​20.09.2022

360-degree news from a new studio – Cooperation between RTL Deutschland and agency CapeRock successfully enters the next rounds

by Alexandra Runden - Eyes & Ears of Europe

The new RTL news studio premiered at the beginning of September. Along with this, a redesign of the RTL news programmes by the Amsterdam agency CapeRock was also on the agenda.

Since the beginning of September, change has been the order of the day at RTL News. Starting with "RTL Aktuell" on 4 September and the "RTL Nachtjournal" on 5 September, the time of change comes to an end on 19 September with "Punkt 6/7/8" and on 26 September with "Punkt 12": The majority of RTL's news and magazine programmes are now broadcast from the new real 360-degree studio.

Bye bye green screen, hello walkable, real set

Even though the formats are now broadcast from the same studio, they keep their own charm. After all, they all have a specific studio configuration that can be assembled by high-precision robotic drive elements, creating a new studio look within minutes. Furthermore, the colour scheme is also adjusted to match the tonality and time of day of the respective format.

"The special feature in the design is a combination of HiRes LED for motifs and supporting LowRes LED on the walls. This makes for a studio in which there is not a single visual axis without LED walls. This allows us to occupy the studio completely thematically – when it suits the content – and to move around freely," explains Paul Hering, Head of Studio & Out-of-Home Production. "Editing, moderation and direction can thus support stories or explain complex contexts from a single photo or graphic to a fully atmospheric studio. A key advantage over the virtual set is that we are also a lot freer with movements and camera angles in the studio, without losing the ability to execute a thematic image change throughout the studio by pressing a button. To support this freedom in storytelling, we also use significantly fewer camera robotics than we did in the green screen studio."

A further step of the RTL brand

The Amsterdam agency CapeRock was responsible for the news design, motion system, on-air graphics as well as the choreography of the studio graphics on the various LED screens, thus continuing the good cooperation that was already evident in the redesign of the RTL X formats in 2020. Here, they focused on ensuring that the design works across all media, making even complex issues comprehensible to the general public. "Promoting a strong match between linear television and online is an important aspect of this project," said Marco-Paul de Jeu, Strategy Director CapeRock. "The sophisticated design can be used on all media channels and also on smaller devices such as smartphones. The news opener brings the viewers directly into the studio, where the headlines are presented in a seamless choreography on the various screens before the programmes begin with the anchors." At all times, the design foregrounds the range of content and shows its strength in the simplicity with which it further supports the transformation of the RTL brand. De Jeu: "We are convinced that this redesign completes the significant transformation of the RTL brand into the leading media brand in Germany."

More information on CapeRock at https://www.caperock.tv/

More information on the RTL-Studio (in German) at https://www.rtl.de/cms/neues-wohnzimmer-fuer-peter-kloeppel-rtl-setzt-mit-360-grad-studio-massstaebe-bei-der-nachrichtenpraesentation-5003593.html