Recent Activities
A behind-the-scenes visit to Radio Television Hong Kong
Supporting Organisation:
The CDF collaborated with Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) for the first time, getting nearly 90 CDF participants inside a studio to understand programme production during the summer holiday. Job sharing sessions were also conducted by the RTHK production team to help participants learn more about different roles in a radio station.
Sharing by radio and television producers
The highlight of the entire programme were certainly the sharing sessions hosted by several producers from the RTHK's Radio and Television Divisions namely Miss Gladys CHIU, Radio Producer, Miss Shirley LEE, Executive Television Producer, and Mr LIANG Jian-ming and Mr CHAN Wing-kam, Television Producers.
Miss Shirley LEE (first right), Executive Television Producer, introduced the main duties of a producer and the filming process of a documentary using "Going it Alone" as an example. It was an episode of the documentary series "Glamour of Sport – We are Sports People" produced by her in 2011.
Featuring Mr SHEN Jin-kang, Head Coach of the Hong Kong Cycling Team, the episode documented Mr SHEN's rigorous approach to training and his incredibly serious attitude towards competition.
"A documentary is special in that the characters, places and events it shows are all real. We are filming a real life scene and there is no take two," said Miss LEE during the sharing session. To best capture Mr SHEN's everyday life as a professional coach, the episode covers the training sessions and competitions of the Hong Kong Cycling Team at various places.
A producer must be decisive in the face of unexpected situations to ensure the smooth running of the filming. "For example, according to our original plan, we were supposed to go to the Netherlands with Coach SHEN to do a live coverage of the internationally renowned UCI Track Cycling World Championships. However, just a few days before our departure, there came the news that Coach SHEN would not go with the Cycling Team as his mother had passed away. Under such circumstances, I decided to alter our plan and follow Coach SHEN to Shanghai instead. During the trip, we captured his thoughts and feelings about those years of separation from his family for competition and training commitments, so that the audience could understand the sacrifice and effort a coach had to make in order to succeed."
"Although the length of each episode is only 30 minutes, it took us at least six months to complete all the work, which involves data research, liaison with interviewees, on-site shooting, etc.," said Miss LEE.
Mr LIANG Jian-ming, Television Producer, has been working for the RTHK for more than 20 years. His work as a producer involves a wide spectrum of tasks ranging from concept and content development, copywriting, conducting interviews to editing and post-production. The great diversity of subject matters covered by the programmes has given him numerous opportunities to meet memorable people and experience special events.
In particular, he shared with the participants his experience in producing the programme "Questioning the God of Death". In order to explore how our society copes with death, he visited many local funeral parlours and the vocational training institutes in this field in the Mainland. He also interviewed funeral service practitioners to learn about the training they received and the work they did. The experiences, which have provoked thoughts about life and death, remain vivid in his memory.
What do you know about the equipment?
To radio broadcasters, keeping the right time is a matter of the utmost importance because time signals have to be broadcast from time to time during a radio programme. To ensure timing accuracy, all the clocks installed in the RTHK are connected to the Hong Kong Observatory's computer system, the internal timing of which is based on the Greenwich Mean Time. Therefore, they are the most accurate clocks in Hong Kong.
The recording studio is enclosed by textured and highly soundproofing walls, which not only eliminate echoes and reduce reverberation but also enhance the acoustic quality of the programmes.
The unidirectional microphone provided in the recording studio is mainly used for static interviews. A user must speak into the voice side to ensure clear speech reception.
In old time radio plays, various kinds of props were used to create sound effects. Some of them such as a door set, a podium and metal rods are still kept in the RTHK's recording studio. With the advance of technology, ready-made sound effects are available and can be added during post-production.
Participants took part in the programme come from seven project operators, namely the Christian Action, Lions College, Neighbourhood Advice-Action Council Tung Chung Integrated Services Centre, Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre, Urban Peacemaker Evangelistic Fellowship Limited, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Jockey Club Tai Kok Tsui Integrated Services Centre and Yan Oi Tong Tin Ka Ping Secondary School. Over 90% of them agreed that the programme had enhanced their understanding of the RTHK, particularly the visit to the recording studio and the sharing session with members of the production teams, which they found most impressive.
Knowing more…
The RTHK started operation as the sole provider of public broadcasting services in Hong Kong in 1928 and has the longest history of operation among local broadcasters. It now provides radio, television and internet services through its 12 channels in Cantonese, English and Putonghua to cater for the needs of different sectors of society.
What they say…
 NG Tan
CDF participant from the Lions College "Through the visit, I have learnt about different kinds of broadcasting equipment and the actual operation of a radio station. It also makes me realise that apart from offering radio broadcasts, the RTHK also produces a great variety of television and internet programmes to keep the public abreast of the most up-to-date information about our society through different channels." |
 LAM Cheuk-cheuk
Participant of Neighbourhood Advice-Action Council's "Dream with You" project (Tung Chung) "I have learnt a lot from the visit. The recording studio looks rather small but is fully equipped for both live and recorded broadcasts. Its design also allows room to accommodate other media during interviews. From the producers' sharing, I have come to know that programme production requires large amount of preparatory work. In some cases, data research and content development may take months to guarantee programme quality." |