1. Understanding the requirements of pre- production
1: Type of production
A documentary is a factual programme that informs people with information and facts. The layout of my
documentary for example would be the introduction where I would introduce the documentary’s topic which
we will be discussing. The middle would be where I go in to details about the documentary topic using factual
information and interviews. We would then end the documentary with a conclusion not to decide which side
of the argument we were on but to give the viewers the chance to make their own choice. A good example of
a documentary would be “Aileen life and death of a serial killer.
A news programme is also a factual programme; however they present their information in a very different
way to a documentary. A news programme has to present news that has happened recently because that is
what the general public want to be informed about. News channels usually do live to the studio chats so that
the public can have a greater vision of what the news programme is talking about too. Probably the most well-
known example of a news programme with UK public viewers would be BBC news.
A factual programme is the category of both documentaries and news channels. Factual programming takes up
a large percentage of terrestrial and digital airtime in the United Kingdom. It could easily be considered the
largest of the genres, and it has many sub-genres that make up for a popular airtime filler. One of the most
influential sub-genres in factual programming would be considered to be the News and T.V documentaries.
2: Finance: Source of finance: requirements
I will now list all the items that most documentaries and news channels would require to be able to produce
their factual programme in a professional standard and why they would need them.
A video camera. This is a priority for factual programmes because without them they can’t film.
Documentaries usually use small portable video cameras because they are always on the move while shooting
their documentary’s so they need light portable equipment. A news channel which is usually based in a
professional studio would probably have a huge stationary camera because the location doesn’t change so
they wouldn’t need to worry about moving the camera around.
A tripod is important for when filming because if they don’t use one the footage would look shaky and
unprofessional.
Computers with editing software. This applies more to documentaries because they need to be able to edit all
their footage into the right format and order so the documentary looks professional standard. They might also
use this in the news to edit certain layouts of footage which they show when the news readers narrate over
the top of it.
Those were a few major parts of equipment required for making a factual programme. It is important to have
all the equipment you need for making your factual programme otherwise you would not be able to make the
factual programme to the greats it could be making it un professional.
Transport is important with factual programmes for getting people and equipment around to locations to get
their footage. A great example of this would be news channels because they have to get around a lot to do
their live report from scenes that have recently been mentioned in the news.

2. The crew itself is very important, it’s a lot easier if you have full crew with a crew member designated to a
certain job while making the factual programmes or filming them. It would be a lot harder making the factual
programme with a crew that isn’t as big as needed which could cause delay and other problems with the
factual programmes
3: Time (deadline)
A deadline is where you must complete a set task before a date which has been set for you to finish it. There
are a great many reasons why deadlines are important to T.V factual productions. I shall list a few of most
important reasons why. Deadlines are important to T.V factual productions because if they are not met it
delays the production or worse, it ruins the production.
Availability of equipment is important because if it is not available at the time of the deadline then the T.V
production would have to delay their filming or production because they didn’t have the required equipment.
This could be difficult with a daily news show like “BBC news” because it is done live every day at 10pm.
Availability of personnel is extremely important because if personnel are not at the production scene at the
right time then would most likely delay the T.V production and possibly halts it all together. Personnel like the
cameraman, director, interviewer and news readers are among the most required personnel to be at the
production scene for the T.V production to continue.
“Timescales for clearances” is getting permission to do something. For example you might need timescale
clearance to film in a certain location, or if you were a news reader or script writer you might need a clearance
to be allowed to read out the script on live TV in the news.
4: personnel
Personnel in a news channel would be…
1. Director $59,000 average pay. http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-news+director
2. Assistant director
3. Producer $49,000 average pay. http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-news+producer
4. Stage directors
5. Lighting technician
6. Sound technician
7. Makeup artists
8. Wardrobe team
9. Script writers
10. News reporters

3. 11. Camera men $58,000 average pay. http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-cameraman
12. Assistant cameramen
13. News studio readers$35,000 average pay. http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-news+reader
14. Technicians (make sure all the electrical equipment is working)
15. Weatherman
16. Personnel in a Documentary production team would be…
17.
18. Producer -$64,000 average pay a production. http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-
documentary+producer
19. Director $53,000 average pays a production. http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-
documentary+director
20. Assistant director
21. Camera man $58,000 average pay per production. http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-cameraman
22. Assistant cameraman
23. Historians
24. Presenter/ interviewer too?$65,000 average pay per production. http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-
documentary+presenter
25. Researchers
26. Wardrobe and make up team possibly
5: Facilities
Production equipment required…
Tripod for each camera
A video switcher that can handle every single video source you have (or computer system)
Multiple microphones
An audio switcher that can handle every audio source you have (or computer system)
Graphics generator
Multiple TV Monitors, minimum of one per video source
Video tape/DVD decks

4. CD/audio tape players
Cables and connectors to piece it all together
Lights
Set furniture- usually something homey. Avoid detailed patterns. Go for solid colours that blend.
Making your videos in a studio will save tons of time. Switching a show live saves hours and hours of editing
time. There are many practical reasons for setting up a studio if you are serious about video production
Post production materials …
Vision mixer
Editing studio
Graphic design studio
Sound mixing studio
6: Materials
Original materials: This is original footage that you have taken without editing. It would no longer be Original
material if you edited over it.
Archive and library materials: This is footage that has been recorded ages ago and been put into a recent
video. A great example are history documentaries of WW2 where the historians narrate over footage taken
just under 100 years ago of word war 2.
Photo library materials: This is storage of all the photos you have taken and found which you may want to
include at some point in your news channel or documentary.
Sound library: this is storage of all the sound that you will possibly include in your news channel or
documentary.
Script: The script is very important for both news channels and documentary’s because it is written
information for news readers to read from or documentary’s to use to ask questions. Most script readers
remember their scripts in their head for example the news readers on BBC news don’t have scripts held out in
front of them.
Interviews: Interviews are important in both news channels and documentary’s because with the help of
interviews it is easier to get more interesting information for the show for example. An eyewitness is
interviewed about the murder of someone or a professor is interviewed about global warming.
Recorded music: Recorded music is important in news shows and documentary’s because it can be used to
build up tension or suspense or it could be used during boring moments of the programme. It could also be
used as a signature symbol of T.V production itself, for example in BBC news there is the introduction music at
the beginning of each daily show.

5. 7: Contributors
Specialists/ experts: These people are very important for informative productions because they can offer
professional advice on the topic which is being discussed which viewers at home may have never known and
make them more interested in the show. For example an expert on Global warming might come into a news
studio when Global warming is being discussed to give his expertise.
Talent: This is most common in news shows. Sometimes talented people may come on the show and dhow off
their talent to the viewers at home or teach a few tips on how to do their talent. An example on this could be a
world champion boxer or dancer.
Public: public are often included in informative productions because its interesting for the viewers at home to
get average peoples verdicts on matters whether this be in a documentary or on a news show.
These people are important in Documentary’s and News channels because the productions would be boring if
they just had the presenters talking about the topic in the informative production. It is much more interesting
for the audience to find out experiences from other people which relate to the topic usually done by
interviewing the person.
Experts would be most common to appear in informative productions because their professional information
can be used to inform the public on the chosen topic.
8: Locations
Recce is where a production team visits locations to find out if they are suitable for using to shoot for their T.V
production. Below is an example of a Recce sheet that the production team would fill in on each location they
visited to decide if it was suitable to film there.
Yes/No for each area
Local Condition:
• Any known problems No □Yes □
If yes, please detail (including
source of information)
• Aid needed No □Yes □
If yes, please detail name,
address and contact numbers
for each person/organization
• Permission needed
No □Yes □
• Protective clothing needed
No □Yes □
If yes, please detail
Viewpoints:

6. • Appropriate viewpoints No □Yes □
isolated
No □Yes □
• Any obstructions
• Easy to reach and safe No □Yes □
If no, please detail
requirements
Requirements:
• Power available No □Yes □
If no, please detail alternative
arrangements
• Lighting appropriate
If no, please detail alternative No □Yes □
arrangements
• Sound equipment (please
detail)
Anticipated problems:
• Sound No □Yes □
If yes, please detail
• Picture
No □Yes □
If yes please detail
• People
No □Yes □
If yes, please detail
• Other
No □Yes □
If yes, please detail
Other considerations (please
provide details for each):
• Security considered
• Welfare considered (transport,
food, First Aid etc.)
• Set dressing required
• Props required
Comments:

7. It was most important for the production team to take into consideration the distance, cost, access and
weather. These are risks because if the weather was forecasted to be a thunderstorm and the production
team’s location wasn’t sheltered then that could have caused problems. Or perhaps the Location was in a
difficult to reach spot meaning it could be hard for the team to arrive on time or it could be difficult to get the
equipment on location