The Christmas Eve dinner is the event of the year for old Italians.
It's known as the "Feast of the Seven Fishes" and features seven
different kinds of seafood. It is my favorite dinner, trumping
Thanksgiving and Christmas.
You can go to a seafood
buffet, but there are a lot of things that make the Christmas Eve feast
unique. It's the bells and whistles. The decorated tree and Christmas
music in the background. My hilarious aunts arguing over whether the
fictional doctors on ER are better than the ones on Chicago Hope. The
parade of desserts after dinner when you sit down to watch a Christmas
movie. Everyone gets to open one present on Christmas Eve. It's those
little bells and whistles that make this night more than just a seafood
buffet.
I know at this point you're waiting for the
television analogy, so here goes. Are there bells and whistles in your
work? Is your package just a bunch of sound bites and voice track, or
have you added the flavor provided by nat sound, music, graphics, clever
writing, a solid anchor intro? Is your resume tape montage a bunch of
similar standups, or have you varied your locations, styles, and types
of stories?
I can buy you a Christmas gift and put it
in a brown paper bag. Or I can find a nice box, glittery wrapping paper,
a pretty bow and a cute tag. If you see both under the tree, which one
do you pick?
Television, like life, is all about bells
and whistles. Make everything you do interesting, but add some spice. Be
different, be daring, try new things.
Think about
it... we call a television story a "package" for good reason. Wrap it up
in an attractive way that makes the viewer excited and want to open it
first like the prettiest Christmas gift under the tree.
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