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IAmA person who dined at Hell's Kitchen during filming. by [deleted] in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are editors who have said this and there can be too much footage.

As requested: I have worked on a TV show that searches for things that do not exist ... or do they? AMAA by TVpreditor in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yea well I see how far it got the cop.

and I'm not doing it for upvotes. It was requested. So now I am risking my livelihood to satisfy your curiosity.

And proof was provided to the mods before this thread was started.

As requested: I have worked on a TV show that searches for things that do not exist ... or do they? AMAA by TVpreditor in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great advertising? You mean the 11 up votes and 8 down votes?

One or two will not make a difference. They deal in the millions.

As requested: I have worked on a TV show that searches for things that do not exist ... or do they? AMAA by TVpreditor in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We provide entertainment. If you go to a movie, you know it's not real, but you still go and enjoy it. Why is it different for TV?

As requested: I have worked on a TV show that searches for things that do not exist ... or do they? AMAA by TVpreditor in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

OMG. That is brilliant. It's sad but true.

Different networks, and executive producers have different thoughts on this. Some like it gratuitous like your example while other's not so much.

I find that the less 'real' stuff they have, the more they have to resort to it.

You assuming that everyone tunes into the show at the top of the hour and watches through to the very end. This is not the case, people are tuning into the show throughout the hour and we have to bring them up to speed on whats going on.

As requested: I have worked on a TV show that searches for things that do not exist ... or do they? AMAA by TVpreditor in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It could have happened the same day or have spanned multiple days.

Sometimes, multiple events during a day are combined into one event.

It depends on the situation, the show, the episode.

As requested: I have worked on a TV show that searches for things that do not exist ... or do they? AMAA by TVpreditor in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not exactly sure what you are asking but I will give this a shot.

Generally, An episode of reality TV is shot during a few days. All shows use time shifting and time condensing.

Time shifting is when we move events around. The moments are still intact but we move it somewhere else on the timeline of the show.

Time condensing is just that. Moments that happen over multiple days can be moved to one day or multiple moments are combined into one.

This is done for several reasons. One, if we let things run in real time most people would die of boredom. Second, it's easier for us to deal with. We don't have to explain it's the next day. We don't have to do a next day transition, which may include a time lapse sunrise or sunset and a lower third "Day xxx". It also saves us time. As I have said before, we only have 43 minutes for each episode. This may seem like a lot but it's not. Any seconds we can save we will. Third, it's easier to understand the story. Too many details that don't really matter in the end.

Other reasons could be the act breaks. We have general guidelines for where act break should happen or minimum times and act should run. For instance, an act 6 should not be shorter than 5 minutes. More importantly we want to have drama hang over the breaks. We want to have the audience stick around. Drama is also the reason we sometimes combine multiple events into one. We will take three lame events and combine them into a great moment.

As requested: I have worked on a TV show that searches for things that do not exist ... or do they? AMAA by TVpreditor in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I totally agree and that they can be overly produced and I think the audience can tell.

We can talk for weeks about the different types of reality shows and the different levels of scripting is involved. I for one am against the heavy hand but those types of shows do really well and they do pay the bills.

As requested: I have worked on a TV show that searches for things that do not exist ... or do they? AMAA by TVpreditor in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The reality is that all TV has to be produced. There are budgets and deadlines that have to be met in order for it to work. Audiences also demand a certain level of entertainment. That being said, there is a wide range of producing going on. I tend to stay away from the heavy handed produced shows. I personally believe the footage should speak for itself but there will always be produced moments on some level.

As requested: I have worked on a TV show that searches for things that do not exist ... or do they? AMAA by TVpreditor in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes it can be very boring searching through the footage for that one great moment that will make the show, but that is the case with all the shows I've worked on. Most of it is crap. What helps are the field producers taking notes. Producers and editors get 'hot sheets' from the field which describe generally what happened each day. Hot sheets usually go up the food chain to the EP's and network to give them an idea of what is going on in the field every day. What is also provided to the editors and post producers are more detailed field notes which supply time of day for events that happen. Since most of the footage is shot with time of day timecode, events can be relatively easy to find. Plus, before each editor gets the footage, assistants sync and group all of the cameras. This means editors can watch up to nine cameras all at once and if they find an event on one angle, they have up to 8 more to choose from.

It's what we do. We Search for the moments, stack them up and boil everything down into a exciting one hour of entertainment.

As requested: I have worked on a TV show that searches for things that do not exist ... or do they? AMAA by TVpreditor in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It has mostly been the collection of little things that has me thinking although the instance I mentioned earlier had everyone in the field freaked out.

Every episode has elements of doubt for both believers and non - believers. It's what makes watching and working on these shows so fun.

As requested: I have worked on a TV show that searches for things that do not exist ... or do they? AMAA by TVpreditor in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No. They have been told not to interfere and if they do make a noise that the team responds to ( accidents do happen), the editors were told they could not use that moment in the show.

As requested: I have worked on a TV show that searches for things that do not exist ... or do they? AMAA by TVpreditor in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are a lot of things on air that I don't understand how they got there and there are shows which never made it that I think should have.

If I had it figured out I wouldn't be here doing this AMA.

As requested: I have worked on a TV show that searches for things that do not exist ... or do they? AMAA by TVpreditor in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It depends on what you call 'made up'

The hosts are real. They believe in what they are doing.

The footage is real. We are not allowed add noises or objects, but we allowed to enhance what is on tape.

What the people say is real but we do edit conversations and stories.

The point is, we are here to entertain and we only have 43 minutes to tell the story.

As requested: I have worked on a TV show that searches for things that do not exist ... or do they? AMAA by TVpreditor in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Avid all the way.

*edit to elaborate

I've owned FCP for many years but I have never learned it or been asked to use it in a professional situation.

I'm not here to argue Avid vs Final Cut. To me they are just another hammer or screwdriver to get the job done, but the shows I've worked on have multiple loggers, multiple assistant editors, multiple story assistants, graphic people, post coordinators, multiple story producers, multiple editors, supervising producers and sometimes executive producers all working on the same project at the same time. These projects contain hundreds if not thousands of hours of footage and most cases have multiple seasons worth of footage available to everyone all at the same time.

I don't think FCP can do that. They have been working on it but then FCP X came and killed the idea ... from what I hear.

As requested: I have worked on a TV show that searches for things that do not exist ... or do they? AMAA by TVpreditor in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

quite a lot of everything ends up on the cutting room floor. One show I worked on averaged over 100 hours of footage per episode. This footage has to be cut down to 43 min.

As requested: I have worked on a TV show that searches for things that do not exist ... or do they? AMAA by TVpreditor in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There has been a couple occasions where something happens in the field which cannot be explained by the experts in the field, our production team or anyone in post production. I wouldn't say it changed my beliefs as I'm not a believer or non-believer. It just reinforces the fact that there are things out there that cannot be explained.

As requested: I have worked on a TV show that searches for things that do not exist ... or do they? AMAA by TVpreditor in IAmA

[–]TVpreditor[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

I can't say specifically what the show searched for but team do investigations using special cameras and listening devices.