Getting a show from script to screen is a fast and furious process. Some crews
make thirteen episodes of scripted TV in the same amount of time it takes to
make a single blockbuster movie.
So how do they do it?
This process applies to all types of scripted TV shows
– both dramas and comedies –
but we're gonna use an hourlong drama with a 13 episodes season as an example.
Let's say you're the showrunner. This is what the next year of your life is going to look like.
First thing's first: you and the writers break the story. Meaning you plot out the major
moments of the season. And then you assign writers to break the story for each
episode. After multiple drafts a script around 45 pages is created. That's
about six hundred pages of material for the whole season. At this point
episodes are assigned to directors and directors of photography who begin
planning on their own and then there's the art department. They're in charge of
the whole look of the show. Let's say the show takes place in New York City in
1980. The art department researchers the period so that everything as big as
buildings and cars and as small magazines and jewelry look realistic.
Now let's get shooting.
To shoot 45 pages of material in about 8 days you need a serious
schedule. A traditional script isn't all that helpful to a crew. So first
each scene is assigned a location, time of day, and actors. After all these factors
are prioritized the result is a document called a white schedule. Once shooting begins
every episode requires a table read. That's when the whole cast gets together
and reads the script from beginning to end.
At this point the director works with the director of photography to correctly
block all the actors and every scene is shot from multiple angles. A one-minute
scene in a show could easily take a few hours to shoot. Now you might not think
your typical drama would not have a lot of visual effects but something as little
as a TV playing in the background of a scene requires post-production work. Ever
heard the phrase "we'll fix it in post." Here we go.
A post production team is comprised of editors, sound designers, visual effects
artists, and all the assistants and coordinators that go along with them.
Editors make the first cut of the episode and give it to the director. Then
the director's cut goes to the showrunners. The showrunners give notes, create a
producer's cut, and that goes to the studio which then becomes the network
cut. During this entire process things like that TV with the green screen get
pushed through visual effects. Once all of the edits are final, a color corrector and
sound designer begin to work their magic. The dialogue needs to be cleaned up,
sound effects put in, and the entire edit needs to be mixed. OK, we're almost done.
It's now several months after writing began and the episode, fully mastered, gets
serviced to broadcasters around the country. But the rest of the show isn't
finished. Every episode is finalized
just a few weeks, and sometimes just a few hours, before it premieres.