Keeping Your Television Production Interesting for an Entire Season
When you’re producing something for television, you need to take into account that the process is going to be different than the process of making a movie. In a movie, most directors shoot a lot, but they end up using only a small percentage of what they’ve shot. Plus, there is an effort to try and make everything look perfect.
But when you’re shooting for television, you’re creating something much longer—a series consisting of several episodes. You don’t really have the time to shoot as much as you do for a movie. And in general, the budget is also smaller. So you can’t be as perfectionistic as you would be for a movie.
Maintaining an Even Pace
You also have to try to keep the television series interesting for an entire season. So this means that you can’t give the plot away too soon. You have to reveal things little by little to your audience.
Even if the show is a comedy and there’s nothing to reveal, you need to make sure the development takes place at an even pace. If too much happens too quickly, then it’s going to be difficult to come up with new ideas to keep your audience interested.
Example: Big Bang Theory
For example, consider the show Big Bang Theory. There are several themes running through this show. Apart from the comedy created largely by the main character who has poor social skills, there is also romantic and career development for each of the characters.
But at one point of time, the show focuses on only the romantic/career development of one of the characters. Only when this is taken care of does it move on to the romantic/career development of another. In the end, we see that all the nerdy scientists we have come to know and love so well have been paired off with women they love (except for Raj) and they’ve all had some degree of career success as well.
The Beauty of Loose Ends
Remember, however, that all loose strings don’t need to be tied together cleanly at the end of a TV series. If you do this, it can end up looking a little forced. After all, Raj never does end up with a steady girlfriend! Sometimes, a little imperfection in your plot is a better idea than complete perfection.
Contact us to learn more about how to develop the plot of your TV series.