The Essential Television Handbook


Book Description

Television is about saving time and money, hitting deadlines and making the best of what is available. Anticipating the problems is essential when shooting on location - keep this book handy and avoid the dangers! Television is about saving time and money, hitting deadlines and making the best of what is available. Anticipating the problems is essential when shooting on location - keep this book handy and avoid the dangers! In order to work in television you need a sound grasp of the practical realities. This book is a handy reference source for anyone involved in location shooting. It details the organisational and legal requirements that programme makers are likely to encounter, telling you which authorities to approach, what legal procedures need to be observed and a wealth of tips for health and safety. Formerly A Production Handbook, this book has now been completely revised to include the latest programme making procedures. Its new layout offers the reader a more practical and user friendly text. If you are a: - director - producer - pa - production manager - location manager - researcher - TV journalist ...you will find this book essential in helping each shoot run more smoothly. Peter Jarvis is currently a Director of Television Training International and is a freelance producer/director. He has worked for 25 years as Senior Instructor in BBC Elstree's television Training Department.




The Essential TV Director's Handbook


Book Description

The Essential TV Director's Handbook is written by an ex-BBC trainer with a great deal of experience in the world of television. It describes step-by-step how to prepare and direct every familiar type of common programme format including interviews, discussions, reportage, music and dramatisations shot either on location or in the multi-camera studio. It is the essential reference handbook for any director confronted by a new programme format or the challenge of an unfamiliar technology. An appendix suggests plans for the most commonly encountered studio situations. Television culture has been changing fast. Whilst technology races on at a frightening pace programme budgets have been slashed, job descriptions widened as more people have to `multi-skill', and traditional routes of entry have become increasingly difficult to find, with diminishing access to professional training. Yet the skills and practical knowledge required to make top quality programmes remain unaltered. `The Essential .... Handbook' series offers a range of no nonsense guides to the craft of TV programme making based on tried and tested tricks of the trade. Each book is written in an entertaining and informative way providing only the essential `need to know' information for beginner broadcasting professionals and students alike. The Essential TV Director's Handbook is written by an ex-BBC trainer with a great deal of experience in the world of television. It describes step-by-step how to prepare and direct every familiar type of common programme format including interviews, discussions, reportage, music and dramatisations shot either on location or in the multi-camera studio. It is the essential reference handbook for any director confronted by a new programme format or the challenge of an unfamiliar technology. An appendix suggests plans for the most commonly encountered studio situations. Peter Jarvis is a freelance producer and director of thirty years practical experience. He is Director of Television Training International and was for eight years Senior Production Instructor with BBC's Television Training Department.




Writing for Television


Book Description

A no-nonsense, direct down-the-lens look at the television industry written from the point of view of a television drama producer who's been there, done it, fought some battles and won the odd award. Written in an engaging, anecdotal tone, Writing for Television provides advice on: - Getting an agent - The type of writer television's looking for - The tool kit a television writer needs - The writer/script editor relationship - How to structure a storyline - How to write good treatments and outlinesPacked full of useful insights, links and information, the book includes interviews with successful television writers working today, pointers on how to work collaboratively in the industry and how to make good contacts with the people who can further your career. 'Yvonne delivers a practical, accessible, no-nonsense guide to the world of writing for popular TV' - Mal Young, Producer, writer and former BBC Controller of Drama Series 'A very comprehensive and informative book on TV script writing. Yvonne covers every conceivable point that will help writers wanting to break into writing for the small screen, whilst at the same time creating a very accessible read' - Tony McHale, Sanctuary Films







Basic TV Technology


Book Description

Basic TV Technology is the essential basic guide to the fundamentals underlying all television and video systems, written for students and nontechnical professionals. You don't need to have a math or science background in order to understand this explanation of how the principal pieces of equipment work, what their functions are, and how they are integrated to form a complex video system. An understanding of this material will be necessary for you to succeed in the real world, where one person often has to perform many different roles and functions within a production. Armed with some basic technical background information, you'll be more effective at figuring out new applications and at problem-solving. The fourth edition of Basic TV Technology has been updated to reflect the industry shift to digital video and includes new information on compression, television standards, LCD displays, HD, and equipment. This book features the accessible Media Manual format, in which every topic is covered in two pages: one of explanatory text and one of figures. For more information on TV technologies, go to: http://www.insightmedia.info/news/




TV (The Book)


Book Description

Is The Wire better than Breaking Bad? Is Cheers better than Seinfeld? What's the best high school show ever made? Why did Moonlighting really fall apart? Was the Arrested Development Netflix season brilliant or terrible? For twenty years-since they shared a TV column at Tony Soprano's hometown newspaper-critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz have been debating these questions and many more, but it all ultimately boils down to this: What's the greatest TV show ever? That debate reaches an epic conclusion in TV (THE BOOK). Sepinwall and Seitz have identified and ranked the 100 greatest scripted shows in American TV history. Using a complex, obsessively all-encompassing scoring system, they've created a Pantheon of top TV shows, each accompanied by essays delving into what made these shows great. From vintage classics like The Twilight Zone and I Love Lucy to modern masterpieces like Mad Men and Friday Night Lights, from huge hits like All in the Family and ER to short-lived favorites like Firefly and Freaks and Geeks, TV (THE BOOK) will bring the triumphs of the small screen together in one amazing compendium. Sepinwall and Seitz's argument has ended. Now it's time for yours to begin!




Making Great Television


Book Description

The simple steps outlined in this book help clarify which television projects are most likely to be written as pilot scripts, produced, and ultimately given a series order. Presenting a new twist on the old notion of formulaic television, this book analyzes the four-component formula that the best television has given us and elaborates upon it for the creation of great comedy and drama in half-hour or miniseries format.




The Television Handbook


Book Description

The Television Handbookprovides a critical introduction to both the theory and practice of the television industry, offering practical advice on many aspects of program making from commissioning through to the post-production process. Patricia Holland considers the history and structure of British television, explores the implications of the digital revolution, and discusses important genres and concepts such as narrative, documentary and news. This new edition includes updated and illustrated advice on camera, sound and editing practice; interviews with directors, editors, producers and trainees; updated chapters on television journalism, access programming and production management; a new chapter on television studies and media theory; and a revised glossary of specialist terms.




Basic TV Reporting


Book Description

Basic TV Reporting is a practical, easy to read guide to the skills needed to become a successful television reporter - arguably the most demanding and glamorous job in journalism. The book describes the role in detail, how reporters fit into the editorial team and where their duties begin and end. Basic TV Reporting is a practical, easy to read guide to the skills needed to become a successful television reporter - arguably the most demanding and glamorous job in journalism. The book describes the role in detail, how reporters fit into the editorial team and where their duties begin and end. The late Ivor Yorke has enjoyed a wealth of experience to pass on to aspiring broadcast journalists, having spent more than 20 years as a writer, reporter, producer and editor, before becoming Head of Journalist Training, BBC News and Current Affairs. He was also a freelance training consultant. He is the author of Television News (now in its third edition) and co-author with the late Bernard Hesketh of An Introduction to ENG, also published by Focal Press. Reviews: `This is a short, well-constructed book which is of as much value to the interviewed as to the interviewer. It is practical and down-to-earth (`keep off the gin, and stick to the tonic') and delightfully easy to read.' British Journal of Educational Technology. ' Easy to read guide to the skills needed to become a successful TV reporter.' Voice of the Listener




How To Watch Television


Book Description

Examines social and cultural phenomena through the lens of different television shows We all have opinions about the television shows we watch, but television criticism is about much more than simply evaluating the merits of a particular show and deeming it ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ Rather, criticism uses the close examination of a television program to explore that program’s cultural significance, creative strategies, and its place in a broader social context. How to Watch Television brings together forty original essays from today’s leading scholars on television culture, writing about the programs they care (and think) the most about. Each essay focuses on a particular television show, demonstrating one way to read the program and, through it, our media culture. The essays model how to practice media criticism in accessible language, providing critical insights through analysis—suggesting a way of looking at TV that students and interested viewers might emulate. The contributors discuss a wide range of television programs past and present, covering many formats and genres, spanning fiction and non-fiction, broadcast and cable, providing a broad representation of the programs that are likely to be covered in a media studies course. While the book primarily focuses on American television, important programs with international origins and transnational circulation are also covered. Addressing television series from the medium’s earliest days to contemporary online transformations of television, How to Watch Television is designed to engender classroom discussion among television critics of all backgrounds.