Scripts and Calls

The Script is a road map to the show and its the most vital thing for the director to have. Scripts contain everything from the VT number and how long it is to what the host is saying.

This is part of the script for our show. As you can see from the top there are 2 collums the first being video and the second being audio. In the video collum it shows all camera shots and which cameras are going to be used. It should also contain a VT number plus how long it is. On the audio side it should say what audio should be going on while the video is going on, for example on shot 5 we what camera it is and what the host is going to be saying roughly.

The other thing which will be on the script will be the directors notes, after a few rehearsals the director will make notes on what he has to say on each part of the script. Some of the things which he might put down are are camera 2 cut, this signify's a camera change.

Planning and Lighting the Set

The lighting of the set is very important as we need to be able to see the show. In shows like the Mock the Week and Friday night with Johnathan Ross have a incredibly complex lighting rig as they have all of the show lighted in different ways espically when artists perform. With our show we did not use a elaborate lighting scheme as we did not need it, having said that we did use a fairly effective lighting scheme. We got taught about 3 point lighting. 3 point lighting is a very simple but fairly effective way of lighing. As you have probably guessed it has 3 lights involved the first is called a back light and this is situated behind the subject and provides an outline for the subject so the audience can see there silouette. The second light is the tungsten light, this provides hard light so in general it is a spotlight. This lighting is the equivalent to the sun in the studio, this light will only make the subject brighter. The final light is a cool light and this will give soft light on the other side of the face to the hard light, in turn this makes the subject well lit and also is simply and easy to do.

Floor Plans

Floors Plans are used to map out where everything is going to be, its a very useful thing. A floor plan should contain all aspects of the studio floor and where everything is going to be. Below is the floor plan of our TV show. As you can see it has the set layout shown at the top, it also shows the microphone layout and how there are 5 microphones situated on the contestants and host and that these are all clip on microphones which will run a wireless signal to the STOB box and then from there it will head to the audio control room. It also says about the two overhead microphones which will pick up the audience and there response. It also talks about the rostrum and how this elevates the floor so that the audience can sit on it, it is also rasied even more for the 2 cameras at the back. It also shows that we had 2 monitors 1 for the contestants and 1 for the audience. Finally it shows us about the camera shots and their movements, this is important as in the floor plan it will show you if the camera has enough room for the shot types it is looking for.

Planning Audio Coverage

In some shows microphones are a very effective thing for example "Mock the Week" has 7 clip-on microphones which are all used on its hosts and guests. It also has one stand up microphone which is used for when the comedians come in with answer, this helps to add effect to the show. In our show we had 5 clip on microphones attached to the host and our guests, when we attached these we then moved on to a sound check. The sound check consisted of each contestant talking for a certain period of time individually for about 20 seconds. While they where talking the sound desk men check the levels of them talking and this is measured in decibells. If the contestants talk louder than 12 decibells then they are talking to loud, if they are talking below -9 decibells they are talking to quitely. The best sound for the job is around 0 decibells.

Program Rundowns

Program Rundowns are basically a way for the director and the Floor manager and most of the crew to find where abouts they are in the show. The most common way of doing this is through the script. The script shown below has everything including the track titles for each VT and most of what te host will be saying.

The second way of knowing what is happening in the studio is the running order. The running order is a brief overview of what is happening. It is not as detailed as the script however it does give a correct and acurate guidline of what is happening in the show. On the running order there must always be a total running time to show how long each section is, this is not shown on the script as the script is more focusing on the wording and the language. The running order also tells us how long each part of show should roughly be, this is shown on the right hand side of the sheet. The final thing that the running order shows us is the VT's this is fairly useful as it can be useful for the director to know what VT is next plus it can also be useful for the DVD operation as they could use this in stead of a cue sheet.

The Cue sheet is the final way of geting round the program. The Cue sheet is usually based with the director and the DVD ops. For the director this is the way of saying what he wants to be played and when. For the DVD ops this is essential. When making the DVD the person who has made it will write the cue sheet and if they have made it correctly each part of the DVD will have a chapter and on that chapter will be the VT, the cue sheet has the number of the chapter and the VT which is on that chapter. It can also have what type of media it is for example.... a photo, video or audio. One other thing that is put on the cue sheet is the first words and the last words which are used in the clip. If there aren't any words used then this does not apply. The final thing put on the cue sheet is how long the clip is, for example the first clip on the cue sheet below is the opening titles it doesnt have any words but it is a video file so it has its own music, the main thing we know about this clip is that it is 40 seconds long, this is the most important thing.

Multi-Cam Production Terms

Multi-Cam Production was the basis on what our Live TV recording was going to be about. Some of the terms which are involved in Multi-cam are

• Panning and Tilting- This is turning the camera left and right and up and down.
• Crabbing- Crabbing is moving the camera left and right to give a sense of movement and sense that the program is going somewhere.
• Roll DVD, DV ready- This is all to do with the DVD, this is the director asking the DVD operations if the VT is ready to be played. The DVD operations responds by saying DV ready.
• Floor ready- this is directed to the floor to ask them if all people on the studio floor are ready to perform or do there jobs.
• PED- This is used to tell a camera to change the angle of their shot so have a high angle shot or a low one.
• Tracking- This is one of the most important shots as this will follow the action.

There is not just production terms in the recording there is some used in making the set.

• This is technically not a production term this is more a noticifiction but it is crucial to make sure that the misc-en-scene is correct. When making the set it is difficult to choose the correct colours as some colours show up better on screen than others. On colour which works especially well is blue. We used this colour in our final recording.

Technical Rehearsals and what Learnt

A technical rehearsal is one which is done for the soul purpose of all technical equipment. This is both useful and helpful as we are going through the show again and this will benefit some of the talent or possibly the camera operations as well as it benefitting the crew. In our show we have not had a real technical rehearsal but we have been having lots of normal rehearsals and this has brought out some technical difficulties. The first being camera shots as people could not move the cameras quick enough to get into positions. The second and most crucial one, we felt, was the DVD operations. This is the reason why we do technical rehearsals so we can see what devices aren't working.