Live Broadcast Planning

When doing any type of live production (or even planning something that will be shot on tape and edited) it is important to plan out how it will go.

Below are some general elements of this followed by more specific things that might go into planning the types of programs we will be producing.

Script

With many productions, a script with dialog, shots, music and other notes is very important. This allows planning for what will be said and gives everyone the opportunity to reherse timings and know what is coming up.

A sample script for a short video segment might look something like this:

FADE-IN TO EFFECT OF OPENING DOOR AND TURNING ON LIGHTS TO INTERIOR
WIDE SHOT OF INTERIOR (SMALL NYC APARTMENT)

CLOSE-UP SHAWN

		SHAWN 
		Dottie, Hi Dottie!
		
CLOSE-UP DOTTIE

		DOTTIE (running towards SHAWN, tail wagging, camera tracks)
		
MEDIUM SHAWN and DOTTIE

		SHAWN (petting and embracing Dottie)
		Hi baby!  It's good to see you too!
		
		DOTTIE (licking and jumping on Shawn)
		
WIDE SHOT APARTMENT

		SHAWN (standing up)
		Where's your mommy?
		
FADE-OUT

This script may not follow all of the convetions perfectly but to get the action across it should do. Also, there are a lot of different script formats, for example a TV Commercial and a Shot-by-Shot Style Film Script

Each individual person in the production might add to their copy of the script putting in notes and timing information related to their role in the production. For instance if I am a camera operator I would make notes of the shots and where I should move my camera next. Perhaps I would would pre-mark the positions on the tripod and lens housing for each position.

Storyboard

The storyboard is perhaps an even more important element in the planning (for our purposes) than the script.

Here is a sample for the script example above:

There are plenty of storyboard templates and formats that people use. Google Images has a bunch

Some items that I included in my storyboard that aren't always thought of or included are specific timings and music.

Other elements that you may want to consider are lower thirds and what the content on them is/should be.

User Experience/Wireframes

Since our productions will be "interactive" it is incredibly helpful to plan out the user experience for the interactive portion. For instance if it is meant to be a website (2-screen interaction) creating wireframes showing the process that the user will go through to participate helps.

Here is an example:

Technical Design Diagram

Last, certainly not least is to develop a technical design. Diagraming this before starting the programing is important. It makes sure that everyone who is participating understands the pieces and if there are multiple people doing the development they understand how their portion works.