April 2010: BBC Studios and Post Production is gearing up for the General Election which takes place on 6th May 2010. Coverage is being extended this year, with BBC Studios and Post Production supporting a mammoth 20 hours of continuous live news programming around the event. It will also be in HD for the first time.

The latest graphic technology and virtual reality elements, which presenter Jeremy Vine is incorporating into BBC News’ coverage to analyse the big picture, are currently being hosted and delivered in Studio Ten. These include the election Swingometer, updated for 2010, which shows the extent of change in voter support for political parties, the electoral map, illustrating which parties are in which seats, and the poll of polls. There is also a data table with a large touch screen, where Jeremy can manipulate the data and produce line graphs showing the current share of vote. These elements are being featured on Daily Politics and Newsround, as well as BBC News programmes.

BBC Studios and Post Production’s Technical Development Manager Danny Popkin and Resource Manager, Andrew Breaks, provided tracking and keying expertise to the production team, to enable them to create the virtual elements within the real world. BBC Studios and Post Production has much experience in virtual tracking systems, having pioneered the technology when it was first available. The footage is shot in front of green screen, using cameras mounted on Vinten Radamec Quattro SE tracking pedestals, which provide tracking data so the real-time 3D model synchronises with the camera move. BBC Studios and Post Production will also be using a Free-D tracking system on Steadicam, developed by BBC Research and Development and a 44’ MovieBird crane.

The virtual reality operation will move into Studio One at the end of April. The main set incorporates large LED screens and LC screens. The BBC News at Ten will transmit from Studio One on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday preceding Election Night and then coverage will start on the night itself at 21.55 and run continuously for just over 20 hours through to Friday at 18.00, with the BBC News at Ten, Breakfast News and BBC News at One all being delivered from the studio as well.

BBC Studios and Post Production is providing full studio and post production facilities, coordinating all the studio crews and providing studio sound teams, engineering and electrical support, as well as editors and assistants. It is a hugely complex operation with 90 outside broadcasts across the UK, including 55 in England, delivering comprehensive coverage of the results as they come in and capturing mood on the ground. Sixteen feeds will come into Television Centre via five main hubs - Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast, Manchester and London. All the OB coverage will be available in the BBC Studios and Post Production’s second floor multiplex area for fast turnaround editing and playback, and the OB feeds will be upconverted to HD before transmission from the Studio One gallery.

More details of the Election Night programme can be found here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/04_april/06/election4.shtml

You can also view the virtual reality elements here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8606078.stm

For further information, please contact:
Georgie Hollett, Head of Communications, BBC Studios and Post Production
Tel: +44 (0)20 8624 9495
Mobile : +44 (0) 783484 5612
Email : georgie.hollett@bbc.co.uk

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