For the Presentation Techniques assignment we had to have a knowledge of presenters of TV shows and the techniques that are used in the presentation of a TV show. There are many TV shows with presenters, such as talk shows, comedy shows and even sketch shows, and I think all of them can be used as inspiration when presenting your own show.
For my presenter role in this assignment, I will be taking my inspiration from more comedic presenters - in particular, I will be taking inspiration from the presenter of "8 Out of 10 Cats" and the Countdown parody of the show, Jimmy Carr. His techniques as a presenter show him as somebody who is casual and jokey, often times making jokes about himself, his co-presenters and his guests, and he's open to them making jokes about him. The casualness of his presenting style is admirable as he just seems to naturally reel off jokes and perform his own little sketches in the middle, which is something that keeps both shows interesting and hilarious, and is something that it would be great to attempt to replicate as he manages to keep you watching just by his presenting alone, regardless of the guest stars, co-presenters and game show joking style of the shows themselves. He also presents a series of shows by the name "The Big Fat Quiz of..." where he asks sets of comedians questions about a certain topic (which is named in the title of each quiz), and his style follows on here, where he will casually chat with the comedians and the jokes come naturally out of their individual performances. His presentation almost feels like he's just being himself rather than trying to put anything on, and it's a style that comes across really well.
I also want to take some inspiration from "The Last Leg", with Adam Hills as the main presenter. What works for him is somewhat similar to Jimmy Carr in that he engages with his co-presenters and his guests to get a good overall view of the situation and make the comedy relevant to each situation. While I don't picture myself doing the Australian accent, I do want to follow the comedy style, and Adam Hill uses it to talk about actual subjects unlike Jimmy Carr, which is what I would like to do with the style, but with the more casual style of Jimmy Carr.
In the UK, there are also other famous presenters such as Ant & Dec and Graham Norton, and while I don't imagine I will take much inspiration from them, it's worthwhile to remember their presenter styles and the confidence they present whenever they say something.
The UK also has a very famous comedy sketch act known as "Monty Python", who once presented their own TV show (Monty Python's Flying Circus). In this show, they had cutaways between sketches with a TV presenter in a news studio moving things along, occasionally doing interviews or chatting in his presentation of what was, essentially, jokes. This presenter sketch had him act very stereo-typically upper-class and old fashioned, being dead serious about everything. He keeps a stern and straight face, and uses the stereotype of a news show accent (based on the idea of serious news presenters from the time period it was made in, whereas news presenters now are often a little bit more casual for appealing to more people). His phrasing was strict and precise, as it was scripted, and he would refer to things as they were, he wouldn't ever explain around things and would always say the joke upfront without ever laughing about it or trying to make a joke, almost acting as if he was a genuine news presenter, even phrasing things calmly, as can be seen in his usual sketch and catchphrase where he would say, deadpan, "Now for something completely different", as a transition between jokes. He keeps a monotone tone of voice, never speaking too fast or slow, a clear accent, with very consistent presentation, never quoting or being creative in how he talks (such as paraphrasing or describing things creatively) and with a very clear sentencing structure. He dresses in a suit, sitting (or standing) up straight and standard moving slightly only to express something or if it is part of the joke. His face was very straight and he would always look to the camera directly so that his lack of expression was visible. In terms of the target audience (which is, in general, British young adults), the presentation appeals as it parodies the style of news presenters of the time, and therefore creates a form of commentary on the older generations which becomes a joke in itself, and presents itself as very appropriate to its target audience. This is how I picture one of our presenter styles being like, as we talk about the History of the Oscars, and I know I would personally love to see this style be carried on for a longer sketch and actual presentation of a show as opposed to being quick cutaway gags each episode, making this a large inspiration beyond the style of making the presenting jokey.
The other presentation style will be used for representation of the Oscars After-parties and, as such, we will be doing the style of the most famous party people in the world, Wayne and Garth from Wayne's World. This could be considered at the opposite end of the spectrum to Monty Python, as it is a different form of comedy altogether. The use of language in Wayne's World is a lot more casual and stylised heavily around the 90s, using a lot of common slang words of the time and referring to things as being "excellent" in parody of the times. They would often be upfront about things, but would say everything using little catchphrases and phrasing to make whatever they said subtle and not as upfront and obvious if they were saying something that may be seen as offensive or rude by an older generation. They structured their sentences to always have either a catchphrase or a punchline, and the vocabulary wasn't very broad to allow this style to be done easily. They spoke in heavily stylised American accents, with a very casual tone of voice, speaking fast or slow relevant to their jokes (for example, speaking extremely fast to confuse an older man in the middle of the film), and they would consistently keep this style up when on and 'off' screen. They dresses casually in band shirts and baseball caps, would act casually in all situations, but also as if they were almost trying to act professionally on camera in an attempt to parody without giving the parody their full effort, making them come across as attempting to parody something casually and adding to the general essence of not being entirely bothered by whether they did good or not. They would gesture and make funny facial expressions to add to jokes, and move as such as part of the jokes. Everything was about their jokes and catchphrases, and professionalism isn't a priority as opposed to other presenters (like the Monty Python presenter). In terms of their appropriateness to the audience it depends on their target audience, with Wayne's World specifically appealing to the 90s teenager and young adult audiences, and as such I think their crudeness, bluntness and jokiness is fully appropriate for the audience. In terms of the set, it's in a studio set in the basement of a house, adding further to the casualness of the style of the presentation of Wayne's World.
In all, I would like to take inspiration from all of these presenters styles and use them to prevent a comedy style video detailing the History of the Oscars and the After-parties after this years Oscars, taking everything displayed in these presenters and using the knowledge to create a confident presentation style for a show.
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