In Production

Abstract

Chapters 6 and 7 covered the parameters and culture of preschool television development and production. They considered how programming is informed by programme-makers’ conceptions of the audience, derived from a combination of professional experience, institutional practices and research which may focus variously on what children like and want or on what is believed to be developmentally or educationally appropriate. This chapter moves on from these production practices and beliefs to the specific and changing production circumstances underpinning television production for young children. First it provides insight into the broader context of production — how productions are managed both creatively and logistically in relation to different production structures (in-house and outsourced), forms (live action and animation) and con-texts (domestic and overseas). The inclusion of a case study — What’s Your News? — serves to open up important aspects of contemporary preschool production for further analysis. In particular it reveals how small producers make use of technology to innovate in cost-efficient and creative ways. Of course creative and technological innovation is not exclusive to preschool television, but in a production environment characterised frequently by low budgets and the need to be both developmentally appropriate and aesthetically distinctive, these choices are important in shaping what is produced.

The challenge for production companies is to create high quality given the budget that you have and that might require innovation. It might mean you have to build around one character instead of five characters. It may mean you have sets that are made out of fabric, instead of sets that are made out of CG animation. There are a million choices that a production company makes and the idea that somehow you can only work with a big budget isn’t true. (US preschool producer, 2007)