production planning

Production PlanningBruce Graham Fell (PhD)

Chapter OneIntroduction

Hello

This publication is premised on you personally production planning a production, one that most interests you: one that is closest to your personal interests.

Such an approach provides a learning environment in which you can develop a production plan that will serve you well as you move towards (or deeper into) your field of interest.

This chapter looks at:

What is production planning?

Production planning is the planning required for a production.

What is a production?

For the purpose of this subject, a production is any type of communication and creative industry output: a blog, movie, theatre, event, function, promotion, release, etc.

You may want to produce a blog the presents your photography, you may want to produce a fundraising video, you may want to produce a Clowning in the Park weekend, etc.

It is envisaged that you will have a full, satisfying and engaging experience learning the gamut associated with planning a production that most interests you: that meets your needs.

Why is this publication directed at your personal production interest?

The communication and creative industries (CCI) has gone through and continues to go through the shock of digital convergence. This publication addresses this shift. It takes on-board the emerging reality that the established media empires of image, sound and text are less and less likely to be places of permanent employment. Rather, they are places, (outlets/venues) where individuals and groups specialising in niche productions, will have an outlet. As such, this publication is about you developing niche production planning skills. Such niche skills are vital when pursuing your interest.

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Production PlanningBruce Graham Fell (PhD)As mentioned, increasingly, CCI practitioners need to develop an understanding of production planning for niche demographics. To that end, we are now in a nicheatised (sic) world: from my favourite podcast (The Mental Illness Happy Hour) to your favourite web site. From Splendour In The Grass to a 350.org public rally, from YouTube clips of Martin Heidegger to your Spotify playlist we can see that the CCI universe is both public and private. Often, one feeds the other.

Production planning for the opening of a local artist’s latest exhibition is somewhat different to the production planning for the latest Superman movie: there is no point learning one, when your future is in the other. And indeed no one publication can teach the gamut of production planning.

There are commonalities within the production planning headings: What, Why, Who, How, When and Where. This publication directs your niche research and production plan towards those common elements.

No publication can provide hand to mouth sustenance. Rather, this publication is directly directed at enabling you to pursue personalised production planning research in order to prepare a production planning document that will serve your niche personal interest needs.

To this end I find it fascinating that the world of digital convergence (and the need to develop a niche audience) runs parallel, I would argue, with the musings of the world-renowned psychologist and Holocaust survivor, Viktor E. Frankl (1905-97):

"It is we ourselves who must answer the questions that life asks of us, and to these questions we can respond only by being responsible for our existence."

(Man’s Search For Meaning, p 156).

Exercise One(In life I believe that:) Fill out as much of the list below as possible: add more to the list if you like. If you don’t understand one of the list points, let it sit with you, an answer will come. Remember, production planning is all about developing a production plan for your production.

Fill in the blanksA. In life I believe that:B. What is my dream production:C. Why do I want this production to happen:



D. Who am I trying to make contact with:E. How will I go about achieving this:F. When will the production take place:G. Where will the production taken place (online/live)H. Ultimately I want the audience to feel:I. I want the audience to understand that:J. My production plan’s main challenges will be:K. I expect my production plan’s content to be determined by:L. The subject and my point of view suggest a production style

that is:M. Ultimately, I will teach myself how to …

Chapter TwoFive Considerations for planning a production

In this chapter, we take our philosophising from Chapter One and begin to apply practical considerations.

In the last chapter we began to explore the direction your personal production planning might take. To that end we philosophised about our individual worldview. I asked you to fill out as much of the list below as possible: If you haven’t done so, now might be the right time:

Fill in the blanksA. In life I believe that:B. What is my dream production:C. Why do I want this production to happen:D. Who am I trying to make contact with:E. How will I go about achieving this:F. When will the production take place:



G. Where will the production taken place (online/live)H. Ultimately I want the audience to feel:I. I want the audience to understand that:J. My production plan’s main challenges will be:K. I expect my production plan’s content to be determined by:L. The subject and my point of view suggest a production style

that is:M. Ultimately, I will teach myself how to:

In Chapter One we talked about niche media and niche events. I introduced the ugly word nicheatised. I want to make a confession, one sort that of justifies the word nicheatised. When, in June 2013, the latest Superman movie ‘Man of Steel' was released, my youngest son phoned me to tell me all about it — he is a movie buff (as was I, once).

Not only did I not know the latest Superman movie had been released, I didn’t know it had been produced. That is, the reported $150 million marketing campaign didn’t reach me: a sixty-two year-old white male that spends his weekends listening to podcasts while gardening, who follows AFL football and reads philosophical texts when not in his academic office unknotting red tape. Yes, I’m that boring, I’m so tuned into my little world that a promotion budget of $150 million didn’t shine a single ray of light into my rabbit burrow.

At the same time Superman was saving the world an academic colleage sent me the following email:

Hello Colleagues

Your thoughts -



This is a bit of test research for an idea I have for an upcoming physical theatre show. If you have time, jot a few words down under the 4 categories. I would tell you more about the show but it may influence your answers. It is as simple and straight forward as the request and as a devised work, I don't know much more that that anyway. I'm just looking at ideas.

Please answer the following four questions. Answer freely and list as much as comes out. Avoid being clever or funny. Specific is good. Try and be factual and honest and don't edit. Have a go...

1. The truth about me today is...

2. The thoughts that have filled my head today have been about...

3. The main things that I have done today were…

4. On a scale of 1-10, ten being the best day of my life, today was a… because…

Use: The text gained from this may be used as spoken text or as stimulus for movement and scene ideas in a student theatre show on the Bathurst campus. No names will be attached to any of this text at any time. Identifying characteristics of the language will be adjusted or permission sought if necessary. Once the text is harvested, the emails will be deleted.

If you are up for it, great, if not, no worries at all.

Superman and physical theatre!

Our networked (nicheatised) society, in terms of production planning, has impacted on how productions are conceived, planned, promoted and produced. Like me, in Chapter One, my colleague has moved towards incorporating persons (audience) into the design and content for production planning. The cost of this initial research is time, not dollars (the dollars will come [and go] later)


Production PlanningBruce Graham Fell (PhD)We all think differently, yet common themes emerge. Your production plan will be individual, yet it will fit into thematic areas developed by others. Search the blogosphere and see how your interests are being produced.

Neither my approach in Chapter One or my colleague’s approach is new. In the late 1800s and early 1900s (as late as the 1930s in outback Australia) filmmaking spruikers would travel from town to town with their Lumiere-like movie making equipment. The spruiker would advertise a Free Event at the local park: ‘come and get filmed for free: see yourself on the big screen’. When the crowd assembled, the spruiker would film the people, plus prominent individuals. Once the filming was over, the spruiker would announce that that evening at the local Town Hall, there would be a screening of the crowd, plus scenes of their town, plus films shot in other towns, as well as a catalogue of films from other countries (each film was only one or two minutes long). The Free-filming event manufactured a paying audience for that evenings screening. Of course, as more and more towns built cinema theatres, the days of that type of spruiker were numbered. Production Planning and the audience are intertwined.

Venue

Here we will contemplate the venue for our production. For example, lets consider a Town Hall.

When was last time you attended the local Town Hall? As the name implies, the Town Hall was once the centre of social and cultural communication. Today, it is less so. If you ever get a chance, you might find (especially the woman in the class) the documentary ‘Town Bloody Hall’ of interest: where a standing-room only audience packed New York City’s Town Hall to watch Norman Mailer, who had


Production PlanningBruce Graham Fell (PhD)just written ‘The Prisoner of Sex’, grapple with a panel of passionate feminists. Including our own Germaine Greer.

Staying with the Town Hall — recently, the ACTU attempted to rekindle the notion of the Town Hall. Somewhat uniquely, the ACTU set up a telephone link to a central point. The event was titled ‘Australian Unions: A Town Hall on your telephone’. Subscribers could phone in and listen too and participate in a Town Hall like discussion — here the production planning drew on the domestic telephone, a far cry from Chris Hegedus, and D.A. Pennebaker’s Film, Town Bloody Hall.

What can we take out of the two Town Hall examples? Some times the ethos remains, while everything else about the production plan changes.

The lesson is, know your audience and culture (As Marshall McLuhan understood, the medium is the message). Your production plan will, accordingly, evolve.

PLUS: know your world! That is, I wouldn’t have gone to see ‘Man of Steel' if you’d paid me. On the other hand, my son wouldn’t listen to the ‘Entitled Opinions’ podcast on Martin Heidegger, had I paid him.

Niche is the way of the 21st Century; communicating with those that are in range of your niche and accordingly production planning for them is the only game in the town for your production plan.

Five Considerations for planning a productionAs mentioned, in this chapter we take our philosophising from last week and begin to apply practical considerations. Considerations that will find their way into helping you develop your end production.


Production PlanningBruce Graham Fell (PhD)An overviewChapter Two asks:1) Ask yourself: when thinking about (visualising) the overview of your personal production plan what do you need to research?

2) What are the steps required in developing and refining my production plan (YOU DON’T HAVE TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION AT THIS STAGE: you just have to know that you need to be thinking about the question — by the end of the chapters in this publication you will be able to answer, or at least come close to answering all your production planning questions.)

3) Ask yourself, how will I go about planning the aesthetic nature of my production — will I need to employ* a graphic artist, a film crew, a web master, actors, etc., (each production plan will have a different answer)

Please Note: we are a culture that is use to being entertained, and usually by a personality. From politics to documentary, from a Mental Illness campaign to the latest anti Junk Food promotion, the facts are no longer enough, nor is an unprofessional looking production.

* Though the employment of professionals is hypothetical, the budget that you will have to develop for assessment three will require actual professional rates for all persons that would be required to produce your production.

4): Assembling plans: what sort of plans will you need — do you need the plans of Albert Park for the marathon you are planning, or do you need the plans of the pages for the website you are designing?

5): Assembling a schedule: how will your schedule fit into the reality of your life (study/work/play/love?). What do you know and


Production PlanningBruce Graham Fell (PhD)what do you need to research in order for your production plan to run on schedule?

Considerations 1-5 It is envisaged that considerations 1-5 will assist you in working towards developing the final version of the production plan. Chapter Two is designed as a means for you to begin to consider the skills required for the niche production you are planning. Each subsequent chapter is intended to be one more step for you in fine-tuning your production plan.

In the back of your mind, be thinking about the sort of production support (crew) required, the budget, the audience and venue and the genre. All these elements of a production plan speak to each other. (Just picture me, on my knees, in my veggie patch dividing my asparagus crowns not giving a dam about Superman. Such an exciting image will give you insight into how to go about YOUR production plan for YOUR niche audience.)

Recap

This publication is premised on you personally production planning a production that most interests you: one that is closest to your personal interest.

Such an approach provides a learning environment in which you can develop a production plan that will serve you well as you move towards or deeper into your field of interest.

What is production planning?

Production planning is the planning required for a production.


Production PlanningBruce Graham Fell (PhD)Why is this publication directed at each student’s personal production interest?

The communication and creative industries (CCI) has gone through and continues to go through the shock of digital convergence. It has never been easier to produce a piece of communication and creative industry work — it has never been harder, arguably, to reach your audience.

Chapter Three

I want to start this chapter a bit left of centre. I’ve just been listening to a Podcast from the Perth Writers Festival about, of all things, ‘Happiness’ and how that perusing or being creative is now recognised as a significant factor in creating happiness and wellbeing. As I listened to the podcast I felt vindicated for the direction I’ve taken in this production planning publication. That is, I’ve directed this publication on production planning towards your individual creative aspirations. Admittedly, I did this because, as an educator, I believe this is the best way for each of us to learn: I’m pleased that it also creates a pathway to happiness:You can listen to the Happiness Forum at the following link (http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/latenightlive/happiness-forum/455368 )

It’s not all black and white

Two Types of Production PlanningThere are two broad types of production planning productions addressed in this publication, I’ll call them Model #Black and Model * White. Neither is better or best, they are just stages of the one reading.

Model # BlackSome readers have a Thing already made or written that they want to manufacture. These readers are seeking a production-line production plan. In many ways this is how stuff is made and produced, from motor cars to smart phones, from Abattoir to Fast


http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/latenightlive/happiness-forum/455368

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/latenightlive/happiness-forum/4553682

Production PlanningBruce Graham Fell (PhD)Food, from script to screen: in these instances a production plan is the enacting or bring to fruition the fully visualised/realised ‘Thing’.

Here, the ‘What, Where, When, Why, Who and How’ is straightforward. Each step on the way from cow in paddock to burger-in-bun, like a production line producing a smart phone is a ‘What, Where, When, Why, Who and How’ process: Producer / Director / Writer / Actor / Crew …

Model * WhiteFor others, the production plan is still a dream, an idea coming to fruition (this is good), there’s nothing wrong with this. The same set of questions are asked: ‘What, Where, When, Why, Who and How’. However, this is not an industrial production plan in which a visualised/realised Thing can be immediately produced. Here the Thing is still embryonic (not yet fully realised): the idea, the script, the dream etc., is still being shaped, still being planned, still being researched. Model * White is still someway off getting to the production-line. Here, all one can do is make some general statements until the Thing is finished (visualised/realised). One can’t make a production-line production plan for a no-thing. Once the Thing is finished (visualised/realised), the script/blog/idea has a shape that will fit into the production planning of Model # Black.

For some, this publication will be about the production plan for producing Model # Black, while for others it will be developing a Model * White production planning.

Via Chapter One, you have set out what you want to do, now it’s a matter of breaking down each element of your personal production.

Title Medium First Step

What is the first production step require for your Model? What is the first thing you don’t know how to do? This quandary maybe because you are thinking in a mix black and white Model mode.

List everything up until the point you are unsure. That is, begin to build the steps until you don’t know what to do next.

Remember, your production plan is unique, so your first step is unique. Hence, what are the steps required to get your production plan moving? Do you need to come up with a script, do you need to


Production PlanningBruce Graham Fell (PhD)learn how to write a blog. What is the order of steps you need to take? (Only you can answer this question.)

If you don’t know the answer to the above, ask yourself “what is the first thing/s you have to plan”: do you need to book the venue / book that superstar / write the script? (come up with an idea? – revert back to Chapter One)

Some producers like to draw maps or diagrams. A pin board can be useful. Stick a pin in the bottom left hand corner: ‘you are here’. Now stick a pin in the top right hand corner: that’s your goal. Ask yourself, ‘how do I step from here to there’. What are the steps?

You can’t have a music festival without a band or two, let alone a venue: how much will that cost?You can’t have a fashion parade without models (heating/cooling, change rooms).You can’t have a TV pilot without a script and budget. You can’t have a film festival without a film projector (or two)— where do you hire film projectors?

What are the nuts and bolts require to join your Thing together? Who has the tools to tighten those nuts and bolts? Who can you speak too, write too, research and read about that has done something similar: get advice from those in the field of your interest: who knows about the production planning for Blogs, Fashion, Food, TV, Music Festivals, Depression, Animation?

Tell as many people as possible about your production plan. Does the Title explain the production, or does it meet a blank face?

Chapter Four

SWAT Analysis

SWAT analysis is a tried and true method for a whole range of production plans. There is nothing new in what I’m presenting to you in this chapter. Rather, I’m merely drawing the analysis of your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to your attention.

SWAT is an analytical framework to help summarise in a quick and concise way the risk and opportunities for any production plan (any idea).

An effective SWOT should look for the internal and external factors affecting the issue at hand.



Setting the objective should be done after the SWOT analysis has been performed.

Setting objectives will enable achievable goals or objectives for your personal production plan. But before that, you need to SWOT

SWOT:Strengths: characteristics of the business or project that give it an advantage over others

Weaknesses: are characteristics that place the team/self at a disadvantage relative to others

Opportunities: elements that the project could exploit to its advantage

Threats: elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business or project

The SWAT matrix is a general approach to answer a specific question: your question. The SWOT matrix (alternatively SWOT analysis) is a structured planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture.

The SWOT analysis will help you develop the questions you need to ask.

The real challenge in striving for your personal production passion is breaking down (deconstructing) that passion into steps to develop the exact questions you need to ask yourself.

Remember, before you can find the answer, you need a defined question.

SWAT on



Chapters 5-12

HelloI am currently up-dating chapters 5-12 and will be reloaded shortly.Email me if you need any info from the previous Production Planning publication ([email protected])Cheers


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