Will they get the message?
A manual for makers of educational radio and television programmes
by Susannah Ross and Hazel Slavin
Sample page
Chapter 7 - Making a television programme
"As we said in the chapter about making a radio programme, this manual does not attempt to help you with technical matters. When it comes to making a television programme, there are many more technical details to consider as television is so much more complicated than radio; but we assume that you have competent technicians, who understand how to get the best from their equipment. We concentrate on the more general principles you need to have in mind as the producer of a television programme.
Let the pictures tell the story
We have already established that what people see tends to affect them more than what they hear and far more than what they read. You can't capture every detail on film, but always try to show what you want to tell the audience rather than have someone talk about it. So if you want to make a point that many doctors give good advice about contraception, show the audience a doctor in her office. Film a doctor talking to a patient - with their consent of course. Make sure the pictures convey exactly the message that you want. It is not enough to have pictures of a doctor and patient. If the doctor looks nervous or can be heard saying something wrong to the patient or the patient looks unhappy, then those pictures will not do.Make them natural
Just as the radio microphone is not as discerning as the human ear, so the television camera does not see as much or as well as the human eye. That's because the eye is far more sensitive than a camera and has a brain behind it interpreting what it sees. The brain behind a camera is ultimately that of the producer and you have to work hard to achieve the illusion of reality with equipment that is so limited compared with human eyes and ears. A television programme can never be the same as real life - sometimes you will deliberately make it look like fantasy - but as a general rule it should aim to look as natural as possible.Make them move
If your pictures are to engage the viewer's attention they must show movement. So if you are showing a doctor's office, make sure there is something happening in it - people coming and going or a nurse helping a patient. But remember that the camera cannot respond to what is in front of it in the way the human eye can. When we look at things our eyes change focus and move automatically to take in what our brains decide is interesting. If the camera changes focus and moves around, the viewer simply feels ill. The same is true of zooming in and out, which also makes your pictures difficult to put together when you come to edit them. Avoid zooms. The general rule is: keep the camera still and point it at things that move."See the table of contents.
Read the introduction.
To obtain a copy of the manual, contact Susannah Ross.