The Old Times

TV News Broadcast Project: How We Made a TV News Show

25th April 2026

When ‘Canvas’ told us we had to make a video news project, I’ll be honest: I panicked. I don’t feel entirely comfortable with video production and my experience of team exercises in the first semester did not fill me with confidence. With some ups and downs and several changes along the way, we have managed to meet the deadline with a video which is broadly in line with my original vision. Ironically, this post is intended to persuade those making that a student production of ARU Tonight, that this small, class room production is worthy of the the Cannes Film Festival.

The Idea

The brief gave us two options: make a news show, or make a documentary. We chose the news show route (Option 1), but we wanted to do something a bit different. After a few days of kicking ideas around, we landed on a format which broadly created a news programme and a documentary (or mockumentary) with a fictional news programme sending a reporter to cover an end-of-term student film screening where students were taking their production very seriously. Time constraints meant that we did not manage to make all of the originally intended scenes but the final version of the video **more or less** achieves the planned story. It could have been funnier, the script could have been stronger and we could have worked smarter but, in most respects we have delivered on the brief.

The principal way in which we did NOT meet the brief related to this section of the project deliverables brief: “Please provide your final video as a ProRes HQ. Also export your premiere pro project as a package.” This was because Quinn did not have enough memory space on his lap top after editing to achieve this objective. However, it was uploaded to YouTube and can be found here:

Image: YouTube video featring Tutor Liam as ‘Himself’

The working title was ARU Tonight: Film Festival Special. Four student filmmakers (played by us – though Quinn did not appear on camera) receive an email about a standard end-of-module screening and interpret it as a major international festival. They prepare acceptance speeches. They discuss their “careers.” The news show covers it all with complete, deadpan seriousness. I had hoped for a more realistic look and feel to the film but, ultimately, had to accept the editorial decisions made by the team.

Though it is not demonstrated in this module, I feel that I have learned a lot about video production between this and the Digital Content Creation module with the support of the tutors in each discipline. I was particularly appreciative that my feedback about video production and editing from Semester 1 had been reflected in the teaching of video production in this semester – in particular via the ‘Garden Shed video editing session’.

The inspiration came from real films and television shows, for example, the film For Your Consideration (a Christopher Guest mockumentary about actors convinced they are Oscar contenders), The Day Today showed us how to parody media pomposity, while The Office (UK) and Curb Your Enthusiasm gave me the feel of awkward, improvised comedy. The ‘missing scenes would I think have delivered this more effectively than demonstrated by the final edit.

The Team

We had four people and divided things up as follows:

Quinn was our Creative Director and, critically, our editor. He handled all the camera work, managed the 4K footage in Premiere Pro, built the timeline, and turned around an edit under real time pressure. The video simply would not exist without Quinn’s technical skill and patience. He also navigated the genuinely complex world of proxy workflows (more on that below) so that the editing software did not crash.

Iva played Paige Turner, Senior Anchor of ARU Tonight, and took on the role of First Assistant Director. She also designed the show’s logo (see above), though neither this nor the designs I created (with Google Gemini) appear in the final cut:

Ben was our Sound Director and played Jim Boom, co-anchor. He managed all the audio recording on set and handled the technical process of synchronising the sound to the picture in the edit.

My role was as Line Producer, came up with the original “film festival delusion” concept, mapped out the storyboards, wrote the scripts, and played Mike Holder, International Celebrity Correspondent. I also played the veteran, self-important talent in the talking-head sections. I am aware of the irony! I tried gently to encourage the team but as I am a good deal older than others in the team I am reluctant to exert too much control as I don’t want to appear as a boss – or worse, a parent – and it is perhaps a lack of a clear leader in the project which has led to my sense that we did not achieve all that could have been delivered at the outset.

What We Actually Filmed

The brief required us to include at least three different types of media in the news show. We ended up with four:

1. The news desk – Paige and Jim presenting in front of a branded studio backdrop, with scrolling tickers and lower-third name graphics.
2. Field reporting – Mike Holder live on campus, outside the venue, reporting as though covering a major cultural event.
3. Talking-head interviews – Cinematic, serious, close-up interviews with each of the three “filmmakers,” all of whom speak about their work with completely unjustified gravity.
4. The award ceremony itself – The moment of anticlimactic reality, filmed in a fluorescent-lit lecture theatre where a small certificate is handed over and a Q&A session descends into silence.

We also filmed a weather segment, presented by the fictional Raynor Schein (played brilliantly by Kennedy) in front of a weather map. I’d have preferred scenery something like the idea below as I think this would have reinforced the student ‘joke’. (I realise I am at risk of repeating the old ‘Bullseye’ catchphrase – ‘let’s have a look at what you could have won’).

The Look of the Show

The branding for ARU Tonight was designed to look like a real regional ITV news programme crossed with the Oscars. I chose navy and gold tones, clean broadcast-style typography, and graphics that referenced the ARU campus and the Cambridge skyline. Iva designed the main logo. I put together additional branding assets using Google Gemini, including the studio backdrop, the lower-third name straps, and the weather map as seen above.

On camera, Quinn shot everything on his Sony A7S II full-frame mirrorless camera in manual mode, which was a requirement of the brief. The 4K resolution meant the footage looked cinematic, which was appropriate to the ‘joke’ making fun of people who thought they were making cinema.

Lighting

We used two different lighting setups, deliberately chosen to serve the tone of each scene.

For the news desk and weather presenter scenes, we used a classic three-point lighting setup: a key light (the main source of light on the subject), a bounce light (to soften shadows), and a rim light (to separate the presenter from the background and give that polished broadcast look).

For the post-award interview section, where the characters are deflated and the mood is more real, we used just a single key light with natural window light filling in the rest. This was a deliberate choice to make those scenes feel less produced and more honest.

Sound

This was Ben’s department and he ran it well. The brief was clear that camera microphones and phone audio were not acceptable. We used a Tascam DR-70D audio recorder paired with a Rodelink radio microphone kit and a boom pole with a rifle mic. Every time we started a new take, we used a clapperboard so that Ben could match the sound file to the picture precisely in the edit, using the sharp spike of the clap on the soundwave as a sync point.

The brief also required us to write up our understanding of different audio formats:

• 5.1 surround sound uses six channels: left, right, centre, a low-frequency bass channel, and two surround channels at the sides/back. This is what you hear in a cinema.
• 7.1 surround sound adds two more channels (a total of eight), with additional speakers behind the audience for more detailed spatial sound.
• IAB (Immersive Audio Bitstream) is the next step beyond that: a fully flexible, object-based audio system where sounds can be placed precisely in three-dimensional space around the listener, and the mix adapts to whatever speaker setup is playing it back.

The Technical Side

As I understand it, Quinn filmed everything in 4K (3840 x 2160 pixels), which is a huge amount of data and contributed to the memory issues we experienced at the end of the project. To be able to edit without the computer grinding to a halt, he used a proxy workflow: low-resolution copies of each clip were created and used during the edit, and in the final video, the software switches back to the full-quality originals which was an effective solution to a very real problem.

As already stated, the final file was not exported as a ProRes HQ file – my knowledge of this process is limited but my understanding is that ProRes compresses far less aggressively, preserving much more of the original image quality but produces a much larger file.

Quinn named the file using the ISDCF convention (the naming system used by the professional film industry): ARUTONIGHT_SHR_25_EN-XX_200_2160p_ProRes422HQ_ARU_20260424. Each part of that name tells you something about the file: short content, 25 frames per second, English language, no subtitles, stereo audio, 4K resolution, ProRes codec, made at ARU, dated 24 April 2026. Perhaps there is added comedy about applying Hollywood-level technical standards to a video in which a certificate is given amid bored students in a class room.

The Paperwork

The brief required a full set of production documents, and these have been included in a previous post:

• Equipment lists (for both of our shoot ‘days’)
• Shooting schedules (23 March and 13 April 2026)
• A lighting diagram covering both setups
• Storyboards (which went through several versions as the script evolved)

Another honest admission: we did not use call sheets on the day. Call sheets are the documents sent to cast and crew before each shoot, listing exactly who needs to be where and when. With only four of us and all of us already on campus, verbal coordination was enough. But we do understand what they are for, and they are documented in the project files.

An Honest Reflection

The brief asked for honesty, so here it is.

I am proud of what we made given the resources, time and shared knowledge. Above all I am glad that it has been delivered within the submission window. The concept worked, the branding looked real, the performances were committed, and the edit gave the whole thing a shape and rhythm.

But I am not entirely satisfied with the final pacing. The comedy I had in my head relied on those long, lingering, uncomfortable silences that make The Office so painful to watch. In the the filming and the edit, some of that was lost. This is not a criticism, more a reflection on my own inability to communicate precisely what I wanted on the Premiere Pro timeline.

What we would do differently: more rehearsal time, more flexibility in the schedule to film the scenes we had to cut for time, and perhaps a teleprompter or better script positioning so the on-camera reads are cleaner.

Does It Meet the Brief?

Yes! The brief required a fictional branded news programme: we built ARU Tonight from scratch, with a visual identity. It required at least three types of media: we used four. It required manual camera operation, dedicated audio equipment, a proper lighting setup, production paperwork, and an honest reflection. All of that is done.

The areas where we came closest to the edge: call sheets (documented but not used in practice). The irony of the whole project is that ARU Tonight is a satire about students who treat a small campus screening like a major film festival, while the brief simultaneously requires us to meet film industry technical standards (naming conventions, codec specifications, audio sync protocols) for a student video. Art imitating life, or life imitating art. Either way, we made something we are genuinely glad exists.

Team: Quinn (Creative Director, Editor, Camera), Iva/Paige Turner (1st AD, Logo Design), Ben/Jim Boom (Sound Director), Nick/Mike Holder (Line Producer, Creative Lead)

References: For Your Consideration (dir. Christopher Guest, 2006); The Day Today (BBC, 1994); The Office (BBC, 2001); Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO, 2000)