The “Keepin’ It Real” show has been apart of the United Negro College Fund Special Programs Corporation for several years, and Meesha Media Group made sure the topics were exciting, insightful, and at the end of the day, we kept it real.
Pre-Production
With shows on various topics such as obesity, HIV/AIDS and infant mortality, video production is an important component of the show in order to effectively deliver the right message to its viewers. The Community and Education division contracted MMG to produce its latest show about domestic violence, during the Project STOP NOW! (Funded by Tougaloo College) conference in Nashville, Tennessee. MMG’s production staff did research on Project STOP NOW!, which collaborates with UNCFSP, and possible guests who could appear on the show. Research was also done about domestic violence on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, in order to effectively create a script and questions for guests. All of this initial research lent to the creation of the show’s content, the purpose of the show and the order of the guest appearances. One guest the team approached to appear was Susan Still, domestic violence victim and advocate who had been a previous guest on the Oprah Winfrey show. The show took place at the end of the conference, even including the participation of HBCU students who attended the conference. Once interview questions and the order of the show was approved, the production process began.
Production
The MMG production team traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to film the Keepin’ It Real” show. For three days, the team documented the Project STOP NOW! conference from the sessions to the dinners. The production team, which included three camera operators, a producer/ scriptwriter, two photographers, a sound engineer and a floor assistant, were provided for the entire production. Throughout the conference, the production team met with the KIR guests to discuss the interview content. The actual production of the KIR show was conducted during the final session of the Project STOP NOW! conference. The production team shot the show during a two-hour period, shooting in the order the show would appear. During the taping, MMG’s floor director and producer controlled the audience, as well as prepping the guests and the host of the show.
Post-Production
The footage was edited using the multi-cam edit on the Final Cut Pro System. The final process took two days to edit as a rough cut and an additional two days to complete the fine cut. An audio sync was also completed for each camera angle and input into the fine cut. Upon the approval of the KIR show, it was featured on UNCFSP’s website and used for other promotional material.
