UNIT 8: WORKING IN A TV & FILM INDUSTRYBy Krystal Prince

TV PRESENTING

As a TV presenter you would work in television, introducing and hosting programmes, interviewing people and reporting on issues and events. If you’ve got an outgoing personality and love working with people, this could be the ideal job for you.

You would need to have excellent personal presentation and a clear voice. You’ll also need to have a good memory to recall facts and be able to improvise if something unplanned happens.

Skills, interests and qualities

To be a TV presenter you will need to have:

confidence and an outgoing personality

excellent communication and presentation skills

a flexible approach

the ability to improvise when necessary

research and interviewing skills

calmness under pressure

the ability to work to strict deadlines

a good memory, for recalling scripts and facts

the ability to work on more than one task at a time

great team working skills.

ACTOR

Actors interpret others' words in order to bring a script to life, and to put flesh and blood on the characters they portray. Theirs is the public face of a production, representing many others' work and efforts. It is rare for the public to see the Scriptwriter, the Producer, or the director - their perception is based on what the Actors portray on the screen.

They usually work across television, theatre, film and radio, each requiring some specific skills. Some may also work as models or even provide voice-overs for commercials, documentaries, talking books, dubbed foreign language films etc.

MAKE UP & HAIR ARTIST

Make-up and Hair Artists must be able to create make-ups and hairstyles to meet production requirements. They oversee make-up and hair continuity during filming and remove products as required. Make-up and Hair Artists are employed throughout pre-production and production, and usually work on a freelance basis. Make-up and hair are key elements in the overall design of films and television productions, creating a look for the characters in relation to social class, and time periods, and any other elements required to create the desired illusion.On film and TV dramas, their work is directed by Make-up and hair designers who provide them with detailed notes, characters and scene breakdowns and, if necessary, reference pictures about the characters they must create. Sometimes, they may only receive a rough brief, and must produce their own script breakdown, and research and create their own design notes. They work on principal and supporting actors. They usually look after several actors throughout the shoot. They must maintain the continuity of the actors ‘look’.

RESEARCHER

TV Researchers originate or develop programme ideas, drawing on their knowledge and understanding of industry requirements, and present their findings to decision makers. They are also fact checkers and brief writers who write scripts for on-screen presenters.They work across all genres of television production. They must understand, and work within, relevant legislation and regulations.

Researchers may contribute to the development of scripts by writing drafts or briefing others. They may be asked to check final written materials for accuracy. Before production commences, they identify, negotiate fees for, and conclude copyright clearances and legal issues relating to all bought-in materials used on shoots, including archive materials, intellectual property or music. They must ensure that all relevant broadcast territories are covered.

COSTUME DESIGNER

Costume Designers' work helps to define the overall ‘look' of TV productions and films and their role requires a great deal of expertise. This must be achieved within strict budgets, and to tight schedules.

They work closely with the Production Designer to make sure the costumes fit in with their overall vision and work with the chosen lighting and camera angles. They also collaborate with the hair and make-up team to make sure a cohesive look is created.

During pre-production, Costume Designers break down scripts scene by scene to work out how many characters are involved and what costumes are required. They then develop costume plots for each character. Plots ensure that colours and styles do not mimic each other in the same scene, and highlight the characters' emotional journeys by varying the intensity and depth of colours.

Management Roles

The management field is mainly based around a collection of people working together to achieve certain goals and aims efficiently and to a professional standard. Management is in charge of five other fields: planning, staffing, organising, directing and the control of an organisation. Also resources embodies the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources and natural resources.

Examples

Accounts: production counting and financial controller

Transport: transport manager and captain

Casting: casting director and assistant

Locations: Unit manager and location manager

Creative Jobs

Without creativity the media would be very dull. The creative department help to set the scene and choose the media looks. They create different genres from many types of media and make it look professional and worthy of watching.

Examples

Direction: film director, first assistant director

Hair & Make up: chief make-up artist, hair designer

Construction: Construction manager, model maker

Production office: producer, executive producer

Editorial Positions

Editing is a process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible and film medium used to convey information through the process of creation, condensation, organisation, and other modifications on various types of media.

Examples

Editing and postproduction overview

Editor

Post production supervisor

Assistant editor

Title designer

Second assistant editor

Technical Roles

Ensuring that all equipment around the set is working. Equipment such as: cameras, lighting and sound. This will be arranged with the directors requests so that they are able to film. This role is very important to entire project as without them nothing can be created.

Examples

Studio and broadcast technology: Transmission engineer, vision mixer

Production sound: production sound mixer, boom operator

Post production sound: Sound designer, music editor

Camera: camera operator, script supervisor

Lighting: moving light operator

Financial Roles

Finance is heart of funs management. This includes saving and lending money. The field of financial deals with the concepts of time, money, risk and how they are interrelated. Finally it also deals with how money is spent and budgeted. This is applied not just with financial media, but within all financial business.

Examples

Accounts: production accounting, financial controller

Distribution: Distributor, sales agent

Publicity/Skills: unit publicist, unit skills photographer

Organisational Jobs

Organisational jobs require high level managerial skills. This involves being able to manage a group of people, objects and that goes to plan and make sure that deadlines are met to the corrected time. They are in charge of organising their team to different positions giving tasks and deadlines for these jobs are expected to complete.

Example

Transport: transport manager, transport captain

Location: unit manager, location manager

Casting: casting director, casting assistant

Publicity/stills: unit publicist, unit stills photographer

Administrative Jobs

Within businesses, administration consists of the performance or management of the business operations and therefore making the implementing of a major decision. Put simply, administration can be defined as the process of organising people and resources efficiently so as to direct activities toward common goals and objectives.

Examples

Accounts

Casting

Health & Safety

Locations

Transport

Catering