These five steps will help you get on the road to developing your own reality TV show or documentary film with a well-thought-out professional concept and a solid 30-second pitch.
1. THE HOMEWORK: The first step in developing your program or documentary is research. As you begin to clarify your idea, do your homework. Think of all the reality TV shows you’ve ever seen. Which ones did you enjoy the most? Why? Take note of them and actively search and try to find the most successful programs that resemble your concept and ideas. You’ll need them to write an effective “registration line” for your Reality TV-style blog, show, or online video series.
2. THE TREATMENT: The second step in the process of creating a sound concept for a TV show or documentary is to write a one-page treatment. If you’re writing a treatment for a reality show or documentary film, begin the treatment with a single, strong, well-written paragraph that grabs the reader’s attention and briefly introduces each of the topics you’ll cover in more detail in the paragraphs below. of the. Very simple… Right?
3. THE REGISTRATION LINE: Once you have a solid treatment, you can move on to step three. You will need to create a truly effective check-in line for your reality show or documentary film. Remember that a Log Line is a brief summary of the concept of your television program or documentary, it should provide a brief synopsis of the main plot and what makes it different or unique, as well as what makes it similar to other programs.
4. THE STORYBOARDS: The fourth step in developing a good reality TV show or documentary film concept is to illustrate your point and that means creating storyboards to visualize your concept. You want to give the reader a visual feel for your TV show or documentary. Do some homework on branding techniques and look for royalty-free images to help illustrate your story. If your concept is for a reality show or even a documentary or series, don’t be afraid to take still images with a digital camera or use stock photography to create your storyboards.
5. THE SINGLE SHEET: The final step in developing your concept for a TV show or documentary film is to put all the pieces together into a single one-sheet document that includes your registration line, an edited copy, a few key images and a summary. synopsis for your reality show or documentary film concept. For a reality TV or documentary producer, this is the equivalent of a headshot for an actor or model, or a sizzling reel for a director or cinematographer. It’s your business card and the only thing anyone will really read to the end. You need to grab the reader’s attention right away or you’ll quickly end up under a pile of other really great ideas, or most likely, under a thousand or more other really mediocre ideas.
Use each of these steps to focus on telling your entire story clearly and succinctly. The reader will appreciate it and will likely give it time and consideration, which is likely to be 30 seconds or less. But then again, it only takes a moment to make a good decision. Trust me, the media industry is abuzz with content created exactly this way! By following the general guidelines in these examples, you will have a short document that explains your brand vision clearly and professionally.
