SOURCES AND METHODS
To develop an accordingly complex study of media production, it is
necessary to apply a wide range of analytical approaches to an equal range of
sources. Research on current fiction production may usefully begin by describing
the historical development of the contemporary situation. As already indicated,
newer histories continue to provide substantial additional detail, hence
elaborating a more precise understanding of how media industries came to their
status. A project would next require a description of the general regulatory and
economic context at the level of the media system (commercial, public service,
mixed, etc.). In addition to legislative sources concerning such industrial
formations, macro-level information is usually available in national statistical
abstracts. These latter sources provide details of import and export, viewer ratings
and other statistics for television, gross numbers of completed productions for
various media industries, distribution and attendance figures for films, the
contribution of specific industries to the Gross Domestic Product, and so on. The
significance of this information is often best recognized in comparative studies, as
in Sinclair et al. (1996), where shifts in national policies and support systems are
linked to changes in production practices. Comparative data may also be found in
publications of organizations such as the European Audiovisual Observatory or
the European Broadcasting Union.
For the study of individual corporations or production companies, some
limited information may often be found in public corporate records, annual
reports, and similar documents. More general information such as size of
companies, principal officers, location and address, and recent projects is
provided in sources such as the annually published International Television and
Video Almanac and the International Motion Picture Almanac. It is far more
difficult to obtain access to current corporate records concerning specific
projects or corporate strategies. As alternatives, or complements, both original
interviews and trade press reportage are valuable on this topic, but researchers
must be aware that much of the information may be designed for public relations
purposes.
Even more difficult to obtain is information related to the costs and other
financial arrangements of particular productions. Still, generalized budgets are
widely acknowledged. It is well known, for example, that the average cost of a one-
hour episode of a U.S. fictional television series was between $1.5 and $2 million
in 1999. With this factor in mind, it is possible to assess the significance of the
decision by the NBC network to pay $13 million per episode for its top program,
ER. Similarly, high film budgets, such as those reported for Titanic, or low
expenditures, such as those for The Blair Witch Project, are discussed in the trade
and general press as directly related to aesthetic choices, creative decision-
making, and resulting works.
But financial matters are only part of the complex negotiations leading to the
production of fiction. It is more difficult still to account for the exercise of power
that is involved in bringing a film to the screen or a television program to
distribution, because the process involves complicated interactions involving
many complex organizations. It is perhaps for this reason that historical
production studies, with some benefit of hindsight, have been among the most
informative in recent years. Works such as Schatz (1988) are based on archival
records which, somewhat surprisingly, maintain detailed accounts of some of the
most complicated, acrimonious, and revealing exchanges in the production of
particular films. The account of struggles within the creative process are
extremely instructive, as long as one remembers that each case is likely to work
variations on standard industry practices.
Comparable contemporary ‘behind the scenes’ information, while often
among the most important sources in these matters, may be the least available.
Most of it must be gathered from the ‘trade press,’ newspaper and magazine
publications focused on the media industries. In the U.S.A., the daily and weekly
editions of Variety provide extensive coverage of the financial arrangements within
the film, television, cable, news media, music, and legitimate (stage) theater
industries. Moreover, these papers present detailed information about individual
productions, publish running records of box-office receipts, provide extensive
coverage of countries other than the U.S.A., and frequently offer interpretive
analysis of industry changes. Many other trade journals are equally useful, for
instance, Broadcasting and Cable, Advertising Age, and Electronic Media.
Ultimately, in order to develop a broad understanding of any fiction
production, it is necessary to supplement such background information with field
research. This entails observation of production practices and interviewing of the
personnel involved, often supplemented by published interviews and other library
sources. Perhaps surprisingly, it is often rather easy for academic researchers to
gain access to media production sites, where creative personnel working on a
project are likely to be rather open regarding the choices they make, though less
likely to provide details related to individual power struggles.
Thus, preparations addressing the various contextual levels should precede
the analysis of a specific set of creative practices. The more thorough the
preparation, the more precise and efficient the observations and interviews
conducted in the case study. Demonstrating full preparation also makes it more
likely that access to the production site will be granted by self-conscious
professionals. To illustrate these points, and to elaborate the various levels of
analysis in production research, the following section explores a specific research
project.
