From pre to post production: Countryfile

In this Countryfile film, Ellie Harrison is in the New Forest, testing her fitness as she finds out about adventure racing, and Matt Baker visits historic ship-building village Buckler’s Hard. This is the final product of weeks of research, production and editing. Directors like Andrew Painten must script, shoot and edit-produce around five films as VT inserts for each Countryfile episode. Along the way, Andrew has help from his highly skilled team. Researcher Claire Blindell, camera operator Stef Otto, editor Matt Taylor, producer Andrea Buffery and presenters Matt Baker, Adam Henson and Ellie Harrison all help to get the film through pre-production, production and post-production stages.

The New Forest, with its beautiful Beaulieu River, was a hunting ground created for William the Conqueror a thousand years ago. Since then the river has provided the perfect secret landing spot for smugglers. In this VT insert, created for an episode of Countryfile, Matt Baker and Julia Bradbury talk to local historians and experts about the details of criminal activity, both past and present, in the picturesque New Forest area and its watery marshes. Directors like Andrew Painten must script, shoot and edit-produce around five films as VT inserts for each Countryfile episode. Along the way, Andrew has help from his highly skilled team. Researcher Claire Blindell, camera operator Stef Otto, editor Matt Taylor, producer Andrea Buffery and presenters Matt Baker, Adam Henson and Ellie Harrison all help to get the films like these through pre-production, production and post-production stages. You can see the work that went into making films like this, as well as pick up production tips and techniques, by watching our other films in the Countryfile series.

A factual TV presenter has a very interesting relationship with the director. The director has often spent weeks or months planning and scripting from the office. A lot can change when you arrive on location. Pre-conceived ideas have to be changed when the weather, contributors or stories don’t really work in reality. Matt Baker believes that, in his experience, compromise is the key to a successful shoot. Use your ideas and your script as a framework but don’t be afraid to change your plans. It’s better to capture the atmosphere of where you are and what is unfolding on the day, plus creative problem solving often results in great TV. Resident Countryfile farmer, Adam Henson, believes that his memories of starting out and being new to TV have helped him appreciate what a strange world it can seem for new comers. It is important to remember this and have empathy with new contributors or new presenters. Take care to explain what you have planned, so they can understand why constant resetting and repitition is necessary. Once they realise that filming a variety of shots helps make a better film, they will be able to relax and contribute properly. One director suggested that Adam talk to the camera as if it is an old mate. This advice has helped him to relax and talk normally when on camera. The director should set the tone on a location shoot. It is their job to create a relaxed atmosphere resulting in a productive environment. Ellie Harrison likes directors who are collaborative and keen to incorporate ideas from the whole team. She also believes directors should have authority and be good at communicating. A good director can put contributors at ease, especially if they aren’t used to making TV. It also helps to explain what’s going to happen so they don’t feel excluded or overwhelmed. Finally, Ellie favours creative direction, similar to techniques used by drama directors. Ellie appreciates personal feedback from the director on her style and delivery of each piece to camera. However, it's important to remember that each presenter responds differently, so directors must be able to adapt to the individual ways of working.

Countryfile researcher Claire Blindell shares the day to day responsibilities that this busy role entails. The main purpose of Claire’s job is to set up a location shoot with the Countryfile presenters. This involves about two weeks of research in the office, a week with the director and a recce of the location and stories. All this work culminates in a two day shoot. One of the most important skills for a researcher is to be able to find good stories. Talking to people is the main way that stories are unearthed. When looking for contributors the ideal person is somebody who’s enthusiastic about a subject but is also able to stay concise. Look for a good story teller who can make things clear to the viewer about this exciting thing they know. Since TV is a visual medium, the contributor should ideally be showing us things. To find the right stories it’s important that you know your programme and target audience well. A main location researcher on Countryfile needs to find four or five strong stories. You need to be able to sell those stories to the producer as if she is your audience. As a researcher on any TV programme, one of the most important things is to tell a simple story really well. Compiling detailed research is vital and with so much information available online it is easy to feel bogged down in reams of data. But by keeping an eye on what the actual story is, you should be able to see through the data and communicate the story to your team. As a Countryfile researcher, organising the schedule is one of the most important tasks. This is the document that works out exactly what’s going to happen on a film shoot. It’s all the timings, practicalities and the logistics. This is one of the most difficult and time consuming parts of the job and can cause the most stress. A researcher has to be organised. Before you go out on location there’s a lot of time in the office looking at maps, working out the times and logistics. This is all useful when you are out on location. Your preparation will help things go smoothly and if things do change on the day, you are able to react and adapt. Checklist With so much to do and to remember it is useful to keep a checklist. Before a shoot you can write down everything that is needed such as stock, camera equipment and schedules. Developing your own coping strategies will help take the stress out of the job and make you a better researcher.

At the beginning of any location shoot there is a lot to prepare. It is often the first time you have met up with your presenter and freelance crew, so it is important to get together for a briefing, outlining the film and plan for the day. Following interviews, it is important to film close-ups and cutaways of anything relevant or that was discussed. Many programmes like to do a big non-sync wide shot. All these shots can then be used by the editor to help us smooth over the joins in the edit when the interview is cut down. Contributors on location are not used to filming and it is important to look after them. Explaining what you are doing helps. A good tip is to tell them to ignore the camera. Many contributors will look at or talk to the camera in the middle of an interview and this can be very off-putting when watching it back as a viewer. It’s vital to keep track of time. Know when you are going to arrive at a location, think about exactly how long you have got, bearing in mind what you still have to do later. It’s important to prioritise and not overshoot. Sometimes, especially with an action sequence and with time at a premium, you just have to get on with filming. It is very easy to keep setting up for that perfect shot, without getting the main event started. Factual TV productions can change a lot on location as there are so many variables outside of your control, from weather to inexperienced contributors. But by being flexible and creative you can make the best of these changes and try to turn them into a positive. Directing isn’t just about calling the shots and deciding what people say and where they stand. It also brings with it responsibility for health and safety on location. It’s important to think about all health and safety issues before you go out filming so you are not just winging it on the day, because that could end in disaster. Make sure it is clear from the outset who has responsibility for the rushes. This is even more important as more productions are shot on cards that are small and hard to label. Often the material is invaluable and hard to re-create or very expensive to re-shoot, so you need to have a good system in place to ensure the footage is safe.

Once footage and archive material is digitised onto the edit network, the editing process can begin. On Countryfile, each location director gets two and a half days to edit around five hours of material. Each director must deliver five films, each five minutes in length. To start with, the editor concentrates on the dialogue, cutting it down to the best bits. This is often called a sync pull. You have to be ruthless to get it down to the correct length, so it helps to go into the edit prepared, at least knowing what your very best bits are. At the start, you need not be concerned with the pictures. Instead, focus on the sound, such as voice over and sync, which will form the structure for your story. Once you’ve got the structure right, you can concentrate on the visuals. Sound is one of the most important things. There are things you can do to get around bad pictures, but it’s hard to conceal bad sound. One of the director’s main roles in an edit is to work on the voice over (VO), rewriting and recording it as a guide track as required. This will change as sections are cut from the film. The voice over is the key way in which you can make things flow really well in a factual film. Once the dialogue has been cut down to time there will be lots of black holes and joins to cover. At this stage you can make it look pretty and bring the sequence to life with great shots and music. This is also your editor's chance to be creative. An editor will get through a huge amount of shots and music so the more you can bring into the edit, the better. After many weeks of work and several days of editing, it is really helpful to get a fresh pair of eyes to view the film. On Countryfile, a producer will visit the edit at this stage to give a completely new point of view. They will be watching it from an audience's perspective and to give a second opinion on how the work is progressing. On Countryfile, completed individual films are then crafted into the hour long show. Each film is colour corrected and graded before the graphics are applied. The guide voice over is replaced by the actual presenter's VO, the sound is mixed by a dubbing mixer and the programme is finally played out to broadcast tape and delivered, ready for transmission.