48 replies to this topic

[IceManNYR]

This weekend we got the first use of the interview area and it's much nicer then WABC with just the plain blue walls behind the host.

[Weeters]

IceManNYR, on 23 October 2011 - 06:40 PM, said:

The only thing so far it seems they need to adjust is the lighting for the green screen.
There is an orange color coming from lighting and a purple shadow on the right side for the meteorologist at green screen.

Wow, that's a pretty bad design flaw. Should be an easy fix, though.

[DMA]

For some reason, the graphics really clash with the set. They're too boxy and cheap looking. I doubt they're going to get new graphics anytime soon, seeing how this look is rolling out to other O&Os, but I think something like WBBM's old graphics would have been perfect.

[morning traffic]

DMA, on 23 October 2011 - 08:32 PM, said:

For some reason, the graphics really clash with the set. They're too boxy and cheap looking. I doubt they're going to get new graphics anytime soon, seeing how this look is rolling out to other O&Os, but I think something like WBBM's old graphics would have been perfect.

I agree with you about these graphics clashing, but I don't think it's so much about the shapes as it is the colors.. and that's odd to say since these graphics use very few colors... The thin fonts on lower thirds tend to get lost sometimes.. the blue ticker gets lost whenever you see a wide shot of the desk. It's almost as if the shade of blue used in the graphics is a little too dark.

I also agree with the sentiment that something like what WBBM had from Hothaus briefly would have been perfect.. a good balance of colors and simple but dynamic animations. It's a shame, really... WCBS has some extremely creative people working for them and they put out great work but I think they really went cheap on this company-wide graphics look and I don't know if it was because they thought it looked good or because they thought a simple look is easier to share.

As an artist who works with a much more diverse and dynamic graphics package that is spread out around a different TV station group, I think they were wrong either way.

[kshow]

CBS 2 changed the background for the Evening Newscast. It's the same shot of the morning newscast.

[HulkieD]

morning traffic, on 23 October 2011 - 09:31 PM, said:

I agree with you about these graphics clashing, but I don't think it's so much about the shapes as it is the colors.. and that's odd to say since these graphics use very few colors... The thin fonts on lower thirds tend to get lost sometimes.. the blue ticker gets lost whenever you see a wide shot of the desk. It's almost as if the shade of blue used in the graphics is a little too dark.

This. I love the WCBS set but I think the graphics are totally wrong for it. They're too dark and too sedate for what is really a bright and progressive news design. The elements do get lost extremely easily with the graphical look, particularly the bug which disappears whenever they use the frosted glass backdrop.

I'm half wondering if a graphics update is in the works, because the set blueprints they posted on their facebook show a "2HD" logo mounted to the desk and what appears to be a darker color scheme - neither of which are part of the final design, though a boxed CBS 2 logo that's not part of their look is. Considering that they've been pushing those surgically attached "HD" things at least at KYW (every set element with a "CBS 3" logo was changed to a "3HD" version), it just seems odd to me. Plus the fact that some of the newerish graphics they seem to be using have a brighter feel than anything I've really seen from the O&O look on KYW.

I'm just speculating a bit, but I know Peter Dunn and his crew are actually very much involved with the exact look of their stations, so they have to know the set and graphics clash so badly. We'll see, I think...

morning traffic, on 23 October 2011 - 09:31 PM, said:

I also agree with the sentiment that something like what WBBM had from Hothaus briefly would have been perfect.. a good balance of colors and simple but dynamic animations. It's a shame, really... WCBS has some extremely creative people working for them and they put out great work but I think they really went cheap on this company-wide graphics look and I don't know if it was because they thought it looked good or because they thought a simple look is easier to share.

The latter explanation is, IMO, completely plausible. CBS didn't standardize on the graphical equipment at their stations unlike other groups who standardized on something like AXIS. With this look also being offered to affiliates, it's very likely they wanted to offer something that could look identical on lower-end graphical equipment as well as the high-end Viz stuff. I know that played a factor in the BBC's recent refresh to very simple lower thirds, and I kinda think that's why NBC's Look C ended up a little different on every station it got deployed to.

But as I said above, Peter Dunn is one of those guys who gets involved in station appearance. And for some reason, he seems to like this kind of blue, glossy look in the vein of WNBC's 2003 look. This was the guy who, when at KYW, changed the station's graphics four times in just under two years. Each time, the graphics got a little closer to that WNBC look (culminating, inevitably, with them calling up Randy Pyburn and asking him to create a CBS version). And since he's been at WCBS, they've been using variants of that sort of look style. (Though the 06-era one, with the gel-style eye, was really cool.)

But as you said, the WCBS graphics and promo team is VERY talented. I'd like to see them break free of that look style and do something dynamic ala those WBBM and WBZ graphics. I keep seeing some of that inspiration in their promo graphics, so I know they have it in them.

[anthonyz]

kshow, on 25 October 2011 - 11:14 PM, said:

CBS 2 changed the background for the Evening Newscast. It's the same shot of the morning newscast.

Glad to see that the morning shot is on the evening because its a sunset (not a sunrise).

[nynewslover]

anthonyz, on 27 October 2011 - 03:48 PM, said:

Glad to see that the morning shot is on the evening because its a sunset (not a sunrise).

Its not the exact same as the morning..its a night time shot with the same view.

[NYNews]

24994J, on 20 October 2011 - 07:09 PM, said:

I guess the guys really have to wear pants now! And the ladies need to watch out, too.

I'm surprised that they have yet to rectify this problem, for the sake of the female anchor.