A treatment is also useful in communicating
your vision to other people, especially the
colleagues who will help you produce your
program and the clients who will pay for it.
Without a treatment’s overview of the program,
your crew can only make one blind shot after
another, without knowing how they should
fi t together and what they should achieve. As
for the clients, few if any will underwrite your
production without a clear idea of the program
you propose to deliver.
its subject, its order of content presentation, and
its style. A treatment serves two purposes: it
allows you to see and evaluate the organization
of your video, and it communicates your plan
to others. By committing your ideas to paper,
you can see whether they are appropriate to
your program and whether they fl ow smoothly
and logically. By examining your treatment,
you can spot problems and opportunities that
might otherwise be overlooked.
Sample Program Concepts
To provide a clear idea of what program
concepts are and how they can guide the video
maker’s approach to developing programs, here
are six examples: three personal programs and
three professional ones.
Personal Programs
Program type: Vacation video
Subject/working title: Lake Omigosh Vacation
Concept: Triumphing over rain.
Summary: Video focuses on comic results of trying
to camp out during two solid weeks of bad weather.
Program type: Holiday video
Subject/working title: Easter Egg Hunt
Concept: The great Easter egg deception.
Summary: Before letting the kids find the eggs,
the parents repeatedly hide them in spots where
the children have already looked.
Program type: Family oral history video
Subject/working title: Grandfather Remembers
Concept: Family connections survive despite long
times and great distances.
Summary: Questions and Grandfather’s
answers focus on family continuity across three
continents and two hundred years.
Professional Programs
Program type: Training video
Subject/working title: Using Your Multi-line
Business Phone
Concept: Conquer your fear of buttons.
Summary: Humorous acknowledgment that
business phones can be complex and frustrating,
evolves into the idea that a little study clears up
the confusion.
Program type: Community service promotional
video
Subject/working title: The McKinley Boosters
Concept: Communities depend on volunteers.
Summary: The Boosters Club preserves and
beautifies the town of McKinley.
Program type: Wedding video
Subject/working title: The Anders/Goldstone
Wedding
Concept: As the glass flies apart, two lives
come together.
Summary: Starting with a slow-motion shot of a
goblet shattering under a cloth, the video moves
from this symbol to documenting a traditional
Jewish wedding.
Grandfather Remembers
166 Video Digital Communication & Production