fear_of_fish: (you're making me be stern at you)
Dana Whitaker ([personal profile] fear_of_fish) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2009-01-19 04:32 am
Entry tags:

So You Want to Make a TV Show- 2nd Period- Class #3

As soon as everyone was seated, Dana started with, "Anyone who cops to calling me yesterday gets detention. Don't be that stupid. Now that we have that out of the way, this week we're going to be discussing what kind of show you want to do.

"I'll spoil it for you: you're going to be putting together a sports show. Sometimes when you get into this business, you have to take the job that comes to you. Maybe you wanted to work on some cable news show and have to cut your teeth at MTV. It'll happen. Take the experience, learn what you can, and when another opportunity comes, you can move on. Now, you might be saying 'I don't know anything about sports,'" Dana went on. "You're missing out, but that's beside the point. You will pick up things in the course of the job. If you don't, you're not really listening. Lingo will get to you, you'll start recognizing names, and after a while you might actually be able to sound like you know what you're talking about when you're watching a game with your friends, even if you only know it from a technical aspect.

"What we're going to do today is go around the room, and you're going to tell us what you know about sports right now. What's your favorite? Why? Do you play? Why not? And then you're going to get together- or work singly, I don't care- and come up with reasons why you think why working on a sports show might be harder or easier than working at CNN or a Comedy Central news show. Anything you can come up with. Once you know the problems- and believe me, you will run into them- you can start to tackle them. No pun intended."

As Dana took a seat at her desk, she said, "Oh, and don't get too used to this sort of class. Next week I start giving you assignments. Oh, wait, I lied. For homework this week, I want each of you to catch a game. I don't care what kind. Football, curling, whatever you saw, just see something to get some more experience than you do this week."

Re: Work

[identity profile] blondecanary.livejournal.com 2009-01-20 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
"Hunh! Good point. It makes it harder to produce, but a better story, which is the whole point," Dinah said, thinking of Olympic stories about drugging scandals and bomb threats. "Soooo, the human interest side. But you'd have to be really, really prepared for the unexpected. Extra cameras? Extra... I don't know. Reporters?"

Re: Work

[identity profile] stocksgrrl.livejournal.com 2009-01-20 03:17 am (UTC)(link)
"What kind of unexpected are you talking about that would mean having to go beyond the usual amount of reporters or cameras?"

Re: Work

[identity profile] blondecanary.livejournal.com 2009-01-20 03:21 am (UTC)(link)
"Stuff like the drugging scandal at the Olympics, ooor, the bomb threats." Dinah thought. "Although maybe that's more straight news? Or investigative reporting versus sports reporting. Maybe only for things like the Olympics would you pull out extra reporters."

Re: Work

[identity profile] stocksgrrl.livejournal.com 2009-01-20 03:25 am (UTC)(link)
"Why couldn't you just use the reporters you already had and just make them do a little extra? It's a special news event. I think they should be expected to know that it's crunch time. And bringing in new, extra reports won't mesh well with the fans of the show, because they'll be all, 'who's this doofus? I like the reporters I've known to grow and love.' Plus, it's cheaper and easier on the books."

Re: Work

[identity profile] blondecanary.livejournal.com 2009-01-20 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
"Okay, I hadn't thought of the familiarity factor, but you're right," Dinah admitted. "People always react to that. Hmmm. Not as many scripts as a comedy show, simpler format than a multiple-types-of-news-show... I'm not thinking of any other problems here."

Well, unless someone wanted to fix the fight with meta-powers. Or kidnap people to participate. Or... yeah, cutting off that line of thought.

Re: Work

[identity profile] stocksgrrl.livejournal.com 2009-01-20 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
"So, yeah," Turtle nodded. "Not many problems to a sports show at all. Even if you don't know anything about sports, you just have to hire some writers who do. Problem solved. Everything tends to be easier once you know exactly what it is you're doing, and then you just go right in for the jugular."