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THE USE OF TELEVISION FOR THE DISSEMINATION OF CONSTRUCTION INFORMATION TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC

Gene Farmer

Department of Construction Management

Florida International University

Miami, Florida

Introduction

The dissemination of information to both the industry and the public are components of the goals and objectives of many construction programs throughout the United States.

The fulfillment of these goals and objectives can take many forms including seminars, short courses, and certificate programs. Each method has it's own advantages and disadvantages. The first two are unique in that they are a generally presented as a singular offering in time. This offering may be repeated but is inherently not continuous in nature. The third is a generally well planned, ongoing curriculum in which an individual will register for and take a series of courses. These courses can be a part of the standard curriculum or can be a totally unique set of courses established for the sole purpose of offering the certificate. The primary disadvantage of each approach in terms of dissemination of information is the limited audience. At best the seminar or short course could reach several hundred persons at a time. The certificate program will probable be limited to an outreach of perhaps under fifty persons at a time. In addition, registration in seminars, short courses and certificate programs, due to the expense involved, will be limited to those working in the industry. Persons from the general public would be, reluctant to incur the expense of registration for a seminar, short course or certificate program. If part of a department's goal is to reach to the general public, a suitable method must be developed to gain access to the masses.

The method, television, is of course already in existence. How better to reach out to the masses than with the greatest mass media currently in existence. Through television, a virtual limitless audience can be approached. educators and school boards across the country have found out many years ago the advantages of using the television in the classroom. Virtually all school boards use some form of television access education in its curriculums. Many universities are offering both on campus and outreach learning courses through the television. The concept of "Distance Learning" is becoming the catch phrase of the nineties at universities everywhere.

The Federal Communications Commission FCC Gas allowed the municipalities granting licenses to operate cable television companies to require certain concessions.  Among these concessions is a requirement for the company to set aside one or more channels for use by the local school board for educational use, channels for the government to offer governmental meetings and public service shows and in many cases the cable company is required to set aside a channel dedicated for public access. In Dade County the are four cable channels set aside for non commercial purposes. One channel is dedicated for use by the public school system, one channel is dedicated for governmental use and two channels are set aside for public access. Public access programming allows organizations from the community to produce and air their own television programs. The subject matter of this programming would be of a general interest to the public at large. The only restriction is that the entity must be a non-profit organization.

In January 1993 I was approached by my department chairman with the idea of producing and offering a series of 30 minute taped television shows on CABLE TAP our local public access television station. Being interested in the opportunity to reach so many people at one time I accepted the project and began to prepare for production. As I soon found out the production of a single let alone a series of television shows was an enormous undertaking involving a great deal of time and effort.

The production of the series consists of the following three major phases, Pre-Production, Production and Post Production.

Phase One: Pre-Production

Statement of Purpose

The first step in the pre-production phase is the statement of purpose. The statement of purpose should de fine what the goals of this series of programs will be. This statement does not necessarily have to be detailed, but can be rather general. for instance a statement of purpose might be "To convey to the public, information on the process of constructing a single family dwelling, ranging from the selection of design professionals through the construction and final landscaping and furnishing phases."

The statement of purpose sub-phase will also establish the audience. The selection of the audience is important in the development of subsequent phases. For instance the production approach, to be discussed in the next phase is dependent upon the selected audience. Also the guests selected and how they will present their information will be dependent upon the targeted audience. Obviously a guest geared towards a lay person might not be appropriate if the audience was composed of construction professionals.

Concept Development

The first step after the statement of purpose which establishes the audience is the development of a concept. This concept will serve to describe the direction and focus of the series. It will establish whether there will be a "hard sell or soft sell" approach used. For instance will the information be presented by professional actors, or will it be presented by industry professionals and educators.

The general format of the program will also be established. Will the program format be formal or informal? Will the program appear to be a lecture given by the host or will it appear to be more of a discussion between a host or moderator and one or more guests? The concept will also serve to establish the direction and parameters of the individual programs.

An important part of this phase is selection of the program name. the name should be distinctive enough for people to remember. It must also relate to the program topics.

Design Development

The second major step of the production process involves taking the concept developed in Phase One and designing the program. The design of the program involves the following sub phases:

A.  Program topic selection. A topic for each show must be selected. The topics can be organized in a sequential manner or can be non sequential. The following is the program topic list for the first series of programs.

Program No. 1: How to select a design professional.

Program No. 2: How to select a contractor.

Program No. 3: Being an owner builder, risks and benefits.

Program No. 4: Living with construction, how to survive the construction process, both physically and mentally.

Program No. 5: Construction contracts, what the owner should know.

Program No. 6: Dispute Resolution.

Program No. 7: How to retrofit your home to better resist the next storm.

Program No. 8: Hurricane preparedness.

Program No. 9: How to landscape your South Florida home.

Program No. 10: Women in construction, opportunities for growth.

Program No. 11: Construction education.

Program No. 12: TBA

B.         The overall staging of the program i.e. set design or location selection. The set must be selected or designed. Most television studios have pre designed sets which can be employed in the production of these programs. The producer always has the option of designing their own unique set. However always keep in mind it is the content of the program which is most important. Do not waste a lot of time designing set details at the expense of program content.

C.        Script development and refinement, directional cues and information. Depending on which level of production is employed, information ranging from simple guideline questions to a full script must be developed. If the producer decides to use the second or third level of production then detailed questions must be developed. The focus of these questions will be dependant upon the topic, the expertise of the guests and the intended audience. In certain instances the sophistication of both the question and answer must be toned down for the non professional audience.

D.        Talent Selection: The type of talent required, i.e professional actors, non pros or celebrities will also be determined in this phase. Once the type of talent is selected, and the type might vary from program to program depending on the subject matter, the actual individuals must be contacted. Generally a telephone call is made to the prospective guest explaining the general concept of the series and specifically what their participation will entail. A letter confirming their involvement will then be sent formalizing their participation. If the contact is made several weeks prior to the taping a reminder letter is sent during the week prior to their appearance.

E.         Logo or program graphics design. this sub-phase involves the design of the program logo and signage. This sign will usually serve as a backdrop to the set. Again the typeface and colors selected are important to create the intended visual impact. Remember colors sometimes appear different on television, so I would strongly suggest testing color samples, on video tape, for contrast prior to creating the final signage.

Phase Two: Production

This phase involves the actual production of the program. It consists of the following sub Phases:

A.        Filming of the introduction video. This video introduction could be as simple as a video shot of the guests (without sound) sitting on the set ready to go on the air.  In this case the intro video would vary from program to program as the guests vary. Another approach is to develop a master video introduction which would be the same for every program. This video intro could be composed of footage shot outside the studio of actual construction operations or it could be a video montage of still pictures of construction operations. Once the video is shot or the stills selected a final video introduction is edited in the studio. The station personnel will generally be responsible for the final production of this introduction.

B.            Selection and editing of the theme music. The theme music must now be selected. Generally public access television stations have free use of almost any commercially available music. The producer must select the music and it will be the responsibility of the station to gain any required approvals.

C.            Development of the title graphics. The producer along with representatives of the station will design and prepare the title graphics. Color and typeface design are of the utmost importance. The color of the typeface must contrast with the background which will either be a graphic or a video introduction. In addition the selected typeface must be clearly legible. Remember the title, names and credits will only appear for a few seconds so clarity of style is very important.

D.            Preparation of pre-production information. Several days prior to each show a pre-production outline must be submitted to the television station. This pre production outline includes such information as the program taping date, title, producer, description of program, guests and credits.

E.            Production organization and rehearsal. Depending on the formality of the presentation required, a part or the entire program can be scripted. There are three levels of scripting generally employed.

Level one: Host questions only. In this level the host would develop his or her own questions for presentation to the guests, however the guests would not be privy to these questions before the program. this approach tends to lead to a more spontaneous though sometimes more unpredictable show.

Level Two: Host develops and shares questions with the guests. In this level the host would develop his or her own questions for presentation to the guests. These questions would then be shared with the guests allowing them to develop responses. This approach guarantees a bit more on the air predictability. If a guest does not understand or disagrees with a question, it can be revised prior to air time. The guest can also suggest directions for questions.

Level Three. The third level involves a fully scripted and rehearsed show. All questions and answers are scripted. Input is received from the guests in the development of the questions which are planned in some type of sequential order. The entire program is then rehearsed as much as necessary until all parties are comfortable with the outcome.

F.         The actual filming or taping of the program whether in the studio or on location. Generally most television stations will want to tape several programs on the same day. In our case a full month of 4-30 minute shows were taped during the same studio session. We generally scheduled guests to arrive 30 minutes prior to their taping time and allowed approximately 15 minutes between taping sessions. If the producer is involved as the host or otherwise actively involved in the taping process, it is important the an assistant be available to greet and orient guests as they arrive.

G.        Editing of the film or tape as required. This work is general not required but if required will be done by the television station staff. The producer will act as an advisor if necessary.

Phase Three: Post Production

This phase involves all of the activities after the actual taping and editing of the program. The work is administrative in nature and involves elements of Public Relations and Marketing. Generally the television station publishes a monthly newsletter ranging from a simple one or two page announcement to a mufti page television guide. Particularly with the larger guides, the station will general include an article introducing new programming to the station. This exposure is very important. In addition the producer is free to develop his or her own public relations campaign. This campaign should be undertaken on several levels.

Public Relations Level One: Internal

Exposure within the university is extremely important to the Department. It will not only expose other faculty and administrators to the activities of the department but will also serve to increase the viewing audience. This internal exposure can be achieved through a feature article in the University Faculty Newsletter which must universities have. It should of course also be featured in the Department's newsletter. in addition I would suggest that a special announcement be printed and distributed via university mail to all faculty, administrators and staff.

Public Relations Level Two: External

Exposure outside the university is also very important. This can be achieved through the distribution of a press release distributed to the regional newspaper and any neighborhood newspapers. In addition, the press release should be sent to all local builders or contractors associations.

The last component of the post production phase is the guest follow up. What I suggest is that each guest, after his or her appearance be given a copy of their appearance on the show. The station usually suggests that the producer supply a blank video tap prior to each show. This tape will serve as a master record for the producer. each university generally has a video center capable of video taping duplicate copies. A taped copy of each 30 minute program should be prepared and forwarded to each guest with a thank you note from the producer.

The program can become an excellent source for exposure of the Department to the general public. As previously mentioned at the completion of our twelve taped, I was asked by the television station to produce a six month series of weekly one how live call in programs. The production of these shows was generally the same as the previous series except for the following.

The weekly shows required constant attention in assuring that guests were contacted and confirmed. It was extremely important that the guests arrived on time. During the six month period of approximately 24 programs only twice did guests not appear as scheduled. In the event that a guest does not appear it is up to the host to carry the show, for what sometimes seems to be the longest how of your life.

Since the one how show is a live call in program, it is the responsibility of the producer to insure that there are at least two telephone operators available to answer the phones for each show. It is best to have the operators commit for at least one month of shows. When a caller calls in they are screened by the operator obtaining their phone number then calling them back. This process tends to dissuade crank callers from participating. Any relatively articulate student can act as an operator. The only requirement is that they be dedicated enough to show up for each of their committed shows.

Another major difference is the length of the show.  The sixty minute program though twice as long as the thirty minute show, actually seems to be much longer. In order to maintain viewer interest I suggest that multiple guests are used. It is also very helpful to incorporate still photographs, video clips or visual aids into the program. depending on the size of the studio, which is generally rather small, simple demonstrations are a very effective way of communicating. These demon­strations will vary from topic to topic but are well received by the audience.

Conclusion

I have found that the production of a television show can be an interesting and rewarding experience. However the amount of time required should not be underestimated. It is preferable if the producer has an assistant who would be responsible for the clerical and follow up procedures. It is surprising how much time is spent attempting to contact and remind guests of their appearances.