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In-Depth Report On Access To The Mass Media! Sept. 4, 2005

 
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 12:01 am    Post subject: In-Depth Report On Access To The Mass Media! Sept. 4, 2005 Reply with quote

In-Depth Report On Access To The Mass Media!


By Maurice Ali, Journalist


Toronto, Canada - Fortress Of Freedom is a corporation which helps ordinary people access the mass media. One of our first tasks was to see what the true reality of access is to the average citizen and then go from there. That being the case, if became a matter of setting up an experiment, so to speak, to test exactly how far ordinary people could go in accessing the mass media.

We chose a TV show production as that was the hardest form of communication to get on in the mass media. The experiment would be two fold:

1. Could a TV show be made by ordinary people?

2. Could a TV show produced by ordinary individuals be aired on traditional broadcast television?

A rather monumental task, be we made the commitment and started the "grand experiment".

Phase One: Could We Produce a TV Show?

By TV show we meant a show that could meet broadcast standards. Furthermore, the show had to be shot over a weekend and not reshot after this. The scenario being that a group of ordinary individuals would have to rent the equipment, so a one shot deal here. Money will always be a problem so we had to stick to this no reshoot rule.

In terms of equipment, there were relatively few options. We chose the Sony DSRPD170 as that gave us broadcast quality in a small package that had many automated features as focus and white balance and such. The other cameras a step up were all manual focus and such and this would just be too much or our selected group of ordinary folk. We also got a proper Manfrotto stand, extra batteries and microphones and cables and lights and reflectors.


Sony DSRPD170

I also had to buy part of the park where we shot and get the permit. I took a week off from work and spent the week prowling the grounds looking for the best protected area I could find. Having the show rained out was my biggest worry. Anyway, the night before the show, we worked on the cue cards and I made a weary interview about my concerns and such about the next day.


The equipment is ready for the day of taping!


On September the 18, 2004 - We started taping the show. It was just above freezing and there was dew everywhere but we stuck it out even if Dan our host was shivering and Dave had to suffer with painful fingers as he performed "Nicotine". There were also the usual problems between the cameraman and director and last minute absentees but nothing fatal and I have since learned that this is all normal and part of production. That said, we finished taping around five and I had to stick around till about eight to fulfill my obligations with the Park and clean up.


Dave performs for the show!

Done! However, what you don't see in the show is the emotional wreck that experience made of me. For the whole week I was in this depressing funk! I did not even look at the rushes apart from making sure the recordings were in fact recordings. I was just exhausted! There were other things to do like set up the office and such. I had not even selected an editor to make the show yet! I finally settled on AVID Free DV as we had to use free software as part of the requirements. That meant a professional editor with almost no bells and whistles, but usable. The hardest part was the system requirements for AVID to work, but when these were met, the system worked well.


One of the many interviews!

I had never done any editing before in my life and to use this professional interface was another difficult time. Slowly the material came together and I had enough material to present our first "rough cut". I remember personally handing the tapes to everyone and shaking hands.....then nothing, and still nothing..... I finally contacted our cameraman and technical director and talked to him. "The show is a dung heap" was his reply, "and any program manager who put that on would be fired!" Others just kept quiet and when pushed brought forth their concerns. Too much to go into here but they were all content related. We just kept on at each scene and replaced others, cut to shots of other members when an obvious mistake was made in the picture and so on..... I always felt that I should have received an Academy Award for editing if people knew just how bad we really were in the rough cuts. Anyway, after a few months, yes months.....the show actually started to look presentable. My hat is off to the participants themselves who had the largest hand in the improvements! The Fortress TV Show was ready to find a broadcaster!


Our animated intro for the show!


Phase Two: Getting On The Air!

After the monumental act of making a TV show, was the unexplored part about getting it on the air.....

Once again I decided to do this in an orderly and fair way. We would petition broadcasters from the largest to the smallest. We figured that the larger networks would be the hardest and most desirable to get on, so the point where we did get on - if we ever did - would be a good barometer as to how open the TV mass media was. We also made at least three attempts to each broadcaster before moving on. If we got some real interest, we would then cut the solicitations and just concentrate on the individual broadcaster. We decided to do it this way as this is the way most amateur producers would do it.

Starting from the largest, we were surprised to find that, for paid programing at least, you could get a number and leave a message. Further, a left message with everyone who offered a direct number to a representative usually got a e-mail or call back. CTV and CanWest Global gave me a call on my answering machine. Of course, all they knew was that I was a corporation looking for time on the air. A discussion with a representative from CTV commenced and I actually sent this person an AVI file of the show to let them know what we wanted to put on the air. After that package was signed for, I never heard from them again..... With Global I wrangled an interview while on vacation, the only broadcaster to do so. This process is still ongoing so I will leave the story at this point although it can be concluded at anytime for the newspaper to be published. When I actually sign the contract and submit the check, or not, will define the ultimate end of our report.....


Global studios in Toronto.
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