The Newsroom

The ITN Nostalgia Thread

ITN and ITV News Memories (May 2020)

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A former member
Never understood why the ITV car park set desk had a green panel on it - was it ever anything other than yellow on screen?
JK
JKDerry
Never understood why the ITV car park set desk had a green panel on it - was it ever anything other than yellow on screen?

I think the side panel was super imposed, because usually in the pan shots there was a very odd moment when the green panel used to suddenly lift off.
LV
LondonViewer
And did News at Ten use the same space in that era?

That was the best ITN (on ITV) era for me, in the newsroom, the sweeping shots in, the aerial shots over 'ITN Headquarters'. Seemed very different from the BBC at the time. Perfect.


I think they did share Studio 3 in about 1992-95.

Why did studio 3 become studio 4? Or did I misunderstand?


I don't know for certain - Studio 3 and 4 occupied the same physical space but when it was kitted out for the News Channel it became known as Studio 4. My personal thoughts on this is so that it would align numerically with the new NC control room, PCR4. You also had St5/PCR5 and St6/PCR6 at the same time. It may have been for some consistency?

Was it the same space? If you look at 92/93 era clips it looks like the studio was on the first floor not the ground. 94 clips the studio is on the ground floor.

92
https://youtu.be/D4cMG_pIcvI

94
https://youtu.be/rgHKgmBBtr8
IT
itsrobert Founding member
And did News at Ten use the same space in that era?

That was the best ITN (on ITV) era for me, in the newsroom, the sweeping shots in, the aerial shots over 'ITN Headquarters'. Seemed very different from the BBC at the time. Perfect.


I think they did share Studio 3 in about 1992-95.

Why did studio 3 become studio 4? Or did I misunderstand?


I don't know for certain - Studio 3 and 4 occupied the same physical space but when it was kitted out for the News Channel it became known as Studio 4. My personal thoughts on this is so that it would align numerically with the new NC control room, PCR4. You also had St5/PCR5 and St6/PCR6 at the same time. It may have been for some consistency?

Was it the same space? If you look at 92/93 era clips it looks like the studio was on the first floor not the ground. 94 clips the studio is on the ground floor.

92
https://youtu.be/D4cMG_pIcvI

94
https://youtu.be/rgHKgmBBtr8


Yes, that's right, it moved down a floor for some reason although I'm sure it was still called Studio 3 until 2000.
JK
JKDerry
And did News at Ten use the same space in that era?

That was the best ITN (on ITV) era for me, in the newsroom, the sweeping shots in, the aerial shots over 'ITN Headquarters'. Seemed very different from the BBC at the time. Perfect.


I think they did share Studio 3 in about 1992-95.

Why did studio 3 become studio 4? Or did I misunderstand?


I don't know for certain - Studio 3 and 4 occupied the same physical space but when it was kitted out for the News Channel it became known as Studio 4. My personal thoughts on this is so that it would align numerically with the new NC control room, PCR4. You also had St5/PCR5 and St6/PCR6 at the same time. It may have been for some consistency?

I think News at Ten moved into the basement studio in the autumn of 1994, as the opening titles from the autumn were readjusted, with no view whatsoever of the ITN Newsroom. They did however have a blue screen CSO keyed in image of the newsroom for when Trevor or whoever was presenting would face that way for the 1994 to 1999 era.


Here is a clip from November 1994, and with the adjusted intro, it seems by November 1994 they were in the basement studio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuEcCV9BQds
JK
JKDerry
And did News at Ten use the same space in that era?

That was the best ITN (on ITV) era for me, in the newsroom, the sweeping shots in, the aerial shots over 'ITN Headquarters'. Seemed very different from the BBC at the time. Perfect.


I think they did share Studio 3 in about 1992-95.

Why did studio 3 become studio 4? Or did I misunderstand?


I don't know for certain - Studio 3 and 4 occupied the same physical space but when it was kitted out for the News Channel it became known as Studio 4. My personal thoughts on this is so that it would align numerically with the new NC control room, PCR4. You also had St5/PCR5 and St6/PCR6 at the same time. It may have been for some consistency?

Was it the same space? If you look at 92/93 era clips it looks like the studio was on the first floor not the ground. 94 clips the studio is on the ground floor.

92
https://youtu.be/D4cMG_pIcvI

94
https://youtu.be/rgHKgmBBtr8

Just the camera positioning playing tricks with you, it is the same floor for both years
JO
Jon
Never understood why the ITV car park set desk had a green panel on it - was it ever anything other than yellow on screen?

Wasn’t it because yellow is very similar to green in the world of Chroma keying. So it was cleaner to put a green square in and super impose the yellow?
LV
LondonViewer

Just the camera positioning playing tricks with you, it is the same floor for both years

Not sure about that. Pretty advanced trickery if they managed to cut out a floor from the 1992 pan. The breakout space with the tree, on the floor above the studio, is definitely not the first floor.
JK
JKDerry

Just the camera positioning playing tricks with you, it is the same floor for both years

Not sure about that. Pretty advanced trickery if they managed to cut out a floor from the 1992 pan. The breakout space with the tree, on the floor above the studio, is definitely not the first floor.

No, it is the same floor. It is just the camera is positioned to not showing the floor below.
IT
itsrobert Founding member

Just the camera positioning playing tricks with you, it is the same floor for both years

Not sure about that. Pretty advanced trickery if they managed to cut out a floor from the 1992 pan. The breakout space with the tree, on the floor above the studio, is definitely not the first floor.


Yeah, LondonViewer is right, it definitely moved down one floor in about 1993/4. I'd love to know why, though. It seems a strange decision to just relocate it directly below. Even the newsroom must have moved.
JK
JKDerry
Jon posted:
Never understood why the ITV car park set desk had a green panel on it - was it ever anything other than yellow on screen?

Wasn’t it because yellow is very similar to green in the world of Chroma keying. So it was cleaner to put a green square in and super impose the yellow?

That is it, you are right, because the whole set is green. It is amazing when you see it for real, and you enter a world of green. Damn hard at times for understanding where the live interview shots are placed on screen, but a faint projection of live links are projected onto the green screen now I believe.
IT
itsrobert Founding member

Just the camera positioning playing tricks with you, it is the same floor for both years

Not sure about that. Pretty advanced trickery if they managed to cut out a floor from the 1992 pan. The breakout space with the tree, on the floor above the studio, is definitely not the first floor.

No, it is the same floor. It is just the camera is positioned to not showing the floor below.


Count the floors from the top of the building - in 1993 it's 7 floors down and in 1994 it's 8 floors down.

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