PART 1 The Foundations of Television Production The Hidden Factors of Production As you will discover, there are many hidden factors that directly affect how a television director works on a television production, such as: The program's budget. The amount of time allocated for rehearsal and recording. The available studio space. The type of equipment obtainable, and its flexibility. The size and the experience of the production team. Support/backup facilities. All aspects of the production must be arranged and adjusted to suit these parameters. THE DAILY ROUTINE In a surprisingly short time, many of the procedures and operations that mystified you not so long ago will quickly become second nature. Therein lies a trap for the unwary. It's all too easy to learn techniques by rote, and go on to apply them as a comfortable routine. In a busy sched- ule, it is a temptation, of course, to apply regular solutions that have been successful before, rather than to work out innovative and creative approaches. However, if your goal is program- ming that will interest and engage your audience, you cannot settle for the routine. THE PRESSURES OF PRODUCTION Program making is an absorbing, extremely satisfying process, but one is always aware of under- lying practical pressures. Aspirations are one thing, but the achievable can be quite another. In the real world, one has to rationalize and cope with the various pressures that influence the form and development of program making: How much will it cost? Is there time? What hap- pens if it overruns the scheduled time? Is there enough skilled labor available? Do we have the equipment/materials? Are there any regulations/restrictions preventing it? Very few productions evolve without a hitch of some kind. There will always be the planned action that does not work, the last-minute hang-up, the prop that breaks, the missed cue, and so on. Particularly when things go wrong, it's very easy to become more preoccupied with the mechanics of the situation; for example, how much recording time remains, camera moves, or microphone shadows, rather than aesthetic issues or potential audience responses. These can get pushed into the background. It is not surprising that, especially during live airing of a show, program makers can lose sight of the value and purpose of the end product their audience will see. The more fully you under- stand production principles and problems, the freer you are to think about the significance of what you are doing. 14 KEEP THE AUDIENCE IN MIND One of the greatest difficulties that everyone working on any production will have is how to assess how the audience will respond. The viewer is seeing it for the first time, and usually the only time. The production team has become overly familiar with all its aspects. Every person in the team is concentrating on their own specific contribution. While the director is worried about the talent's performance: The set designer has noticed where some scenic flats do not fit properly. The lighting director is fretting about a boom shadow. The audio person finds the air conditioning noise to be obtrusive behind quiet speech. The makeup artist is disturbed by a perspiring forehead. The costume designer has noticed creases in a collar. The video operator is preoccupied with picture matching in color correction. The producer is concerned with the costs of overrunning the scheduled time.