Studio Discipline

Good studio discipline is necessary for the effective use of the studio, and the maintenance of good programme standards.

First production discipline: it is essential that the programme is well planned. Don’t wait until the studio day to sort out your ideas. Studio time is expensive! There must be one person in overall control of the studio operations—the director. All staff must keep to the timetable of studio operations, i.e. meal breaks, rehearsal periods, studio line-up recording time, etc. Good planning should result in few over-runs.

Avoiding disturbance

● There should be strict observance of the studio condition, i.e. on rehearsal, the need is for absolute quiet in the studio and minimum staff interruption in the control rooms. On transmission (and recording), the need is for absolute quiet and no interruption of any studio operations.

● Staff should be disciplined not to touch studio props, caption stands, sound mixing desks, vision mixing desks, lighting consoles, etc. which may have been carefully set up at rehearsals.

● Studio staff should avoid crossing the actors’ eyeline—this can be very distracting.

● Visitors to the studio should be kept to a minimum, should keep quiet, and be permitted only under strict guidance.

Avoiding extraneous noise

● All studio staff should wear soft-soled shoes.

● All headphones not in use in the studio should be unplugged, to prevent inadvertent microphone pick-up of talkback sound.

● All studio doors should be closed properly.

● No talking in the studio (except actors).

General precautions

To ensure minimum frustrations to the engineering staff when they are lining up the camera, staff should avoid walking between the cameras and their line-up charts.

Access to fire exits must be kept clear. Fire lanes must be unobstructed.

There should be no smoking in the studio itself, except for the actors, if required to do so. At all times the studio should be kept as tidy as possible— no newspapers in the studio, old scripts disposed of properly, no cups/ saucers on monitors, loudspeakers, boom platforms.

Equipment care

At the end of the production, time should be allocated for the proper derigging of equipment. Finally, remember the importance of allocating regular maintenance periods. Faulty equipment should be investigated and repaired as soon as possible—even if spare equipment is available.