Media Production

A Practical Guide to Radio & TV

Amanda Willett

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781136187063
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Ciencias sociales
• Subtopic: Estudios de medios

Media Production is an introductoryguide to radio, TV and film production techniques. Illuminating the step by step process from conception to delivery, from the initial brainstorms, through planning, research and editing, this book creates a guided structure to help students learn about media production. Aimed at those producing radio, film or TV productions for the first time, this book offers relevant advice which takes account of the context in which students work and the type of equipment available to them. Supported by online resources, this textbook provides templates, notes and exercises to help students prepare for their own productions, as well as a video and audio library showcasing techniques, interviews and behind the scenes industry footage.

Part I
Preparation and planning

1 How to use this book

This book is designed to take you through all the stages of producing a TV, film or radio project. The book will start right at the beginning, developing ideas and planning a project, and will take the reader through all the stages of production and finish with the delivery of the project. The book covers a number of genres; however, it concentrates on the types of production which students are most often asked to complete for exam qualifications.

The book is divided into two parts. Part I deals with research, development planning and preparation. It is intended to help you to build up a production plan. There will be various templates for you to download off the website and collate together. The aim is that having worked through Part I you will have built a comprehensive production folder, containing all your research and planning documents. These may be used to help you get the most out of your shooting and recording days.

Part II deals with recording, shooting and editing. It will give you a comprehensive guide to the practical aspects of shooting, recording and editing with helpful tips and advice.

Technical advice: There are so many different types of camera, microphones, editing packages, sound mixers that it isn’t possible to offer any kind of instructional manual here. This book assumes you know how to operate whatever equipment you have and that you will be using fairly basic equipment.

TV and radio: TV and radio share some production processes, especially in the early stages of planning and research; however, clearly they differ as you get on to recording and editing techniques. Part I largely treats TV and radio together. However, in Part II there is more separation between the two media. If you are making a radio programme therefore, some of the chapters in Part II won’t be relevant. However, everyone should read Part I.

The book should be used in conjunction with the website. On the website you will find printable versions of the templates and scripts illustrated in the book. Throughout the book you will be encouraged to create documents to help with your production. These are the kinds of documents you would create if you were working in a professional environment. Before you begin work on your production it may be helpful to prepare a folder and start to keep all these documents together. If you do this, by the end of the production you will have a record of the entire process. Many exam boards ask for an evaluation to be written with the project, and the records you keep will help you with some aspects of your evaluation.

On the website you will also find links to examples of different genres of radio and TV. Some of the exercises in the book will ask you to listen and critique or deconstruct the material. It will be important for you to do these exercises; the more you listen and watch, the more ideas you will start to have for your own project.

Where to start?

When you start any project it is important to understand all the elements of the task you have to complete and the order in which you have to do them. Below is a list of the main tasks associated with making your production. To complete your production, you will need to go through all the stages below. Some stages take longer than others, but you will need to work through most of them if you are going to be successful.

This is the first document that you should print out from the website. Always have this at the front of your folder. It will be your checklist. As you complete the tasks you can tick them off; that way you won’t forget anything and you’ll know how far you’ve got to go!

Template 1.1 List of tasks

2 Getting an idea

When you begin your project you may have a brief telling you what kind of film, TV or radio piece you are being asked to make. Your first task is to come up with an idea. You may have a really good idea immediately; however, a lot of groups need a little time to come up with their plans. This can be quite a daunting task if you are not used to it.

The first thing you will need to do is carry out some background research. You need to know something about the type of piece you are going to make and about the audience you are making it for, so before you start thinking about your own idea you should do more background research on your brief.

On the website you can download some checklists (an example is illustrated below). You should keep the checklist and your notes together in your folder. The checklist will remind you of the types of questions to ask but also prompt you to think about the aims of your project.

Research notes

When you are doing your research you should be keeping notes. There is no set way of keeping these notes; some producers tend to end up with notebooks full of scribbled notes, and others are very methodical.

You should also be clear about your objectives for your research. It’s true that you may often need to do some background reading around a topic, which won’t be particularly focused, but when you start the kind of research suggested in this chapter you should try to have an outcome in mind. Ask yourself:

• Why am I doing this research?
• What questions do I need to ask?
• What outcome do I need?

Audience research

Big broadcasters have very elaborate and expensive methods of getting audience feedback and researching their audience. When you start your project it’s worth thinking about your particular audience; in particular you can start to think about their behaviour when they are consuming media.

Template 2.1 Audience research checklist

The answers will be different depending on the audience you have. This type of research helps you think about the kind of approach you might take with your production. You can start to build up a picture of your audience. However, you will need to be careful about stereotyping your audience; try and canvas some opinions rather than just guess.

Background programme research

Whatever project you have, a good thing to do is to start to look at some examples of work in the same genre. It will help you to think about your own project and give you some ideas. If you look carefully at similar types of work you will start to see how they are constructed. You will start to be able to deconstruct a piece. By deconstructing a piece and looking at its component parts you will get a better idea of how to construct your own piece. Depending on what type of piece you are making there will be different questions to ask. Try to find as many examples as you can.

Remember: keep a note of what you have looked at and where you found it. Later on it may be important to cite your sources.

TV and film trailers

If you have been asked to do a trailer, start to look at trailers on the internet; they are very easy to find. If you know the type of film trailer you are going to make, lo...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• list of templates
• List of exercises
• List of figures
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Part I Preparation and planning
• Part II Recording, shooting and editing
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index