A Check List of Common Errors
A lot of things can go wrong in any TV production. We notice them and put them right if possible. In the brief lists that follow, you will see the sort of problems various members of the production team are looking out for. Some are important, others slight But they all affect the overall quality of the finished product.
Control room
• Picture monitors inaccurately adjusted (color, brightness, contrast).
• Picture monitors don’t show ail of picture area (‘overecanned’).
• Light falling onto picture monitors (diluting picture color and contrast).
• Sound monitoring unsatisfactory (too loud, too soft, poor quality).
Performance errors
• Unconvincing, ‘wooden’, ‘mannered’, out of character.
• Lines vary from script. Sections missed.
• Wrong positions, not on floor marks, wrong moves, action, timing.
• Wrong business, items handled incorrectly.
• Working to wrong camera.
• Voice too loud or too quiet.
• Fidgety, inconsistent, late on cues.
Camera errors
• Focus not sharp, focused on wrong subject (or at wrong distance), losing focus (i.e. not following focus on moving subject).
• Missed shot (not on shot at the right moment). Wrong shot (size wrong; wrong subject; wrong angle).
• Poor composition (wrong framing – headroom excessive or insufficient; subject position in frame wrong; subject cut off). Composition not as rehearsed.
• Camera out of position (off. its floor marks).
• Unsteady camerawork (wavering shot, unsteady dolly movements, unsmooth zooming).
• Poor panning or tilting (not following subject smoothly).
• Wrong camera height.
• Wrong lens angle.
• Caught readjusting (shot taken while adjusting focus, zoom, height, etc.).
• Over shooting/shooting off.
• Lens flares.
• Incorrect color correction for prevailing light.
Lighting
• Too flat (subject lacks modeling).
• Too contrasty (over-dramatic for situation).
• Inappropriate lighting angle (too steep, too angled for subject or situation).
• Important subjects or areas cannot be seen.
• Areas too bright (artistically unsatisfactory; overexposed).
• Excess back light.
• Unattractive or inappropriate pictorial effect.
• Unrealistic or incompatible lighting treatment (e.g. phoney night, poor fire flicker).
• Distracting reflections.
• Distracting ‘technical’ shadows (shadows of camera, mike or boom, bystanders, equipment, etc.).
• Distracting ‘artistic’ shadows (on people or background).
• Artistically inappropriate shadows or light patterns.
• Unattractive portraiture (inappropriate, emphasizes facial defects, ages).
• Poor environmental illusion.
• Poor pictorial continuity from different angles, or between shots.
Scenic treatment
• Unconvincing or inappropriate treatment.
• Design lacks visual appeal.
• Design not suitable for shots used (e.g. ineffective in close shots).
• Design restrictive – only suitable for certain viewpoints.
• Extravagant design. Identical effect could have been achieved more easily or cheaply.
• Scenic treatment and/or layout restricts cameras, lighting or sound.
• Surface tones or finish create problems (e.g. too light/dark, shiny).
Video control
• Pictures under- or overexposed.
• Picture contrast excessive or Insufficient.
• Highlights too bright.
• Shadows too thin or dense.
• Poor-color balance.
• Poor matching between successive pictures (in color or contrast).
Inserts (film, video, slides, graphics)
• Poor ‘technical’ match to studio pictures (quality, color values, brightness, contrast).
• Poor ‘artistic’ match to studio pictures (continuity, ambience, pace, etc.).
• Distracting blemishes (scratches, dropout),
• Sound out of sync (e.g. voice to lip. movements).
• Slides of poor quality (bad color, blemishes, unsharp, misaligned).
Titles
• Too large, small, misaligned, crowded, poorly framed.
• Inappropriate type face (artistically or technically).
• Unsuitable tones or colors for the background.
• Titling and background confused, too similar.
• Consecutive titling unmatched.
Program sound
• No sound.
• Opening or closing works/notes missed (late fade-in or early fade-out, tape editing fault, poor cuing).
• Unwanted sounds heard (early fade-in or late fade-out, tape editing fault, poor cuing).
• Extraneous sounds (sound channel wrongly left faded up).
• Performer sounds too distant (wrong mite faded up, poor mike position, talent in wrong place).
• Performer sounds too close (wrong mike faded up, poor mike position, talent in wrong place).
• Poor sound balance between sources (relative loudness of sounds inappropriate, background sounds too loud, scale or proportions of sound do not match picture).
• Inappropriate acoustics (e.g. reverberant open-air shot).
• Extraneous noises (air conditioning, movement of equipment or crew, camera cable drag, equipment noise, hum, script pages, costume rustling, footsteps, doors, moving/adjusting settings, rumble of wind on mike, etc.).
• ‘Hollow’ sound (distant mike used, wrong phasing, feedback).
• Sound effects don’t match picture.
• Unsatisfactory sound quality (incorrect tonal balance).
• Audio defects (clicks, crackles, hum, tape dropout, speed fluctuations).
Editing
• Wrong shot (wrong camera, wrong take).
• Wrong transition (e.g. cut instead of mix).
• Poor transition (mix too fast or slow, badly balanced super, hesitant wipe).
• Late or early cut (action missed or duplicated).
• Poorly matched action.
• Cutting rate/rhythm inappropriate.
• Unsatisfactory cutaways/cut-ins (irrelevant, poor match).
Makeup
• Inappropriate (exaggerated, insufficient, style).
• Worn (patchy, requires renewal).
• Perspiration (shiny skin).
• Hair needs attention (dishevelled, wig/hair-piece attachment).
• Corrective makeup needed (skin tones, defects).
Clothing
• Inappropriate (style, tones, fitting).
• Clothes need attention (dishevelled, creased, dirtied).
• Unsatisfactory tones (too light, too dark, shiny).
• Unsatisfactory color, pattern, or finish.
• Damage (torn, unstitched).
• ‘Causing sound problems (noise with personal mike).