The very core of the production is the director and her or his team. Every programme must have a Director. Most will have a Production Assistant. Many will have a Producer. Some bigger, more complex, more expensive programmes will have an Executive Producer. What do these people do and how do their roles interlock?
In simple summary the Director is the person who makes the decisions necessary to execute a programme. The PA is the person who provides administrative, and organizational support, and who, in rehearsal and recording, provides everyone with timing and script information. The Producer is the person with overall management and legal responsibility for the programme.
The Executive Producer is the person who ensures that the necessary finance, and other resources, are available, and that the programme fits well into its series, or fulfils the requirements of its end-user. In many smaller budget programmes the roles of Executive Producer and Producer happily telescope into one person’s job. For small production companies, working on small-scale programmes, these two roles are also taken on by the Director. Few productions can manage without the help of a PA. All must have a Director.
The role of the Director is both one of the most satisfying and one of the most demanding roles in production. Whilst in television there is less tendency for the ‘famous author’ type of Director that is common in film (e.g. Hitchcock, Welles etc.) the role is nevertheless crucial. This person alone can influence directly every aspect of the programme. This person alone can, and must, make every production decision about the programme. Only the Director is able to see the global effect of the various contributing elements of the programme (performers’ actions and speeches, camera shots and positions, effect of various sound cues, types of vision mix transitions etc.) and have the authority to change and modify them to the better success of the programme.
It is the Director who instructs the crew and performers about how exactly to execute his or her vision of what the programme should look like. If the production team is like an organic body, the Director is the brain of the body, collecting, analysing and deciding on information, and then giving instructions to the ‘muscles’ (crew and performers) about how to be more effective. The Director doesn’t operate anything, but must have an all-seeing eye, an all-hearing ear, an anticipation of everything before it happens, and the ability to make clear decisions instantly. It is less important that those decisions are ‘correct’ or aesthetically good than that they are positive, and happen when they are needed.
The Director must have a clear vision of how the whole programme is built. This will embrace not only the global shape and structure of the whole programme, but also the small details of execution. It is in the methodical achievement of the small details that the hardest part of the Director’s work lies.
Let’s go through the progress of a Director’s work on a programme. In the very beginning there is an idea to be communicated and a target audience it is aimed at. This is the seed of the programme. If the programme is being made for a client they will have some idea of what is wanted. This could be very imprecise, or a detailed brief specifying every element of the programme.
The Producer, if the programme is to have one, will already have worked out the treatment of the programme before the Director is hired, but on smaller scale productions the Director will have to conceptualize the line the programme will take. The treatment is a plan of that line, specifying the scenes, or sequences of the programme, what they put across, how they are executed (i.e. what production tools are being used), and the order they will occur in. Most programmes are linear with one scene leading to another in logical order. Linear or not, the treatment is necessary to give a description of how the time blocks of the programme fit together.
Once the treatment is complete, the Director moves on to much more detailed preparation. The key to this is the storyboard. We look in more detail at all the documentation later, but put simply, the storyboard is a diagrammatic chart of all the shots in the programme, in their correct order. Working this out enables the Director to check that the sequence of shots does actually work, with no jarring, or illogical cuts. It also sets the shots against their dialogue, action, sound and possibly lighting cues, to ensure that all of them complement each other to push the programme forward, rather than conflicting.
In parallel with the development of the storyboard runs the preparation of the script. On a complex programme the Director may well have the assistance of researchers and scriptwriters to develop the script, but often they will have to do it themselves.
The script takes two forms (not always separate documents). The dialogue script gives the words to be spoken by performers with indications of their actions. This does not need specification of shots, or other technical matters since it is primarily used for preparation of performers. The shooting script on the other hand specifies in precise detail every aspect of the programme.
To be able to develop a shooting script fully a Director needs more than the flow of the words and actions. She or he needs a mental picture of how all the production tools are to be used. For this other specialists need to become involved. The Designer will create the visual style of the programme, designing set, costumes and graphics. From much discussion between the Director and Designer will emerge floor plans and perhaps models of the set.
This enables the Director to start the process of camera planning -choosing which camera from which position will take which shots in the programme.
By now the casting of the programme will be well under way, and the director must organize a rehearsal schedule for the performers. Early rehearsals will be away from the expensive environment of the studio. Lighting requirements will be discussed with the Lighting Director, sound with the Sound Supervisor. Costumes and props must be organized with the wardrobe and props departments. Shots will be planned with the Camera Supervisor.
All of this planning, organization and preparation could take a period of many weeks, or as little as a couple of days, but its culmination comes when the Director leads the team into the studio. Here the Director first ensures that all the set building, light rigging, and other physical preparation is working out. Then the performers’ moves and actions need to be ‘blocked’ - or fitted into the real set. A detailed briefing of cameras, floor team, lighting, sound and vision mixer will ensure that they all understand how their contribution fits into the whole programme.
The first rehearsal using all the technical apparatus - called a ‘stagger through’ - will have many problems which require it to stop (hence ‘stagger’). The Director must clearly discern where the most serious problems lie, and decide on methodical solutions to them. A frequent trap here is to go back time and again to the beginning to try to sort it out. What happens then is that the beginning of the programme gets heavy practice whilst the end (maybe just as problematic) gets hardly any. The trick is to accept that at this stage perfection will not be possible and to move on when the large difficulties have been dealt with. Later rehearsals will refine the lesser problems away.
The next stage is to try rehearsals at full speed, ignoring minor problems, but noting them for correction at the end of the rehearsal. It is important to remember that many difficulties only become evident, and therefore can only be solved, when the programme is moving along.
The Director must be especially sensitive to the energy, and psychological state of his or her team, especially the performers. If people feel tired, or confused, anxious, or bored they will not deliver well. A good Director will inform and encourage everyone involved in their production.
Finally the Director moves towards recording. More than one take of the programme may be needed, but again the Director must be sensitive about what his or her team can deliver. The programme may have minor flaws. The question is, can they be improved on? If so then another take is appropriate. If not the Director should consider recording correction ‘pickup’ shots or sequences for subsequent editing in (making sure that the shots will cut together). There is no point in doing another take ‘just in case’ - it will only irritate and tire crew and performers, who will inevitably not deliver as well.
The role of the PA is one of the most important, and perhaps one of the most under valued, in the whole production team. In the past the TV industry, with sexual discrimination common, and fairly rigid hierarchies of career progression, has had predominantly female PAs who have often not achieved their full potential, and frequently had their valuable contribution unrecognized. Nowadays, with attitudes beginning to improve, and much more flexibility of employment, PAs are both male and female and can look to progression to Director or Producer later in their career.
What do they do? Well almost everything! During early preparation of a programme they will do much of the essential administration of the programme. Co-ordinating crew, booking resources, generating and distributing information such as call sheets, budget breakdowns, scripts, camera cards, are just some examples of the work of the PA. This may be considered tedious, but remember that the success of the programme rests on good preparation, and the PA is at the heart of this preparation.
The PA will also, even in the early stages, have considerable influence on the aesthetic content of the programme. Directors often use the PA as a sounding board to discuss and shape their production decisions. Often the PA will attend early briefings of designers, lighting supervisors and so on, and will not only take copious notes of the outcomes, for future use in contracts, specifications etc., but will also have suggestions to make. Very often the Director is given the freedom to take an overall creative view by the thoroughness of the PA’s grasp of interlocking information. If, for example, a Director, in discussion with a designer asks about the possibility of having a split-level set with a grand staircase connecting the levels, the PA may remind her or him that the studio they are booked to use does not have a very high lighting grid, and there could be problems with sufficient headroom.
As the development of the script progresses further, the PA will become increasingly involved in detailed time planning within it. All broadcast programmes, and many non-broadcast ones, have strict time limitations placed on them. These can only be observed if the whole programme is planned with time in mind. This is a central part of the PA’s role. Sometimes a PA is asked to direct inserts for the programme, particularly if these are on location.
Once the programme moves into studio the pace increases for the PA (as for the rest of the production crew). Now he or she becomes the all-knowing source of information for everybody, but especially for the Director. All of the information gathered as the programme has been built will be readily accessible to the PA, so must be organized. Questions such as ‘How long is the clip we shot at Longleat?’, ‘What is the phone number of our presenter’s agent?’, ‘How many reels of tape have we ordered?’, ‘When is the satellite hook-up to San Francisco booked for?’, ‘If we shoot scene 3 this morning instead of this afternoon can we still complete on schedule?’ are all plausible, if not likely, ones a PA may be called upon to answer.
Once rehearsals begin the very specific duties of the PA in the control gallery begin. He or she will be required to do two main things: provide the Director (and rest of crew) with status information, and keep check on programme timings. Status information is shorthand for information about where exactly the programme is on the script. This entails three aspects, what has happened, what is happening, and what is about to happen. The last is probably the most important. If the Director is concentrating on instructing correctly and deciding on things like shots, sound cues, vision transitions, she or he cannot look down to read a script. Probably the Director will know the script well, having prepared it, but it is very easy to get confused about what is supposed to happen next. So the PA reads the script, and warns about what is approaching. This information is relayed verbally to the Director and, via the intercom, to the rest of the crew.
A typical speech might be: ‘We are on shot 23 on camera 3, VT insert from VT 2 next. Standby VT 2. Coming to VT in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, roll VT, 3, 2, 1 zero.’ Explained this means: we are currently on shot 23 (all shots in the programme are consecutively numbered, so this gives a unique reference point); ‘on camera 3’ tells us which camera (or other vision source) is providing the image; VT insert from VT 2 next’ tells us the nature of the next visual and where it’s coming from (in this case from video tape machine number 2); ‘standby VT 2’ gives warning to that machine operator to get it ready to roll, then there is a precise seconds countdown to the beginning of the video insert, including a ‘roll VT’ cue at five seconds.
Less frequently information about what has happened is required. If in the previous example camera 3 (on shot 23) was holding a slow zoom in during the shot, they would need to be told that that shot had finished and the programme had moved on to the video clip. The PA might say: ‘We are now on shot 24, video insert from VT; camera 3 clear to move, one minute, twenty-three seconds to end of insert’. This means that camera 3 is now released to move on to their next shot, and that there is one minute twenty-three seconds left of the video to run. This kind of back counting is vital, so that the Director and all the crew are ready for the next transition before it happens, rather than being caught out by it.
Timing is crucial to all programmes - they are planned to fit a time structure. One of the most difficult things a PA needs to do is to calculate how the actual time is different from the planned timing. Inevitably, despite the most thorough rehearsal, things go awry. This need not be disastrous if the PA is on the ball.
Let’s imagine, in the example above, we are on shot 24 - the video insert. Suddenly, fifteen seconds from the end of the insert, the video playback machine develops a blocked head, and the picture coming from it deteriorates. The Director rightly decides this is unacceptable, so comes back to the live presenter in studio early. Twelve seconds early to be precise. The programme must still finish at the specified time, so the PA has to find twelve seconds more of something. Perhaps, a little later, the presenter asks the guest a question which, unexpectedly, leads to a longer answer than anticipated. The longer answer means that this section takes twenty-three seconds longer than intended. Because the two timing errors are in different directions they make the whole programme eleven (twenty three minus twelve) seconds later than it should be. The PA will be aware of exactly how much the timing has drifted from ideal and will suggest to the Director possible ways of correcting it. Perhaps in this case the end credits could be cut a little shorter to recover the eleven seconds. Such lightning time calculation is an important attribute of a successful PA. The basic tool they use is the stopwatch, and very often two, or even three, are necessary.
As if all this were not enough to ask of our long-suffering PA, they also have to keep accurate logs of everything that is recorded. Scene number, take number, duration, reasons for retakes, which tape they’re recorded on, as well as basic information like title, director’s name and date of recording, must be notated for every sequence.
These logs will save a great deal of time and, therefore, money at a later post-production stage. They also form an important document for the production file, which provides a complete record of exactly how the programme was made.
Later, after the frenzy of studio recording is over, the PA will collate and organize all the relevant documents of the programme into a production file. This is vitally important as a legal record of the process, and as a ready source of information about the programme for the future. Remember, a programme doesn’t die when the recording stops - it may be shown many times, be re-edited, have additional sequences added, perhaps even be sold to other outlets. All of these need accurate information, held in the production file, very largely put together by the PA.