Going Live! Part 1

Chat Show - The Graham Norton Show

Programme Outline & Target Audience:

The Graham Norton Show is a British chat show which infuses laughter to be classes as a duel
genre using comedy to the allurement of the viewer/audience. The chat show was originally broadcasted on BBC Two from February 2007 - May 2009, although it was then shifted to BBC One from October 2009-present due to it's growing popularity towards the end of the decade. The show is presented by Irish comedian: Graham Norton. Personally, I would consider The Graham Norton show as the type of chat show which would be targeted to an audience above 16+ seeing as though it's usually aired at 22:35, just passed the watershed. Primarily, it would be directed towards the ages of 23-50, which would accentuate it's escalating success through the sheer number of viewers the show has amassed from the last 4 years - This would also illustrate the reason it had converted from BBC Two to BBC One seeing as the latter is generally focused across entertainment and bigger audiences.

Descriptive Variations of Shots:

The Graham Norton Show offers a array of different variation of shot sizes, angles and different types of camera movement. In this wide shot, the audience, the cameras and the audience focus on Graham Norton (far left), Will Smith (middle left), Gary Barlow (middle right), and Sir Tom Jones (far right). It's the standard wide show associated with modern-day chat shows.

In this shot, the cameras depict a rather unique wide shot. As I had eluded to previously, the show offers different shot sizes, angles and camera movement. The cameras in this shot seem to be using two shots at once, using a wide shot and a POV shot, because the camera is accurately positioned so that it's as if the audience at home is in the studio during the live recording.

Here we have a medium close-up viewing Graham Norton (left), Will Smith (Middle), and his son Jaden Smith (Right). I particularly favour this type of medium close-up due the camera using it's focus on Will and Jaden listen whilst Graham Norton is out of focus whilst hosting the show, although there were 2 other guests, the camera focuses on Will and Jaden to show that Norton was talking to them at that point in time in the sequence. I personally think that it's a very clean, stylish and extremely professional shot which would be expected considering the calibre of the show.

Here we have an extreme wide shot, positioned stationary beside DJ Jazzy Jeff's (Far Right) mixing table. The extreme wide shot is angled so that it depicts the entire studio floor as well as the front row of the audience which would suggest to the viewer at watching on TV that the studio is smaller than at first anticipated. The 2nd shot (Above) would make the studio seem considerably larger due to the POV aspect of the shot in comparison to the last image of the extreme wide shot.

General Analysis:

Whilst reviewing several sequences of the Graham Norton show, I had realised that the overall shooting style is similar to other chat shows such as The Jonathan Ross Show because I had noticed that the Cameras had to deal with the challenge of adapting to different sequences such as when the guests perform on the main stage rather than the area where it's  privatised for singers and musicians. The 2nd shot (Above) justifies this because the cameras were positioned stationary whilst simultaneously using a wide shot and a POV to replicate what the audience in the studio is watching so that the audience at home watching on the TV could have a similar experience without the party-life atmosphere surrounding them. The 3rd shot (Above) of Will and Jaden Smith focused and Graham Norton unfocused epitomises the skill of the camera men on a show with the calibre of being recognised worldwide. As I had previously eluded to, I consider the shot to be very clean, stylish and extreme professional. The impressive factor of the shooting style was that the 4th shot which was a extreme wide shot made the studio appear considerably smaller in comparison to the 2nd shot which was the POV of the guest's entertainment which made the stage and the studio dramatically larger. It has an effect on the audiences expectations on the size of the stage and studio comparison to watching on TV. It could almost be expected that a show of this nature wouldn't be light-hearted, and family-friendly due to the occasional swearing and sexual remarks which would establish it's TV scheduling as a 'watershed' chat show usually airing on BBC One at 22:00 - 22:35 on Saturdays.

Debate Show - Match of the Day

Programme Outline & Target Audience:

Match of the Day (Abbreviated as 'MOTD') is a football television programme typically aired on BBC One and covers events throughout the English football season every weekend with Match of the Day on Saturday and Match of the Day 2 on Sunday. Due to the show’s success throughout the last 7 years, BBC One had decided to expand it so that it could be viewed through the BBC iPlayer as well as Match of the Day 3 being available on Monday’s on the official BBC website. The show is presented by former England captain Gary Lineker, who is usually, joined alongside former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer and former Liverpool and Scotland defender Alan Hansen and occasionally Mark Lawrenson, with Match of the Day 2 being hosted by Colin Murray and Mark Chapman. Match of the Day was originally broadcasted on BBC Two from 1964-1965 but was then shifted to BBC One in 1966, and from then on the programme has showing highlights of English football’s top division, the Premier League.

Descriptive Variations of Shots:

In this shot we see host, Gary Lineker introducing the audience at home to the show just after the title sequence has passed. There is no audience in the studio and the show is recorded entirely live. The image is a extreme wide-shot of the studio floor. After the introduction seen above, brief highlights are shown to give the audience a flavour of what’s coming up on the show.

Once the brief highlights are over, the cameras in the Match of the Day studio focus on the guest speakers, in this instance Alan Hansern (Left) and Alan Shearer (Right) as Gary Lineker is introducing the guests to the show. The image above presents a medium-shot from the waist up to focus on the speakers.

For the majority of the show when debating
occurs, the cameras remain stationary and usually quickly switch to whichever speaker, although in this instance the camera swings from left to right as the debating recommences. This is exhibited as a wide shot displaying the majority of the studio floor and is seen as the main shot throughout the programme once the swinging has come to a halt. 

When a something controversial occurs in the highlights, the camera remains stationary in this position seen above and reveals the speakers head-on from a front view, as if you were sitting in the studio audience of which MOTD doesn’t have. This shot could be described as a medium-wide shot which makes the viewer’s /audience’s attention drawn as the incident is shown in the background and the incident can ONLY be seen from this camera position.

General Analysis:

In regards to Match of the Day’s competitors Game of the Day/Football First on Sky Sports, it relates to the same format in terms of content and is considerably more successful as MOTD is free and Sky Sports is a must-pay option to view Game of the Day/Football First. The shooting styles on Game of the Day/Football First are a little too narrow-minded and one dimensional whereas Match of the Day implicates a variety of different shot to engage with the viewer although they evolve around wide shots for the majority of the time. In regards to its TV scheduling, Match of the Day is aired on 22:25. The reason for this is primarily because if there is a football match on at 20:00, it will finish at 21:30, so the crew and the presenters will have exactly 55 minutes to prepare for being recorded live on air. The audience’s expectations will be kept in high regard seeing as though it’s the most popular football show in the country with over 5 million viewers across the country, although there have been criticisms of being bland and boring, questioning of the quality of the pundits analysis and enthusiasm in comparison to Sky’s coverage. 

(All 3 completed and handed to James)