Technical rehearsals and what learnt. possible action planning. rehearsals

Technical rehearsals are similar to normal rehearsals but they work on more of the tachnical side of the show, once the crew and host and everybody working on the team knows what they are doing, then you need to make sure that those people can work well with all of the equipment used, it was during these rehearsals that you can find out your strong points and your weak points and this helps towards the production because if you were put into a roll you didnt feel that you were comfortable with, you can just change rather than trying to do it anyway and risking the quality of the show. the only issues we really encountered were to do with the sound, and were normally jusr things like breathing which was all to do with the positioning of the mic so was quite an easy problem to solve.

Efficient rehearsal and recording practice

I think the rehearsals proved to be very important and usefull, they were set out in a way in which everybody got to try everything, and having tried everything it meant there was a lot more you can write in your evaluations and other work, because even if for the main show you didnt have a major role, you can still talk about the roles you already carried out. When we first started the live TV show rotation nobody in the class had ever worked with that sort of equipment before, and within 5 weeks we had made out own live TV shown which ran quite smoothly, so it just goes to show how important rehearsals are. Rehearsals are also very vital as in rehearsals you can realise all the things your going to have problems with and things that need changing before you start the actual show, this proved handy for us and we ended up changing the script, and being able to work out what camera angles were avalaibe within the constraints of the set.

Scripts and calls

A script is needed for all live TV shows. The script tells everybody where they are and what they need to be doing, which takes a lot of stress off the director and leaeds to a lot less confusion. There are 3 different types of scripts for the TV Show. A script on the back of the cue cards, including the Host's dialogue, also guiding when the VT inserts are played. The main script, is a few pages long word processed script, which indicates all of the dialogue the Host has to say, also including stage directions of when VT Inserts are to be played, and also when any of the Contestants/Teams talk. The director and assistant director certainly need a script, but so does most other roles, the sound operators, the floor manager and assitant floor manager.

Planning and lighting the set

Three point lighting involves what is known as a ‘key light’ – a powerful spot light aimed at the talent. The shadow that this creates is countered by a fill light that is placed on the adjacent side to the key light. Another spot light is added behind the talent to provide backlight. This separates the talent from the background and creates a more interesting detailed set. and we decided to use this style of lighting for our final peice, as a group we decided this was best after doing some rehearsals and getting used to working lights.

Planning and designing a set

After we had designed the name media circus and decided we wanted to use the theme of a circus throughout the show we had to come up with some ideas on what we wanted the set to look like, it was mainly the job of the art director but everybody had a small hand in the say of the design. When designing a set the first thing you should always do is draw up a plan of what your going to do for your design and what its going to look like, then come up with a list of things your going to need to do this, and make sure you get all the things on that list and make sure everybody knows what they are doing before you even start to design the set. There was a lot of designing to be done for our set as we used 7 back boards which all had to coated and then painted, aswell as the semi-circular table we used.

Talk-backs and their use/protocol

when we mention talk backs it refers to the intercom that a large majority of the crew use to comunicate with each other, but especially the director. The sound operator, vision mixer and DVD operator can all hear the intercom through a speaker, but the people who are in the studio hear the intercom through headphones, which are also called 'Cans'. The only people who wear cans in the studio is the camera operators and the floor manager. The cans should never be used for general conversation as they are all linked up together everybody can hear what conversations are going on over the talkback, and if the director has something urgent he needs to say to someone nobody will be able to hear him. when communicating with the director you have to do it through the floor manager, and you do it by say "cam 1 to floor manager" and the floor manager will say "cam 1 go ahead" before you start talking. This is the same if your the floor manager and talking to the director

planning audio coverage

when choosing a studio location you must also think about the sound. carefull consideration was taken to ensure that the room was not too empty to creat echo, and to ensure that no background noise, for example noise from outside the studio would be able to be picked up. You must also make sure that the talent is heard loud and clearly.

Planning camera placement shots

The studio we used to film our live TV show was a bit smaller than i would have liked, which didnt leave the camera operators with much room to work with but we had camera 2 on the host all the time usually in a mid shot, but there was a bit of variety. Then camera 3 is positioned to be looking at the talent from a side angle, allowing the operator to get 2 shots and mid shots of the opposite team, also from that angle you can get over the shoulder shots which frame quite nicely. Cam 1 acted the same as camera 3 but on the opposite side of the set. Then the jig arm was positioned at the back of the studio as it was able to get great opening and closing wide shots

Floor plans

A copy of my floor plan was put into my written work and handed in, but i will scan it and upload it to here when i get it back

Programme rundowns

Programme rundowns provide a list of all VT inserts. Each track lists the title, FW (first word), LW (last word) and duration. The Director, DVD Operator and Assistant Director have copies of the rundown. It is up to the Assistant director to give the Director the duration info and give a 5 second countdown to the end of running VTs.

Directing and director's calls

The job of the director is to make sure the show runs smoothly and to inform everybody on what they need to be doing and where they need to be doing it, this involves a lot of communicating with other members of the crew, and the speed of how everything runs in a live TV show means that its best for the director to spend as little time As possible communicating with the crew members. So to help this there are certain terms that are used the the crew must learn to save time. These are:

Cam No cut - this is a term used for the vision mixer, the director will say a cam number and the vision mixer has to get ready to switch to that shot when the director says switch

Roll VT - this is just an instruction to the DVD operator to roll the DVD.

The other terms used by the director are all to do with the camera operators and are featured in the camera shots and moves section of my blog.

DVD operation and insert requirements

The DVD player is important in all live TV show productions as it contains all the VT inserts, stings opening titles and credits. All contents on the DVd for example the inserts, stings and opening titles would be easier to work with and change if they were all in the same format when they went onto the DVD, it must be in the same aspect ratio. when creating content to go onto the DVd you must make sure to leave about 2 second handles either side of the content your putting on to allow the DVD operator a bit of time to change tracks. The DVD operator is respondsible for the content on the DVD being played correctly and when needed, they take their orders from the director

Camera shots and moves

CU - close up - used to show reactions
MS - mid shot - this is used for framing the talent
WS - wide shot - this is used to show the whole set
2S - 2 shot - shot of two people, usually one team
3S - 3 shot - shot of three people, usually of one team and the host
crab - move camera to the left or right
tilt - tilt the camera up or down
pan - pan the camera left or right
ped - move the camera up or down using the bar on the ped
tracking - move forward or backwards
zoom - zoom in or zoom out

Signal flow (both video and audio) and the technical rig

Video - The camera captures the image.
The image is fed through the converter underneath the camera.
It is then sent through the STOB box to the rack.
Then to the vision mixer where the final output is displayed.

A Camera Control Unit can also be set up in between the rack and vision mixer where exposure settings can be tweaked for each camera that is connected.

Audio - Sound is emitted through the microphone
Which is transmitted through an XLR wire that is resistant to electrical interference.
The wire runs to the STOB box.
The STOB box connects to the rack that is in the audio room.
This connects to the audio mixer where the sound level can be adjusted individually to other sound sources.

Wireless mics bypass the STOB and transmits to the receiver and into the rack.

Studio protocol and practice

There are rules that must always be followed just as there are in a normal classroom.
you should never run as this can be a health and safety risk with falling over.
you should only wear soft soled shoes as hard soled shoes can damage the cables.
No food or drink in the studio as this can lead to spillages
The talk-back systems are to be used only for communication with the director or necessary crew, if your talking the same time as the director needs to talk to someone you wont be able to hear him and neither will anybody else.
Be aware of any trip hazards

Multic-cam production terms

Ped - this is the term used to describe the moving the camera up and down

Tracking - this is the term used to describe camera movements. tracking means the director wants the camera operator to move either forward or backwards

Crab - this is the term used to describe the director wanting the camera operator to move left or right

DVD ready - the DVD player is ready

Floor ready - This is the term used by the floor manager to inform the director that the floor is ready to go

Crew roles and responsabilities

Director - the job of the director is probably the biggest role. the director is ther person who tells the camera operators what shots to get and make sure they stick to them, its also the directors job to tell the vision mixer when to switch shots, and they also have to communicate with the floor manager and make sure everything is as it should be on the floor.

Assistant director - the job of the assistant director is to overwatch that all of the DVD interts used run smoothly and to help the director with shots.

Producer - the job of the producer is just to oversee everything goes as you would want it to, and provide the funding needed.

Vision mixer - the job of the vision mixer is to change between shots the are being lively fed into the vision mixing desk on the que of the director.

Sound operators - the job of the sound operator is to mske sure that all of the audio inputs are at the right volume, for example the DVD inserts, audience and talent.

DVD operator - the job of the DVD operator is to play the DVD inserts when the director orders.

Floor manager - the job of the floor manager is to almost be the represnetative of the director as the director is normally with the vision mixer, the floor manager communicates with the director and makes sure everything is running how its meant to be and that everything is how the director likes.

Assistant floor manager - the job of the assistant floor manager is to work along side the floor manager take care of any duties the floor manager needs you to, during the show this also usually involves keeping the score

Camera operator - the job of the camera operator is to control the camera and listen to the director and make sue that they are getting all the shots the director wants.

Assistant camera operator - the job of the assistant camera operator is to make sure the camera operator is able to move the camera and that there are no wires running in from of the wheels, this is done by the assistant camera operator holding the cables to the camera

Studio equipment, its functions and operations

Camera - the studio that we filmed out live tv show in came with 4 sony Z5 cameras which are easy to move around as they come with their own pedestal.

lighting desk - this is where each individual light is controlled from, from here you can adjust the intensity of the lights. the internsity of the lights ranges from 100% which is very birght, right down to 30% when the ligth turns off

Lights - there are a total of 24 lights attached to the lighting rig which are controlled by the lighting desk

Lighting grid - this is a number of large poles assembled tightley together the create something that lights and microphones can be easily attached to

Dimmer pack - this is connected to all of the lights in the studio, it is used to provide power to all of the lights, but to do so individually so that if one of the lights breaks it doesnt effect any of the other lights.

DVD player - this is used to play things such as VT inserts and feeds right into the main show.

Sound desk - this is where all of the sound from the show comes through, its where the sound operators adjust the volume of the the audio coming from the inputs if its too loud or too queit.

STOB - this stands for studio terminal outlex box and its job is to supply power to all of the cameras, lights and microphones that run through it

Vision mixing desk - This is where the vision mixer works and switched between the 6 screens available that have a live feed from each of the cameras