TV Documentary Making Review

This article together with Radio Learning Review is my learning report, which I learnt from scratch of RV/Radio feature/documentary making.

A year practical course on TV and Radio allows me understand many TV/Radio news/feature/document making skills, and plenty of techniques. It is a very useful course because it enables us to gain first hand experience of TV/Radio programme making. Every story we’re starting from scratch, and have gone through research, pitch the story, doing interviews, vox pops, filming, writing script, editing, using different treatment these processes etc.

TV Documentary Making

Working with a group for the TV Documentary taught me lots of things, we are literally learning how to hold video cam, how to use video cam, how to shoot. During the session, I understand that the basic shots should be wild shot, middle shot, and close up, and every shot should last 3 seconds, otherwise it will be too quick for audience to watch. During filming, no pans, no rooms, and no dirty short.

Different shot are indicating different meaning, for example close up indicates power, indicates the importance, wild shot is a geographic idea, gives people rough idea of the scene. Shot cut should elaborate the character, should as part of the background of the character which is been filming.

We need to practise hand-held as well, because practically some of the places it is impossible to use tripod, for instance, the opening scene of our documentary China Generation Next (with yinwang, luyang), we are filming inside the Chinese parade, and we have to move alongside with the parade. As well, for tracking people on streets hand held is essential.

For adjusting the camera, we need to make sure white balance, spot metre, no explosure, as well checking the status check to make sure sound quality, becareful not to loosing focus etc.

As a TV journalist, we cannot be afraid of camera, as well we cannot be afraid of going close to people and filming them. In fact, psychologically people are loving be on TV, they find it a different experience, and in the meantime, they get nervous easily, so we are the people to make sure these characters on TV looks relaxed and be natural.

Along the TV learning going on, I gradually understand more that how to make a story vibrant, a fascinating story should possess the following elements, human interest, conflict, treatment, accessibility, talent.

Particually, attractive story should have movement normally, let the characters to tell the story, very recently I watched a 60 minutes documentary from BBC iPlayer entitled Chinese School – the Young Pioneer. I found the story very interesting, not only because I’m Chinese and I literally understand what kind of picture the story intends to portray, but also because the whole story is formed by a series of stories which is driving by movement that the character lead, and I just feel the story telling is flowing and vibrant.

But in some special case, the story doesn’t have movement, even doesn’t have voice over, the whole story is purely interviewees driven, which I watched very recently as well, the story is on how teenagers are caring about their physical appearance. So I think the some exceptions are still existable.

Teamwork is essential for TV documentary making, TV makers should love people, should know how to deal with his/her buddies. Friendly and harmonious atmosphere will positively influence teamwork. To achieve friendliness and solidarity within a team, good communication, tolerance and understanding are essential.

From our documentary making process, I realise that we should write the script first, then matching with the images, if the other way round, will be much difficult. For script writing, I come to learn that the sentence which connecting the former and the latter ideas are extremely important, because it is a time to guide audience where we are, and this script writing technique is even more important for radio, because radio is entirely depending on the words to guide listeners.

From editing point of view, I feel much more familiar with Final Cut in the second semester, especially besides editing documentary, I also got some chances to edit the video podcast for the website, I come to learn using colour correction to change the unsatisfied colours, key frame to edit the movement of pictures, technically I feel much better than first semester.