I have chosen to analyse and compare Have I got news for you and Question time for my analysis I will be looking at types of shots used ,lighting used and VT inserts used etc.
First off, I am going to analyse Have I got news for you ,a comedic quiz show based on world affairs ,with 4 panellists and a guest host Have I got news for you is made in a big TV studio with plenty of space for the audience , the seating is raked and separated into three sections positioned around the set. The set is designed to look edgy and different with “cartoon like” writing and newspaper collages this goes along with the laid back feel of the quiz. The set does allow flexible camera angles to a certain extent but only about 3 to 5 different types of shots are used throughout the whole show. I would say 3 cameras were used ,two of them moving pole cameras with pedestals and another fixed camera used for capturing the host. Sound wise each contestant and the host had a small barely visible clip mic,with the sound levels of these mics controlled by the sound operator by fading each mic up and down with individual faders making sure none of the talent become too loud or making sure there is no interference from other mics.The mise-en-scene is simple but striking with a vibrant red used for the panel desk and a collage of newspaper headlines used for the background of the set. Have I got news for you relies heavily on graphics because of the amount of Inserts and VTs they use, around about 50 to be exact. So the art director has to make them look good and most of the graphics stick with the newspaper theme of the show with quotes and headlines delivered as newspaper headlines upon a powerful red background with miniature black newspaper headlines again. The art director has a big job as the show is trying to make news ,a generally boring topic for most people ,look fun and creative without going over the top and making the graphics look unprofessional .The Lighting rig is fairly simple with soft lights and flood lights providing light to the set and spot lights used to focus on each of the talent .The lighting levels are fixed throughout the show although when the show starts and finishes the lights fade up and fade down. The crew was around about the standard size with about 4 camera ops and assistants ,about 2 vision mixers and sound ops ,a floor manager and a lighting op with the director sitting in with the vision mixers. The shot types were extremely simple with long shots at the opening titles and the closing credits .MCU shots of the Host and other contestants were used ,and 2 shots of Team A and Team B were used .These shots were repeated throughout the show with the rare appearance of a over shoulder shot once or twice. As you can tell by the lack of variation in the shot types, the show sticks to a very rigid format with almost none of the action ad lib .The show itself is not heavily scripted as questions are asked and answered in a flexible manner although there is only some ad lib as directed action. The role and tone of the host on have I got news for you is extremely sarcastic and not at all serious and this fits in well with the laid back style of the show. The introduction sequence of the show is extremely up beat and the funny cartoon graphics and the catchy fast paced theme tune fit in well with shows fast pacing. For the theme tune and sound effects ,the theme tune is played in the opening sequence and the closing sequence and the sound effect of people clapping is also used to open and close the show. As I have already mentioned before the noticeable narrative for the show is most definitely sarcasm as this is used throughout show for example one punch line went after a VT of David Milliband:Is that the work experience foreign secretary? The shows format is not original as it has a strange muddled up scoring system with contestants joking and laughing about world affairs so Have I got news for you is variation on a well used theme. Finally the health and safety issues of making this show are fairly minimal but when the set is being put up you must be careful and the same if you were fixing on lights. I feel the audience for Have got news for you is for everyone with a sense of humour from age 12 onwards as world affairs is something everyone knows about and the younger audience would be interested because of the funny side of the show although only to a certain extent as if you are aged 10 downwards you might not understand what they are talking about so won’t get any of the jokes.
I am now going to compare Have I got news for you with Question time , a questions and answers show with 4 panellists and a regular host discussing world affairs questions asked by the audience. The location used for the particular Question time I analysed was a large hall with plenty of seating ,the seating itself was raked and the hall already had several chandeliers that were used to help light the location. The set of Question time is made to look simple and professional and it would not take a lot of setting and striking time as it is a simple set designed so that it can be easily moved from one location to the next and the set isn’t permanent the set is does allow for flexible camera angles though and several different shots are used ,there are even small pockets of around 4 people separated from the main audience so that the pole cameras can get good quality over shoulder shots. I would say about 6 cameras were used in question time with 3 to 4 moving pole cameras on pedestals and 2 to 3 fixed cameras amongst the audience. For the types of mics used the talent had clip mics and there were around 2 booms in the audience ready to lean over there mic when a member of the audience had a question. The mise-en-scene the set and the graphics were blue ,the art director used this colour as it sets a calm and relaxing theme .Apart from the opening and closing title sequences the show had no VT inserts and only displayed graphics to show the name and occupation of the talent when they first make a contribution to the discussion and occasionally graphics are displayed to show the dates ,times and locations for future shows and also various telephone numbers to contact them on. The flats that make up the background of the set are again extremely simple with a mainly blue background with a small taint of red to it .The lighting rig is fairly big although not extremely complex as spot lights were mainly used to light up the audience and the talent and soft lights were used to add fill light to the set .Small tiny lights beneath each of the talent also helped with the lighting. Lighting is mainly fixed throughout although when a member of the audience is speaking spot lights are focused upon them. The crew is fairly large with around 5 to 6 camera ops and assistants ,2 vision mixers and sound ops ,a lighting op,2 booms ,assistant floor manager and floor manager and the director sitting in with the vision mixers. The production is not made in a TV studio so it does command the use of an OB truck to transport the set and equipment. There were lots of different shots used in Question time there were wide shots of the panel provided by one of the fixed cameras amongst the audience there was also an MCU of the host from the host camera. The cameras that provided the variety of shots were the pole cameras, these cameras were used extremely effectively by the director, the types of shots included over shoulder shots from the separated piece of audience, over shoulder shots from a member of the talent looking towards the other panellists ,two shots of panellists in discussion MCUs, of the panellists and angled shots that showed the whole panel looking past the shoulder of another panellist is shows the skill of the director as most of the action in Question time is ad lib, and the show is not heavily scripted as it is a discussion show on questions not known beforehand by the panellists(as mentioned by the host before the start of the show)so the action is very much ad lib as directed. The role and tone of the host is serious and very professional the hosts main job is to pick when new questions come in and to keep order among the panellists and also to decide when to cut a discussion short to keep within the time schedule .The title and induction sequence is simple with a big Q spinning around changing colour before stopping to read out Question time. The music used in the title sequence and closing sequence is a slow paced rhythm that sets the scene for the rather calm ,serious and slow paced show. Audience clapping is the only noticeable sound effect is the audience clapping in the opening and closing title sequences. The show doesn’t particularly have any noticeable narrative but the panellists are always serious and there is no joking about as they discuss pressing issues. Question time is very much a original format of question and answers with a discussion about them. Apart from setting and striking the set there are no real health and safety issues involved in Question time setting and striking the set is a health and safety issue as flats and other properties of the set are heavy and could cause damage if they land on someone and also when putting up lighting grids you have to be careful because if you fall you could break something or even worse than that.
The audience for Question time is a middle aged and upwards audience or anyone seriously interested in the news. As the show is not funny or exiting for the younger audience but more interesting and serious.
Overall all I think although question time and Have I got news for you are based on the same topic, world affairs ,they are totally different shows with different formats. Have I got news for you is a fun ,sarcastic ,fast paced quiz show on the news with a vibrant set design and lots of graphics but does not offer up a variety of shot types . However Question time has a simple set design with calm blue colours used and only has a few simple graphics when needed, it is a very slow paced ,serious show on the news and mainly focuses on shot types, with a big variety of shots including a pan of the audience and set ,and several different over the shoulder shots of audience and panel members this is because most of the action in Question Time is “ad lib”, unlike Have I Got News For You. Have I got news for you is also different as it uses a TV studio were as Question time demands the use of an OB truck as it travels to different locations. The music and whole feel of Have I Got News For You is much more upbeat than the seriousness of Question Time. The lighting for each show is similar with Question time having a slightly bigger variety of lights, including “Cat eye” like lights underneath each panellists. The audience for Question time is a middle aged upwards audience who are interested in the news, where as Have I got news for you has a much larger audience as it mixes news ,and comedy together capturing the younger audience(13 to 30) and the older audience as long as they aren’t to ignorant to the current news.
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