Appendix E: Television Production 215 Source: Communication / Behaviour Change Tools: Programme Briefs - NO. 1 Entertainment Education, January 2002 http://www.unfpa.org/upload/lib_pub_file/160_filename_bccprogbrief1.pdf 216 Soap Opera Production Soap Opera Production A one hour Soap Opera episode requires the production of 260 hours of text each year. Producers demand that an hour s worth of text be completed each working day and all production decisions must be made prior to the shooting of an episode. Source: Allen C. Robert. Speaking of Soap Operas. North Carolina: University of North Carolina, 1985, p. 46-73. 217 Source: Allen C. Robert. Speaking of Soap Operas. North Carolina: University of North Carolina, 1985, p. 46-73. 218 1
Soap Opera Production Since the late 1910s, the cameraman has been replaced by a production unit which consists of a producer, director, writer, cameraman, actors, and editor. Source: Allen C. Robert. Speaking of Soap Operas. North Carolina: University of North Carolina, 1985, p. 46-73. 219 Television Viewing Per Capita/Week #1 United States: 28 #2 United Kingdom: 28 #3 Italy: 27 #4 France: 23 #5 Germany: 23 #6 Ireland: 23 #7 Australia: 22 #8 Netherlands: 20 Source: www.nationmaster.com 220 Television Viewing Per Capita/Week #9 Denmark: 20 #10 Belgium: 19 #11 Finland: 18 #12 Norway: 18 #13 Sweden: 18 Table Reading -script reading by main actors Blocking -determine cast and camera movements, position lighting, rehearsals Source: www.nationmaster.com 221 222 2
Shooting Situation comedy formats: -single-camera film -multi-camera tape -multi-camera film -block and tape 223 Single-camera film -most expensive -shot like a film, one master shot of each scene -no audience present Multi-camera tape -live set with audience -rehearsed for 4 days, filmed on 5th day with 3 or 4 camera -presented in continuity for the audience 224 Multi-camera film -same of multi-camera tape, except film cameras instead of video Block and tape -multiple videotape camera used like film cameras -no audience -whole scenes shot at a time -cost-efficient, but not favored for primetime 225 Production Schedules Sitcoms: Rehearsed for 4 days and filmed in one night Game shows: 4 episodes filmed per day News & talk shows: generally broadcast live Late-night talk shows: taped as live Source: Emm, Adèle. Researching for Television and Radio. p. 4. 226 3
Principal Photography: actual process of shooting the major sequences. Ancillary photography: may be done later Mark Winoker and Bruce Holsinger, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Movies, Flicks and Film, Macmillan: Indiana, 2001 227 Multi-camera film -same of multi-camera tape, except film cameras instead of video Block and tape -multiple videotape camera used like film cameras -no audience -whole scenes shot at a time -cost-efficient, but not favored for primetime 228 Production Costs For multi-season series, some fixed costs decrease. However, star salaries rise, and more than offset. 229 Production Schedules Feature films: 1.5 minutes of screen time filmed per day. Average: 10-16 weeks, depending on budget and length TV dramas: one hour of screen time filmed in 11 days or less (i.e., 6 min. of screen time/day) TV Soap operas: 4 half hour episodes per week (i.e., 25 min./day) Source: Emm, Adèle. Researching for Television and Radio. New York: Routledge, 2002. p. 4. 230 4
Network license fee -amount of money per episode for the right to air a show Production cost per episode: Sopranos - $3.88 million Friends - $10 million Studio determines production budget, difficult to change Prime-Time Network Programming US season shortened from 39 to 24 weeks Series 20-22 episodes/season Summer schedule neglected Source: Lindheim, Robert. Inside Television Producing. p. 24-6. 231 232 September premiere period Fox introduces new series whenever they are ready Replacement shows begin in January or February TV Primetime Programming Costs Per 30 Sec $140,000 $120,000 $100,000 $80,000 $60,000 $40,000 $20,000 $0 Costs per 30 Sec. 1965 1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 233 234 5
The TV actors generally work under long-term studio contracts; the directors work under the studios schedules; the episodes are mainly shot on the studios own soundstages so the production accountants can closely control costs; postproduction expenses, such as digital additions, are kept to a minimum; Epstein, Edward Jay, The Big Picture, The New Logic of Money and Power in Hollywood, New York: E.J.E. Eli M. Noam, Publications, Production Ltd., Inc., 2005 235 6