Television Program Production Research Articles

The canonical expression of the drama product manufacturing processes

As the broadcast industry is evolving toward IT-based facilities, the production workflows and their associated production metadata should similarly take advantage of IT commodities. This paper presents a manufacturing system for the production of drama television and motion picture programmes, constructed using IT-based technologies in a file-based media environment. This drama production facility implements a production workflow based on common industrial manufacturing processes and extensively models the individual aspects of the drama production process. We aim to show that the different processes contained in this manufacturing workflow can be expressed in terms of elementary building blocks, the canonical processes of media production. By identifying recurring and canonical functionality, process implementations can be simplified and input and output from different processes can be coordinated for better integration with external systems.

Public Policy and the Media

This paper will consider the impact of communications technologies on global peace and non violence by examining how these technologies are addressed in public policy on culture, education, health and safety. Discussion will focus on how they are employed in advertising industries to target children; ways in which special effects in the production of films, television programs, video and computer games fuel the use of violence as a form of entertainment and how this is resulting in increasing evidence of collective desensitization in communities and schools throughout North America.Manifestation of these trends is at odds with educational goals that discourage the use of violence as a form of conflict resolution, materialistic, consumer driven value systems, and unhealthy eating habits. It will be demonstrated that unimpeded proliferation of popular culture as entertainment for profit driven purposes, laced with themes of sex and violence because they sell well on a global market and translate easily into any language, will have to change, if we are to encourage transformation and sustainable development on either a local, national or global basis.Massive export of popular culture commodities by the U.S., long the world's leader in this context, has more than quadrupled in the past two decades with content increasingly coarse and violent. This is having an international as well as local and national impact. The ingrained belief that what is good for show business is good for America's image is not only gravely eroding the country's reputation around the world, but accelerating a culture of violence that is, from an educational, health and environmental perspective, at odds with efforts for a paradigm shift that will move us forward, as a species, towards social justice and a green Earth.

Exposing Young Children to Music through the Production and Presentation of Music-Appreciation Television Programs

THIS PAPER REPORTS ON a research study of the effectiveness of a series of music-appreciation activities for young children in Hong Kong. These activities were designed using world music and were presented as part of a local early childhood television program for community interest. One-hundred-and-sixty-eight local preschool children (mean age 4.25) and their classroom teachers, from 16 childcare centres or kindergartens, participated in this study. Qualitative data was collected using individual structured interviews with both children and teachers. The data showed that these music-appreciation activities enriched children's musical experiences and teachers' musical repertoires in early childhood settings. Teachers also showed positive preferences to learn the activities using multimedia tools. Implications for the curriculum planning and teacher training of early childhood music education are discussed.

The Implications of Digitalization for Job Descriptions, Competencies and the Quality of Working Life

Abstract Radio and television program production are being digitalized, but we are still not very familiar with the implications of digitalization for journalistic professions. A qualitative case study was conducted in order to understand how journalistic job descriptions and competencies change with digitalization and how these changes are experienced in terms of the quality of working life. The results suggest that changes in job descriptions can occur in different ways: by transferring tasks from one job description to another, by fusing two or more job descriptions or by adding new tasks to the traditional job descriptions. Changes in competencies were brought about by the digitalization of production technology, changes in job descriptions and the emergence of new media and new working practices. The job descriptions of journalists became more post-bureaucratic, whereas those of editors remained bureaucratic. Especially changes in competencies were experienced as stressful. The interviewees also experienced that the quality of the programs had decreased, at least during the early phases of digitalization.

High-definition real-time depth-mapping TV camera: HDTV Axi-Vision Camera

We have developed a field-worthy, high-definition, real-time depth-mapping television camera called the HDTV Axi-Vision Camera. The camera can simultaneously capture both an ordinary HDTV color image and a depth image of objects on more than 1280 x 720 pixels at a frame rate of 29.97 Hz, or on 853 x 480 pixels at a frame rate of 59.94 Hz. The number of detectable pixels per unit time was increased by about 5 times that of the prototype camera by improving the sensitivity and resolution of the depthmapping camera. Short video clips demonstrate how depth information from the camera can be used to create a virtual image in actual television program production.

The Other Hollywood: the Organizational and Geographic Bases of Television-Program Production

The article opens with a brief statement on the historical relations between feature-film and television-program production in Hollywood. The basic corporate context within which television-program production and distribution are accomplished is described in detail. Special attention is paid here to issues of vertical integration and disintegration across the entire chain of activities in the television industry. The geography of television-program production in the United States is analyzed and the pre-eminence of Hollywood in this regard is underlined. The dynamics of locational agglomeration in Hollywood are scrutinized. A case study of a primetime television show is presented in which it is demonstrated how production of the show depends upon an extraordinarily detailed system of procurements from suppliers in and around Hollywood. The accelerating process of decentralization of certain kinds of television production activities from Hollywood is then subject to analysis. The article concludes on a speculative note in which it is predicted that in the future, and especially in the television-program producing segment of the entertainment industry, Hollywood is likely to face intensifying competition in global markets.

Steuerung lokalisierter Projektnetzwerke am Beispiel der Produktion von TV-Sendungen in den Medienclustern München und Köln

The production of television programmes in Germany is confined to a few specific locations. This study examines the organisational structures for producing TV programmes within interlinked production networks. Data about the two main centres, Munich and Cologne, was collected and analysed in detail. These networks feature a high degree of inter-company division of labour and flexible specialisation of the individual enterprises. A further feature is the project-specific composition of the value chain. The main aim of the study was to explore the mechanisms directing and controlling the local networks. The balance of power between the individual economic players is unequal and decision-making competencies are unevenly distributed. The study argues that this imbalance of power constitutes a functional element of the local networks by significantly expediting the decision-making process. This is demonstrated using an exemplary case study. The imbalance of power already becomes evident when looking at the process of selecting individual companies for a TV production. This selection process occurs within a centralised mechanism and is dominated by a few individuals occupying certain key positions. Selection criteria are ruled by socio-institutional relations such as personal contacts, previous successful cooperation, recommendations and reputation.

“The Hollywood of Latin America”

Over the last decade, there has emerged a certain discourse about Miami as “the Hollywood of Latin America,” or even as “the cultural capital,” not just of Latin America, but also of the Spanish-speaking population of the United States. This article examines the basis and extent of Miami's status specifically within the international trade in the production and distribution of Spanish-language television programs and services in the Americas as a whole geolinguistic region. Miami serves as a reminder of the degree to which geospatial features still exert their gravitational pull upon the much-vaunted “deterritorialization” of communication media, yet what appears to be unique about Miami is the combination of cultural as well as locational and economic factors which it offers the rapidly internationalizing Spanish-language television industry. As such, it provides an interesting case for evaluating the relative significance of cultural vis-à-vis economic factors in the making of such an industry.

Journalism and mass communication in Africa: Cameroon

Part 1 Introduction Part 2 Discourse Chapter 3 Evolution of the Media in Cameroon Chapter 4 Public Perceptions of Cameroonian Journalists Chapter 5 Communication and the Empowerment of the People Chapter 6 Aesthetic Approach to Television Program Production Chapter 7 Effective Public Communication Chapter 8 Public Relations Practice in Cameroon Chapter 9 The Development of Book Publishing Part 10 Research Methods Chapter 11 Communication Research: An African Discourse Chapter 12 Using Survey Methods in Communication Research Chapter 13 Content Analysis and Its Uses in Africa Chapter 14 Beyond Cameroon: Model Content Analysis Chapter 15 The Growth and Development of Advertising

Light-Controllable Spot Luminaires Using a Liquid Crystal Light Shutter and a High-Intensity Discharge Lamp.

New types of light-controllable luminaires using a metal halide lamp or a xenon lamp with a liquid crystal light shutter have been developed and demonstrated for spot or beam spot lighting of television program production. We fabricated a novel liquid crystal light shutter using a heat-resistant composite film of polymer and liquid crystal materials with a wide range of operating temperatures up to 150°C. The light shutter can modulate a strong luminous flux from the high-intensity discharge lamps, instead of a conventional mechanical shutter which has problems such as generating acoustic noise and being slow and heavy. The light modulation of the light shutter is based on a light scattering effect and the degree of scattering is controlled by the voltage applied to the shutter. It exhibits attractive features such as high transmittance, high-speed response, and high extinction ratio. The luminous intensity of an object could be varied continuously using the luminaries with the shutter, and the chromaticity deviation was drastically decreased by driving it with pulse width modulation.

ＴＶＭＬを用いた番組情報からのニュース番組自動生成

Research into “content handling techniques”, that is, automatic computer-based methods of generating and processing content is becoming increasingly important.We have developed the TV program Making Language (TVML) to enable such content handling techniques, and mainly for use in the television program production field.In this paper, we explain a method for the automatic production of programs by using TVML.We have developed a method for using XML to describe the details of programs.We have also designed a model for the automatic production of programs which is based on current production processes used for TV programs.We then combined method and model in a prototype software application, in which a user is simply required to input program data to automatically generate news programs.

Appraising Public Television Programs: Toward an Interpretive and Comparative Evaluation Model

Public television programs are clearly unique from those produced for commercial broadcast. However, unique appraisal guidelines for evaluating public television programs do not exist for archivists. Critical in developing an appraisal model for such programs is an understanding of the history of public broadcasting in the United States, the politics underlying that history, and the entities responsible for the production of public television programs. Past and current appraisal theories also inform the criteria used in the author's appraisal model for public television programs, the application of which is demonstrated for four different types of public television programs.

International Joint Ventures in the Production of Australian Feature Films and Television Programs

A survey of television and film producers in Australia was undertaken to examine the ranking of benefits, drawbacks, and performance experienced in international co-productions /co-ventures. From this survey, it was found that financial pooling is the most important benefit while increased co-ordination costs are the greatest drawback. In this paper, the perceptions of benefits and drawbacks reported by Australian respondents are compared with those of respondents to similar surveys conducted in Canada and are found to be remarkably similar. Australian producers, however, reported better international co-production performance than their Canadian counterparts.

液晶光シャッタと高輝度放電灯を用いたスポット照明装置

New types of light-controllable luminaires using a metal halide lamp or a Xenon lamp with a liquid crystal light shutter have been developed and demonstrated for spot or beam spot lighting of television program production. We fabricated a novel liquid crystal light shutter using a heat-resistant composite film of polymer and liquid crystal materials with a wide range of operating temperatures up to 150°C. The light shutter can modulate a strong luminous flux from the high-intensity discharge lamps, instead of a conventional mechanical shutter which has problems such as generating acoustic noise and being slow and heavy. The light modulation of the light shutter is based on a light scattering effect and the degree of scattering is controlled by the voltage applied to the shutter. It exhibits attractive features such as high transmittance, high-speed response, and high extinction ratio. The luminous intensity of an object could be varied continuously using the luminaires with the shutter, and the chromaticity deviation was drastically decreased by driving it with pulse width modulation.

Video camera system using liquid-crystal polarizing filter to reduce reflected light

We have been developed a video camera system using an electrically-controllable liquid crystal polarizing filter for television program production, which can quickly reduce undesirable reflected light from a window pane or watery surface, by automatically judging the polarization state of incident light from the change in video signal intensity. More than 80% of linearly-polarized incident light is removable by this method for all incident polarization angles. The time required for detecting and reducing reflected light is approximately 0.3s in our system. The drastic reduction of polarized light reflected from glass and watery surfaces was demonstrated, and object images obscured by bright reflected light were clearly captured in an instant.

Acoustics and psychoacoustics of desk-top sound systems

Sound on the desk top has some similarities and some differences from reproduction over other standardized sound systems such as those employed in the production of film and television programs. This work examines areas where the application of known acoustic and psychoacoustic principles may be used to produce a system that scales the experience of large-scale sound systems optimally to the desk-top environment. Among the methods employed are multichannel reproduction, direct-field dominant reproduction over a wide frequency range, optimal equalization for the conditions encountered by such systems, and wide frequency and dynamic ranges, among others to be discussed. Research topics underway include methods for head tracking and optimal control over the sound field for one listener, with the eventual goal of eliminating surround loudspeakers and replacing them with virtual loudspeakers. The current finding is that contemporary systems are excessively sweet-spot dependent and change the timbre too much to be acceptable professionally in this application, so the direction of research is to reduce these limitations to make a practical system with just three loudspeakers (left, right, and subwoofer).

A Comparison of Domestic and International Joint Ventures in Television Program and Feature Film Production

International co-production /co-venture is increasingly the mode of production used for television programs and feature films. Evidence suggests the principal benefit of this mode is that, through financial pooling, it permits the accumulation of substantial budgets. However, there are concerns that cultural specificity, the Canadian nature of the resulting program or film, is often compromised. Domestic co-production /co-venture may be an alternative mode that offers the advantages of the international joint venture mode without compromising the Canadian nature of the final cultural product. In this paper we examine this issue by comparing participant experiences with domestic joint ventures to those for international joint ventures. We find that most benefit and drawback items are rated similarly. Nevertheless, there is considerable evidence that for TV projects the performance of domestic joint ventures is rated better than that of international joint ventures. However, respondents also indicate that the domestic joint venture mode is not a viable alternative to the international joint venture mode for large budget projects.

The All-Digital Camcorder — The Arrival of Electronic Cinematography

Thirty-five millimeter motion-picture film is the yardstick for quality image acquisition in high-end television program and commercial production. The quest for a viable electronic cinematography alternative was initiated almost 20 years ago, but floundered on significant technological obstacles of that time. However, electronic imaging and recording technologies have advanced at an unprecedented pace during the past decade. Numerous technical breakthroughs have finally produced an all-digital, one-piece camcorder, incorporating advanced CCD imagers, full high-speed DSP camera processing, and a robust 10-bit 4:2:2 miniature VTR. Electronic cinematography is an important new reality.

The Economics of Television Program Production and Trade in Far East Asia

An analysis of programming on 34 national broadcast television networks in nine Far East Asian countries shows that in countries that are wealthier and/or that devote relatively large proportions of their gross domestic product (GDP) to broadcast media, larger percentages of TV program hours are domestically produced, particularly drama programs. A main suggestion of our analysis is that in Far East Asia the economic impact of new video media development on domestic production industries and on public television systems will be less than has been experienced in Western Europe.

A Comparison between HD Hyper-HAD CCD Camera and Color Film for Television Program Production

The emergence of a 2 million pixel 16:9 charge-coupled device (CCD) imager has substantially advanced the overall performance of the HDTV camera. The protracted electronic pursuit of 35mm motion-picture film imaging quality is now effectively over. This article compares the performance attributes of an HDTV CCD camera with 35mm film from the viewpoint of parameters critical to originating high-end television programs, including camera sensitivity, picture sharpness, dynamic range, and noise.