Producing a Quality Program
The goal of every production should be to produce the best program
possible. However, so many things go into a really good production and
sometimes the simple things get overlooked. The simple things can often
ruin an otherwise great production. The following information addresses
the most common technical errors (not journalistic issues) made in student productions and offers simple pre-production, production, and
post-production steps that can help make a production an award winner.
Graphics
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Do not misspell anything.
Use a television-friendly font and color. Do not use fancy letters.
Avoid the color red. Much of your audience will be watching on
an analog television set, which has a difficult time reproducing the
color red. Additionally, when viewed on the Internet, the color red
bleeds horribly.
The font should be large enough to be easily read on a small
display screen. Move at least 10 feet away from your computer
screen and view the graphic. If it is difficult to read at that distance,
recreate the graphic until you can see it clearly from 10 feet away.
Any graphic should remain on screen long enough to be read aloud
twice.
Use no more than 5 words per line and no more than 5 lines of type
per page.
Put an edge or border on letters to help them stand out from the
background.
Use a font color that contrasts sufficiently with background so the
letters do not get lost in the background.
Writing anything with a pen on a piece of paper is unsatisfactory
and unreadable. If the audience cannot read what is written, it is a
waste of time and frustrates the audience.
If you must handwrite a graphic, use a dark marker and write large
enough to be readable by the audience. Remember that viewers
will not be seated as close to their televisions as you are to your
computer monitor.
If you must use words on a piece of paper, create them with a word
processor using a large, bold font that looks professional.
Instructor’s Resource CD Television Production & Broadcast Journalism
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use.
Copyright by Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Producing a Quality Program 1
Audio
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Be careful not to cut off the beginning and ending of words when
editing. Re-edit until it is right.
Music should fade in and fade out. It should not end abruptly
because a video edit needs to occur before a time limit is exceeded.
Many PSAs have been ruined by music that abruptly stops.
When background music is used with spoken words, the music
must be significantly lower in volume than the spoken words.
A good rule of thumb: the music should be 1⁄4 the volume of the
spoken words.
Avoid music with lyrics. The lyrics in the music will compete with
the spoken audio.
Closely monitor audio when recording to be certain that the audio
level does not change from scene to scene.
When recording spoken words, speak slowly and clearly enough
so that anyone is able to understand your words. Let a few people
view your piece to verify that they can clearly hear every word
spoken. An audience who has never seen the piece before can offer
helpful constructive criticism.
Video
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Do not use a fade in a PSA. It slows the pacing and wastes valuable
seconds that could be used delivering your message.
Never shoot with a bright object in the background of a shot, such
as a window, the sky, or a white wall. This will pop the contrast
ratio and make the talent in the shot appear too dark. Talent with
dark skin may become a totally black silhouette.
When possible, use neutral to medium-dark colored backgrounds
(not bright backgrounds).
If there is not enough light at a location, either shoot someplace else
or set up lights. Shooting in the dark is a waste of time.
Remember that dark images cannot be lightened in post-production
without serious side effects.
If an image or video is viewed over the Internet, transmission
through the Internet will make images darker than they were
originally shot. You must compensate for this when shooting.
A black and white “artsy” image does not often work on modern
day television. Stay away from black and white images unless there
is an overwhelming reason to use them.
Instructor’s Resource CD Television Production & Broadcast Journalism
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use.
Copyright by Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Producing a Quality Program 2
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A majority of the editing transitions found on an NLE editor
should never be used because they will be seen as a gimmick. Use
an unusual editing transition only when that type of transition is
absolutely warranted by the content of the video.
Technical Evaluation
In both an educational environment and the television production
industry, the technical attributes of every production must meet a minimum threshold for acceptance. In the classroom, a program that does not
meet the minimum technical requirements is returned to students to be
fixed. In the television production industry, programs that do not meet
the established technical requirements are not broadcast.
The checklist that follows presents criteria for evaluating the technical aspects of productions.
Instructor’s Resource CD Television Production & Broadcast Journalism
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use.
Copyright by Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Producing a Quality Program 3