http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/production/television/producing/article/art20140918123721038
What makes a good game show
- Clear identity – Something that is considered really important, this makes it easier for audiences to get a general theme of the show from the beginning
- Simplicity – The fewer the rules the better, it can be easy to over complicate a game show.
- Great play along – The viewer should be able to feel involved and engaged in the show, e.g. Catchphrase can be able to play along at home
- Jeopardy – something considered important, “When a quiz show has genuine jeopardy, and you feel it, you know there is something in it” Jamie Ingley, development producer The Million Pound Drop. Also fun factor is important, merging jeopardy and fun factor works well on a game show.
How to get an idea on to the TV
- Once you have initial idea, ‘top line’ – the first thought, you enter the development process by creating a structure – how many rounds (if any) are you going to have, how many contestants, how will the money work – will it build up in the show or a set amount, is it a rolling show etc. You have to decide what best suits your show.
- When you’ve got your idea structured to a certain point you start running it through, “You don’t know how good something is until you’ve seen it.” Jamie Ingley
Finding contestants
- Can be more difficult to find contestants for brand new shows, start out by sending leaflets to everywhere you can to get the interest out there – ‘Targeting period’
- Once applications start to come in, start to call them and have a general chat about the show and see if they are interested and worthwhile coming in or an audition.
What makes a great contestant?
- Different for every show but need to someway represent the tone and identity of the show
- Find new faces as often as possible
- People that can bring their own personality through in front of the camera and can be themselves and shine through.
Questions
- There is a question producer, a producer AP and a question researcher and come up with the questions. Then they will pass them to their series producer or exec which they then get signed off. After this they get sent of for verification and go through a more thorough check to ensure all the questions and answers are accurate.
How to keep shows fresh and exciting?
- E.g. Catchphrase ran for around 16 years then had a gap of around 10-12 years and came back in 2013. They didn’t change the simplicity of the game but added something at the start and something at the end and also added more comedy. Presenter Stephen Mulhern is very warm, funny and entertaining and can get the best out of the contestants – this is massively important, considered a huge part of the success of the revival.
- Contestant side of things – “always trying to find fresh faces not people that have been on 100 shows before, it isn’t a bad thing but we have to be careful if someone has been on another show recently and then come onto our show that are both pre-recorded that they both aren’t going out at the same time on different channels” Sarah Timbury, casting producer. Have a whole research team looking for different places for new contestants that might not be on gaming websites already.
- Format wise – Take into consideration who the commissioner is, might inform the type of show you take to them. Think of a simple twist to create a fresh new idea, for example, with The Million Pound Drop the contestants start off with the money and lose it as they go along rather than building it up throughout the show.
How many shows recorded a day?
- If an established show and the team know how the format works they can record 3 or 4 shows a day
- If a brand new show then you start with 1 or 2 a day. E.g. The Edge they are going to start recording 1 a day, then 2 and build up as they go along. They have 2 weeks to record 25 episodes.
Game show apps and online stuff – where is it going?
- Getting more and more important
- The Million Pound Drop was the first live show to have the app where audiences could play along live and was very popular
- “As it becomes easier to record live quiz shows and technology advances I think at some point the amount of people that interact with quiz shows will cross a critical threshold which means its worthwhile to make the show about the app, at the moment for 95% of shows it is an after thought” Jamie Ingley
- Before apps, shows used to use the red button to be able to play along with shows
Tips for someone wanting to work on quiz shows
- Casting perspective – got to be personable, like going out to meet new people, be able to communicate clearly
- Development – Be able to come up with ideas
- Get involved
I found this masterclass quite interesting, I didn’t realise how much of a team there is to create questions for the shows. In terms of development for our format, this masterclass emphasised the importance of ensuring the casting is done correctly so that the contestants make the show more exciting for the audience. For our format we need to ensure the contestants fit the show’s identity and will be entertaining characters. This masterclass also highlighted the importance of keeping things simple and not over complicating the show, this is so the audience can pick up the theme of the show quickly and not get confused and in the end turning the programme off.
I’ve learnt about the process of finding contestants which I find interesting. If a brand new show wants to find new fresh faces they need to make sure they have targeted a large group of people all over the country in the ‘targeting period’ to get the interest around and tell people about the show. I also find it interesting how an idea for a format can come from one simple line, the ‘top line’ which you then layer on aspects to create a whole format.
Lillie Cram 