Scoop!
| Scoop! | |
|---|---|
| Designer: | Silke Abele |
| Year: | unknown |
| Players: | 30 - 45 (3 teams of 10 - 15 people) |
| Stuff required: | 3 tripods, 3 basic Flip-type camcorders, 3 screens + linking cables, 3 flipcharts, marker pens, 3 reporter’s microphones, 3 bags, ties for all team members in 3 colours, notebooks for all team members in 3 colours, props in 3 colours (wig, bucket and spade, juggling balls, a tent, a miniature boat etc - if played in different locations, the clues and props can be personalised to fit the location), cards with clues, outfits for the ‘celebrity’ and the bodyguards, silly 'poop-a-scoop' award rosettes for the winning team. |
| Crew required: | Crew needed: 3 scorers, and 3 co-scorers who also work as "extras" to play the celebrity and their 2 bodyguards |
| Preparation: | Two or three hours |
| Time required: | An hour: 20 minutes playing + 20 minutes watching / scoring + explaining and regathering time |
| Place required: | Any public space. A space with multiple levels & pedestrian access is ideal, eg Barbican, South Bank |
| Activities: | Sneaking, filming, teamwork, sound |
 | |
 | |
Scoop! is a game of sneaking, stealth, sensational stories, scoops and of course some silliness set in the world of TV news reporting. It is part of the Playmakers project.
Players work as a unit - a TV news team - to secretly scout filming locations in the gamespace and report on outrageous, funny or ridiculous but almost certainly newsworthy stories and video record these reports.
They have to get the best stories without being caught on camera by rival TV stations, but also have to try to foil scoops of their opponents or catch them being lazy.
Instructions for Players
Teams
The players are part of news teams for rival cable news channels. You will be working for one of WFTV (the blue channel), KQXZ (the red channel) or NRPY (the yellow channel), and will wear appropriately coloured ties for identification. Your team will also have a video camera, a reporter’s microphone, a bag of props, a mobile phone from your TV network, and a map of the gamespace.
You will also be given a list of tip-offs for potential stories occurring around the South Bank. All three teams are given the same tip-offs, but you are encouraged to create and report your stories creatively! The tip-offs are worth varying amounts of points depending on the value of the story. Further tip-offs may be sent to you via the network mobile phones during the course of the game, so be sure to pay attention to them, as these tip-offs may lead to stories that can score you big points.
Play
At the beginning of the game, all three teams will be given ten minutes to look at the tip-offs and plan how they intend to report the different stories. You should also use this time to compose a brief network jingle. At the end of this time, all three news teams will start recording simultaneously; after this point the cameras will keep rolling throughout the game and may not be switched off for any reason.
Players are encouraged to separate into smaller teams to scout for locations and set up stories for their camera to film. The network mobile phone, which will be attached to the camera, will accept incoming calls, so you can use this to co-ordinate your teams.
Over the course of the game, the task for the teams is to scout for locations and create situations, using their props, other team-members or (consenting) bystanders, that tell the stories described in the tip-offs. These stories must then be “reported” on camera by a team-member. At the end of the game, the videos will be played simultaneously on three screens, and each video will be scored in real-time. Some stories will refer to events orchestrated by the game makers, but these instances will be made clear; at all other times, it is up to the players to manufacture the stories that they will report.
Note that tip-offs #1 and 2 can be completed multiple times.
Reports
A valid report must fulfil the following criteria:
- At the beginning and end of any report – i.e. any section that your team wants to count towards your score – members of your team should sing your network jingle at the tops of your voices.
- Each report must be fronted by one or two correspondents, who should report the event in a newsworthy manner. No two reports may be fronted by the same correspondent, so plan who will report each story in advance! The correspondent must be wearing a tie and jacket in the colours of his or her network. The exceptions are stories #1 and 2 (“Interviewer” and “Business”) – these may be fronted by any correspondent.
- Each report needs to be at least 20 seconds long to be valid. No cutting corners!
The Tip Sheet
10 POINTS:
- ATTN INTERVIEWER: vox pops needed on issues discussed below - NB no faking this! Real people only this time! Interview non-players on any of the issues related to the stories on this tip sheet. May be completed multiple times.
- ATTN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: shoddy working practices of rival channels - see if you can catch them reporting a story. Report on another team in action, highlighting their obvious deficiencies. May be completed multiple times.
30 POINTS:
- ATTN WEATHER REPORTER: rumours of strange weather on the South Bank, please follow up asap
- ATTN TRAVEL CORRESPONDENT: wild new holiday craze bringing people to South Bank? Any truth in this?
- ATTN WAR CORRESPONDENT: south bank invaded say MOD sources
50 POINTS:
- ATTN SPORT CORRESPONDENT: final of le Sport Nouveau de Petonque Urbaine on the South Bank, please cover
- ATTN ARTS CORRESPONDENT: actors striking outside the National Theatre
70 POINTS:
- ATTN HUMAN INTEREST CORRESPONDENT: musical extolling virtues of the South Bank spontaneously emerges outside RFH
Video
Play history
- Scoop! first ran at Sandpit #13, in June 2009.
