Pre-Production Techniques

Pre-Production Techniques

A TV factual has different needs to that of other productions due to the fact that  a TV factual role is to inform the audience about a specific topic or historical event that has taken place. For example a TV factual known as crime watch in the UK on BBC the point of this factual is to inform the audience around the UK of viscous crimes that have taken place either in their local area or some where else in the UK. The effectiveness of this factual is that with the use of reenactments and archive footage as-well as photo identification it helps warn the public about these criminals.Furthermore it encourages them to tell the police about these criminals to ensure the safety of others in the community it is an effect way to catch criminals and a good way to inform the public as it shocks and scares them.

However another example of factual would be an observational documentary.Mostly these are based around animals ,nature or endangering the echo system.The point of this type of factual is to inform the audience about the animals in any manner they would like this can varies form its habitat to its predators or how pollution is effecting the species of the animals. Often these documentaries are to raise awareness and raise money for charity to keep many animals from being hunted by poachers.

In the documentary i am currently in production of making it is a special interest documentary this means that it has a specific interest to a specific group of people there inst a genre to the documentary itself other then to inform the audience of a certain topic. The factual is about the socialism of tattoos and tattooing in the current generation we have today.The point of the factual is to inform the audience about the choice of getting a tattoo and how it can affect how people look at you in society. Using a voice over to inform the audience about the process,the journey and the views of people who want tattoos or have tattoos it is a two way discussion on how a tattoo can dramatically change your life and why people get tattoos in the first place as the process is both painful and permanent.

The production scale of this documentary is very small as i only have myself a single camera and a recorder to record interviews with many individuals from different backgrounds.

Compared to a big TV factual the difference is astounding as a company would fund this project and will air it when the factual is completed on a live television broadcast. To get extra funds the company will allow sponsorship or apply small ways of getting people involved with the program such as using "hashtag" on twitter as this is a current thing that TV companies do it also widens the number of people watching as twitter is a social media website that millions use per day. My documentary will be all done by myself with the tools i and equipment i have been given by my course. It will later be uploaded to Youtube an online video service where people around the world can watch it. It could possibly make money if the documentary was put up for motorization. This would allow people to put adds on my video and allow me get a small percentage of money and make more videos.

Deadlines are an important part of a factual as the company who funded this factual will give you a small timeline in which you have to complete the factual and then put it in a time slot so that it can be viewed by the public this can go from three months up to three years some factuals do recaps in which they go away for years and comeback to see the progression on how something has gone. This is a recurring series of factual  that aren't broadcast for many years but are memorable as people are interested to see the transition over time.

i myself will have to take into account deadlines as i will be interviewing many people of variety ages and i will be taking up there time to get my documentary on track.There are two different types of documentation needed when making any sort of film or TV show these are time sheets and a shooting schedule so that you and people you are working with know when and where they needed to be also having written consent from them that they are in this factual is a big part as-well as they could argue later on they don't want to be in your production where as if you have documentation you can use the footage as they signed a contract. Using these pieces of paper work help add stability to your deadline and it will allow your production to go smoother as you have things in order and marks set for your production.

A producer of a factual takes many things into consideration before he makes a documentary one main focus is making a team or a crew of people to help film this project they must take into account there,skills,availability and cost as with the budget and deadline set they must abide by both of those things in order to make this production run as smoothly as possible.If the factual went onto a full hour show the size of the production team would increase dramatically.As the producers hire many types of people who have a set of specific skills for example Crime watch you would need,director,editor,sound technician,location manger,journalist and an assortment of actors.However if a production spreads over many departments it is better to set specific crews to different jobs for example a set of film crew would go to the incident in which a crime happened another group would prepare the actors give them directions then film the event after which the interviewer would interview and film the victim in a smaller crew so not to over whelm the traumatized individual.

I however am doing this documentary on my own i will have a few volunteers to help me get my equipment from location A to location be.but i will be doing the filming,editing and interviewing as well as the narrator-ting and intro effects to my production as my budget is currently zero i don't have money to acquire professionals.

The facilities needed to create a massive production for any type of film or show would be of considerable side for example you would need equipment such as microphones,cameras both video and standard SLR as well as lights and tripods,The building housing this equipment would require an editing sweet inside the confides of the building,The company could also have other technology like green screen or 3D animation if they are hoping to recreate a digital simulation of a past event such as Walking with the dinosaurs.

The things i would need in order to make my documentary have a structure would be a location that links to my subject in this case it would be a tattoo studio. I myself having a tattoo i decided to go back to where i had my tattoo done. As well as a location i would need to read up on my topic for this i will use the internet to look at the history of tattooing as well as the progression in how it has changed over the centuries. Furthermore i will be using cameras to record interviews with a variety of different people to get a stronger experience and a better response from peoples ideas on tattooing. With the use of a device known as a H2 recorder i will be able to record the interviewees responses in a much more clearer fashion as camera mics often don't pick up audio as clear as they should.

The people who will be contributing to my small production will be four interviewees James Wray-Lang a media technician in his early twenties at the age to legally get a tattoo and at the prime age to get one. Callum Hemmings a media student who has six tattoos so he has experience with them a key stand point in my documentary. Sophie Masterman a girl who is approaching the age of going to university but does not think tattoos are a good thing and finally Danielle wood the youngest of the group and the most determined to do more things when she gets to the age of legal consent to do more with her body such as piercing and tattooing. I will have to get actor release forms so that i have written consent from all actors that they have allowed me to shoot them in this film. This form will also be needed for the tattoo studio so i have permission to shoot there as well and promote the business.

When filming on location you take into account to things these are if the location is an interior or exterior location. Simply put outside or inside also the risks you would have to take into account for health and safety reasons so people would not get hurt on set. If you note down the potential hazards in your filming location your minimizing injuries on location. for example an exterior hazard could be branches and twigs on the floor so you could move them to avoid tripping or if you are filming up hill move some where more flat grounded to stop the chance of falling or damaging equipment. Interior would be if you are working in a refurbished building wires or cables could be hanging from the ceiling or water could be dripping both of these hazard could cause you to trip or get shocked.

Taking this into account my location is both exterior as the tattoo shop out side is a clear giant flat path with a podium on the side of the shop it dose not block my path so it is a clear space.The interior is a busy shop as it has two tattooing chairs a sofa and outlets on the side.I asked if we could move some equipment to maximize space and reduce accident. The tattoo artist was more then happy to oblige.

When making my documentary i will follow Ofcoms regulations in which i will not make racial comments or stereotypes that will hurt or may offend any of my audience watching.If there will be any bag language i can either cut it or bleep it so the documentary isnt distasteful or may encourage young viewers to quote any bad language seen in the documentary.While filming this documentary i must stay professional at all times i will not be objective or subject to my interviewee or talk to them unprofessional or talk down to them in anyway. I will stick to the time and dates we agreed upon and if i use any copyrighted music i will use a form to dignify that i do not own this music and i will acknowledge the artist who made this song by giving them full credit at the end of the documentary as well as a written statement.