Some Changes Needed

After thinking it through, and considering Danielle's role in my video, I have decided that it is best that Danielle's person doesn't actually appear in the final piece, and instead, I will record her voice.

This has been decided for a number of reasons:

• Danielle is a minor, and the topic is a very sensitive one
• Gypsies are a large part of Danielle's community
• A news report would certainly exceed the time limit I need to work within
• Danielle would be more confident having only her voice recorded
• Danielle is protected. Her face is not linked to her opinion

Danielle has some very strong opinions, having been exposed to gypsies in her every day life. If a video of her (possibly) slating them were to leak onto the internet, it could put her into a great deal of danger - especially at school. I have therefore decided that we will use her as a voice over, and I can add the imagery I had originally planned to over the top of her voice.

Progress

Progress is good today. I have had the chance to have a long chat with Danielle about the project, I have been able to film her opinions on gypsies (which can be seen under the 'Work in Progress' tab), and I have been able to think about how the piece will all come together. Danielle has come across as very confident, and even watched some videos on YouTube of the Dale Farm eviction, which has enabled her to have a little more understanding of the story. Typically of her funny nature, though, she announced that she "would like to be tasered".

I have started to look at news logos, as the name of the broadcast has been named. This was Danielle's choice, since it is her opinion that will be aired, and she has chosen to call it 'Wilby News'.

I will continue to storyboard, and am now able to write a script for the video. We will have a test run using a Canon G11 camera, before recording the final piece.

Overcoming Problems

Today I spoke to Danielle (my friend's niece), who is aged 11, and asked if she would be interested in helping me with my news broadcast. I explained a bit about the task in hand, and asked her if she knew anything already about Dale Farm. Her response to my request for help was "Yeah! I'm up for it!" This has pleased me a lot.

Danielle is well spoken, switched on, and likes to give her own opinion on events. She will be brilliant to speak to, and will be a great child to have in my video. She's happy to be filmed (however many times we may need to do it - she's a giggler!) and given her age, I will be able to discuss the topic at a little more ease that I would have had to with the 7 year old.

Plans now are to break down the story with Danielle, and to write down some of her own opinions on the event, which will then be written into a script that she can use when we film. Once filming in complete, it's a matter of putting the video together in After Effects.

Problems

I had originally planned to travel to the Isle of Wight to film my friend's son for this project, but due to money issues, this has had to be cancelled. My only other option is to ask for the help of an 11 year old (who is the niece of a friend) to see if she will help me out. In some respects, this may work out better, and she is easily accessible if something goes wrong.

Things to work on in the meantime are a script, including footage I have found in my video (using After Effects and possibly Final Cut Pro) and planning my text/animated text.

More Research

I have been watching news broadcasts made by children, and have seen a fair few inspirational touches that I would like to add to my own video.

I really like the cute, innocence of the children; the fact they laugh and mess about. This is something that I feel adds to the piece. Children are very innocent, and this should be reflected, even with a serious news story.

I have added some videos to the 'Children' tab.

Doing Research

I have been doing lots of thinking about anymore research I need to do for this project.

I will be having a good look at Newsround, the programme used to broadcast news to children. I used to watch it as a child. I have been looking at the website, and will watch a few of their bulletins to see how they approach the news these days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/

I have also, with the help from my friend Martin, reserved three books about Gypsy Travellers at the library, which I hope to have my hands on early next week.

I will also watch a few regular news programmes (BBC News, ITN, Channel 4 News, Sky News) to get a general view of a broadcast, before I start preparing to record mine.

The main focus will be to get a good understanding of the whole story, and to get that down for my news broadcast. I will also be asking children their opinions on the subject.

Focus for the Video

My video will be focusing on the immediate run-up to, and the actual eviction from Dale Farm. I personally found the news coverage of this very interesting, and feel that it is something I can work with.

There was a great deal of news coverage for a number of months about the problems at Dale Farm, and it even continues today. The coverage of the eviction is still raw in my mind, which is why I feel that it will be good to incorporate into my work.