Making videos for community television

Definitions

Community television - a television channel where members of the public can make a proposal to have their own TV show or series.
Production - the technical steps you have to go through to make your idea a TV show, including filming, sound and editing. People with specialized knowledge are needed to help with this.
Script - a written list of what will be said during your show. It can be exactly what you'll say, the list of interview questions or a more general outline of your topic.

How It Works

In almost every town and city across Canada, you'll find at least one community television channel. These channels are places where individuals and community groups can go to share their message via the tube. They are an excellent place to turn to if you want to make a video, show people what your group is doing, involve people in a dialogue about local issues or hold a televised fund raising event. They can provide you with all of the equipment, expertise and air time that you need to get your message across on television.

By law, all Canadian cable companies are required to maintain community channels for use by anyone who lives in their service area. Access to the channel is usually controlled by cable company staff who accept proposals from individuals and community groups on an ongoing basis. Once a program is accepted, the cable company provides the people who made the proposal with equipment, tapes, training, volunteer production staff and an on-air time slot. All you have to do is come up with a brilliant idea for a TV show and put in all the hard work needed to make it happen.

What It's Good For

As they go out only to a very local audience (often only part of a city), community TV projects are an excellent way to approach focused, location specific issues.

With community TV, you can expect to:

communicate with a local audience about a local issue. For example, a community TV show would be an excellent way to inform people about a neighbourhood traffic calming project.

get feedback from people in your community. A well promoted phone in show lets people in the community share ideas on and debate a specific issue.

show people what you are doing. Because it television, you can show people what you are doing. This is sometimes more effective than telling them about what you are doing using print.

raise a little money. Sometimes, community channels hold on air bingos or auctions for community groups. The groups that benefit tend to be the Rotary's and Lion's clubs of the world. Still, it's worth asking if you can do your own.

recruit new members and sustain your groups presence in the community. If your show is good enough, it can help keep your group on the minds of other people in your community. It can also help you find new members.

make a low budget instructional or educational video. Community channels will sometimes let you use the tape for your own educational purposes as long as you don't plan to sell it (although you shouldn't let them know that you want to use the tape in this way until after your proposal is accepted).

learn how hard it is to make a TV show. You have to spend a lot of time and effort if you want to make a community channel program. On the flip side, you'll come out the other end knowing a lot more about how television production works.

What It's Not So Good For

Community television will not bring you international fame, nor will it magically sway the opinions of millions of viewers. It is not the best place to go if you are trying to motivate fast, broad changes in opinion on a particular issue.

With community TV, you cannot expect to:

Have a big impact on how people think. Community television is only seen locally and usually has fairly low viewership.

Have the cable company pay for the production of a documentary that you want to sell to the CBC. Community TV shows are produced for airing on the community channel. They are owned by the cable company - not by you (although you can sometimes sweet talk around this).

Where TV Fits In

Community TV shows should be used as a basic part of an overall media campaign. In order to reach the largest number of people, you may want to use a press conference to get on the local commercial TV channels and in the newspapers. In order to control your organizations image and maintain the ability to explain your issues in-depth, you may want to produce a community TV show.

Getting Rolling

Here are the basic steps involved in producing a community television program:

	Come up with a program idea and discuss it within your own group. Make sure that everyone in the group clearly understands the goals of the program. Also, make sure that people have enough time and energy to contribute to the program.
	Write a proposal and submit it to you local community channel. Make sure to stress the benefit that your program will contribute to the overall community and not just to your group. One-time specials are usually easier to get accepted that whole series.
	Once the proposal is accepted, make up a detailed production plan. This should include a schedule and a list of who is doing what. If you are using the cable company's staff or volunteer technicians, consult with them as you make up your plan.
	Write a detailed script for the program. Even if you are doing a documentary or a phone in show, you'll need some sort of script to guide you through the production process. Without a script, you won't know what you're shooting, when you should do it or how long it might take.
	Go shoot the program. Get a camera (or cameras) and do what you said you'd do in the script.
	Edit the program. If you're not doing a live program, you'll need to spend many hours editing down your material. You should usually do a rough edit using lower quality equipment and taking detailed notes first and then do a final edit with better equipment later.
	Sit back and watch TV. Get some popcorn, invite some friends and watch the fruits of your labour.

by Mark Surman