14 weeks, 3 documentary episodes with a duration of 30 minutes each. How did we work? As part of the course of Television Program Production, a group of students from K54 Faculty of Journalism and Communication recently completed 3 scientific documentary episodes that they produced entirely by themselves.
Shocked to receive the topic
These are the works that will be the final points of the course. The whole class is divided into 3 groups, each group has 9 to 10 students with 3 topics to build into 3 episodes including: TV Host Profession, Game Show Production Process and Reality TV. “The first time we had to make a film, we were shocked when we were given the topic. Almost no one in the group had experience in filmmaking, editing, even making a short TV report was difficult. We thought we wouldn't pass this term because of this subject" - shared by Dang Mai, assistant MC of the film Game Show Production Process. Nguyen Hong Nam, director of the TV show Host Profession, said: “The film cannot be self-directed, it is a documentary and you must have real characters. That means we must have characters who are television people and understand the topic we are aiming for in our film. Television people, they are public figures, famous people, MCs, editors… We think it is too far-fetched when the teacher makes this request to us – people who have never had experience, relationships and many skills.”
Contact with the character… is “scary”
The characters participating in the film are all famous people known to the public or have a position in the television industry. Having to call, contact, raise issues, and schedule interviews with them is something that every student is "afraid of". To be able to confidently pick up the phone and call "public figures" like Quang Minh, Thao Van, Le Anh..., students had to struggle a lot. Pham Thi Ngoan said: "The first time I called Tran Ngoc, MC of Hay Chon Gia Dung (an MC that I really like), I had to do a lot of ideological work and practice because I was nervous and it took me 5 times to pick up the phone and put it down before I had the courage to say: "Hello, are you MC Tran Ngoc? I am..." "I was rejected by Thanh Huong, deputy of VTV3's content department on the first call because I kept hesitating and didn't know how to express the purpose and content of our work to her" - Pham Thi Huong recalled.
To go to film a documentary, you must be "Healthy and thick-skinned"
Inviting interviewees is only one part, you have to follow the characters to film their programs. Programs recorded outdoors or in other locations are quite easy, but with programs recorded in Vietnam Television, it is not easy at all. To enter the station, you must have an employee card or a guarantor and are not allowed to enter many times. Besides, bringing cameras and recording equipment makes you not gain much sympathy from the security guards and other characters because they are afraid of being hindered in their work. "We had to stay at Hoang Mai stadium for 2 days to film the documentary program Let's choose the right price. We were not allowed to go to many places, only one director, 2 cameramen, 2 on-site MCs, 1 assistant, so there was more work. Filming during the program and when the crew was off, we had to take advantage of the opportunity to ask for on-site interviews and film when they were resting. Sometimes I felt like I was being annoying, but what could I do?" Tung Lam - Host of the movie Gameshow Production Process - shares.
And the hardships do not stop there.
The first time making a film, the first time being thrown into a real environment with countless things not going as planned, the students were frustrated many times. They were all classmates, but not knowing each other and playing together meant they could coordinate well in group work. “Even though our group was made up of people who had played together before, when working together, we still encountered many problems. Partly because in the 4th year, our friends worked a lot of part-time jobs and we didn’t only study television, so sometimes there were conflicts. And if we weren’t open-minded and easy to calm down, who knows what would have happened” - Hoang Thu Huyen, editor of Reality TV. In addition, working with machines, post-production, recording voice-overs, filming short interviews, and setting up scenes also made it difficult for the crew because they didn’t have much experience and skills. "This difficulty is just a small part, we have much more difficulties" - that is the curious sharing of Vu Thanh - Director of the Reality TV series about 3 episodes.
