Television Production

Television production is often a carefully balanced ‘compromise between artistic aspirations and hard practicalities.

On the one hand there are the less tangible ‘artistic’ aspects of the program. The way you present ideas will influence how your audience receives and interprets-them. The way you use:your camera(s), intercut successive shots, arrange lighting and sound, will give the subject itself a certain authenticity. Poor or inappropriate presentation can trivialize it.

On the other hand, we must never forget such down-to-earth matters as cost, time, space, facilities, personnel required, etc. It is not surprising that decisions are often a choice between conflicting issues.

Opportunities and limitations

In practice, you will find that a number of factors directly influence how you present a subject and the techniques you decide to use.

Where, for instance, you are shooting an event that has been arranged by others, you may be able to plan your general approach, but will often have to adapt techniques to suit conditions as you find them. In these circumstances, there are seldom opportunities for ‘retakes’ or ‘repeat action’. So you have to rely on subsequent editing to hide faults and omissions.

In the empty studio, you seem to have free choice to arrange the entire action and production treatment to get exactly the effects you want. You have complete control over everything that is happening – theoretically, at least! The drawback of this ‘blank sheet’ situation is that, until you have planned and organized the program, you have nothing to shoot!

While many program subjects can be shot at any time, others are more restrictive. For example, you may have to wait for the right season to see plants in bloom, or go to a suitable location to find the snow required in the story line.

Some situations give plenty of opportunity to select shots at leisure. Cithers are one-time opportunities, where you need an instinct for ‘the-right moment’.

Some types of action are concentrated in a limited area (e.g. snooker table), while other activities are spread out over a broad field (e.g. marathon runs, ski events).

Style

As you will see, productional treatment can range from a straightforward presentation, to a highly stylized form.

Production may be primarily a matter of organization; bringing the right elements together (script, performers, settings, etc.) and using cameras and microphones to display the performance through carefully selected shots.

At the other extreme, production can be a persuasive process, in which you carefully arrange picture and sound to influence your audience in particular ways, to play on their emotions.

TYPICAL FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE PRODUCTION METHODS

How you present a sybject and organize your facilities can depend on the program subject and the audience:

The nature of the subject

• Some program topics require considerable preparation, e.g. research, specialist knowledge, finding suitable illustrations, etc.

• Even a straightforward presentation may involve extensive organization - re copyright, insurance, technical problems.

• Some subjects pose inherent problems, e.g. children, animals, materials that quickly deteriorate.

The program format

• Some presentations follow established routines (e.g. interviews); and an entirely different approach may prove unacceptable or distracting.

The type of presentation

• Some sybjects require special facilities or preparation (e.g. models, computer graphics).

• If the program is to be based or, borrowed/hired material (e.g. library film), is this available?

• Some types of production (e.g. dance, moving vehicles) need a lot of space to be presented effectively.

Program emphasis

Is the main aim of your program:

• To amuse and entertain your audience?

• To inform them (e.g. provide data, instruct, guide)?

• To teach (e.g. language course)?

• To persuade them to buy or use a product (sales, advertising)?

The productional approach will depend on the program’s purpose.

The audience

• Is your audience ‘captive’ or ‘casual’? Do you need to grab attention to persuade them to watch (advertisement), or are they eager and attentive (cooking demonstration)?

• Is the program subject familiar to them, or is it a new and complicated topic?

• Are there likely to be problems with terminology or language?

Audience viewing conditions

• Will the audience be close or distant from the ‘TV screen(s)? Will detail be clearly discernible?

• Are individuals watching in their own homes (distractions), at a study carrel, a group seminar?

• Can they watch the program tape over and over, or is it one-time presentation?

The duration of the presentation

• The duration of the presentation will affect how many topics/themes you, can cover, how far you can develop ideas.

• Is it a single complete presentation, or one of a series? Are parts self-contained, or related to (developed from) others?

Live or recorded presentation

• Is the program being presented ‘live’, ‘live-on-tape’, or edited?

• Are there opportunities for retakes to correct and improve?

• Will editing involve basic compilation, or full post-production treatment?

Production conditions

• Will the program be studio-based or on location (i.e. self-dependent)?

• Single-camera or multi-camera approach?

• Is it to be unrehearsed, or partially or fully rehearsed?

• Will it be recorded straight through, or in sections?