Analysis of the concept and content of a studio production relevant to your pitched idea
Analysis of the concept and content of a studio production relevant to the commissioned production
For this blog post, I will be analysing a popular podcast which is current, on par with our commissioned idea and targets a very similar demographic of people. I have chosen to analyse the Saving Grace podcast featuring Grace Keeling as the host and Max Balegde as the invited guest. I made this choice as it is a podcast that encapsulates the conversational feel we are trying to recreate and covers similar topics. I will also be looking at this production from the producer’s point of view and the producer’s role in a production of this scale. I chose this podcast as it is one, I regularly engage with, and I know this influenced decisions when developing ‘Let’s Talk Shit’.
As the producer for this project, one of my responsibilities I will be tasked with writing the script (AGCAS editors, 2022), this is an extremely important aspect of the production as a correctly written script will help the show stay on track and run on time. However, this will be challenging as I have never written a script of this sort before. The choice to analyse this episode of the Saving Grace podcast is significant as it was the first-ever episode. This meant I could look at how this ‘show’ was introduced for the first time and how different segments were explained to the audience to ensure they understand. On long-running shows, certain segments will be statements of the show and audience members who are long-term engagers will understand how the segment works with little explanation due to repeated exposure. However, as our show is effectively the pilot of a larger series it was beneficial to me to see and understand how the pilot episode of this podcast was introduced and solved some issues I may have faced when beginning to write the script. This also helped me visualise how a script featuring this type of content and conversational feel would look. I imagine some aspects to be slightly scripted and others left open to discussion to ensure the podcast feels natural and authentic. The script for the show will look similar to this as we do not wish to have it heavily scripted/controlled.
From watching this I also concluded that some segments were too long, and my attention began to slip away from the conversation. This helped me decide how long we should spend on certain segments to keep the audience engaged and at a fast pace. I completed some research on the popularity of ‘Saving Grace’. I found that the podcast has 312,000 subscribers on YouTube but struggled to find listening figures for Spotify. I would have found it beneficial to use these figures to see where viewers began to lose interest and tune out of the show. However, the podcast is on a variety of different platforms such as Apple Podcasts, RSS, Spotify, Amazon Music, Cast box, Deezer, iHeart, Listen Notes, Player FM and Podcast Addict which indicates it has a large reach and potential for a large number of listeners. The podcast is also ranked globally in the top 0.5% of podcasts (ListenNotes, n.d.). For the show we are producing, we would have more content to cover, and these would be formed into shorter and snappier segments. We also have a shorter run-time than the podcast. The run-time for the podcast is one hour and the run-time for our designed show is 30 minutes. As the producer, I am also responsible for creating the running order, so it was important I discovered early on how easy it was to lose the audience’s attention and create ways to avoid this e.g., shorter segments.
Another aspect I noticed that the show was lacking was visual interest on screen. It was shot using a three-camera set-up (the same as our designed show) using a wide shot and two, single, medium close-up shots. There were very few interesting elements on screen/set, this is justified by the fact that the show is a podcast so does not require visual elements however, this is important to consider for our show. As we wish to create the same conversational feel of a podcast accompanied by visual elements, we must keep the visuals interesting to avoid having the audience lose attention. After looking at this production we have found ways to adjust certain chatty segments to bring interesting elements instead of just watching two people converse on screen.
However, this was beneficial to analyse as it helped finalise the show’s final segments. As the podcast targets the same demographic as our designed show, they use popular trends which they know will engage the right audience. Our target audience is aged between 18-35 which is the same as the Saving Grace podcast. Millennials are not content being passive observers and enjoy getting involved/engaging in online conversations (f-trend, 2019). According to Envision Creative, 90% of 18 to 29-year-olds use social media and finding success with Millennials requires keeping up with new social media marketing trends (Informatics, 2018). For example, in this episode, they play ‘Say it or Shot it’ and use questions sent in by viewers on social media to uncover gossip and scandal. These are both popular trends used by social media influencers on TikTok and YouTube. As the show’s producer the overall tone/ themes and aesthetic of the show are down to me. It is important I remain up to date with popular trends the target audience engages with to ensure the show will appeal to them. This podcast highlighted ways in which these trends could be incorporated into the show I am producing and encouraged me to use popular trends to my advantage.
The podcast also covers similar content to the show we are creating. This includes celeb gossip/drama, taboo subjects (in this episode dogging and sex) and cancel culture. This is done in a very conversational way which I love and would love to recreate on our show. Seeing how this was played out on screen in this production has helped me visualise how this could be done in our show and helped me figure out the content I see fitting into the show and how this will be done. As a producer, I need to be full of ideas and skilled at creating the type of content I need (ScreenSkills, n.d.). Analysing this podcast has helped me to narrow my ideas down and tailor them more to the show I am trying to create.
I think the presenter and guest work well on this show and have great chemistry with one another. This helps to create a relaxed and authentic space as they are not awkward with one another. They give off the girl and gay best-friend vibe, they are both comical, bubbly, and quick on their feet for comebacks and jokes. This was easy for them as they are best friends in real life and have a great friendship, often spending a lot of time together on nights out etc. This worked in the podcast’s favour as their wild stories and banter kept the podcast going. All producers agree that the host is crucial and the shoe depends on their personality (Tunstall, 1993). It is important to note that the presenter and guest used here were friends prior to the podcast which may explain the great chemistry they have. For our show, it will be important to cast two people with great chemistry who can bounce off one another and are charismatic. The casting will play a major role in the feel of the show as it is vital the hosts have great chemistry to communicate the tone and feel we want through the screen to the audience. Talent is one of the most important ingredients for a successful show and the casting process is key to finding the right talent, everyone who appears on the show must gel. This process can take time with auditions and screen tests. The audience should be in mind when talent is chosen If it’s a young skewed show you will need to get the right ‘type’ and this will be very different from someone required for a Saturday prime-time family audience (Brown and Duthie, 2019). The presenter and guest are also already public figures on TikTok so come with an audience of people who enjoy watching their content and are interested in their lives. As much of the podcast is centred around stories from their lives, we will have to take a different stance for our show as the audience will not be invested in the lives of the presenters as they do not already know them.
This podcast really helped me clarify what segments I could see working for the show and how these would play out. I was able to look at the running order I am creating and decide what is beneficial for the show and for the audience to feature, what are they interested in and how could I show this in an interesting way. It also highlighted the importance of casting and how crucial it will be to find the right hosts for the show who will be able to carry the fun, relaxed and conversational vibe from the very beginning to the end of the show. I was also able to see what not to do in terms of segment length and I got a better understanding of at what points the audience begin to lose interest. These will be things I act upon in my running order to ensure the audience is fully engaged.
References
AGCAS editors (2022). Television/film/video producer job profile | Prospects.ac.uk. [online] www.prospects.ac.uk. Available at: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/television-film-video-producer#:~:text=As%20well%20as%20overseeing%20the [Accessed 1 Feb. 2023].
Brown, L. and Duthie, L. (2019). The TV studio production handbook. London ; New York: Bloomsbury Academic.
f-trend (2019). Marketing strategy for Millennial consumers(18-35 age group). [online] f-trend.com. Available at: https://f-trend.com/blog/marketing-strategy-millennial-consumers18-35-age-group [Accessed 5 Apr. 2023].
Informatics (2018). Best Ways to Target Your Audience Online by Age | Informatics Inc. [online] All Things Internet | Informatics Inc. Available at: https://www.informaticsinc.com/blog/january-2018/best-ways-target-your-audience-online-age [Accessed 5 Apr. 2023].
Keeling, G. (2022). Max Balegde Plays Say It or Shot It, BAD S*x Stories & Rudest TikToker Revealed?! FULL PODCAST EP.1. [online] www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OduCzFjTHfY [Accessed 8 Feb. 2023].
ListenNotes (n.d.). Saving Grace. [online] Listen Notes. Available at: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/saving-grace-the-fellas-studios-Gtv3nFh0cY2/ [Accessed 5 Apr. 2023].
ScreenSkills (n.d.). Producer in the unscripted TV industry. [online] ScreenSkills. Available at: https://www.screenskills.com/job-profiles/browse/unscripted-tv/editorial/producer-unscripted-tv/ [Accessed 1 Feb. 2023].
Tunstall, J. 1993. Television Producers, Taylor & Francis Group, 1993. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucreative-ebooks/detail.action?docID=168182. [Accessed 1 Feb. 2023].
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