BBC Casting Contributors

Casting Contributors

People, and their stories, are at the heart of all successful programmes. Gary draws on his experience of casting factual shows like SAS: Are You Tough Enough? and Last Woman Standing to share some tips on drawing together compelling characters who will engage the audience.

"You might not want the quietest people but you want them to have something that holds your attention."– Gary Hunter

His first point is that casting takes a long time. In fact, he advises that the longer you can spend on the casting section of production the better.

But he cautions that casting can’t be done exclusively over the phone from the office. Adverts and other call outs for contributors may attract a limited demographic. Good casting involves leg work. Gary references a contributor in Last Man Standing, who he spotted in his gym and persuaded to take part.

For Gary, a cast is not just a bunch of individuals, but a group who need to act as a team and work well together. But they don’t always need to get on - if there is tension or friction in the team this can also work well for the programme.

Screen tests are the ideal place to test the suitability of contributors, and Gary likes to replicate the programme's setting as best he can at an audition. For adventure shows this means putting contributors through a series of tough physical tests. For cookery shows this could mean contributors being asked to demonstrate one of their favourite recipes.

Honesty is a crucial part of casting. Contributors must know what involvement in a programme will mean for them. Gary tells contributors exactly what is going to be required of them during filming, but also prepares them for transmission of the show, and how viewers’ reactions could impact on them through social media. Some contributor casters refer to this as the "talk of doom" where they present contributors with the worst things that could befall them as a result of appearing on the show. It’s a vital part of our responsibility as producers towards contributors.

Once Gary has his shortlist, he will usually run a series of checks. This could include asking for proof of identity, checking whether people have appeared on other shows, and may include police checks or psychological testing.

BBC Interviewing in a contributors house

Interview Techniques

Working with contributors is a key skill for producer/directors, and this often means filming them in their own homes. Every home provides different opportunities and challenges for a film maker so the only way you can be sure of what you're walking into is to recce the place beforehand.

"Don't be afraid to dress your set - make it look as good as it possibly can."– Sara Gundlash

With fast production turnarounds this is not always possible, so you need to be able to turn up and quickly assess the situation in order to get the best from your shoot. At the same time you have to keep health and safety in mind and be courteous and patient with your contributor and host.

Sara offers tips on choosing the best places to film, making the best of your setup and being the perfect visitor.

BBC Academy Interviewing Contributors

 Interviewing Contributors

Sense the moodSensitivity to the mood of your contributor is crucial. When working on South Africa in Pictures with photographer Rankin, Louise was aware that he was very moved by the stories he’d heard about two photographers who had been killed. Louise chose to interview him about this before they left the location in order to get his immediate reaction. She could have waited until later when she might have had a better location and lighting to do it, but her advice is to always go with the moment to capture the authenticity.

Location, location, locationThink carefully about where you interview your contributor. Location can have a huge effect and it’s important that contributors feel relaxed if you’re looking to secure a personal, intimate interview from them. In Artworks: Macintosh Masterpieces, Louise deliberately placed Muriel Gray in a busy stairwell at the Glasgow School of Art. Students were continually walking past, and as Louise remarks, her sound recordist found it very frustrating but part of the point she wanted to make was that the building was full of life, so it fitted with the overall tone.

"Where you do an interview has a big impact on what you get out of your contributor." – Louise Lockwood

Don’t give upA difficult interview situation most people have encountered is where somebody doesn’t give you what you need. Louise interviewed Jack Curtis for Hollywood Greats on Jack Lemmon. He talked about himself but wouldn’t give her the soundbite she wanted about Jack Lemmon. It took two tapes and countless rephrasings of the question to get what she hoped for. Patience and determination can be key attributes of a good interviewer.

Don’t stopIf an interview is going well, don’t stop. Louise shares a vivid example of this from Parallel Worlds Parallel Lives, a road trip movie featuring Mark Everett, the front man of rock band The Eels. On one of the last days of the shoot, she decided to film him having a cigar at the end of the day. Just as he began to open up, a thunderstorm began. Louise gave Mark her umbrella and continued filming, hoping that her camera wouldn’t break. She feels that she captured material in this interview that she couldn’t have got in other circumstances.

BBC Academy Consent

Part 1

Part 2

BBC Editorial Policy's Su Pennington, programme lawyer Clare Hoban and producer and journalist Maire Devine join Paul Buller to offer a guide to not getting your TV or radio programme pulled.

"You have to do your homework." – Maire Devine

Clare gives the definitions of honest comment and libel and defamation and the panel talk about dealing with contributors.

They cover how to deal with colourful views, from the defamatory to the fantastical and how to deal with it in both live and pre-recorded form. Anonymity - why and when you should anonymise contributors? And if your contributor has a criminal charge how do you avoid being within contempt of court?

They all emphasise the importance of planning and getting help early in the process as well as note taking and gathering evidence as you research a programme.

Maire Devine is an experienced producer of television and radio programmes with a background in current affairs and news. She’s currently the planning editor for Radio 4’sconsumer affairs programme, You and Yours.

Su Pennington is head of Editorial Policy for factual programmes at the BBC and head of editorial standards for the BBC Academy. She advises production teams on how to interpret the BBC's Editorial Guidelines and on industry regulation.

Clare Hoban is a duty lawyer for the BBC. She specialises in defamation, privacy and contempt law and advises on BBC radio, television and internet content including drama, comedy, current affairs and news reporting.

BBC Academy Research

http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/production/ideas-and-research/research/article/art20130702112135964

Whichever area of the industry you're in, the ability to research and tell stories is essential, but to get ahead of the rest it's going to take more than a few clicks on a search engine to find the very best material. So, how do you find that surprising fact, that unexpected contributor or winning story that will make your programme unique? Our panel offer their views on how a researcher can make the best of his or her time and on the resources available to get the best for their programmes. 

"As a researcher, you can never ask too many questions." – Charlotte Denton

Top of the list is an ability and willingness to speak to people. Rather than staying stuck behind a screen and relying on sometimes dubious facts from the internet, the panel stress the importance of making connections with people, whether they are academics, experts or ordinary members of the public, and the many channels now available to help them make immediate contact.

They also discuss the best resources they have used, the best ways to keep track of the mammoth amounts of information and the different planning required when working on long form factual series as well as fast turnaround shows. 

Jaime Taylor is a freelance documentary maker and assistant producer on the acclaimed social history series The Secret History of Our Streets. She is also co-founding director of award winning film collective Postcode Films, whose documentaries explore the relationship between place and identity.

Mark Edger is a science and history researcher who has worked on series including Bang Goes the Theory, The Culture Show, Great Excavations and the forthcoming documentary on Thomas Cromwell for BBC Two. 

Charlotte Denton has worked on entertainment and factual programmes including The Pride of Britain Awards and Britain’s Best Dish. She's currently a topical researcher forThe One Show.

BBC Academy Working with Contributors

Working with contributors

We’re all very used to seeing these ‘real people’ wrapped up, formatted and branded in slick TV packages. But how do programme makers ensure they treat contributors honestly and with respect while asking them to do something which is often well outside their comfort zone?

Joining Hazel Marshall in the studio to discuss working with members of the public that help us to tell a story or investigate a subject are Stuart Bernard and Tom Bateman.

"To endlessly mess people about isn’t ideal." – Tom Bateman

Producer/director Stuart Bernard made the final episode of the BAFTA award-winning BBC Three series Our War and has worked on a range of observational and structured documentaries as well as The One Show. Among the contributors he has worked with have been children, the elderly, farmers, NHS staff, people with serious illnesses, high-ranking military officers and Romany travellers.

Tom Bateman started out in commercial radio. He is currently an output editor on theToday Programme and was previously at Radio 1.

Assignment 1, Task 3: Questions for Interview

Task 3: The Interview (Final Assessment)

You will now interview each other using Single-Camera set ups to demonstrate your understanding of interview techniques and your skills in setting up an interview.

Remember:

·         Film in a suitable location/backdrop,

·         Use ’rule of 3rds’, follow the 180 deg rule,

·         Film a 2 shot for the Intro and Wind Up together at the start

·         Main interview shoot ‘singles’ on each person

·         Use mid shots if they are gesturing, use close ups if they are getting serious

·         Write your own and use warm up questions

·         Use appropriate lighting and sound equipment (do not film where there is background noise or into a light source such as a window)

·         Film all the responses from the contributor

·         Interviewer summarise the key points

·         Then film the interviewer asking the questions later

·         Then film noddies and reaction shots

Questions to be asked/responded to in the interview

1. How many types of interviews are there and how do they differ?
Example Response: You have four types of interviews; celebrity, sports, political, and talking heads. Celebrity interviews tend to be more intimate and personal, asking questions about their personal life - the Graham Norton Show interview with Saoirse Ronan is an example of this, as it is very relaxed and they talk about her personal life as well as the films she's in. 
Sports interviews are generally shorter and are conducted soon after an event. Political interviews are confrontational and their aim is to extract information - the Tarantino interview can fall into this category as well as the celebrity catergory,  as the interview becomes confrontational about Tarantino's views on violence, etc. Talking heads are a type of interview in which a specialist is spoken to about a specific topic to provide extra information. 

2. What are the different question types?
The different question types are; open, closed, single, multiple, direct, and indirect. In The Graham Norton Show where he interviews Saoirse Ronan about her part in The Host, he uses mainly open questions to allow her to talk about the film about it has affected her life.
3. How are the interview styles chosen?
The interview styles were chosen depending on the topic of the interview and the style of the show. The Graham Norton interview was light-hearted and entertaining, whereas the Tarantino interview was confrontational and promotional. 

4. How is the structure of the interviews laid out?
There is an obvious structure to interviews, they follow this pattern; introductions, development questions, confidence building, key questions, soundbites, summary then windup. Both of the interviews follow the same structure, except for there was no introduction for Tarantino. 

5. What kind of communication skills are needed when interviewing someone?
When conducting an interview, it is important to build a rapport with your subject to ease the tension, you can do this by listening to what they have to say and by making sure you have an open body language and to not act defensively while interviewing. In the Saoirse Ronan interview, Graham Norton built a rapport by having a fake fight demonstration to link with Saoirse's previous movies. 

6. There are various types of journalistic context, can you talk about them? 
There are many ways of publishing the content. You can do it through print, television, radio, online, news, sport, feature-writers and editorials. In the Saoirse Ronan interview, the audience was shown a movie poster and later on, a clip from the film, which helped inform them on the topic of the interview. 7. The purpose for holding an interview differs for every interview, so could you explain some of those purposes?
There are many purposes for an interview, such as to research, enhance the audience's understanding, presenting information, interpretive or explaining and the accountability of emotions allowing the audience an insight to a situation. The Tarantino interview was conducted to get information from Tarantino about his beliefs on violence, although Tarantino wanted to use is as an advertisement for his new movie 'Django Unchained'.

8. How were the camera positioned for the interview set up (how many camera’s, studio or location, what shots types and how were the subject’s framed?)
The rule of thirds is important as it helps to create a more balanced and interesting composition for the audience watching. In both of the interviews, the interviewee is positioned on the right on the right vertical third - occasionally they will be just off the centre of the frame.

9. What equipment would you take to shoot an interview?
You should make sure you at least take the basic equipment; tripod, camera, mic, and lights. It's also useful to scout your location before the shoot, to make sure you have the right equipment for the area as well as the ability to set it up quickly, not to waste your interviewee's time.

10. Any pointers that you would give to people who want to shoot an interview?

Shoot and edit the interview together and edit in cut-aways of the interviews you are referring to in your responses.

Export and post to your Weebly