Purpose
1.This paper sets out the guidelines for the Legislative Council ("LegCo") TV production team when televising and broadcasting the proceedings of Council meetings, open meetings of its committees and media briefings by the President and committee chairmen in the LegCo Complex, with the aim to give a full, official and accurate account of these meetings and briefings to facilitate greater public access to LegCo business while protecting the dignity of the Legislature.
Style and presentation
2.When filming the proceedings of Council meetings, open meetings of its committees and media briefings by the President and committee chairmen, the standard coverage of these meetings and briefings by the TV production team is as follows:
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The camera should focus on the Member, the Government official or the representative of deputation having the call to speak, with shots no closer than "head and shoulders";
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The camera angle should hold steady unless the Member, the Government official, or the representative of deputation having the call to speak is somehow moving outside the coverage of the camera. On such occasions, camera operators should adjust the camera angle to put the Member, the Government official, or the representative of deputation back to the centre point of the shots;
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Zoom out shots should be used if the speaking Member is using props or other aids. The camera angle should be no wider than that which allows both the Member and the props or aids to be filmed;
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The default shot should be on the President at Council meetings or the chairmen at committee meetings to facilitate the visual continuity of the meetings;
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As a matter of general practice, the camera should switch to the occupant of the President's chair or the committee chairman's chair whenever he or she rises; and
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The Clerks to the Council or its committees or any staff of the LegCo Secretariat ("the Secretariat") should be shown only when they are actively participating in the business of the Council or the committees.
3.In addition to the above standard coverage, other permissible shots for the TV production team include:
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Reaction shots and cut-away shots of a Member or a Government official when he or she is referred to by another Member or Government official;
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Medium-angle shots of a group of Members, including the Member having the call to speak, if an exchange between them is too rapid to permit normal camera switching;
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Panning shots showing Members or Government officials paying attention at the meetings if the panel director considers appropriate;
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Occasional group shots, either to show the reactions of a group of Members or to establish the geography of a particular part of the Chamber or conference room;
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Wide-angle shots of the Chamber or conference room during divisions and voting;
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Wide-angle shots of the Chamber or conference room when the meeting is moving from one agenda item to the next item;
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Wide-angle shots of the Chamber or conference room when the camera operators are locating the Member, the Government official, or the representative of deputation just being called to speak;
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Presentation materials such as powerpoint or videos displayed by the representative of deputation may be filmed, provided that such materials do not contain any defamatory contents. Wide-angle shots of the Chamber or conference room should be used if the presentation materials seem to contain defamatory contents. If in doubt, camera operators should consult the panel director or the Senior Public Information Officer in charge of overseeing the whole televising system of the LegCo Complex. The camera should focus on the committee chairman if he or she rules that the materials cannot be displayed; and
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Occasional zoom shots are permitted but shots of Members, Government officials or representatives of deputation should not be closer than "head and shoulders".
4.The TV production team is prohibited from taking the following shots:
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Close-up shots of documents and electronic devices of Members, Government officials, Secretariat staff and representatives of deputations during meetings;
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Shots of Members talking to each other in which the speaking Member is not involved;
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Shots of the press and public galleries except when the distinguished visitors are referred to and acknowledged by the President or chairmen of committees;
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Shots unrelated to the Council proceedings or meetings of committees such as interruptions from the galleries; and
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Shots of Secretariat staff unless they are taking an active part in the proceedings or meetings.
Treatment of disorder
5.The objective of televising and broadcasting the Council proceedings, open meetings of committees and media briefings by the President and committee chairmen is to provide the public with a full, official and accurate account of these proceedings and briefings. Disturbance or interruptions from the press and public galleries of the Chamber or conference rooms are not part of the proceedings, thus such happenings should not be televised. In such cases, the cameras must focus on the President or the committee chairman to ensure that the offending incident is not covered.
6.In the event of grossly disorderly conduct or unparliamentary behaviour of individual Member(s), as decided by the President or the committee chairman, wide-angle shots should be used if the incident is concerned with a Member speaking at the meeting. If the incident does not interfere with the speaking Member, the cameras should keep on focusing on the speaking Member, or the President or the committee chairman, and not on the grossly disorderly conduct or unparliamentary behaviour.
7.In the event of grossly disorderly conduct or unparliamentary behaviour of a representative of deputation having the call to speak during committee meetings, as decided by the committee chairman, the cameras must focus on the committee chairman to ensure that the offending incident is not covered. If the incident does not interfere with the speaking representative, the cameras should keep on focusing on this speaking representative, or the committee chairman, and not on the grossly disorderly conduct or unparliamentary behaviour.
8.Televising should continue as long as the meeting continues. Once the President or the committee chairman orders suspension of the meeting, televising should immediately stop. Televising recommences when the meeting resumes.
Coverage of closed meetings
9.All closed meetings of committees are not to be filmed and videotaped by the TV production team under the policy of the Secretariat.
10.When the committee chairman or any other presiding Member orders the originally open meeting to be held closed-door, members of the TV production team must stop filming and ingesting the meeting immediately, and leave the technical room at the meeting venue once they have turned off all the televising equipment. They should then standby outside the meeting venue until the committee chairman or any other presiding Member orders the meeting to be held in public again. Televising and ingesting of the meeting shall resume promptly when the open meeting resumes.