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You’ve seen them: spooky ghost shows, high-steaks crime-retellings, beautifully-shot historical docs — all using a cinematically photographed re-creation style to bring these “reality shows” or unscripted television series to life. Yes, they are incredibly fun and fulfilling to make. Today, we’ll give you the blueprint to how we make one such show, step-by-step.
Big Looks on a TV Budget – The Art of Re-Creation
Season 2 of our show Ghost Inside My Child comes to LMN on Saturday, August 16, at 9pm, and is driven by interviews and re-creation.
This show came from one of you, Suzanne Stratford, from Cleveland, Ohio, who discovered an amazing phenomenon — hundreds of parents who were dealing with children who remembered living — and dying — in a past life. Suzanne did a great job pitching the show to us and making herself valuable (we explain in the podcast.)
Working with Joke and Biagio changed my life. They believed in my idea, my dream, and me: bolstering my vision, creating a riveting program in less than a year, while staying true to the concept. They might be a Hollywood powerful couple, but they treat you as an equal and always listen to your thoughts and feedback. And now the show has been picked up for a second season on LMN! For that, and so much more, I’m eternally grateful and look forward to making many more programs together.
Suzanne Stratford
Producer, Ghost Inside My Child – BIO, LMN
Have a quick look at the trailer below. You’ll see planes exploding, cowboys in the rain, concerned parents, numerous locations, and lots of angles. Tons of re-creation.
An entire one-hour TV episode covering two different families, numerous re-creation shoots, many interviews, green screen, and more, is shot in just four to five days.
How do we get it all done?
Just a few things we cover today:
- Discovering and casting stories for episodes.
- What cameras we shoot on.
- How one of you brought this show to us.
- Capturing re-creation scenes both quickly and inexpensively.
- Avoiding re-creation shooting that is too literal.
- The right way to pitch us re-creation shows.
- What software we use to build visual effects quickly and within a tiny budget.
- How long it takes to edit an episode.
- Dealing with network notes.
Hit the giant PLAY button above to learn our secrets!
Transcript coming soon!
Helpful and Related Links
Getting great interviews with PESO
Start Here: 7 Steps to Pitch Reality TV to Joke and Biagio
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Come Make a Show With Us!
Whether you want to make a re-creation show, doc series, or any other kind of unscripted television, we’re open to hearing your pitches.
Here’s what you do: