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CURTAIN RAISER:Political, Financial, Sports, Academics

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Introduction to Broadcasting ­ MCM 411
VU
LESSON 06
CURTAIN RAISER
Before we discuss the programming side of any broadcast transmission, it is appropriate here
to throw some light on a topic which rarely gets into limelight. The curtain raiser is a word
heard more in the studio than outside. The curtain raiser is a full program in itself which
actually is a forerunner before a major program. For instance; a very important OIC
conference is going to be held, lets suppose in Pakistan. A day before, or even earlier, special
programs will be aired to make people familiarize with the issues the conference is going to
discuss. This program is called curtain raiser.
We shall now have a detailed study of different types of curtain raisers.
Political
Usually it is the area of politics and governance that hold major meetings and conferences.
From the first session of the parliament to holding of general elections, and from discussing
the role of district governments to the performance of different governments and private
departments and corporations, there is no dearth of big events. Many of these events need an
introductory program on the electronic media so that people know well in time the topics and
their importance.
Apart from the national politics, so much activity is noticed in the regional and global politics.
Some time such activities are related to different regional issues. Every now and then there
are meetings and conferences at different diplomatic levels which talk about the matters
concerning millions of people of the region. There may be a case that your country is not
involved directly but it has some stakes indirectly. For example there is an OIC meeting which
has on its agenda the issue of Palestine. Since this issue finds a high place in our foreign
policy, there is much concern here to learn how other OIC members are going to talk on this
matter.
Likewise, a SAARC meeting is to discuss some issues belonging to India and Bangladesh.
since Pakistan is a very important member of the SAARC, it would like to know the progress
made on certain matters between the two regional countries.
A curtain raiser would place listeners in a position where they would be able to understand all
these issues in proper perspective.
Financial
Daily life is full of economic events concerning with common people. Like the annual federal
budgets, which carry so much for public in the sense of taxes, prices and increase or decrease
in the rail fares and utility bills. Usually common people have little understanding of economic
issues. A well-produced curtain raiser is a blessing for them for it makes them get some know-
how on matters concerning them.
These days people are more concerned about the economic policies and developments of
different countries with whom direct or indirect business is going on. Any change in the import
policy of a country where Pakistani exporters are selling goods would have far reaching
consequences on the bilateral trade. Traders would like to understand the background
reasons for change in the financial policies of other countries as well as in their own country.
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Introduction to Broadcasting ­ MCM 411
VU
Sometime, organizations like the WTO take certain decisions which are binding to all the
member states to follow. In most cases ordinary businesspersons do not know much of the
details of these decisions which by all means are likely to matter in their business.
A curtain raiser will come handy just before a meeting in any part of the world which in any
ways is going to affect the business interest of the people here.
Sports
The events of national interest, which perhaps continue all round the year, belong to sports.
Either Pakistan is visiting a country to play a test series, or a country is coming here for the
same purpose. A world cup tournament is going to be held this week, or Olympic games are
next month. National games are also planned for near future, or preparation for SAF games is
in final stages. There is no end to sports festivity. A broadcasting house remains alert the
whole year to make programs - curtain raisers, to cash on the immense interest these sporting
activities generate.
People are generally interested in knowing the records of the teams and athletes of their liking.
A background of games and the future prospects told to the sports lover through an
arrangement of curtain raiser is always going to general interest among them.
It is quite possible to hold an interview of an important person ­ captain of the visiting team,
coach or the manager, to ask questions of immediate interest pertaining to the forthcoming
series of test matches. A curtain raiser is meant to cover all possible aspect of the event and
take the listeners in a position where they would be enjoying the matches with more
knowledge of the game and the players.
Academics
Think some world top ranking scientists are here to discuss, say developments in the area of
molecular biology in a conference of interest-group countries. This gives an ideal time to a
broadcasting station to prepare a curtain raiser and involve one or two scientists in the
discussions on the agenda-of-topics for the conference.
There have been many developments in the field of education as foreign universities are
seeking students from this part of the world. Usually officials of the foreign universities hold
camps at big cities and conduct interviews of students and parents who are interested in
learning from abroad. A radio program as curtain raiser before such activity may make people
aware of so many things and equip them to move further from that level of knowledge.
Again, there are a number of stray events, which may require a curtain raiser. If the Gawadar
port is going to be inaugurated next week, no broadcasting house will miss to air a forerunner
before that date. If Prime Minister of some country is visiting Pakistan, say for the first time, a
curtain raiser is a must to introduce people here with the agenda of talks he may be holding
with our leaders and so on.
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Table of Contents:
  1. BROADCASTING:Historical Facts about Radio, Wireless and Radio
  2. CLASSIFICATION OF PROGRAMS:NEWS, Language, Sensationalizing
  3. CURRENT AFFAIRS:Talk Shows, Discussions, Seminars, Live Shows
  4. OUTDOOR BROADCASTING I:VIP Movement, Suddenly Assigned Events
  5. OUTDOOR BROADCASTING II:Pakistan Day March Past, General Elections
  6. CURTAIN RAISER:Political, Financial, Sports, Academics
  7. RADIO FEATURE:Personality Features, Features on Events
  8. MUSICAL PROGRAMS:Classical Music, Light and Film Music, Folk Music
  9. RADIO DOCUMENTARY:Narrative, Dramatized, Imagination, Close to places
  10. DISC JOCKEY:Women in Focus, Daily/ Weekly Division, Making Titles
  11. VOICE IN BROADCASTING:Speech, Accent, Loudness, Stress
  12. NOISE:Physical, Medium itself, Problem at sender’s end, Semantics
  13. STUDIO:Drama Studio, Studios for Talk Shows/ Discussions, Music Studios,
  14. RADIO DRAMA I:Stage Dramas, Early Radio Dramas, Ethics, Classification
  15. RADIO DRAMA II:Selection of director, The Playwrights, Script, Voices
  16. ADVERTISEMENT – INCOME GENERATION:Similarities, More Analysis
  17. ADVERTISERS’ APPROACH:Dramatized, Dialogue based, News
  18. FM – A NEW GENERATION IN BROADCASTING:Low Cost, The Difference
  19. MICROPHONE TO TRANSMITTER:Amplifiers, Modulator, Transmitter
  20. WRITING SCRIPT FOR RADIO BROADCAST:NEWS Script, Interviews
  21. INTERACTIVE BROADCASTING:On-line, E-mails, Interview, Views in News
  22. REVISION:CURRENT AFFAIRS, RADIO FEATURE, MUSICAL PROGRAMS
  23. HISTORY OF TELEVISION:Early History, The Black & White Images, Color Television
  24. PAKISTAN TELEVISION (PTV):The Excitement, Timing, Live Broadcast
  25. BROADCASTING LAWS:Laws in the 19th century, Press Council of Pakistan
  26. REPLICAS OF RADIO BROADCAST:The Staff, News Reading, Programming
  27. NEW SCRIPT WRITING AND DIRECTION TECHNIQUES:TV Script
  28. SETS:Permanent Sets, Hot & Cover Sets, Special Sets, Economical
  29. CAMERA SHOTS – THE VISUAL LANGUAGE:Angle Shots, Movement shots
  30. LIGHTS IN VISUAL BROADCASTING:Light Temperature, Light and Distance
  31. INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR:NEWS and Interviews, Dramas and Music
  32. BROADCASTING AND MEDIA IMPERIALISM:The truth in the debate
  33. ENVIRONMENT OF TV BROADCAST:Optical Illusions, POV, Depth of Field
  34. BUDGET:First Part, Second Part, Third Part, The Sponsors
  35. COMPARISON AND CONTRAST OF DIFFERENT RADIO AND TV FORMATS:TV NEWS
  36. CURRENT AFFAIRS – FROM RADIO TO TV:Seminars, Interviews
  37. PRE-PRODUCTION:Brain Storming, Scripting a new program, Approval
  38. PRODUCTION & POST-PRODUCTION:Booking Shifts, Rehearsals
  39. TV ADVERTISEMENTS – MONEY WITH ENTERTAINMENT:Early Phase, Getting Spots
  40. ENIGMA OF MORE CHANNELS:The Investment, Fresh Ideas, Closure of channels
  41. ANCHORPERSON:Appearance and Confidence, Job Opportunities
  42. COMPARISON BETWEEN RADIO AND TV BROADCAST:The Difference, Script
  43. TERRESTRIAL TO SATELLITE TO CABLE TV:Cable Network, CD Channels
  44. CAREER IN BROADCASTING:Production, Direction, Lighting Director, Script Writer
  45. REVISION (LESSON 23 TO 44):Broadcasting Laws, PEMRA, Budget