling of the government. And then, at the end, three smaller screens are shown to give the viewer a clear idea of how big the celebration is.

We also used the technique of superimposition. For example, within the classroom we superimposed Frankie Fawcett’s Father’s face onto the scene of the classroom. We thought this to be a good use of special effects as it gave a more personal effect, seeing the concerned Father speaking, as well as seeing his daughter in the cramped classroom. It may also give the effect to the viewers that this is affecting everyone, everyday people. We again used superimposition in the scene that superimposed the university students’ faces onto the student union cards.

Also we used special effects to illustrate statistics; numbers and figures associated with, for example, the number of children Labour has in each classroom, compared with the number the Lib Dems will cut class sizes to. You may have noticed that this sort of special effect using graphics was used quite frequently when it came to comparing Labours rule with the possible Lib Dem rule. One example was when we were illustrating the problem with tuition fees. The statistics were displayed on the screen as bright yellow computerised graphics, whilst the image of the page of a book was shown in the background, which gave relevance to the fact that it relates to education.

Moving on from graphics, we used certain effects to give an emphasised impression. For example, in the scene with the school pupils, we cut out about 10 of the pupils to show how the Lib Dems will reduce the class sizes. But to emphasise the feeling of space, you may have noticed that the effect is greater when we take the pupils out from the front of the classroom.

Finally, I would like to talk about the mise en scene, that is, basically, the things such as setting, props, costume and makeup and facial expressions.

Inside the classroom full of school pupils, we made sure that they looked hard at work, you may have noticed them talking quietly, sitting with their backs straight. We also made sure that the desks were full of school equipment, to give the room a further emphasised effect of busy-ness. Also the viewers will sympathise for the pupils as they look like they are really trying to cope with the cramped conditions, and still trying to work as hard as they can. The fact that Charles Kennedy and Mr.Fawcett are seen wearing suits makes clear that this is a serious matter.

In the sequence involving the commuter, we told Jill not to wear smart clothes, and you may have noticed her hair flying all over the place and her make up after the journey was pale and bare, giving her a look of ill health. She never smiled during her commute, and she curled her lip whilst getting off the train. We made sure that it was a dull day in order to parallel the somewhat dull commute.

In the scene involving the university students, you may have noticed that the students were sat there, talking quietly, drinking water. This would give the idea that the students are sensible (not drinking beer and bouncing off the walls!) and consequently deserve the right not to pay tuition fees.

And then finally, we see lots of happy body language during the celebrations, clapping and waving.

Now, that just about concludes my explanation about the broadcast. Are there any questions before I bid you all farewell? (Answers questions)

Okay then! Thank you very much for coming ladies and gentlemen, it has been my pleasure to be able to work with such a broadcast, and I wish you all the best for the upcoming election.