Damien Mulley

Partridge Kenny gets 90% of €850k a year for this:

Is this racist? I very much doubt it’s hate speech but it is rather dense. Now, if Gerry Ryan said the same thing, would we think it was someone out of touch or more? What if Tommy Tiernan said it?

I got a tour today of the new RTE News Studio. The real one, not the one that doesn’t exist and cost 5 Million euros according the Daily Mail.

With just a few minutes to go before the launch of the studio during the 1pm news, some final tweaks were happening:

It’s really interesting to see how a news show is put together both in terms of the research and the editorial but the technical aspect too. This new studio will be the studio for the RTE 1 and RTE news shows, News2Day (kiddies news), The Week in Politics and more. I hear with this new studio there are talks about doing some new shows too, including perhaps a business show. If that turns out to be true, I’ll certainly tune in. I’d love to see more business coverage.

This new studio is bigger than what was there before and the background in the studio is walled with Barco screens instead of bluescreens. Videos can be placed on all three walls and the newscaster can actually look at the person in the link now instead of a green screen which makes it a little easier to work with. With the Barco screens too it means they can load new templates into the system and change the look entirely. The screens have been in place about a week so it’s early days yet when it comes to the graphics and imagery that RTE will be using. They showed us some mockups of the Leinster House background and a few more too and they look pretty damned smart. Not of this tabloid redtop wooshy crap that you see on Sky News.

It cost around €1.3M which came out of the surplus RTE had last year before the cuts happened. Money is so tight now that even Colm Murray isn’t allowed go to Cheltenham to cover it. Someone sponsor him! The money for this is a capital investment and this studio is going to last a long time. The Barco screens took a big chunk of that. I don’t know what the fuss is from some quarters about their “tax money” being spent. Anyone that’s been to the TV centre in RTE will know it’s falling to bits, probably held up with sellotape. Infrastructure needs to be maintained. At least now the News studio will survive if the rest of the place falls away into dust.

What fascinated me was the studio does not have cameramen or a stage manager. As the photo belows shows, there are three static cameras looking at the presenters. In addition there’s a remote controlled camera that looks a bit like a Dalek. Then you might notice a track up by the lights. There’s a camera on that which is able to swoop in and around the set:

The staff have been planning the new studio for months though they only started the labour on it on Dec 19th. Fast going. A lot of breathing outs and smiles today after the 1pm broadcast went without a hitch.

Here’s a pic of John Finnerty at the desk:

Suzy has the goss on a very poor joke about the skin colour or Obama.

RTÉ is running a competition for a new Web TV series and the public decide who the winner will be. Pilots are sought and then the public votes on the best one and it becomes a web TV series. I like that you send in your pitch after filming it on your phone.

They’re also hosting an information evening about the show on October 22nd.

Blurb:

Aspiring and experienced programme makers are invited to make pitches for a 6-part drama series to be webcast in March 2009. From the pitches received, a panel chaired by Irish scriptwriter and actor Mark O’Halloran (Adam & Paul, Garage, Prosperity) will commission 10 new pilot drama series to be webcast on www.rte.ie/storyland.

StoryLand is a unique project in which the viewer decides which series they would like to see more of. Each pilot first episode will be webcast on www. rte.ie/storyland.

Closing date for submissions is 12 noon 17 November 2008.

Here’s what they need from you, young Tarantino:

* Script of the first episode properly formatted 3 to 10 pages long. (An example of the format is available on www.rte.ie/storyland
* Director show-reel, max 3 minutes (can be shot on your phone, DV cam etc.).
* 30 seconds worth of video footage to support the submission. This can be a pitch to the voter (why they should vote for your episode) or a piece to camera about the team involved and where the ideas came from. Whatever you choose to do, make it creative and have some fun! Be warned if you are lucky enough to be part of the 20 shortlisted projects this 30 second promo will go up on line. Details of where to send your DVDs can be found on the e commissioning submission form.
* A budget not to exceed 8 thousand euro.
* Marketing ideas on how you will get people to watch and vote for your series.
* CVs of as many of the cast and crew you have on board.

Mad Men is finally coming to these shores. Currently on season 2 in the States, this is a must-see TV series from some of the Sopranos staffers. It is the most visually stunning TV series I’ve ever watched. There are some scenes in it that will make you go “oooh” if you enjoy luscious design, typography and cinematography.

It will also make you want to smoke. A lot. And drink a lot. The sets, the costumes and superb writing. It’s got it all.

RTÉ 2 tonight – 11:30pm