TV production process

The essentials

Making a television programme is teamwork organised in three stages. Pre-production is everything done before shooting; production is the actual recording; post-production is everything after shooting until the programme is ready for broadcast.

Key points

• Pre-production: idea, research, script writing, storyboard, budgeting, casting, choosing locations, arranging equipment and making the shooting schedule.
• A storyboard is a series of drawings showing the planned shots in sequence, like a comic strip.
• Production: setting up lights, cameras and microphones; rehearsing; recording shots and sound.
• Post-production: editing shots, adding music, voice-over, graphics, titles and sound effects, colour correction and final checking.
• Producer: in charge of overall planning, budget and management.
• Director: guides the creative work, actors and camera during the shoot.
• Camera operator, lighting technician, sound recordist work on the floor; the editor assembles the final programme.
• Common shots: long shot (shows full setting), mid shot, close-up (face or detail).
• Live programmes are produced and broadcast at the same time, using a control room to switch between cameras.

Exam tips

Classify tasks by stage: anything involving planning is pre-production; recording is production; editing and adding graphics is post-production.

Common mistakes

Writing the script is pre-production, not production. The producer and director are different roles: the producer manages, the director creates.