Cue sheets and Scripts

The layout to the script is that it should always have audio to the left and video to the right, this is an easy way to lay things out for the director and the crew to see. This is useful as it shows the sound desk what levels need to be changed.



One of the most important things on the script is the VT's. This is very important on the script as it shows the DVD operations when to play each VT. When making the script the director can make notes on it as this will make it easy for everyone to see what is happening.

Floor plan

Directors commands and Jobs

The role of a director for multicam productions includes being responsible for supervising of cameras, lighting, microphones and props.
During filming, the director is in charge of positioning the cameras and calling which shot to film. it is also the director's job to be cool under fire and maintain order among the staff in the control room, on the set, and elsewhere. The director's commands must be artistic, accurate, and calm. There is usually no room for error. While talking to the camera operators the director might ask them to perform either a PED, a crab or tracking.

Crab - to the camera operators and means that he wants them to move either left or right, e.g. crab left (move left)

PED- to the camera and this means that he wants the camera operator to move the shot either up or down e.g. PED UP (move the camera up)

Tracking- to the camera operator and means that he wants them to either move towards the guests/ host or object or move away from them e.g. tracking in (move towards them)

Floor Ready- Asked to FM to confirm that floor is ready for shooting

DVD inserts and Requirements

The DVD is one of the most crucial things which is needed in the show as it contains all VT inserts, stings, opening titles and credits. With the DVD there are certain requirments that are needed:

Make sure that when recording VT inserts or Stings that all of the settings our the same and so the screen aspect ratio is not different on each clip. This is something we failed to do and ended up with different clips of VT in different aspect ratios.

You must have at least 7 seconds inbetween each VT. This is because in these 7 seonds you will need 3 things. The first being 1 second of black so this will not cut straight into the next sequence. The second is that you will need 5 seconds of VT roll, this is the count of what VT this is and what it is, it is also a way of getting to the track quickly. The final thing which is required is a further 1 second of black, this is the more crucial of the 2 blacks as this is where the DVD must be paused at and so the director can shout roll DV and that is when the DVD is played.

Camera angles and shots

Long shot (LS). Shot which shows all or most of a fairly large subject (for example, a person) and usually much of the surroundings.

Extreme Long Shot (ELS) - see establishing shot: In this type of shot the camera is at its furthest distance from the subject, emphasising the background.
Medium Long Shot (MLS): In the case of a standing actor, the lower frame line cuts off his feet and ankles. Some documentaries with social themes favour keeping people in the longer shots, keeping social circumstances rather than the individual as the focus of attention. Establishing shot. Opening shot or sequence, frequently an exterior 'General View' as an
Extreme Long Shot (ELS). Used to set the scene.
Medium shots. Medium Shot or
Mid-Shot (MS). In such a shot the subject or actor and its setting occupy roughly equal areas in the frame. In the case of the standing actor, the lower frame passes through the waist. There is space for hand gestures to be seen.
Medium Close Shot (MCS): The setting can still be seen. The lower frame line passes through the chest of the actor. Medium shots are frequently used for the tight presentation of two actors (the two shot), or with dexterity three (the three shot).
Close-up (CU). A picture which shows a fairly small part of the scene, such as a character's face, in great detail so that it fills the screen. It abstracts the subject from a context. MCU (Medium Close-Up): head and shoulders.
BCU (Big Close-Up): forehead to chin. Close-ups focus attention on a person's feelings or reactions, and are sometimes used in interviews to show people in a state of emotional excitement, grief or joy. In interviews, the use of BCUs may emphasise the interviewee's tension and suggest lying or guilt. BCUs are rarely used for important public figures; MCUs are preferred, the camera providing a sense of distance. Note that in western cultures the space within about 24 inches (60 cm) is generally felt to be private space, and BCUs may be invasive.

Angle of shot. The direction and height from which the camera takes the scene. The convention is that in 'factual' programmes subjects should be shot from eye-level only. In a high angle the camera looks down at a character, making the viewer feel more powerful than him or her, or suggesting an air of detachment. A low angle shot places camera below the character, exaggerating his or her importance. An overhead shot is one made from a position directly above the action.
Viewpoint. The apparent distance and angle from which the camera views and records the subject. Not to be confused with point-of-view shots or subjective camera shots.
Point-of-view shot (POV). A shot made from a camera position close to the line of sight of a performer who is to be watching the action shown in the point-of-view shot.

Two-shot. A shot of two people together.

Wide-angle shot. A shot of a broad field of action taken with a wide-angle lens.

Tilted shot. When the camera is tilted on its axis so that normally vertical lines appear slanted to the left or right, ordinary expectations are frustrated. Such shots are often used in mystery and suspense films to create a sense of unease in the viewer.

Zoom. In zooming in the camera does not move; the lens is focussed down from a long-shot to a close-up whilst the picture is still being shown. The subject is magnified, and attention is concentrated on details previously invisible as the shot tightens (contrast tracking). It may be used to surprise the viewer. Zooming out reveals more of the scene (perhaps where a character is, or to whom he or she is speaking) as the shot widens. Zooming in rapidly brings not only the subject but also the background hurtling towards the viewer, which can be disconcerting. Zooming in and then out creates an ugly 'yo-yo' effect.
Following pan. The camera swivels (in the same base position) to follow a moving subject. A space is left in front of the subject: the pan 'leads' rather than 'trails'. A pan usually begins and ends with a few seconds of still picture to give greater impact. The speed of a pan across a subject creates a particular mood as well as establishing the viewer's relationship with the subject. 'Hosepiping' is continually panning across from one person to another; it looks clumsy.
Surveying pan. The camera slowly searches the scene: may build to a climax or anticlimax.

Tilt. A vertical movement of the camera - up or down- while the camera mounting stays fixed.

Crab. The camera moves (crabs) right or left.

Tracking (dollying). Tracking involves the camera itself being moved smoothly towards or away from the subject (contrast with zooming). Tracking in (like zooming) draws the viewer into a closer, more intense relationship with the subject; moving away tends to create emotional distance. Tracking back tends to divert attention to the edges of the screen. The speed of tracking may affect the viewer's mood. Rapid tracking (especially tracking in) is exciting; tracking back relaxes interest. In a dramatic narrative we may sometimes be drawn forward towards a subject against our will. Camera movement parallel to a moving subject permits speed without drawing attention to the camera itself.
Hand-held camera. A hand-held camera can produce a jerky, bouncy, unsteady image which may create a sense of immediacy or chaos. Its use is a form of subjective treatment.

Process shot. A shot made of action in front of a rear projection screen having on it still or moving images as a background.

The journal of the role i played in the Live TV Quiz Show. CULTURE CITY

week one:

During the first week of our multi-camera project, we were divided into small groupsof four. It was from these groups that we were each assigned a role to perform in the show. i choose to be the Art Director. As an Art director it was my job to draw out ideas for a set design. This included ideas for colours, logos and layout of the set. After the class decided a theme for the quiz show, each group was given a round to work on. As the theme of our quiz show was Media, our group was given the television round to focus on.

Week two

The second week was more productive than the first. During then second week me and the other Art Directors got together and voiced our ideas and opinions on each others ideas for a set. Eventually we all decided that we were going to somehow created a city-scape. We thought that this was a good effective idea for a set design as it tied in with the idea of a Media theme because a city is full of advertising and culture. We also drew up a rough design of what we could put on the set.

Week three

During the third week, i mostly just painted the set. I painted the sky on all of the flats, drew the buildings, and painted the city scape onto the boards. Later that week I painted the lights in the building for the set to make it seem more realistic as a cityscape in Silhouette. i also set of to create a logo for the project, and i came up with the idea of having the name of the show in an over lapping crossword grid. It was then decided that the show would be named Culture City.

Week four

This week we finished off the flats and began rehearsals using the last groups script. We each rotated through different roles within the studio, this was really fun as it gave us the chance to have a go at lots of the different roles. I was on camera through most of the reheasals, but i also found my self vision mixing and playing the role of a contestant. i enjoyed being a camera man the most and i decided that it was what i wanted to in the live shoot.

Week five

This week we spent everyday doing rehearsals, I got to have a go on sound and perfecting camera operation. Both roles I enjoyed and found no difficulty performing, but I decided that i preffered to operate the camera. i enjoyed being a cameraman because it gave me the hands on experience that i want to gain from my time on the course. during the reheasals i found my self gaining in confidence with my camera work and with my self in general. i feel that being part of a large team boosted my confidence with the group. i am very happy with the turn out of our quiz show. i think that everyone performed there roles with very little error and that our final product was very much worth the effort that everybody put into it. i am very pleased with the work i did on the set design, i dont think we could have done anything else that would have worked quite as good as our design did. i also thought that stuart did a very good job as director, I also asked Stuart if I could use some of his pictures on my blog because he had taken pictures of our set. i have enjoyed this project very much.

Reheasals, Recording practise and Technical reheasals

Before we recorded the show live, we did plenty of reheasals. for these rehearsals we each performed the roles we had requested as well as taking turns to be guests and then ran through the show. Doing the reheasals i took role as a camera man, i cycled through each camera and mastered the shots i had to deliver. It was important to do these rehearsals to work out if there were any techincal problems or anything wrong with our questions. From doing reheasals we found that some of the questions were to easy, so we set off to make them more challenging. We also had to decide whether it was going to be possible to have buzzers in our quiz show. Recording practice allowed us to work effectively together as a group. It definately gave us more confidence knowing that our show would work. Although, at first it did not seem that way.

From technical rehearsals we learned that our buzzers sounded too similar, so we had to find an alternative for one of the buzzers. we were originally using two dog toy squeekers as our buzzers. so we replaced one of the toys with a bell. Another problem we had to deal with was that the VTs were not in the correct order on the DVD, as a consequence this meant that we had to edit our script and our running order. Despite this we also found benefit from technical reheasals as they helped us improve our skills as camera crew by constantly reframing and changing from camera shots. It also helped us adjust the sound levels so that they were just right and let us practise on when to cut from the VT inserts back to the studio. Without the reheasals we did, our show definately would not have turned out as successful as it did in the LIVE shoot.

Scripting

The script is most important thing for a quiz show to be succesful as it contains all the technical information that the director and DVD operators need to follow, as well as the dialogue of the host, the audio insert lengths for the Sound, DVD operators and for the assistant director to keep track off on behalf of the director. The script also mentions and gives advice on which camera shots should be used for opening of the show, as well as listing all the AD LIB shots the director is looking for in the rest of the show. the layout of a TV script is so that all sound used regardless of if its coming from the host, theguests or from VT inserts always goes on the right hand side of the script. And all vision information goes on the left side of the script. this is done becuase it makes the script much easier to follow for director, assistant director, floor manager and DVD operator. Whenever the director calls the number of the camera he wishes to cut to it means that the vision mixer should cut to that camera as listed in the script. If its a VT insert then the director calls to roll VT insert when it should be called, and where it is writen in the script.

This is a photograph of our Quiz show script.

Lighting the set

When it came to lighting the set we placed the backboards and the rest of the set in the studio and sat five people around the table to represent our four guests and host. We found that the best way to light the set and our host/guests was to use Three point lighting. Three point lighting is when there is a key light that is usually a powerful spot light (tungsten light) aimed at your subject, this creates a shadow down one side. To counter this, we used a fill light (cool light) and pointed it at the other side of the subject. After we lit the subject we had to add another spot light behind the subject, this was to bring the subject away from the background. Although, doing this sometimes creates a halo effect on the top of the subjects head. however, doing this brings them out from background which looks better on camera.

Designing the set

during the first week we were put into five groups of four. In these groups we were each given a role. i was assigned as an art director. As an Art director it was my job to come up woth ideas for a set design. there was five art directors in the class. the first thing we had to do was decide on the set design. as a group we were very indecisive about how to design our set. At first we all had different ideas on how to design the set. Eventualy we all agreed on the idea of having a city-scape. we named the final idea Culture City. The idea was to paint a city scape onto the flats (wood boards) and connect them together to create our set. We layed out outlines of the buildings using masking tape, and filled them in. the colours we used were greys and blacks, we then used purples and dark blues to create a midnight effect on the sky make it seem that it was nightime in the city. We also added additional colour in the form of bright yellow and orange to represent the lights from the buildings, however we only did this for two of the flats to create depth in the set and make it seem that some buidings were further away than the others.

this is the final design that we painted on the front of the set.

it was my job to come up with the logo for the show. i decided to have the title of the show in a crossword grid. this is the final logo that was painted on the backboard of the set.

And this is the final set design. i think it turned out pretty good.

Talk backs and how they're used

Talk backs are used by the camera crew, the director and DVD operator. The DVD operator uses the talk backs to tell the director that the inserts are ready to played from the DVD, and once the director is ready. The camera operator's also use the talk backs to report technical problems, suggest shots to the director and just general concerns. the talk backs should not be used unless it is totally necessery because the director needs to be able call out shots to each of camera operators uninterupted. The DVD operator should inform the director that the DVD is ready to allow the director time to think and ensure when they should cut to the DVD. Generaly the camera crew do not use the talk backs during a take. it is more polite and professional for the camera crew to allow the director to address them first before they speak.

Live television show analysis

Later… with Jools Holland

‘Later.. with Jools Holland’ is a contemporary British music television show hosted by Jool Holland. A spin-off of ‘The Late Show’, it has been running without advertising breaks since 1992 and is part of BBC2's late-night line-up, usually around 11PM. It is usually recorded on a Tuesday for Friday broadcast and features a mixture of both established and new musical artists, from solo performers to bands and larger ensembles. ‘Later… with Jools Holland’ draws from a diverse palette of popular and world music. Each show features around five bands with a variety of styles performing for each other and a small studio audience. Jools Holland introduces the show and interviews one or more of the performers. A unique feature is the short jam session that begins each show, involving all of his invited guests, along with Holland on piano. This beginning jam session also best shows the unusual layout of the set. All the bands are arrayed in a circle with the audience filling in the gaps between them. The show is captured using a variety of different types of camera. A few of these would include: tracking cameras, fixed panning cameras and a jib mounted camera. With live shows like ‘Later… with Jools Holland’ they are filmed by switching between multiple cameras that are all recording at the same time.
The multiple-camera setup, or multiple-camera mode of production, is a method of shooting films and television programs as well as live television. Several cameras are employed on the set and simultaneously record and broadcast a scene. It is often contrasted with the single-camera setup, which uses just one camera on the set. Generally, there are two outer cameras that shoot close shots of the two most active characters on the set at any given time, while the central camera or cameras shoot a wider master shot to capture the overall action and establish the geography of the room. In this way, multiple shots are used in a single take without having to start and stop the action. This is more efficient for programs that are to be shown a short time after being shot as it reduces the time spent editing the footage. It is also a virtual necessity for shows like soap operas. Apart from saving editing time, scenes may be shot far more quickly as there is no need for re-lighting and the set-up of alternate camera angles for the scene to be shot again from the different angle. It also reduces the complexity of tracking continuity issues that crop up when the scene is reshot from the different angles. It is also vital for live television.
On the show ‘Later… with Jools Holland’ each band is recorded using a variety of shots, and the camera angles used are quite diverse. Bands are usually introduced from range with a high tracking shot, this shot establishes the band and there unique lighting and colours. This shot is most likely captured using a camera mounted on a ‘jib’; this jib is then mounted on tracks. Tracks are used to create a significantly more smooth, steady and accurate movement. The ‘jib’ allows the shoot to be captured from much higher than usual. In ‘Later… with Jools Holland’ the ‘jib’ provides a high track which then descends into a low wide-shot of the band. There is then a mixture of close-ups, mid-shots and wide-shots to capture the action; this would most likely be captured using two or three fixed cameras and two or three more to capture wide-shots of the band. Particularly in more energetic performances, camera shots include some sort of movement. This being whether it is a ‘zoom’ a ‘pan’, ‘track’ or ‘crab’.


With ‘‘Later with Jools Holland’ there is an ever-changing colour scheme involved in the set design; this is because each band seems to have a different theme.
For example: when the ‘Noisettes’ performed on the show they choose to have a bright an energetic set and light show, using exciting colours and a quick-moving, frantic light show. This worked effectively for them as it matched their performance. Although; this theme does not follow through the majority of the performances on the show. Jools Holland chooses to have a great diversity of performances on the show; this means that each band must have its own light show and colour scheme. When Tom Jones performed on the show, he used dark browns and golds as his background, to produce a warm secure performance.
The audience is normally seated to the right of the performers. This is in order to allow room for the cameras to move freely around the studio. Having the audience on the right of the performers also allows them to be included in some of the shots.
Using a very standard but successful studio set, Jools Holland introduces the groups or singers positioned almost adjacent to each other throughout the studio.The set arrangement is complete with perhaps an audience of around 150 people in the mid 20s and above group, who seem to understand and appreciate fine music.

Live Quiz show analysis

Have I Got News For You

Have I Got News For You is a British television panel Quiz show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC, it is a Long-running topical panel game with a strong political slant, featuring team captains Ian Hislop and Paul Merton, it is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been running since 1990. The show is themed on mocking the latest News and politics with a humorous and light-hearted approach. It is a comedy programme rather than a serious game show and the banter between the guests and their comedic remarks are more important than the scores, which are hardly ever referred to and are not really taken into account.The introduction of the show is a series of news paper style political cartoons which tie in with the theme and the format of the show. After this sequence the viewers are cut to a wide shot of the set, which then zooms into a Mid-shot of the host. A mid-shot is used to show some part of the subject in more detail whilst still giving an impression of the whole subject and its environment. During the wide-shot we can see the size and depth of the studio; we can also see an over head view of the audience and auto-cue. From the opening wide-shot we can also see that the studio is about 15 metres across and 20 metres deep. Allowing the TV viewers to see the whole set in the opening sequence, really helps deliver the theme and atmosphere of the show.
The set is designed using reds and purples with cut up news paper headlines and caricatures of political personalities. In the opening pan, the title of the show is displayed across the boards of the set; which then rotate. Also at this point, the lights are all dimmed. The lights then light up to highlight the host and the contestants, this is done to make the host and contestants have a dominant presence to the set.
The contestants each have fixed clip-on microphones attached at there collars to allow the audience and the viewers at home to hear them. The clip-on microphones are typical of a quiz show like ‘Have I Got News for You’. The microphones would usually be linked up to a sound and audio mixer, through which the sound will be adjusted to levels suitable for broadcast.
The shape and texture of the set design allows flexible camera angles between contestants and the host. The contestants are sat in teams of two, both with space for movement and their individual medium close-ups (MCU’s).
The show is captured using five fixed cameras and one tracking. The show is shot using a mixture of mainly mid-shots and 2-shots; a 2-shot shows some part of the subject in more detail whilst still giving an impression of the whole subject and its surroundings. It is probable that there is a camera for each team with an extra for shots of individuals. The host also has his own camera, plus the one that tracks in at the beginning of the show to capture the wide shot of the set. The camera that captures the opening wide-shot is probably on a jib. In cinematography, a jib is a boom device with a camera on one end, and a counterweight and camera controls on the other. It operates like a see-saw, but with the balance point located close to the counterweight, so that the camera end of the arm can move through an extended arc. A jib permits the camera to be moved vertically, horizontally, or a combination of the two. A jib is often mounted on a tripod or similar support.
Mise-en-scène is an expression used in theatre and film to describe the design aspects of a production. The Mise-En-Scene of the show is mainly a gradient of purple/blue and red, this fits in with the comical aspect of the show and gives it a warm, light-hearted approach. The newspaper cut outs have a blue transition over them to match the set design and make them less prominent. The colours used in the set give the show a comfortable and interesting texture to make it more attractive to the viewers mat home and the audience it also enhances the power of the show and brings to light that the show has a reputation for sailing close to the wind in matters of libel with its satirical, light-heartedness.