Unit 37: Task 1 - Presenting

Presenting can be found in a range of styles and genres but the main common or one that come to mind first is news presenters, mainly because they've been around the longest.

Pathé News was the first visual news broadcast, they produced newsreels and documentaries from 1910 until 1970 reporting on everything from current events to conflicts to politics to hobbies and lives of the British people. 

The newsreels originally were shown in cinemas, adults paying to go watch the news, and until the 1930s the newsreels were silent with text accompanying the moving images giving context and location. Despite the limited capability the cameras still managed to capture significant events in history such as King George V's coronation in 1911:

As well as suffragette Emily Davison's fatal injury by racehorse in 1913, this paved the way for how news would be presented for the future, instead of hearing about events on the radio with someone detailing as much as possible the public could see the events shortly after them happening, making everything much more real. 

The newsreels, called Pathé's Animated Gazette created competition with the newspapers because as time passed the videos became longer including more footage and news; however the majority of the population continued to buy and read newspapers as they were cheaper and more frequent. The newsreels didn't just include happenings in the Britain they gave a look into current events around the world as well as showing different topics that we see on morning news magazine shows today such as fashion: 

Until the 1930s the videos had been silent with no sound or voice over with the introduction of sound came the ability to include interviews, something that could not have been done before in moving picture only newspapers, one of the first interviews was with Thomas Edison on his 84th birthday. 

Now that sound was being used the titles/text slides could be replaced by a voiceover which was the first introduction of a presenter to moving pictures. The presenter was a middle aged man with received pronunciation which is the old form of standard British English where there is no identifiable accent and has a very neutral tone with little inflection. The voice, choice of language and phrasing is very formal offering no opinion just stating the facts and telling the audience the news. They audience received it with a level of respect and trust listening to and believing what the presenter was saying, it was targeted towards adults with the content and language choice being age appropriate for them and not children as adults would not pay for a child to go watch something that would not interest them.

Pathé shows that it paved the way for what is today in terms of presenting and that a voice over 

BBC News was first broadcast on the radio in 1922, offering a different way of receiving the news other than newspapers and Pathé News, for a time the broadcasts could only be at night after the newspapers had been distributed in the day to reduce the competition. In 1954 the first live news bulletin aired on TV, there are few surviving clips from this 20 minute broadcast read by Richard Baker while a series of stills photographs and maps were shown on screen. This was an advancement from the radio news bulletins but was very similar to Pathé News only being shown on televisions rather than at cinemas. 

The presenter, Richard Baker, used received pronunciation with no accent, similar to that of Pathé News, but was more engaging with the audience. at this point in history, televisions were not common, with upper and middle class households having them therefore by using a presenter who sounds educated, posh and similar to them would appeal to them and help gain interest to the new concept. Between 1954 and 1955 the amount of time devoted to the news doubled with Independent Television News launching its services in September 1955. 

BBC News evolved to including studio interviews and showing the presenter on screen; the presenter would sit at a desk with a plain background behind wearing a suit. The audience would see this man as an educated, well informed trust worthy person, believing the information he was delivering. 

News presenting changed slightly with the introduction of BBC Breakfast which was the first morning magazine news show in Britain and is still on air now. The more formal traditional way of presenting the news continued in the other news bulletins whereas they took a less formal approach to the morning news with the set created to look like to a living room with a sofa being the main focus. The show gives the viewers not only the news and weather but traffic reports, regional news, sports, live reports on location from around the world, interviews with experts and information about entertainment. They wanted the viewers to feel like they were sharing their breakfast with the presenters talking about a range of things before the day got started and although not targeted to children the footage, images and topics are mostly child friendly at least compared to what is shown at the news on a night. The presenters try for a mix of friendly and chatty but turning serious when delivering the main headlines as to seem formal and professional. 

Years later, BBC Breakfast is still going but has been through drastic changes. the set looks less relaxed and more polished and modern looking less like a living room and more like a studio. The presenters are more formal throughout all segments of the show, having few relaxed moments, their tone is quite dry, stating the facts and delivering the news in a straight forward way that does not give the viewer an opportunity to question what they are being told. Overall, it is less engaging and insightful with a colder less friendly feel. 

BBC Breakfast competes against ITV's Good Morning Britain who are a lot more friendly, relaxed and informal, fulfilling the role of magazine show much more than Breakfast. They have more segments of less headline news with a lot more interviews and guests. They dress less formally than BBC but still smart and stylishly, the set is less like a studio with a more friendly, light, relaxed feeling. 

All of these were not targeted towards children and even if they had appropriate images the language and style was not age appropriate or engaging to a young audience.  To overcome this BBC introduced Newsround, originally presented by John Craven from 1972 to 1989, when the programme first started it was similar to the main news with the presenter sat at a desk looking at the camera with a plain background or graphic. The stories reported were main headlines stories which had age appropriate language choice and sentence structure  as well as explaining terminology or situations allowing children to understand the world around them and current events. John Craven spoke in clear, concise and short sentences with little inflection, but it is still very dry and similar to that of the main news. 

By 2005 the format was still quite similar, with the presenter sat with a background or graphic behind however the presenter had more energy trying to engage with the audience, he also had a lot more inflection in his voice and although hard to see in the video talks with his hands showing he is interested in what he's talking about. 

When the studio began broadcasting from MediaCityUK the set and programme took a major changes, the set changed so that you could see a room with a large graphic screen as well as sofa, it looks more modern and stylish appealing to the current generation. It's colour scheme of purple and blue are emphasised making the set colourful and engaging but giving a calm feeling. The presenter is stood near the sofa using an iPad rather than paper notes and her introduction is happy and cheery grabbing the attention of the children from the start of the programme. The music and intro graphics are fast paced and colourful linking the headlines to the main body well and keeping interest. The stories are more focused at children's interest rather than main stories with appropriate language, the presenter has an accent but is easily understood using short sentences and basic language. She is dressed in a stylish and short playsuit that would be aged for late teens and early twenties rather than older presenters, making the viewers see her as someone knowledgable and older but fun and engaging. 

The way the news has been presented has changed over the years, with the advancement of technology and change in lifestyle and views but the format is still very similar, even now videos are still similar to that of Pathé News with a series of images having a voice over only now a presenter is seen. Each presenter has a style significant to the programme and the institution of that programme - the BBC have a more traditional, formal approach as opposed to ITV. Shows have become as much about appeal and engagement as they are about the content as with the development of TV came the increase of channels and opportunities for presenting therefore reaching the target audience is incredibly important and institutions won't stray away from that.

Another type of presenters is a continuity announcer, they tell viewers what is coming up next on the channel, they happen between programmes and it's the announcers job to not only explain the upcoming show but also keep the viewer engaged and stop them changing the channel. They do this by using exciting adjectives and phrases and talking directly to the audience. The voiceover will normally feature over graphics showing what channel the viewer is watching therefore the content in what they are saying is important as there is no visual helping advertise the upcoming programme. The language choice will change depending on the channel they are on - Channel 4 will use less formal language than the BBC, making jokes and comments in order to appeal to the younger audience. It will also depend on what time it is and what the show they are introducing is, they will not joke when introducing an emotional and hard hitting documentary. They have to be clear and talk in whole sentences so that the audience can easily understand what is being said. 

As mentioned earlier, magazine programme presenters are those who present programmes where a range of topics and content is discussed, it will change day-to-day but fit to a standard format. They need to have a vast knowledge about a range of things rather than in-depth knowledge. One of their main skills is to stay in control, being able to link segments together smoothly. They are more laid back and chatty than other presenters, having a relaxed and soft tone, entertaining and engaging guests as well as the audience. The situation or topic will determine the language choice but overall they will talk in whole sentences, using proper English, they will not use slang but will get away with using colloquialisms; this is so that they can appeal to a larger audience, not letting regional or social slang to create misunderstanding. 

In order for me to present efficiently, I need to look at what makes a good presenter and how I can use their skills and techniques to my use and advantage. 

Ant and Dec, quite possibly the most well know, well liked presenting duo in the UK. They have won a total of 16 NTAs and are known for their light, family-friendly comedy. Together the pair work fluently, having witty banter and showing to the audience they are more than partners they are friends which helps establish a friendly environment and feel for the audience. They dress for the show they are presenting - dressing formally in suits for the finals of Britain's Got Talent and Saturday Night Takeaway but dressing down in casual for the early BGT auditions and I'm a Celeb. They are very visual presenters, making full use of their acting ability, by using facial expressions and physical gestures to match the situation and add comedy. They have a noticeable Geordie accent but do not use slang that could not be understood by a large nation-wide audience; they use appropriate language and sentence structure that both children and adults can understand and follow. The biggest appeal to the audience is that it is clear how much fun and enjoyment they have presenting which in turn makes it engaging and fun to the audience. 
Since I am going to be presenting a factual piece by myself, the style in which Ant and Dec present will not be of use to me in this situation but I will keep in mind their style for the future. 

Another presenter is Graham Norton, he hosts the Graham Norton Show, which is a comedy chat show where he interviews celebrities, comedians and musicians. Norton's approach is to encourage the guests to tell funny story about their life, by already knowing the story partly or having a photo. He is a comedian and will add his opinion or joke to the story being told, he dresses smartly in a suit but doesn't create a formal or stiff environment, it is quite the opposite, making the guests and audience feel relaxed and welcomed. Although being from Ireland, his accent poses no problem for the viewer. He keeps control over the situation spending enough time on each guest or story before moving on to avoid the audience from being bored. 
For my video I will not be interviewing anyone nor include much comedy therefore I can not easily copy his style however he does tell information about the guests and their stories which is relevant to my video. 

For my video I will try to present the information in an appealing way, not delivering the information like the news; I will try and create a relaxed situation and engage with the audience by looking at and speaking to the camera.