Program Concepts suggests plausible concepts for
various types of personal and professional videos.
In the case of the Sidewinder cordless drill, a
possible concept is hidden in the already-selected
objectives and audience. Acme wants to
communicate the message that their drill is the
best choice, and they want to appeal to female
buyers, as well as male. Considering these two
desires together, you develop a concept: Get your
own Sidewinder so your husband can have his back.
With the concept in place, the whole program
suggests itself: a group of brief scenes in which
a husband keeps asking for his Sidewinder
and his wife keeps promising to give it back
as soon as she’s fi nished with it. In each scene,
she uses the drill in a different type of project,
demonstrating its simplicity and versatility as
she does so.
Preparing a Treatment
If you are planning a short, personal video,
you can probably start production as soon as you
have settled on the content, length, and (above
all) concept. Most professional videos, by
contrast, require that your informal design be
transcribed onto paper as a script, a storyboard,
or a treatment.
Uses for Program Treatments
The simplest transcription is called a
treatment (Figure 9-8). A treatment is a few
paragraphs that explain the program’s concept,
out this plan, you discover that a newly designed
set would still be too expensive. Instead, you
can rent a stock kitchen set inexpensively from
the studio where you will shoot. And so, by
repeatedly revising your concept and estimating
costs, you arrive at a plan that fi ts your budget.
Even the most expensive Hollywood productions
must usually adjust the production plans to fit
the budget.
Selecting a Concept
When you have specifi ed the objectives,
the audience, the delivery system, the length,
and the budget of your program, you have
developed a nearly complete profi le of your
intended video. With these determining factors
fi rmly in mind, you are almost ready to start
writing your program. But, you still need to
come up with a program concept. A concept
is an organizing principle; an idea that gives
shape and meaning to your video, Figure 9-7.
It determines what you include and how you
treat it.
You could say that the concept guides your
approach to your subject, or your perspective on
the subject, or simply your “angle.” However
you describe it, the concept of your video program
enables you to make a coherent statement that
your audience can understand and respond
to. These program organizers are simple to
demonstrate by examples. The sidebar Sample
Figure 9-7 The subhead reveals the underlying
concept: “David slays Goliath.”
Figure 9-8 A treatment is an outline in narrative form.
The Sidewinder: Part Two, Scene Three
SeatedaTOaishusbandrepairedthe
at the kitchen table, the wife is repairing
toy for her admiring daughter. First she
drills a pilot hole for screw. DISSOLVE
seating a repair screw with a drill bit.
DISSOLVE TO smoothing the repair edges with
sanding drum. DISSOLVE TO buffing the
joint with the sheepskin pad. Daughter
increasingly impressed and happy throughout.
As we hear the off-screen voice of
say, "Honey, I can't find my Sidewinder
again!" wife and daughter exchange
conspiratorial looks. Then daughter takes the
toy and runs out while the wife drops the
drill out of sight into her lap. Husband
enters and registers humorously on wife's
gui
lty expression.
Chapter 9 Project Development 165