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.
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
