We want to help you get your production started and have created this “Starting Production Guide” to help you bring your ideas to life. After signing up and receiving training you will be on your way to making great media for broadcast on WHCA-TV. Read on for a walkthrough on how to produce a show here at WHCA.
- Sign up as a WHCA Volunteer
Fill out a WHCA Volunteer Sign up form and tell us about yourself and what you want to accomplish as you work with WHCA. You will also have to review and sign off on WHCA’s Policies & Procedures in order to access any of our services, facilities, or equipment. As the name ‘volunteer’ implies; becoming a WHCA volunteer is free, some training courses may however come with some cost. - Get training on the equipment you hope to use
WHCA volunteers can request training to gain access to our equipment. Introductory level training or certification are required in order to gain access to our portable camera, audio and lighting equipment. We also offer training for our multi-camera studio and our digital editing lab. Contact WHCA to book training at a time that works for you. - Plan your production
Take some time to develop a vision of your production. You may want to use WHCA’s Program Application form which will ask you many of the questions you’ll need to start thinking about, and even provides you a show template worksheet. Once you know this information, you can start checking the availability of your talent, production crew, obtaining releases, and do all of the pre-production planning to exec ute your first show(s). If you need production crew to get started the WHCA staff can even help try and connect you with someone. Contact the WHCA staff to get help finding other volunteers. - Reserve facilities &/or portable-equipment for production
As long as WHCA has your; Volunteer Sign Up Form and Policies & Procedures sign off, we will happily accept your facility or equipment reservation for any facilities or equipment for which you have qualified. Reservations can be made in person, online, or over the phone. Facilities & equipment are first come first served, so planning ahead pays off. 48 hours notice is the minimum requirement. - Begin Production
Gather your crew, or just gather yourself for your in-studio shoot, or pick up your equipment and begin your creative work in the field. - Post-production
No matter what kind of content you are making, there is always some work that is required after shooting. This may include reviewing, editing, rerecording additional audio/video tracks and so on. Don’t be discouraged, it’s all part of the process. - Submit your program for playback
Once your production and post-production work is complete you may submit your content to WHCA either in person or online. Programs can be submitted as DVD, or Digital file in (.mov or .mpg) formats. - Watch it on the big screen
Invite your friends over, make popcorn, and watch your show on WHCA! - Get the word out!
After all your hard work, there is still more you should do to help get the word out about your final piece. You can also upload your show to YouTube or other online sources and even ask the WHCA staff to post a story about its premiere on this website or our social media. Of course you can also send press releases and post announcements about your show on your favorite social networks. There is so much you can do to bring viewers!
There are some reasons why WHCA might not allow you free access to our community production equipment. The use of WHCA’s facilities and equipment is for the purpose of producing non-commercial programming for WHCA community access channels or website. If you have any questions contact us and we’ll happily try to point you in the right direction!