#TVFUTURES

Dylan Ellcome

Author: Dylan Ellcome

Published 1st January 2015

by Dylan Ellcome Issue 96 - December 2014

I\'m now well into my final year of BSc Television and Broadcasting at the University of Portsmouth , and things are beginning to slot into place, finding a natural rhythm. You quickly realise that this year, there is no messing about, and the learning curve, well that\'s where you\'re expected to put into practice everything we\'ve learned over the last two years. When you add the complexity of all your units such as Documentary Film with the additional pressure of a Final Year Project and of course my CCI management role of script editing, you would be right in assuming it can be daunting.

Running any TV Channel is hard work, ensuring quality is even harder. In my opinion, the backbone of any show is the script, if the script is not right, it has a knock on effect on the program. Even a Small error can have a larger Impact than expected. This is why my CCI management role was created, to ensure that every script is the best it can be, that there is some form of continuity and that everyone involved in the project is happy with the content.

I\'ve always enjoyed telling stories, and I have always loved writing television drama. Here on this course however we produce mainly live magazine style programmes. I thought that on the surface, writing for Live TV was completely different, but in fact they\'re not. Much like in drama you still have a clear structure, dialogue and even characters. When I write dialogue for a character, I always make sure its not too hard for the actor the say, I found the same has to be applied to presenters. They have to be happy and confident with what they\'re reading to give a good performance, I learned this recently when too many versions of the script caused chaos just as we were about to go live.

The continuity element of script editing is something I\'ve picked up over time. I learned that the main focus of continuity involves ensuring last weeks program is referenced and next week\'s program is adequately set up. Another element of script continuity I want to develop is the promotion of the CCITV channel and reminders of where audiences can view the programmes.

I spend much more time working with script than most other students so I get a good insight into how each of CCI\'s three programs are formatted, and how a seemingly a small change can alter the feel of the show. This is something that greatly interests me and is why, for my Final Year project, I\'m looking at theimpact script editors have on show formats. A show I\'m looking closely at is Doctor Who as it\'s a rare example of shifting formats thanks to it\'s fifty one year run. Each time a new Script Editor came in they changed elements of the format, and I can relate that back to what I have been doing for our TV Channel.

Part of what has made my role possible is the use of Google Docs as a method of collaborating with each production team and the academic staff on scripts. Each week the team who\'s producing the show uploads the script to Google Docs, where it is then shared with myself and any relevant academic staff. Once Everyone is happy with the content, I go through the script checking it over for any errors.

One of Google Docs most useful tools from a script editing perspective is "suggest edit". Rather than just editing the script, I\'m able to suggest to the team an alternative, and at a click of a button, it can be applied. With the script being saved to google drive, on the day of the show the computer connected to the auto cue can be booted up, the final script downloaded and put on the auto cue.

Overall the challenge of my role is part of the appeal, it adds a lot of pressure to each weeks live show, but in the short weeks of actually doing it, I\'ve already learned some vital lessons and now know the direction i wish to move forward in.

Contribute with your experiences to #tvfutures

Related Listings

Related Articles

Related News

Related Videos

© KitPlus (tv-bay limited). All trademarks recognised. Reproduction of this content is strictly prohibited without written consent.