Upgrading the Production Studio

Fabrikam has a small studio that can be used for recording video of individuals or small groups. The studio was originally constructed to record a weekly company news program that was distributed on tape. The studio has also been used to record talks by managers that include PowerPoint slides, interviews that are edited into other programs, and voiceovers. (A voiceover is an audio-only recording of an announcer or narrator that is later edited into a finished production.)

The complete studio consists of the studio space, control room, and equipment room. The studio space is where cameras record people and objects; the control room is where the audio and video are mixed before going to tape; and the equipment room is where the VCRs and other equipment that do not require constant attention are housed.

To add the capability to produce live programming from the studio, the Media department will simply add encoding computers and some additional equipment. Most of the infrastructure is already in place.

Production Styles and Considerations

The studio is already equipped to record “live to tape,” meaning complete programs can be produced and recorded to tape in real time. With only minimal changes, the Media department can encode programs live to the company intranet. For example, once the live encoding computers are installed, the Media department can broadcast a live news program. Studio personnel can also reconfigure the studio to broadcast a speaker giving a PowerPoint presentation, or any number of other similar live-to-tape productions.

The other styles of production commonly used are continuity and documentary. With these production styles, a program is shot in individual elements, such as interviews, shots of buses on the assembly line, and computer graphics. Then the program is assembled in an editing suite. The program elements are shot “out of continuity,” meaning the elements are not necessarily recorded in the order in which they will appear in the final production. For this reason, these styles cannot be used for live production.

In general, it is easier and less expensive to create an edited production from elements shot out of continuity than to attempt a live production, especially if your facility is not capable of live-to-tape recording. Even if you have live-to-tape capabilities, a live production requires more planning and an experienced production team. However, live production has the advantages of timeliness and immediacy, and it can also save production time once a process has been developed for doing live production.

Planning for live-to-tape production includes writing a script or outline, making sure everyone involved knows their roles and the flow of the production, and rehearsing, if possible. For a weekly news show, the producer only needs to write the script and edit the news clips in advance. For a one-time event, a week of pre-production may be required to make sure all the pieces fall into place.

Elements of a Live Production

A typical live production requires attention to the following elements:

Sets

The set is the area created for the camera to photograph (or shoot). Often, corporate videos call for nothing more than a simple, featureless, blue background. If you add anything to a set, the end user will assume it has something to do with the content of the video. Everything in the video frame should focus the end user’s attention on the content.

Lighting

Lighting serves two basic purposes. First, television cameras require more light than the human eye, so additional lighting will often be needed to bring the light level up to a point where the camera can capture a high-quality image. Second, lighting serves an artistic purpose, enabling you to model the image and create an effective look. In general, you will want to create a pleasant effect that doesn’t distract the viewer’s attention from the content.

Scripts or Rundowns

A script typically contains the words a speaker will read. An outline or rundown provides a structure for a live program. In either case, a script or rundown is not just for the speaker—it is the blueprint for a production, the instrument that holds a live production together. The director, producer, audio engineer, and camera operators cannot do an effective job without a complete script or rundown.

Talent

This is a broadcast term used to refer to the people who are seen or heard in a video (for example actors, presenters, narrators, and interviewees). Talent do not have to be professionally trained. However, the talent chosen to deliver the message in a video should have the skills to communicate effectively.

Cameras

Video cameras capture light and convert it to an electrical signal (see figure 18.1). Many modern cameras then convert the signal into a digital stream. The camera is the beginning of the signal chain that will end up as an image on the end user’s monitor. It is important to start off with the best quality possible, because there is no way to improve quality once a signal is recorded; you can only change the appearance of the video recording, but you cannot increase the quality of the recorded information. There is a variety of inexpensive, high-quality video cameras on the market today.

Figure 18.1: An example of a modern, professional video camera setup.

Audio

An audio system consists of the components to capture or create sound (such as microphones and CD players), components to process and mix the sounds (such as a mixer), and components to record sound (such as a tape recorder, VCR, or encoder). An audio system is typically less expensive and complicated than the associated video system, but that does not mean audio is less important. Most of the message of a video is carried through the audio.

Directing and Switching

A director is in charge of the production of a film or video. In a live video production, the director follows the rundown or script, and gives timing instructions to the camera operators and audio engineers. In short, the director controls what goes on the tape or into the broadcast.

In a smaller production, a director may also operate the video switcher that changes camera angles and adds visual effects, such as titles. Everyone on a live crew wears intercom headphones, through which they receive instructions from the director, and can provide feedback.

Assistants

Though many small productions are done with one director and two camera operators, one or more assistants are often needed on larger-scale productions to handle miscellaneous tasks, such as moving set pieces and equipment, and rolling tape. One very necessary assistant task is running the teleprompter, if one is used.

Producer

Every situation is different, but the producer is most often the person who organizes the production. The producer is also often the writer and liaison between the crew and the customer or client.

During a live production, the talent reads the script or follows the rundown and performs; the camera people shoot angles of the action; the audio person mixes the sound and manages the sound quality; the director manages the flow of the program, selects appropriate camera angles, and rolls in video clips when called for; the assistants help run VCRs, check encoding quality, operate the teleprompter, and other miscellaneous tasks; and the producer makes sure the director has what is needed to manage the production.

The audio and video is captured in the studio, mixed in the control room, and then sent as audio and video signals (called the program signals or feed) to the encoding computers. There the signals are split, encoded into four streams, and sent over the network to publishing points on the Windows Media server. Clients then use Windows Media Player to connect to the server and stream the program.