In spite of some differences in the names of technicians’ jobs in film and television and even differences between various ITV companies and the BBC, there are many elements of production that are common to all Types of film and TV programmes.

Many documentary series like travel or wildlife may be produced almost entirely on film and transferred to video or DVD in the final on-line editing and transmitted on tape. Current affairs programmes normally originate on single camera videotape but may, if the subject matter is hard news, incorporate some element of live television, perhaps via satellite link, or studio sequences prerecorded just prior to transmission.

Some drama programmes may be produced on a single camera on film or recorded scene by scene on tape with subsequent off- and on-line editing using basically similar techniques as described in Chapter 4 on Documentaries.

AREAS UNIQUE TO TELEVISION

But there are three areas of programming which are virtually unique to television production and have different technical jobs and names, so some of these will be described in greater detail to help you in your choice of career.

They are:

• 1.Drama, comedy series, soap operas, quizzes, chat shows ‘fly on the wall’ Type documentaries (often called reality TV), makeover programmes and light entertainment.
• 2.Sport and Outside Broadcasts (OBs or Events).
• 3.News programmes.

Numbers 1 and 2 may all use multi-camera techniques and certain of them like chat shows, sport and OBs of actual events may be transmitted live rather than prerecorded.

In the case of some comedy series, quizzes, chat shows and light entertainment, they are recorded as far as possible all the way through with breaks for commercials (if applicable), for big costume or set changes or if things go terribly wrong. The one thing that is common to all these programmes is that they are recorded with an audience of perhaps several hundred in the studio.

It is generally accepted that this makes for a livelier show more akin to theatre and produces more genuine reaction, in spite of all the technical paraphernalia obstructing some of the view. But the audience will have TV monitors on which they can see the picture that is actually being recorded.

Soaps and some comedy series will usually be prerecorded in sequences and then edited later for transmis-

sion, but in the United States comedy series like Friends are still recorded straight through with an audience as they always used to be in the UK.

PRODUCTION OF A TYPICAL 30-MINUTE SHOW

As an example of a multi-camera ‘live’ programme, here is the schedule for the production of a thirty-minute show in a comedy series.

Pre-recorded multi-camera production of a half-hour programme

Scripts

Scripts for a comedy series usually start with a synopsis of all the episodes, similar to a film treatment, giving an outline of the plot and characters but with no detailed dialogue. With unknown writers, a sample dialogue script might be requested for one episode.

At this stage, a story editor or script editor may be engaged to ensure that there is consistency in the characters throughout, especially if different writers are working on the series.

Design and casting: the director

The director starts work with a synopsis and dialogue script and in parallel briefs the designer and casting director who will line up a selection of actors for the director to cast. The designer will be working with a property buyer who arranges to acquire props and furnishings, and with a head of construction regarding the building of sets.

Rehearsals

When the cast has been agreed, rehearsals can begin. These take place in specially designed rehearsal rooms or rented halls and, at this stage, the sets are only indicated on the floor with stickytape; makeshift props like tables and chairs with hand props like telephones or teacups will be used.

The production crew will now consist of the director, a PA (production assistant), the floor manager, who is the equivalent of a stage manager in a theatre and perhaps an assistant floor manager.

The camera script

After three days’ rehearsal, the director will write a camera script (see Figure 25 page 137). This is the equivalent of a shooting script for a feature film except that the director will be handling at least four cameras which have to be plotted individually to keep the action going continuously and moving from one set up to another.

If the script calls for any location or library shots, these will be recorded or obtained beforehand and edited so as to be ready for inserting at the actual recording of the whole show in the studio. Technically, the location work is similar to that described in Chapter 4 concerning documentaries on video, except that there will be considerably more people involved: actors, make-up and hairdressing, wardrobe, props, transport and catering. It’s again similar to a feature film or a TV drama shot scene by scene on a single camera.

In addition to the camera script which will be copied and sent to everybody concerned, the Floor Manager will prepare a studio plan with all the camera movements marked. The PA also makes individual camera cards for each camera with all the shots enumerated from the numbers on the camera script. Thus camera 1 may be responsible for shots 1, 5, 7, 11 and so on to the end of the programme.

Technical run-through

The day before moving in to the studio for recording, there will be a technical run through for all four cameramen, the sound supervisor and the vision mixer whose job at the actual recording is to switch from one camera to another at exactly the moment required by the director.

In the studio the day before recording, the lighting supervisor will be lighting the sets and the director will check them with the designer. The director will also check costumes with wardrobe.

The sets are usually built in a line alongside each other with the set where most of the action takes place in the middle. Half the studio will be taken up with raked seats for the audience.

Recording the show

On the actual studio day, the whole production crew with equipment can start blocking out the action. This can be called plotting but more usually it is given the more jokey phrase of a stagger through.

The crew has now grown to four cameramen with their cameras, three boom operators with booms and microphones, perhaps a cable pusher to ensure the cables do not get tangled, the lighting supervisor or director who does exactly what his title suggests, electricians who actually move and fix the lights to his orders, four scene men, painters, carpenters and a prop man who is now responsible for props in the studio and, in charge overall, the floor manager and probably an assistant floor manager (similar to an assistant stage manager in the theatre).

Unlike film making where the director controls everything from the floor of the studio, in television all the control is from the gallery which may not necessarily even overlook the studio.

The gallery

The gallery is divided into three – the lighting control with the lighting supervisor in one section, the sound supervisor and grams operator to insert extra sound effects or music where required; both these two suites are on either side of the central part of the gallery which contains monitor screens of what each camera is looking at, monitors which show what is being recorded and all the technical controls and communications systems between people in the gallery and all other key production people.

Occupying this part of the gallery are the producer who throughout has been carrying out a similar role of overall responsibility and organisation to any other Type of film or programme; the director, PA, vision mixer and the technical operations manager. The latter is a senior engineer who is responsible for the overall technical quality of the picture and sound being transmitted or recorded.

The director ‘calls the shots’ to the vision mixer who switches to the camera set-up and position called by the director. Most experienced vision mixers following rehearsals with the director on the particular show are able to anticipate the cut from one scene to another so that it happens at the precise moment wanted by the director.

Full dress rehearsal

Rehearsals having taken place throughout the day, if all goes according to schedule, a full dress run normally takes place between 4.30pm and 6.30pm, thus allowing time for a supper break and lining up the cameras to ensure the quality of the picture and sound is exactly right before the recording of the whole show starts in front of an audience between 7.30pm and 8pm.

The final recording

As many people in the audience will not have been at the recording of a television show before, a ‘warm up’ person usually tells them what will happen and probably tells a few jokes to get everybody in a relaxed state of mind. They will certainly be encouraged to laugh and may be urged on during the recording but achieving the right sound balance of audience reaction in a comedy show is quite tricky for the sound supervisor and for the director too, if pauses in the action caused by laughter are necessary.

For a half-hour programme, one and a half hours are normally scheduled for recording the whole show from the time the director says, ‘Standby studio and mix...’ to ‘Fade sound and vision.’

Editing

Provided all has gone well, only fairly straightforward on line editing is required to cut together the various sections that have been recorded in the studio into which have already been inserted the titles and any pre-recorded sequences on location or library shots.

Some directors record the whole studio final recording on low band videocassette with a time code taken off the master. They can then examine carefully where any tightening up or changes in the action may have to be made, making a note of the time code, thus saving costly time in the on-line edit suite.

At this time, any additional visual effects will be inserted and finally, it may be necessary to make some adjustments to the sound track in a dubbing theatre and insert some additional sound tracks to make the final mix smoother, if changes to the picture have caused abrupt changes in sound level.

This is doing precisely the same operation as in the dubbing theatre with a feature or documentary film except that in the case of television, the bulk of the sound mixing will have been done at the studio recording.

It only remains for copies of the final master videotape to be made for transmission, for videocassettes, DVDs or overseas distribution and so on; these are done in a sound recording transfer suite in exactly the same way as for documentaries or commercials completed on video.

OUTSIDE BROADCASTS

Outside broadcasts (OBs) differ from other television programmes in that they invariably feature actual events and therefore may be transmitted live or covered and recorded in their entirety for transmission later.

As a rule they tend to use more cameras – eight is pretty normal for events like football matches or the BAFTA Awards Ceremony, but it can go up to as many as 30 on occasions with such universal international appeal as a major State ceremony or sporting event.

The crews on OBs, even if more numerous, are basically the same as any multi-camera shoot in the studio for chat shows, quizzes or comedy series (see page 136).

This means that each camera will have its camera operator and, if a lot of complicated camera movement is involved, cable pushers. Sound operators and floor managers liaise with the scanner or colour mobile control room which will be located in a truck as near the action as possible.

Here, as in the studio but in rather more cramped conditions, will be the three components of engineering, production and sound, manned by the engineering manager in the first, director and vision mixer in the second and sound supervisor in the third, all with their back up staff where necessary.

In another truck nearby will be recording facilities for videotape manned by VT operators and recording engineers.

If it is a live transmission, a third vehicle manned by engineering staff is involved. Their job is to link up with the national communications network or satellite links.

Dependent on the size and complexity of the OB, additional vehicles may be necessary, but, as far as jobs are concerned, they are mostly engineering or sound and videotape recording based.

Working in OBs calls for a lot of travelling with long and irregular hours in all sorts of weather, but it has that basic excitement of show business which only live transmission can give.

NEWS PROGRAMMES

Television news gathering, as with newspapers, is a 24 hour, 365 days a year operation.

So anybody who is thinking of making a career in television news should rule out any thought of a steady 9 to 5 Monday to Friday existence.

Production techniques are a mixture of documentary video location shooting and outside broadcasts with the additional ingredients of time and portability.

Time

Even more than in newspapers, television news is dependent on time. Time to record or obtain visuals live by satellite or other link. Time to research existing material from the news organisation’s own library or from other sources. Time to edit, write and record the front of camera and voice over narration.

The greatest saving of time recently for everyone concerned with the production of news programmes has been computerisation.

Therefore for anyone interested in working in television news in any capacity, in front of or behind the camera, on location or in the studio, a well developed computer skill must be a distinct asset.

Portability

ENG or electronic news gathering was the term originally given to describe the most portable professional video cameras. Indeed, all cameras used in news programmes now are lightweight; this means that they can get in anywhere and be operated by one person to record both picture and sound, although a crew of two is the norm to accompany the journalist/presenter.

Location editing

This is now a required element for many home and foreign news stories. The development of satellite communications and relatively lightweight edit packs means that editors can travel with their equipment and set up where space and local electricity supplies allow. Some picture editors may be based overseas as well.

Mobile editing vehicles mean that there is a greater mobility in the way editors are deployed.

Links vehicles

These vehicles, manned by engineering staff, relay pictures recorded or live back to the studio. Similarly, portable satellite ground stations, carried in a few suitcases, can send stories back directly to the studio.

The news studio

This is equipped with normal studio facilities which may include remotely controlled cameras with prompting equipment.

The studios are staffed by television operators who operate the cameras either direct or by remote control. Other operators act as vision mixers, work video effects equipment, control the lighting and ensure the output is to high technical standards. Operators also work in the videotape transmission area and copy tapes and film between different formats and world television standards. In addition, they support graphic designers. All in all, these are similar to studio jobs in other programmes but with the difference that they are working generally to very tight schedules and dealing with a great variety of source material.

To a limited extent, news also needs sets and props which may have to be erected and struck to make way for a different programme later the same day.

Graphics

For most news programmes, electronic paintboxes are used to create captions using an electronic stylus and tablet. These machines give access to various electronic tools such as airbrushes, scalpels, paste and lettering; all these are generated direct on to video.

Designers also use a wide range of sources – 35mm slides, videotape, or live material. Computer graphics can produce simulated three dimensional scenes and all these devices can be stored after they have been made for use during transmission or recording.

Designers work closely with producers, directors, operators and editors. Production time available for a particular job may be a matter of weeks or minutes.

Journalists

Large numbers of journalists are employed in news programmes. Many will never be seen on the screen, but will work behind the scenes compiling stories. All regions produce local news programmes and people often gain experience here before moving to national news programmes.

When vacancies occur in local news, preference is often given to applicants who know the area. First jobs are either on a freelance basis or as news trainees or researchers.

Many newcomers have English degrees and have then taken courses in journalism before getting practical working experience in newspapers or magazines.

STARTING POINTS IN TELEVISION

First, having chosen the particular area that interests you most – drama, current affairs, documentaries, news, OBs and so on and which particular department within these you think you are most suited for, there are then three possible starting points in television in Britain.

1. BBC

Entry is strictly controlled and formalised both for actual job vacancies and for trainees. Study Chapter 7 on training (BBC), and follow the advice given there.

2. ITV

Study Chapter 7 on training (ITV), but if you live in one of the regions there just might be occasional junior posts - secretarial, runners and so on – which could get you a foot in the door.

3. Independents

As with other Types of production, research is necessary through the trade papers and directories listed in the Appendix to find out the companies that are most active in the area that interests you most.

SUMMING UP

Having narrowed down the Type of programme and department that you are aiming for, concentrate your efforts there and follow the advice in Chapter 8 on selling yourself.

For engineering and technical operations jobs, it is recommended that you opt for training before applying for jobs (apart from the BBC who provide their own). If you do obtain work in ITV or an independent company as a runner, for example, push very hard to get on a training course or short course.