Television Program and Production

Assignment 1
Characteristics and importance of television!
 

Television is a mass medium for entertainment, education, news, politics, gossip, and
advertising. Television is one of the most important inventions of the twentieth
century. It pleases both our eyes and ears. It is a source of knowledge also. 

First of all, there are many different types of programs on television. The viewer can
watch a weather report to prepare for the day. Cartoons and sport provide relaxation
and fun. School programs, documentaries, and the news teach us about the world. And
advertisements inform us about products and new ideas.

The important characteristic of television is that it is capable of being a live medium.

This is because the live nature of television allows it to transmit visuals and
information almost instantly. ... This capacity of the medium makes it ideal for
transmitting live visuals of news and sports events.

Few characteristic are:

1. Audio visual medium: 

While radio has sound, television
content includes both sound and visuals.
This audio visual character of television
makes it a magic medium which allows
us to watch the world. The
audio visual quality also makes
television images more memorable.
Television, is a better medium for
conveying documentary information.

2. Tv as a Mass Medium: 
Any one with a television receiver can access the information shown on television.
This makes it an ideal medium to transmit
messages to a large audience. Television also has a very wide output, range and reach.
It is truly a mass medium. All of us know that there are a large number of people who
cannot read or write. Such people may not be able to read a newspaper, but they can
watch television.

3. Live Medium
An important characteristic of television is that it is capable of being a live medium.
News channels conduct live debates on news channels and broadcast events
happening in real life. The novelty of live television has gone with Social media, but
was an important technological milestone when Gulf Wars were first broadcasted live
across homes round the world.
  
4. Means of Education
Television can be used in distance education in the following ways :-
(a) To demonstrate processes or physical skills
(b) To show movement
(c) For those lacking reading skills
(d) To make distance learning more personalized
(e) To make teaching and learning more attractive and dynamic

A few limitations of television in the educational field are due to the fact that: • It is
primarily a one-way communication medium
 (a) Both production and transmission of programmes are costly
(b) The production process is very lengthy Information Provider.

Assignment 2
Various Formats of tv Programmes
Various formats are used for the delivery of messages on television. The format
should be selected keeping in mind the target group and the content of the message.

1. Factual:
Factual content includes a vast arena of programmes including; documentary,
magazine shows, arts and culture, history, politics, science, nature, travel and talk
shows. All factual shows are scripted in one way or another.

2. Sports:
Sports broadcasting is big business, with channels regularly caught up in bidding wars
to secure the rights to screen premium fixtures and less frequent but very prominent
global competitions such as the Olympics and the World Cup. Live events and talk
shows, post match analysis and other spin-off content. 
 
3. Drama:
Dramas have been very effective in involving the viewers in television programme
since they represent the life realistically. A drama is a play which presents a true-to-
life story in a dramatised form with actors playing the parts of the story’s characters.
The story develops through what the characters do and say.

4. Cartoons:
Cartoon Network India is the most popular cartoon-dedicated television channel in
India. It airs English, Tamil and Hindi-dubbed versions of a variety of cartoons,
including traditional Cartoon Network programmes featuring Tom and Jerry, and
many others.

5. Entertainment:
These are called lifestyle channels and they offer a variety of programmes catering to
various lifestyle conditions and patterns. Stylised anchors, well decorated and lit up
sets, mesmerising locations and a cool attitude is how these channels can be best
described.

6. Interview:
This is face-to-face conversation between a host and the interviewee or an invitee.
These are one of the most difficult programmes to do well. It could be an interview of
renowned person, or outstanding personality, literary person, group and so on.
Sometimes interviews are made interesting by shots showing the interviewee engaged
in whatever is being discussed.

Assignment 3
Scripting a programme

1. Story boarding:
A storyboard is a visual representation of how a story will play out, scene by scene.
It's made up of a number of squares with illustrations or pictures representing each
shot, with notes about what's going on in the scene and what's being said in the script
during that shot.
A storyboard is a tool for sketching out how a video will unfold, shot by shot. It looks
like a comic strip. Each square represents a single shot.
It shows who or what is in the scene, what‘s being said, and any text or graphics that
appear on the screen.
As you read through a storyboard, you should be able to ―see the video playing in
your head.A good storyboard serves two main functions: planning and
communication.
    
  

How to make a storyboard in 4 steps

  
Step 1: 
Create a Template
Draw a series of rectangles on a piece of paper, as if you were creating a comic strip.
Make sure you leave room for notes or lines of script under each rectangle.

Step 2: 
Add the Script Under each rectangle, write the line of script or dialogue that
corresponds to that scene.
  
STEP 3:
You can indicate movement with an arrow and make stick figures. A bad drawing is
better than no drawing! If you don‘t want to sketch the shots by hand, you can use
photographs or images cut from a magazine. There are even story boarding tools
online where you can select characters and settings, add speech bubbles and text
blocks, and even record audio.

Step 4: Add Notes

Finally, add in any notes about each scene. This might include a description of what‘s
happening, camera angles or movement, and any special effects. Don‘t forget about
audio like music or sound effects.

2. Script breakdown
Script breakdown is the process of analyzing your script to determine all of the
components out of which it is made. During script breakdown, you'll systematically
build lists of everything from characters, props and locations to special effects, and
costumes.
Script breakdown in filmmaking is a comprehensive examination of a script that
defines and categorises all of the elements required to adequately prepare for the
production process.