CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
As one of the requirements for the attainment of Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree in
mass communication it is mandatory to undertake a compulsory three months
industrial training (IT) in any of the desired media organizations in Nigeria with
the sole aim of exposing students to the practical aspects of what they have been
taught in class.
I was accepted by the Nigerian Television Authority International (NTAi) Area 11
Garki Abuja, where I did my Attachment from 4th June to 1st September 2014.
During my attachment I served with the Programmes Department under the
Supervision of one of their Managers Ita Ikpang. The three month internship was
an opportunity that exposed me to the basic practical aspect of modern mass
communication with emphasis on television programmes production. During this
attachment, I learnt how to operate the camera, capture programmes, edit video
files using computer and operating the teleprompter among others. Frankly
speaking, though the industrial lasted for just three months, the experience I
gained in terms of television programming, the use studio and the control room
cannot be overemphasized.
Nevertheless, the Student Industrial Training Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) is
of course a training programme nurtured towards exposing students and making
them acquainted with the practical aspect of journalism and several other courses
of study.
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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF SIWES
The Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) was established by the
Industrial Training Fund (ITF) in 1973 to solve the problem of lack of adequate
practical skills preparatory for employment in industries by students of Nigerian
tertiary institutions. Prior to the establishment of the scheme there was a growing
concern among industrialists that graduates from institutions of higher learning
lack adequate practical background prerequisite for employment into the
industry. It was against this background that the rationale for initiating and
designing the scheme was hinged. During the period of attachment in industries,
every student is expected to acquire all necessary practical skills and orientation,
as well as the technical knowledge needed to adequately develop national
manpower and human resources.
Participation I the SIWES programme has become a necessary pre-condition for
the award of degree certificate in some specified discipline in most institutions of
higher learning in the country, in accordance with the educational policy of the
government.
OBJECTIVES OF SIWES
To provide avenue for students of Nigeria higher institution the
opportunity to acquire industrial skill and experience I their course of
study.
To expose student to work method and techniques in handling equipments
and machineries that may not be available in the university.
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To prepare students for work situation they are likely to encounter after
graduation.
To provide students with the opportunity to apply their theoretical
knowledge in real work situation, thereby bridging the gap between class
and actual practice.
To make the transition from the class to the world easier and therefore
enhance students contact for later job placement.
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CHAPTER TWO
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF NTA
The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) was established following the
promulgation of decree 24 by the then Federal Military Government in may
1977. The decree which took effect respectively from April 1978 brought all
the ten existing television stations under the control of the Federal Military
Government of Nigeria. This include Western Nigerian Television (WNTV)
which was established in 1959 and later became NTA Ibadan, Eastern Nigerian
Television (ENTV) in 1960 later became NTA Enugu and Radio Television
Kaduna (RKTV)in 1962 which later split into NTA Kaduna and FRCN Kaduna.
These were established by their various regional Governments. Television
stations where later established in the remaining state capital where none
existed.
By the promulgation of decree 24, the authority became the only body
empowered to undertake television broadcasting in Nigeria, therefore, all the
ten existing state television stations then were incorporated into NTA.
LEGAL STATUS
The NTA is a parastatal in the Federal Ministry of Information. It is the national
television broadcasting network for Nigeria, expressly mandated to provide as
a public service, in the interest of Nigeria, independent and impartial
television broadcasting for general reception within Nigeria. But the following
amendments and modification of the enabling Act by the government, the
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public service (non profit) activity of the NTA has sustained corresponding
modification.
In the first instance, its exclusive right for television broadcasting in Nigeria
was revoked. Secondly, the mandate to operate as a nonprofit service entity
was partially revoked. Thirdly, the broadcasting mandate of the NTA has been
expanded from only broadcasting to Nigeria to broadcasting to the world at
large.
VISION OF NTA
To be a world class television network, the new vision of NTA will reposition
and strengthen the Authority through the 21 st century television broadcasting,
dictating new pace and direction, new expectation and reach.
MISSION OF NTA
To provide excellent television services world-wide and project the true
African perspective. To capture and summarize the real essence of the former
mission literature, to present in one wholesome sentence, the new direction.
CORE VALUES
The core values of NTA as both national and international station are;
professionalism, accuracy, balance and objectivity, social responsibility,
sensitivity, national interest, commitment to world peace and development.
THE CORPORATE STRUCTURE OF NTA
In NTA, the Director General is the Chief Executive. He is assisted by a team of
Executive Directors who are the heads of the News, Programmes, Engineering,
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Finance, and Administration, Marketing, training, and capacity building and
special duties directorates. The Director General and the Executive Directors
constitutes the board of the management charged with the duty of day to day
running of the authority. They are also members of the board of directors
which is composed of part-time chairman and seven members.
THE NTA NATIONAL SPREAD AND EXPANSION
As at the last count NTA has 101 stations spread across Nigeria making it the
largest television network in Africa currently, there are 10 operational
networks centers. These centers generates an uplink network programmes for
the network service; they are NTA Lagos, Ibadan, Kaduna, Enugu, Sokoto,
Benin, Port Harcourt, Makurdi, Jos, and Maiduguri, each network centers is
headed by a zonal director who oversee all stations within his/her zone.
NTA PARTNERSHIP
In 2010, NTA entered a partnership with Startimes International in the area of
terrestrial Digital transmission to fast track the graduation to digital
broadcasting ahead of the 2015 global deadline given by the international
telecommunication union for all television transmission in the world to
digitalize.
The partnership is also for the purpose of increasing the revenue base of the
authority. There are currently NTA News24, NTA Sports24, NTA Knowledge,
NTA Hausa, NTA Igbo, NTA Yoruba and NTA Entertainment of the
NTA/Startimes bouquets. NTA/Startimes is a subscription pay TV that uses a
decoder for access to its signal.
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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF NTA INTERNATIONAL
The Nigerian television Authority now owns an international station known as
(NTA International). Being the Africa’s largest television network, its signals
are now received in North America, Europe, Canada, Middle East and West
Africa. On the 22nd of November, 2006 the Nigerian Television Authority
celebrates the launching of its international wing- NTA International by
president Olusegun Obasanjo. NTA International’s programming is aimed at
reinforcing the enthusiasm that blacks in the Diaspora have for Nigerian and
African cultures while countering the negative perceptions of Nigeria and
Africa by other international broadcasting outfits. NTA international is
therefore primarily for Nigerians and African in Diaspora. The signal of NTA
International can be received by viewers in the United States of America on
Suncast Internet Protocol (IPTV), ntasuncast.com. UK and Europe on Internet
Protocol Television (IPTV), http.suncasttv.co.uk and BENTV UK, Sky Channel
184 on Intelsat 905/907. Middle and Far East on IPTV http.suncast.co.ae.
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CHAPTER THREE
MY SCHEDULE OF DUTY
As stated in my acceptance letter, I embarked on a three month media
attachment with NTA International, Area 11 Garki Abuja with effect from 4 th
June to 1st September 2014. On my arrival to the station, I was posted to the
Programmes Department under the supervision of a programmes Manager,
Ita Ikpang.
I was scheduled to report for duty on daily basis (Monday to Friday) from
8.00am to 8.00pm. During this period, I learnt a lot in the areas of
programmes capturing, directing, news production among others.
My first assignment was on the 4 th of June, when I was assigned to capture a
programme known as “One on One” from a mini DV tape into a computer,
which I eventually did successfully and the programme was aired. This first
experience actually encouraged and motivated me to carry out my internship
with great passion and at the end I was exposed to the practical aspect of
journalism.
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CHAPTER FOUR
THE ACTIVITIES I PARTICIPATED IN, AND THE KNOWLEDGE I ACQUIRED
On my arrival at the Nigerian Television Authority International (NTAi), Area
11 Garki Abuja, I was warmly welcomed and received by the General Manager
Ego N. Mbagwu; the Manager Admin and Training, Toyin A. Atomode. I was
posted to the Programmes Department where I met the Manager
programmes Ita Ikpang who received me and introduced me to other staffs of
the Department as well as other students on training. I was later taken round
the station; the studio, control room, news room and some other offices. I
was also taken to our neighbor stations- NTA NEWS 24, and NTA Network
which are all within premises of NTA Headquarters in Abuja. I was also taken
to the office of the Assistant Director Programmes Emmaculata Etia who also
admonished me to be of good behavior, abide by the rules and regulation and
editorial policy of the station and be a hard working student throughout my
period of internship with the station
While the internship lasted I got to know different people that work with the
station, and I was exposed to different working equipments and their uses.
Bellow are some of some of the notable activities I carried out during my
attachment with the station:
CAPTURING
Mariam Webster dictionary defined capturing as an act of putting information
in a form that a computer can use or read. Capturing is the act of converting
recorded information on camera tapes (mini DV tapes) to digital form. The
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world has changed to digitalization so is the media in order to effectively serve
their target audience. NTAi convert programmes from analogue to digital
before transmission.
Editing is a primary activity of every television station, a feature,
documentary, and news have to be recorded on a camera tape for editing to
add aesthetics to their content before they are transmitted. These are carried
out using one of the following computer software; Avid Liquid, Adobe Premier
Pro and Corel Video Studio.
As part of the experience I gained during my attachment with NTAi, I captured
several programmes for transmission, these include “Good Morning Nigeria”
“Nigeria Today” “One on one” “ECOWAS today” etc.
CAMERA OPERATION
Camera is a device that is used for taking photographs or for making movies,
television programmes etc.
Camera is one of the most important electronic gadgets a television station
has to provide for the station to operate well, a television station cannot do
without camera, therefore, there is a need for media house to have good
camera operator. The world is growing rapidly by the day, it is growing from
complex to more complex. From analogue to digital most of today’s cameras
offer a range of automated features that greatly simplify picture taking and
reduce the likelihood of error they are used for professional video recording.
The camera as an equipment in television broadcasting is often described as
an electronic device use to capture video clips and images for production. The
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camera has wide varieties of uses. During the period of my industrial training
with NTA International I engaged in camera usage where I got to know how to
use the camera to take different kind of shots which includes; zooming, short
types and camera movement.
CAMERA ZOOMING
This is the focusing of camera lens on an object using a zoom lens so that the
object appears distance from the observe changes, often used with in or out.
Zooming is what everyone loves to do but it is miss used audience can easily
get tired of watching the programme if not getting upset. Zooming is
technically not a camera movement function as it is does not require the
camera itself to move at all. Zooming is a means of producing an enlarged
image or smaller image of the subject.
TYPES OF ZOOMING
Servo Zoom (lever): lever is a button on the lens house, it consist of two
operational system (tale and wide) the moment you press the front part
of the lever it zooms in while the back part makes camera zoom out.
The faster you press the lever the faster the camera zooms. The lever
has two label symbols T and W which means Tale and Wide.
Manual Zoom (Ring): this is the zoom ring on the lens housing which is
rotated manually, typically by the left thumb and index finger.
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VIDEO AND GRAPHICS EDITING
Editing is the art of ensuring the correctness of written matter through the
checking and cross checking of its level of compliance with acceptable standard.
According to Nworgu and Nwabueze (2005:201) it is the removal of unwanted or
irrelevant aspects of a copy to adapt it to the house style of the media
organization.
As one of the experience I gained during my internship with NTA International, I
understood that video footages are captured into a computer hard drive and edit
them using computer soft wares known as Video Studio Pro X4, Avid Liquid 7 and
Adobe Premiere Pro etc.
I was shown the techniques used in editing and how to make use of it. I was
taught how transitions and special effects are created and applied to visuals and
clips.
TRANSMISSION DIRECTING (TD)
Transmission in television broadcasting like movie production requires directing,
therefore Transmission Director (TD) is the one to monitor programmes while
going on air on daily basis under the guidance of the “daily transmission
rundown” provided by the Manager Programmes. The TD uses the log book or
programmes transmission log book. He/she is expected to enter the comment on
how smooth or bad the transmission was.
The Daily Programme Transmission Rundown is prepared schedule that contains
the daily programmes that are expected to be aired/transmitted in day. This
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contains the title of the programme, duration, source and time. This responsibility
lies on the manager programmes who also supervises and directs his staffs.
NTA International always make provision for any failure that may occur on the
daily programmes rundown. Provisions are made for “fillers”- “gap fillers” which
are used to keep the audience busy between the periods switching from one
programme to another, it may be advertisement, the station’s logo, promo etc.
this is to avoid blank visual transmission, while switching between two
programmes.
To enhance the quality of transmission, the TD has to monitor and control the
audio and video mixer.
NEWS DIRECTING
Directing is the process of organizing various activities, which makes production
fruition. It is the responsibility of the a Director to direct both technical and non-
technical activities in production this is to say that directing news is a take carried
out by news director. NTA International has news director who directs and gives
transmission in order to work cordially. They make use of languages like “track-
up” “cue in” “cue out” “stand by studio” “back to you studio” “stand by to roll”
etc.
As a team work, programmes have to be processed to ensure smooth production.
Thereby the news log, news teaser and story scripts are arranged before the
transmission. News director is provided with all these equipment as guide to
him/her in order to give a proper command to his team members etc. for
example, when the news caster reads the news to the point where there is a
“track up” he pauses and then the director gives the studio engineer the
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command to role the track-up. I was assigned to seat with the transmission
director who gave me the news teaser and story scripts to handle during 7pm
news transmission.
SEMINAR ON CHROMA KEYING
Chroma key compositing or chroma keying is a special effect/post production technique
for compositing/layering two images or video streams together based on colour hues
(chroma range). During my attachment with NTA International I attended a seminar
organized by the station to enlighten its staffs on the use of chroma in live news
transmission.
In simple term, chroma keying is the process of removing the background of video or
photo shot and replacing it with any background of one’s choice using a simple colour
separation technique. The chroma key technology has been widely used in many fields
to remove a background from the subject of a photo or video- particularly the news
casting, motion picture and video game industries.
This technique has developed beyond expectation and television stations can now
broadcast in fake studio environments (virtual studio), by using equipments like
the Tricaster to key in computer made virtual studios to replace the green
environment recorded in the green screen studio.
In chroma keying, the principal object is filmed or photographed against a background
consisting of a single colour or relatively narrow range of colours, usually blue or green.
These are commonly called the blue screen or green screen. Green is currently used as a
backdrop more than any other colour because image sensors in digital video cameras
are most sensitive to green, due to the Bayer pattern, allocating more pixels to the
green channel, mimicking the human eyes increased sensitivity to green light.
During this seminar, I also learnt how to build a green screen studio. Considering the pre
determined nature of a green screen studio and the need to make it correspond with
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the virtual studio created for a programme or for live news transmission, the green
screen must be built with adequate measurement. The distance between the camera,
the subject and the background must be calculated. The distance between the subject
and the background is often made wider in order to separate the subject from the
background and on the long run enhance effective chroma keying.
Lighting the green screen is also a very sensitive aspect of chroma keying. Colour
separation will not be moderate if the studio is not properly and adequately lighted. The
recommendation is that, the studio must be evenly lighted. The essence of even lighting
is to give normal studio environment and to make the subject appear as clear as
expected. Therefore, soft lights like LED and fluorescent are recommended. The
background is to be lighted separately from the subject; therefore, we have the
background light. The same kind of LED lights is to be used to light the background.
We also have the KEY light. The key light is the dominant light on the subject. It is placed
on an angle somewhere in front of the subject. This invariably mens that it serve to light
one side of the subject better than the other, thus the FILL light is provided. The fill light
is placed on an opposite angle to the key light to illuminate the other angle and erase all
shadows.
Lastly is the HEAD light which lights the head of the subject. It casts a top down
reflection on the subject.
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CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY/CONCLUSION
As earlier disclosed, and elaborated, in the introductory part of this report, the
primary aim of this programme i.e the Student Industrial Work Experience
Scheme (SIWES) is to expose students of tertiary institution to the practical aspect
of their courses of study and discipline.
During the period under review, at the Nigerian Television Authority International
(NTAi) Area 11 Garki Abuja, I gained beneficial and everlasting experience that has
critically exposed me to the practical aspects of mass communication as a
profession, which hopefully will remain in me for as long as I live whether in
school or at any working situation I find myself in future.
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