 |
|||||||
 |
|||||||
 |
| Home | Programs/Classes | People | Students/Alumni | Gallery | Facilities |
| Office Directory |  |
Faculty | |
Staff | |
Adjunct Instructors | |
Grad Students |
T356 Spring 2008 - Week 1 Instructor introduction & welcome Circulate roster Topics/Agenda
Lab this week:
Course Introduction Television Studio Operations: focus is mastering the studio & its equipment. Learning how to direct & produce multi-camera studio productions. Syllabus Contact: Office hrs, phone e-mail Text: Zettl is optional. Most readings will be on-line and handed out. Materials: Bring miniDV tapes with you to lab every week to record the work you produce and direct. Do not rely on the Profile to safely store your video. You need to record your work live, as it is being produced. Everyone should be collecting projects for their portfolio. Description (from syllabus) You’ll be wearing lots of hats: production engineer, camera operator, director, producer, etc. Each job has specific duties. It's ok to develop a specialty or a passion for doing a particular thing (lighting for example). Just be sure that you can do a good job carrying out the other tasks. As you learn how to operate the equipment in this studio, think of the underlying principles and ideas. This way you will be able to go into any studio, walk up to almost any camera, audio mixer, character generator & already be familiar with it. Structure Grading - Review assignments Participation - B+ is the norm given for the participation grade. If you proactively take part in exercises you will get an A in this area. In other words if you volunteer to do things without being asked, you will be rewarded for it. If you just sit there and wait for someone to tell you what to do, you may get a lower grade. Schedule How this class works Meet in Studio 5. Everyone needs to get out his or her chairs at the beginning of class & put them away at the end of class Everyone has to help strike the studio. Don't leave until everything is put away. Lectures will present new content and provide time to view work. Labs focus on hands-on production activities and time to discuss your project with your group. This is a long class and we’ll find times to take breaks. Make sure you eat lunch (or breakfast) before class - especially if you’re in the Monday lab There is no food allowed in the studio. OK in the hallway. Look at the Facility Guidelines at back of the syllabus. Clothing: While there is no dress code, the appearance of the talent is often the weakest link in a production. Everyone is “talent” in the rotations. Be sure you dress appropriately for the role you are playing. (news anchor, host, portraying roles, etc.) What would you tell someone to wear who’ll be a guest on a late night talk show? What would you tell a research scientist on a PBS documentary? Safety-wise, sandals & flip-flops are not appropriate for constructing sets. Fun & Professionalism - Walking the fine line T356 is one of my favorite classes. It’s fun! We function as a crew and can joke, talk about movies and TV shows. We will probably meet after class recreationally a few times during the semester. However it’s important to know when to be professional, and when to stop the "crew talk". When we have actors come in to serve as talent, they need to focus and be shown respect. Joking and too much chitchat is very distracting to someone who coming into this environment for the first time and trying to focus on their lines. We’ll be producing public service announcements for various organizations and will have agency directors, managers and volunteers in. Again it’s important to show them respect and to curtail the talking and obvious fun. We will get tour groups in to look at the class and our new facilities. This is a good time to practice your people person skills and serve as diplomats. You are our public face when visitors and talent come into the studio. Anytime we’re under a tight deadline- and this will be quite often- we’ll need to focus on our various tasks. We all have to help setup the production, light it and make sure it goes smoothly. It’s fine to talk, joke and have fun building sets- but we have to do this while we work efficiently. Setting lights requires constant communication between the person at the dimmer board and the person on the ladder. We don’t want to hinder this. Focus and remember what needs to be done. Don’t get to the end of setup time and then realize that the microphones need to be setup. When we're getting ready to roll tape before a show- and the director has called for a "standby on the set," please keep it silent. We'll get started more smoothly and work more effectively. It’s important to know what needs to be done and how to do it effectively. Once you do this you’ll easily find it’s easy to have fun while still being professionals. Planning and producing projects You need to spend time thinking about and planning the projects you'll be producing. Everyone has to produce 4 projects:
Even though you’ll be working with partners for the production, everyone will be pitching and planning these. Now is the time to get to work and start planning. PSA- The production is typically straightforward. The challenge is working with an organization and developing a 30 or 60 second script with them. Decide what organization you’d like to help. Contact someone from the organization and start determining their specific needs. Demonstration or Informational video – Start thinking about what would be interesting to show. Do you have a friend who’s into martial arts, or maybe know someone who can demonstrate how to do card tricks or make yummy treats for a cooking show? Dramatic Scenes – The best ones are original. Maybe you have a scene you’ve written or know the perfect person to play a role. Final Project – Everyone pitches a final project. It can be almost anything: a comedic skit, a music performance video, a dramatic scene, a talk show, etc. Plan ahead! Always think about a month ahead & about the next several assignments. You will typically be working on varying stages of several productions. Pre-production elements (scripts, lighting plots, etc) must be done & completed before production. Talent needs time to rehearse & prepare. You don’t want someone playing a dramatic role reading lines off of a teleprompter. Give them time to memorize their lines and rehearse. The camera accurately portrays what it sees. GIGO. Make sure you have something worth watching in front of the camera. Producers need to plan on bringing any needed props, edited music Graphics & teleprompter scripts need to be prepared ahead of time so we don’t waste lab time typing in scripts and creating graphics. We’ll learn more about this in a few weeks. Discuss major assignments / projects In class exercise (5 points) : Take out a sheet of paper. Write neatly and fill in the following:
Check class rosters & numbers Studio Overview Know the difference between the studio & control room. Studio: Characteristics: Large size. Level, concrete floor. High ceilings for adequate lighting control, heat dissipation and to ensure that boom mics don't make it into the shot. Control room: usually adjacent to a studio. Where the director, TD, audio engineer do their magic. Not always on same floor. Not always line-of-sight. Doors: Heavy & soundproof. There should be big doors for moving sets, cars & large animals. Acoustic treatment: double & triple pane windows, sound deadening wall coverings Video monitors: preview
monitors, line monitor (aka program monitor) IFB: according to Zettl its interruptible foldback/feedback. This usually goes into the on-air talent’s earphone. Studio talkback: a P.A. loudspeaker system from the control room to the studio. Often done through headphones in an audio recording studio Timing: contain digital clocks that count down & up Master control: nerve center for all telecasts. Controls the program input, storage and retrieval for telecasts.Camera basics – be sure to read the cybercollege readings in the syllabus. Studio Cameras:
What you should know about cameras: As you read the text, be sure you understand the following terms and concepts:
Look at examples LAB: Student introductions. Who can play music, dance, act, etc. Favorite TV shows? Production experience. Studio tour: Audio:
Pin rail system:
Flas & Props:
Lights:
Production People Above the line & below the line Producer – Ultimately in charge of a production. Makes sure show gets produced to high standards, under budget and on time. Responsible for selecting crew, talent and determining content issues. Director- is like the conductor. Coordinates all of the actions and makes artistic decisions. Defers to the producer (his/her boss) if an issue arises. Assistant director – helps set up shots, keep track of timings, makes sure people and equipment are ready. Should be able to take over directing responsibilities if required. In Studio 5 the Asst. Director runs the teleprompter and countdown timer. Lighting Director / Gaffer : Responsible for getting the right "look" through lighting. Designs & sets lights. Technical Director– Operates the video switcher. On small shows can also direct. CG – runs the WriteDeko. Must keep an eye on the program monitor and make sure graphics are advanced in the right sequence. Tape Op – handles VTR and Profile playback and recording. Often handles shading & CCUs. Audio – helps to have an assistant for complex shows. Sets microphones, talent and music levels. Floor director- Similar to a stage manager. Manages timing, props, & cues talent. It's important that they stand right next to a camera (in the talent's field of view) and direct the talent to the appropriate camera. Camera – Runs camera. On small shows can double as Floor director. Work through rotation exercise Wrap Next Week
Up to Jim Krause's T356 homepage
|
|
|
|
1229 East 7th St. | Bloomington, IN 47405 | Phone: (812) 855-3828
General Questions: tcom@indiana.edu | Website Comments: jarkraus@indiana.edu
Indiana University | IU Bloomington | College of Arts & Sciences | Department of Telecommunications
Copyright 2008, The Trustees of Indiana University | Copyright Complaints | Last Updated: March 2008