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    The Reality TV Director and Producer Guidebook
    The Reality TV Director and Producer Guidebook
    The Reality TV Director and Producer Guidebook
    Ebook102 pages1 hour

    The Reality TV Director and Producer Guidebook

    By Ian Bull

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Non-Fiction and Reality TV now accounts for almost a third of all broadcast television. So how do you create a TV show when you have no script? How do you find the story as you are shooting it? And most importantly, how do you track and follow stories with the least waste of time and the most efficiency? THE REALITY TV DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER GUIDEBOOK has the answers.

    This guide has been used on dozens of reality shows, including shows produced by Bunim-Murray Productions, MTV, and Original Productions.

    So often in TV, new workers are thrown into new work situations without proper training. This guidebook helps train anyone who wants to work on a reality or non-fiction TV show. It also gives an overview of how many shows are structured, and gives hints on producing, directing, and saving money.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIan Bull
    Release dateFeb 7, 2011
    ISBN9781465787897
    The Reality TV Director and Producer Guidebook
    Author

    Ian Bull

    Ian Bull is the pen name of Donald Ian Bull, a TV producer and director turned thriller novelist. His TV credits include The Real World, The Osbournes, and Dr.90210. He grew up in San Francisco, attended UC Berkeley and then UCLA, and now lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter. When he's not writing, he likes to follow his wife and daughter around with a pen and paper and write down all the hilarious things they say.

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      Book preview

      The Reality TV Director and Producer Guidebook - Ian Bull

      THE REALITY TV DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER HANDBOOK

      by

      Donald Bull

      SMASHWORDS EDITION

      * * * * *

      PUBLISHED BY:

      Donald Bull on Smashwords

      The Reality TV Director and Producer Guidebook

      (a Field Guide to Daily Production)

      by Donald Bull

      Intersection Productions

      copyright© 2011

      all rights reserved

      Smashwords Edition License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

      Disclaimer:

      The information and advice in this ebook is meant for educational purposes only and neither the author nor Intersection Productions accept any responsibility or liability for any damage or losses of any kind resulting from advice included in this guide, whether directly or indirectly. Anything that happens on a reality show is first and foremost the responsibility of the network, the producers and the directors involved.

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      The Various Positions: Producer, Camera, Audio, Director, Logger, Story Editor, Editor

      Tricks of the Trade

      A Video Map

      Interview Locations and Looks

      What is B-roll Anyway?

      How B-Roll works on a Reality Show

      B-roll vs. Story vs. Interview

      The First Two Weeks of Shooting

      Using the Power of the Camera

      Interviews

      Type of Stories You'll Encounter

      PREFACE

      This is a compilation of ideas about what works well during the production of a reality based show, from one person’s point of view.

      After reading this, crew people new to reality TV will hopefully understand what goes into making a reality show -- but this is just one kind of reality show, and one way of producing that kind of show.

      Experienced crew people will both agree and disagree with what's written here and we welcome feedback.

      This is meant to be a broad overview, so certain ideas may work well on some reality TV shows and not on others.

      This is also not complete -- this document will continue to be changed and updated as more ideas are added.

      INTRODUCTION

      THE ESSENTIAL DILEMMA

      There is a ironic contradiction that takes place during the production of a reality show.

      When things are good:

      When the show is working well, fewer tapes are shot in the field. The production crew seems to get better stories with less work.

      This means there are: fewer tapes to dub...fewer tapes to log...the story department has to dig through fewer tapes for story material...and finally...there are fewer tapes in the edit bay.

      Stories are easier to outline in the story department and easier for editors to put together.

      The entire show is easier for everyone concerned and the overall show is cheaper and easier to produce.

      When things are not working well:

      When the show is not working well, the production crew is shooting too many tapes and not getting enough story material. Why?

      It could be the first week of production and everyone is still getting used to one another.

      Maybe there isn't enough story material happening, so the crew is working extra hard shooting anything and everything that might work.

      This may also happen because there is an attitude in TV that tape is cheap. Why shoot two tapes when you can shoot six? If two tapes are good, six tapes are better.

      But six tapes take three times longer to dub than two...three times longer to log, and they create three times as much work for the story department and the editors.

      Those three tapes have essentially tripled the overall cost and time of post-production -- although the cost in the field is just a few more tapes.

      Back in the home office, the post-production department ends up making specific story decisions to cut down on the huge volume of tape.

      The story department and the editors make the final creative decisions about what gets loaded into the AVID and what gets left behind.

      Which Takes the Crew Out of The Creative Process.

      Often on reality shows production crews feel their best material is not getting used.

      There's a sense of frustration because no one knows whether what they're shooting will every end up in an episode...so shooting great material ends up feeling the same as mediocre material.

      This, in turn, creates a gulf between the production and post-production crew. The production crews complain that the people in post missed the best stuff, while the people in post complain that the crews never followed the right stories.

      So what's the solution?

      Invest everyone on the crew in the story.

      If everyone on the crew and in post is always thinking about the story, they feel more invested in the work.

      There is a misconception that on a reality show you just shoot everything that happens -- and then later it's turned into a story. That attitude creates too much tape and too much work for everyone.

      On a reality TV show a good production crew already has an idea how each shot will be used, and for which story-line. They also know why other shots get left behind.

      If everyone on the crew thinks this way, then the fun part of telling the story will be shared by everyone.

      Make sure everyone knows as much about the entire process.

      That way needless work will be avoided, and the work that is done will be used.

      There's lots of reasons why tapes get ignored. If the crew knows what doesn't work, they can avoid needless work.

      Also, if everyone on the crew stays conscious of the amount of tapes being shot, good material will more evident.

      The Goal of this Document:

      SECTION ONE

      To Help People Learn Every Position:

      Every member of the crew contributes to the story. We want every crew member to understand every other crew member contribution.

      This document is not meant to teach a camera shooter how to shoot, for example. Most reality TV shooters are already experienced professionals.

      Instead, this document is designed so that you can read how the other people in other crew positions contribute to getting the story. That way you can streamline your own work to better match theirs.

      Everyone wants their work to be used, and the best way to insure

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