ITV News Unveils Ground-breaking Graphics For Election Night Special

ITV News will deliver compelling and easy to understand coverage of the unfolding polls with innovative Election Night graphics.

The Election 2010 programme, to be broadcast on ITV1 on May 6th from 9.55pm until at least 6am, will for the first time have both the election set and accompanying graphics all in the same studio. ITV News' graphics team achieved this by designing an interactive holographic wall in which graphics will alternate between the following:

- 'Flo' - an all new version of the swingometer designed to show a three-way flow of seats rather than the previous linear two-party swingometer

- a 3-D House of Commons

- a battleground of key seats

- historical information on swings in previous elections

- a special hung Parliament graphic

This innovation - from the broadcaster that pioneered mainstream UK use of virtual studio technology with a virtual House of Commons on election night 2001 - will mean greater interaction between Alastair Stewart, who will be anchoring the programme and instantly reporting results, and Julie Etchingham, who'll be operating all of the holographic wall graphics. The interaction and speed of analysis will be particularly important when results and counts come in thick and fast.

3-D animated caricatures of the main party leaders and Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and Winston Churchill, created by Darkside Animation, have also been designed to illustrate historical swings.

'We felt it was really important to have Alastair and Julie in the same studio so that there's genuine interaction between both presenters as events unfold,' said Kojo Boateng, Design Director at ITV News.

'As Alastair reports the latest news from the counts, we'll be able to seamlessly pan to Julie as she controls the graphics for the in-depth analysis to put each result in a wider context.'

'The new graphics that we've created are specifically designed to help viewers follow what's predicted to be the tightest ballot for years,' said Ian White, Head of Computer Graphics at ITV News.

'Scenarios such as a hung Parliament or a flow of seats between the three main parties are all accounted for. Our Election Night graphics are all about steering clear of gimmickry and focusing on making developments easy to follow from the sofa.'

'It's going to be the most thrilling election night in a generation - and potentially one of the trickiest to track and explain,' said Julie Etchingham, who'll be operating the Election Night graphics.

"With the real prospect of a hung parliament, we've developed a huge graphics battleground to guide viewers through all the key seats as the results come in. It's my job to chart the parties' progress on the battleground throughout the night - and show what it means for the new parliament. By 6am I expect my arm muscles to be aching - but hope we'll have explained every twist of the story as it unfolds.'

ENDS.