Analysis of a Multi-cam Production

Analysis of:
Take me out

Take me out is a Saturday night show on itv 1and is on at 7:30pm.the main aim of the show is for single people to be matched up, it is done by a single man being brought out in front of a live studio audience and 30 women, there are 4 rounds and as each round goes on each woman turns off a light in front of them if they don’t like the single man at the end of the rounds the man can chose out of the lights that are on who he will take out unless there are no lights. Here is an example of what the show looks like.......

The studio itself is a large one as the set is a very large set and it also has to fit an audience around or inside the audience. The technical side of the show is fairly big and important to the show as one technical thing is the lights that are a main part of the show. The lighting rig is a large one I can imagine as there are light all along the set to light the girls and the host who moves around alto also there is a lot of back lighting and front lighting. The girls are lit with white lights while their light is still on then when they turn it of their lit with a red light and a small bite of white light just to show their face, the back and front lighting is red and blue to make it easier to see on the screen. The set itself is very technical as each of the podiums has a light that is controlled by a button that the girl herself controls. The time it would take to take down the set and put it up would be about a day or two to put it up and a day to strike it down.
The show is not a very fast moving show however wide shots are used a lot as they are looking out for who switches their light of but they also use other shots for speaking to the contestants and the girls that have switched of their lights and why. The number of cameras used I guess are about 6, there are two for talking to the girls and they do medium shots of 3 girls and the presenter, on for the presenter that is at stage level and that does medium close up shots and medium shots, there is also one that is in with the audience that shoots the presenter as well but shoots from under the presenter. The next camera is the one that shoots the single man and him and the person he chooses going out of the studio this one does medium close up shots and log shots, the last and final camera is the wide shot camera that is of the whole set and audience.

Lighting Plan/Design

This is a plan of the light based on the set actually up this is not a proper plan but the floor plan also will have the lighting, so here is the plan/ design.....

The cool lights will probably light flood from the front and the spot lights will light from the back.

Planning Set Design

This was more the roles of the art producers so i haven't got any real designs but i do have pictures of how the set gradually got finished to the final product so here they are.......

This is the Design of the front board on the desk on paper, as you can see it is a very detailed sketch.

This is the design now being put onto the actual board. from the towers/ skyscrapers behind the bridge we got the design for the flats.

These are some of the flats, we left some of these like this and put dots on the others to represent the lights on in the buildings, the ones left bare like this went at the end of the scenery.

This is the front board finished and put on to the table it then needed to be sanded as it was rough around the edges.

This is the set finished but we realised that the logo was only at the bottom of the table so we decided to put a logo behind were the host sits in the middle......

This is the end product and as you can see the set became very good from just a smallish sketch on a page to a really good scenery and we all as a group took part in creating the set.

Planning Camera Placement

For this it a bit hard as the actual scenery was not finished when we had our idea so i based it on a simple but effective camera placement, it is the common quiz layout but it is also the one that we sort of went with as you will see. Here is how we roughly thought about how we would place the cameras:

The pole cameras and camera 2 are going to move and the pole cameras are going to move up stage more. The screens at the bottom shows the talent and kind of shots they will produce.

Studio protocol and practice.

The Protocol of the studio is in a way the rules of the studio but unlike some really silly rules they are their for the health of iniviuals and to make sure that their is focus from everyone taking parrt in the recording.it is also their so that it is easier for people to work as a team beacuase not many people would be happy with people just messing about and not contributing to what the rest of the crew is doing.

the rules are as follows:

> dont run in the studio- this is beacuse their is alot of equipment and cables, that are very eexpensive,in the studio and if you are not looking where you are going you could bang in to somthing and knock it over and the break it also you could heart you self, their could also be some thing being carryed in that is very heavy and you could crash in to and those carrying it could drop it and then it could fall on you or some one else.

> only wear soft sold shoes- if you whore high heels or in a guys case jaggedy shoes and you stood on a cable accidentially then you could break it. also you may not have very good balance in them so you may not be sterdy with a camera.

> dont enter when the red light is on- you shouldnt enter the studio when the on air light is on as you would disturb a recording and then have alot of people pissed off with you.

> dont let anyone that is not asked in- you should not invit people into the studio without asking the FM as it could distract those needing to focus also they them selves may mess around with equipment or touch somthing they shouldnt.

>no food or drink- their should be no food or drink within the studio as the crums could get in equipment or the drink could be spilled over the equipment, also if you are eating will you should be paying attention then you may miss what is being said to you.

>no messing with the cans- this is equipment that is used to give out directions and if you are talking over someine the instruction could be missed and someone could get in trouble for not following oreders.

> respect other crew members- this is more politeness but i very vital, you all have to work as a team so you shouldn't annoy each other, also they could be giving you some constructive criticism that could help you get better and those who are giving orders need to be listened to and not argued at if the director gives them an order that you don't agree with.

Camera shots & moves.

Alot of common TV programmes especially guiz shows will have 4 cameras on th floor filming.they are in different positions and have different subjects to shoot. Here are the main shots and moves each camera will be asked to shoot or perform:-

Cameras 1&3 (pole cameras):-

> 2 shot-this has two people in it and will often be mid shots so it will be of their uper body.

>1 shot- this has only one person in it and is usualy a close up

>Over shoulder shot- this is a shot from the point of veiw of an oposite team members with their shoulder and part of their head in it. (over shoulder shot)

Moves:

Crab left/right-moving the camera to the right or left with the weels.

Ped up/down- move the camera up or down with the ped.

Tilt up or down- move the camera up or down with the moving head at the top of the ped.

Pan left/right- move the camera left or right with the moving head at the top of the ped.

Camera 2 (host camera):

>Host shot- this is a mid shot of the host where they will adress the camera to say the scores or the rounds, these shots are normally on at the end or start of rounds.

>Three shot- this is a long shot or medium shot, it usually consists of the host and the two people sitting either side of them.

The oves for this camera are very similar to the pole cameras.

Camera 4:

>Wide shot-this is of the whole stage or set with all the talent it will often also have over shoulder Shots for the audience e.g.

Moves:

If using a camera on a ped they will be the same as cams 1&3 but if your using a jib then their are some different moes so

here they are:

>Jib up/down- this is when you move the jib are up or down it is similar to ped up or down.

Their is two rules that are vital for all the cameras, the eyes of the talent have to be on the two third of the screen and also you have to have just the right amount of head room on the picture here is two examples of this;

Signeal Flow for Audio & video

The signal flows for both audio and video are sort of complicated but also straight forward when they are explained.

Audio:

The signal starts from the mic then is connected to the S.T.O.B by wires then to the rack then it goes into the sound mixer. Then it goes out to the HDD which is a recoding hard drive, their is also a signal to the speakers. The yellow fader controls the overall out mix, it is the line out/recorder main out. The red fader controls the aux out which goes to the speakers in the studio.

vision: the signal starts with the camera and goes to the S.T.O.B , it is connected through wires for the video out put on the camera to the video input on the S.T.O.B it then goes to the rack in the vision control room, then o the vision mixer the main output goes to the HHD or program out/ line out.

Crew roles and responsibilities.

In a TV studio their is alot of roles that people need to carry out and they are all depending on where you are and what you want and can operate, these roles are:

The first set of role are on the studio floor:-

Floor Manager- FM, they are in charge of the whole studio floor. They can control who comes and goes but they also have to inform the talent and audience of what the directors wants them to know and do, the director and floor manager have a close relationship as the floor manager represents the director on the floor so they must work well together.

Camera operators- Camera Op, they operate the cameras and have to listen to the director and give them shots they want but also give shots to the director that they may have not asked for but may have wanted. They are also responsible if they mess up any shots when they are live.

Camera Assistant- this is often referred to as Cable Basher, they assist the camera op in what ever way they need assistant, their main job is to make sure the cable doesn't get in the way of the camera.

Runner/Assistant FM- They are their to help the floor manager in whatever way possible alot of the time it can be getting water or tea for someone but they also may have to entertain the audience and signal when to clap.

Sound op- they are often their to look after mics and make sure that if their is an interference for the sound that is coming from the floor to sort it out.

Talent- this is the presenters and actors or contestants on the show.

The roles in the audio control room-

Senior Sound Op- they are in charge of the sound and checks all the levels also calls for the sound checks of individual mics if their are any.

Assist Sound Op- they help the senior sound op with some of the levels if their is alot of sound for the show.

DVD Op- they play and DVD inserts and make sure that they are all their and are working properly.

The Roles in the Vision control room-

Director- they are the boss of the whole studio and some would say they are like God, no one is allowed to argue with them and they decide how the show will look and sound.

Assist. Director- they don't have as much power as the director but the can suggest changes or shots to the director they also time VT`s and do anything that the director doesn't really need to focus on.

Vision mixer- they control the vision mixer and listen to the directions of the director on what shots and screens they want on.

Lighting Controler- they control the lighting desk/mixer and control the light and makes sure that the lights are how the director wants them,they also have to make sure their is not to much exposure on the set.

Control Room equipment, it`s function and operation.

the control room is where the magic as it where happens, this is where the program is put together if it is a live show, the very important people are usually in here.
their are two control rooms really the first is the Audio control room-
this is where all of the mics and any other sounds is mixed together and played out from, the equipment in this area is-

mixer/desk- this is a crucial bit of equipment,it i where every sound is put into the mixed and then is out putted into amps and the over all recording on the hard drive or recording equipment depending on what is being used, the sound engineer uses this the most you can adjust the levels of sound with the faders and the gain, you can also change how some one sounds using the equalizer at the top which is made up of the high,mid and low frequencies.the way to adjust the volume of what is going out is using the main out faders.

rack- the rack is really a technical name for a tower with different equipment mounted on to it, the common things you would find are Amps, wireless mic receivers and an equalizer you could possibly find other pieces of equipment on it but it always depends on the equipment. the amps are what power speakers and produce the sound louder than the mixer i producing, some professional speakers already have amps built into them so you would adjust the level on the speaker.

CD player- this is very obvious, any CD`s that are to be played would be played through the CD player,it is usually connected through and phono or jack lead never a mic lead.

monitor- this is to show the sound technician what exactly is going out but that is usually all they would have.

speaker monitor- this is a pair of speakers that would be like computer speaker but they would be fairly loud and more accurate so the sound technician can get a better hold on the sound levels and so they can adjust the sound according to what the speakers are giving out.

In our control room for sound at SNC we also have an area to play VT inserts, the equipment for this area is:

DVD player- this play all the VT inserts that area in the show it has to be manually operated but can be a bite tricky as the remote for the machine is not always very good

DVD monitor- this shows what is on the DVD and helps the DVD operator to know what is happening and also what is going to happen next.

the second control room is the vision control room this is where all the vision and pictures of the show is put together it is also where the director and producers sit.their is not also not alot of equipment in their, but the equipment in it is very vital to the show.

vision mixer- this is where all the pictures and images go and some one will select the different pictures to go live, it also mixes and fades the different images into one another.

lighting mixer- this controls the lights and powers the different lights individually,this is done by the faders being faded up or down.

directors screen panel- this is monitors of the different shots and images that are going to the vision mixer the director will look at these screens and tell the vision mixer what images he wants to go live.

as you can see their is alot of equipment that is in the control rooms that makes the whole show run smoothly and go correctly.

Studio Equipment, its functions and operation.

In a standard television studio their is alot of equipment that is all extremely vital to the running of the studio so that good quality programs can be shot in.
in this case it is a live TV production so their would be alot of cameras and other equipment for a show like a quiz show or a game show.

the equipment you would find in a TV studio would be:

starting with the studio floor-

the lighting grid:- this is a metal grid which we hang lights of it also powers each of the lights individually, on the grid each of the bars have power sockets which are each numbered and are then connected to the dimmer pack so when the lights are plugged in to the sockets they can be powered.the lighting grid should be suspended at least 1 meter from the celling so that when changing the lights you the person changing them can be above the lighting grid so you are not lifting them in a way that it would injure you. so the grid really should come to some where between your chest and hip.

dimmer pack- the dimmer pack is a massive panel of switches that can control each of the light individually as it is connected the the lighting grid so each socket is connected to each switch and the number on the socket is the number of the dimmer switch which is connected to the lighting desk and all the numbers match up to each other.

the lights -in the studio use two kinds of lamps and are called two different names depending on the lamp inside of the light, the first is cool lights they are flood lights that will light the whole area that is being filmed, the lamps inside are florescent tubes so they don't get as hot but are also better for the environment as they are in some sort of way energy saving bulbs. the second are small lights these lights are like spot lights and are tunestan lights and get hotter than the cool lights and can be more sore on the eyes the are often used for back lighting a studio so lighting from behind the actor or talent.
another type of light in the studio are the house lights but they are not for production purposes they are for when you are not recording and not using the main stage lights but they are every day light that you would find in the common room or house so that is why it is called house lights as they are the external lights in a studio and are put on for when doing maintenance on any equipment or while people are entering into the studio.

curtain track -this is a track that goes around the edge of the studio and is used to hand black curtains on or blacks on, this is to make sure that the set stand out on the camera and also to hide things that are not needed to be seen.

S.T.O.B-this means studio terminal outlet box, it is used to plug in all the different electrical equipment that needs to go to the control rooms. the equipment that is plugged into the S.T.O.B are mic`s,camera outlets and can`s this is so that their aren`t lots of terminals on the walls for sound and cameras and other things but one small area also so that the health and safety of crew is not at risk from lots of wires and the S.T.O.B. also helps to bring it all together.

the studio floor is a cemented floor but has carpet tiles on it, this is good as you can take up the tiles if you are painting on the floor or really need a smooth surface to move the cameras easily but alot of professional studio would have smooth services so the cameras can really move easily.

the floor monitor- this is a television screen that shows what is going out or being shown on the television, it is also used in the case of quiz shows to show video or VT`s. their can be more than one monitor if the audience needs to see what is going out.

on air light- this is often a red light that sometimes says AIR, it is put on when recording is in progress as it means that you should not enter the studio floor. we don't have this in our studio we have a bike light that flashes.

mics- these are suspended from the grid by a cable, the are condenser mics so they pick up every thing around them, so what ever is said in the studio it can be herd if they are on.we also have radio mics these clip onto the talents clothes and have a battery pack that also sends out a signal of sound that is being produced through the mic, it is then picked up by a receiver that is plugged into the sound mixer/desk.

Camera-

the cameras- the cameras we use are Sony z5 camera`s they can be both used in the studio and out on another location, they a fairly professional cameras and have and aperture on them if their is to much light you can change the aperture like an SLR photographic camera it also has a zoom that is both manual and auto the focus is just like this it an be used in both of these functions.

the studio pedistol/ped- this is like a tripod but it also has a dolly that is permanently attached, it has a collum in the middle that can be raised and lowered depending on the shot you want, it is on one long pole instead of three legs. on the top it has a tilt and pan head, the enable you to pan and tilt the camera in whatever way you need to.

talk back box- this enable the director to talk to you and tell you the shot they want with out going back and forth, it also enables communications to the vision mixer, sound technician and the floor manager and the other cameras you your self can also talk to the director if you really have to at the time.

cables- these connect the every thing to the S.T.O.B but that is sort of obvious the only thing you need to remember about the is that they are very fragile so you shouldn't but pressure on them, their is also alto of them so you have to keep them gathered up so they can move easily with the camera, we keep them gathered with a sleeve that is made with a black wire material that is woven together.

the main area is the studio it is where alto happens and goes on but also where most people are.