All television production is about the process of putting across a message, from producer, scriptwriter, advertising agency or whoever to the viewer. The viewer could be anyone from the youngest child to the oldest pensioner. Sometimes the viewing audience is made very specific. For example a corporate video might only be seen by the board of directors of a company. Sometimes it is very broad - the Christmas entertainment shows watched by tens of millions, for instance.
Similarly the message could be very specialized, or very general. What all of these different types of programmes have in common though is the tools they use and, therefore, the processes involved in production. What this book aims to do is give you an understanding of these tools and how to master the processes of using them successfully.
Television programmes are made from a string of moving pictures accompanied by a sequence of sounds. It is an ‘audiovisual’ experience. Both of these elements can convey information and emotions. The skilful producer will utilize both in ways that communicate most effectively. The picture sequence, to engage the viewer’s interest and attention, must feel like the way the viewer would watch the world. When we look about us at real events our eyes are rarely still for long. As new incidents capture our interest our eyes flick rapidly to take in different views. A sound of a door opening prompts us to look up to see who is entering or leaving the room. A touch on our shoulder makes us turn and look at whoever is behind us. Although we are not aware of the movement of our eyes there is a constant updating, or refreshing of the visual scene presented to our brain.
The television equivalent of this is the changing (instantly) from one shot to another - called a cut - as the action develops. The programme director can choose not just when to make the change, but also what shot to go to next. This is different from how the viewer sees the world. In real life the viewer would decide what they wanted to look at next. In television the director decides what to show them next. This is an important piece of control that the director can use to shape the programme. The way this sequence of pictures is built governs a fundamental choice the director must make. He can either have lots of different cameras, giving simultaneous different views of the action, and achieve the variety of shots by choosing different cameras at different moments, or he can have just one camera, and each time a new view is needed stop the action, move the camera, and then restart the action.
The first choice is called ‘multi-camera’ or ‘studio’ production, the second ‘portable single camera’ or location’ production. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Many programmes these days use a mixture of both techniques.
‘Standby studio, Standby floor, Roll VT, 30 second countdown please.’
A studio production is about to start, but what does all this mean? Who is involved? What do they all do? How?
All TV productions involve teamwork, people who are working together to help each other to get the very best results from their particular area of expertise. The whole is a culmination of many hours of planning and preparation which will turn the original idea into a successful programme. Television is an audiovisual experience, both sound and pictures are involved and must complement each other perfectly. If this is to work properly the programme will be the pinnacle of a large base of preparation. A good estimate is that an hour of recorded programme will involve several weeks in the planning stage and then between one and two days preparation and shooting in the studio. The end result should be so good that the viewer has no idea about all this work at all. The viewer thinks it just happened. Any lack of planning and preparation will show in the result which will be, at best poor, or at worst unwatchable.
With so much happening, and so many complex processes involved, there are obviously many people contributing to the programme’s success. They are organized in teams, each with its own specialism. If you look at the credits of a television programme you will see a list of these teams. Apart from the director and scriptwriters there will be credits for lighting, sound, wardrobe, props, cameras, editors, floor managers and vision. We will look at the roles of these teams, and see how they contribute to the programme, in greater depth later. The first thing to do is find out where all these teams work.
Figure 1.1 Exployed view of studio as a while showing floor area and gallery area
A typical studio will consist of several areas, normally on two levels. The diagrams will help you to see how it all fits together.
The bottom level is the studio floor. This is where all the action takes place. This floor area should be as large as is needed to accommodate the types of performance expected, but certainly needs to be no less than five metres by three metres. It should be as high as possible because the lights will need to be hung from the ceiling area.
The surfaces should be acoustically treated to optimize the sound quality. Ideally the studio should be acoustically ‘dead’, with no reverberation at all. Reverberation (or echo) can always be added later, but it is impossible to take it out if the recording doesn’t call for it.
The floor area should be totally smooth and level to allow the cameras to move around quietly and without jerky movements. Around the outside of the acting area there should be a clearly marked fire lane, this is a safety area which gives direct access to the fire exits and must not be obstructed. The acting area itself is where all the sets and staging are erected.
Above the whole area will be the lighting grid. This consists of strong barrels or bars from which the special lights are suspended. Although some lights may be at ground level or fitted to stands at floor level the majority of the light (like the sun) comes from above. Around the walls are wall boxes. Some of these boxes will supply power to the various pieces of studio equipment, others will allow connection of the microphones, monitors, lights, cameras and crew communication to other areas. The studio cameras are mounted onto movable pedestals to allow them to move about the floor area freely and will be connected to the wall boxes so that their pictures can be taken to the control area. A studio needs a minimum of two cameras, but three or four are preferred to offer as many different shots as possible without the need for too much movement of the cameras.
A range of microphones needs to be provided to look after the sound recording. These could be placed on or close to the performers by the sound team, but some may be fitted to sound booms which are movable supports similar to the camera pedestals but with microphones fitted. Often a couple of microphones are suspended from the lighting grid as ‘rehearsal microphones’ providing some sounds from fixed microphones allowing the actors to be heard whilst setting up is completed.
The whole area is going to get very hot, and is totally enclosed, so very powerful air conditioning must be fitted. It is essential that either this is totally silent or it can be switched off during recording, otherwise the microphones will pick up the noise and add it to the recording. Often purpose built studios have very high ceilings to allow the heat from the lanterns to float up away from the acting area. The studio floor area is under the control of the floor manager and his team.
Close to the studio, and with access to it, will be a collection of specialist rooms like the scenery bay where all the scenery and props are stored, the technical store where the microphones and lighting equipment are stored, workshops for the manufacture and repair of scenery, rooms for the performers like wardrobe, where the costumes can be stored, make-up and dressing rooms. Ideally there should be toilets and a canteen facility within the studio area - people will be in studio all day! How many specialist rooms there are will depend on the size of production that a particular studio normally handles.
Studios vary in layout for the specialist areas. Normally there is a gallery area above the stage area and looking out over it via a large double glazed window. Sometimes this area is at ground level, but it will always allow the stage area to be seen. This is the Control Room. Working in here will be the director, the director’s assistants and PA, the vision engineer and vision mixer. There may be a technical director, lighting director and sound supervisor.
Here there will be a collection of monitors, one for each camera and one for each of the other sources to be used in the programme such as video tape inserts, slides, films and graphics. There will also be monitors to allow a source to be previewed before it is finally taken to an output monitor which shows the picture that is being recorded.
Figure 1.2 Breakdown of gallery area into team areas
The source monitors are normally black and white, primarily for reasons of expense but also because elements of a picture are more easily judged and adjusted in black and white. The preview and output monitors will be colour. These images can be clearly seen by all the people in the gallery. The director will have the ultimate decision as to which picture is sent to the output. The vision mixer will have a vision switcher or vision mixer to allow any selected picture to be either previewed or sent to output.
In this area will be the lighting team. They will have remote control of the brightness of all the lights using a dimmer control board. They may be in the gallery area but do not need to be. It is not necessary for them to see the floor directly, but they should have a monitor to allow them to see at least the output and, preferably, a switched monitor circuit to allow them to select the output from the cameras. Both these monitors should be in colour.
This is the area where the sound team work. It may be in the gallery area, but not necessarily. Again, they do not need to see the floor but must have an output monitor and, preferably, a switched monitor circuit to be able to select any camera source. A sound mixing desk and any ancillary sound sources, e.g. DAT machines, open reel tape recorders and CD machines will be here. There will also be special effects units (reverberation, compressors, gates and equalizers). The sound team’s job is to get the best possible sound quality from the microphones and other sources and feed it to the output for recording onto the video tape recorder.
Sometimes in the gallery area, but often in a separate area, will be the vision engineering team. From here the cameras’ apertures, colour balances and black and white levels can be remotely controlled so that all the pictures look identical. With some fixed use studios (such as news studios), even the camera can be remotely controlled doing away with the camera operator altogether. Also the responsibility of the vision engineering team is the control over the picture quality output of the other sources such as video tape recorders and film projectors. Either in this area, or not very far from it, will be the racks room where all the electronic equipment needed to control the cameras, synchronization, video tape recorder outputs and anything else needed for picture quality control.
Figure 1.3 Basic interconnection of areas and teams
In here are all the video recorders and projector equipment that will be needed during the production. A video tape operator is kept very busy lining up all the inserts ready to be used as output and checking and loading the recording machine.
With all these people involved, all working in different areas, there is an obvious need for proper communication to allow them to talk to each other. The main talkback system is controlled by the director. The director is the only person that needs to speak to everybody. The director’s microphone allows communication with the floor manager, cameras, lighting, vision engineering, sound, machine room and anybody else connected with the actual production. Although they can normally talk back to the director, they should not do so unless specifically requested by the director. Once the setting up and rehearsals have finished the crew only need to take instruction from the director.
Individual teams, however, may also need to communicate with each other. Because of this there may be any number of separate intercom systems to allow people to work in their teams and take instructions from their team managers or the technical director.
Before we look at exactly what all the teams do and how they do it, we need to consider that the studio is a very large, specialist complex. Not only the people that work in it, but performers and the public are legally expected to be protected from accidents whilst in the premises. The whole area will need a fire certificate to prove that it has been inspected by the fire officers and that it is possible to evacuate everybody safely in accordance with the law. This will mean that any designated fire exit will have to be clearly marked, as will fire passages to these exits. The exits must be suitably illuminated and able to work on a battery standby system so that they will remain illuminated even if the main power is cut off.
There should be a fire alarm system to warn everybody of a fire and it should be tested regularly. It is a legal requirement that fire drills are carried out. Suitable numbers and types of fire extinguishers must be kept in all the areas. There are special types of extinguishers for different types of fire. Water-based extinguishers must not be used on anything electrical.
Apart from fire regulations there must be a clear policy for any first aid needs. There should be a suitable first aid box available and a known procedure for reporting any accident. Again industrial injuries, and particularly any injuries sustained by the public, are subject to law. Proper records must be kept regarding exactly what happened, when and how caused as well as the outcome.
Particular regard should be paid to the lights which are hanging from bars on the grid. They must be adequately secured by at least two systems. Apart from being fixed using a bracket they are normally safety-chained or wired to the grid as well. All their leads, plugs and sockets must be secure and inspected regularly. If one light takes ten amps and there are many lights on the grid, it is not difficult to imagine the amount of electricity that is available just to lighting! Lights become extremely hot so cables and fingers must be protected to prevent them burning.
The cameras, needing to be moved around the floor area, will have long trailing leads connecting them to the wall boxes. It is essential that these are neatly coiled away when not in use and properly controlled when they are being used. Anything that moves, cameras, dollies, booms, light fixings for example, must have brakes which must be applied when the equipment is parked.
Nowadays most intercom headsets work on the radio principle and do not need leads, but some still have long leads going to the wall boxes. Particularly at risk are the floor manager team who may be anywhere on the floor at any time. This team is responsible for the public and performers and it is their responsibility to make sure that they are safe. It would not do if either tripped over a floor manager’s intercom lead! There are many other examples which are mainly common sense, but one golden rule is ‘definitely no food or drink in any operating area’. A cup of coffee is probably the most lethal weapon in any studio.
No area is safer than any other. This is particularly true of dressing rooms, wardrobe and make-up where care must be exercised and regular checks made. It is the team manager’s responsibility to ensure that the area they are responsible for is safe at all times.