Once we’ve got our talent booked, we’ll want to know how they’ll appear in our program. We need a routine because it may help us get a broad picture of the
program and address potential problems before they occur. A typical routine for the acts planned for our production might look like the one on page 157. Note that the location for the acts isn’t indicated, in this rou- tine since the only location that’s used is the stage.
VARIETYAMERICA—DATE—PROGRAM
# Description & Location Run Time Cumulative Time 1. Tease—outside music hall with annc. & house music :30
2. Titles & Billing—“Show Business” Playback & annc. 1:00 1:30 3. Commercial break 2:00 3:30 4. Intro show outside auditorium—audio from BIG BAND 1:00 4:30 5. BIG BAND
5a.“Hot Time in Old Town Tonight”—with vocalist 3:00 7:30 5b.“Blue Skies”—with vocalist & choir 3:30 11:00 6. Intro ACOUSTIC STAR from audience :30 11:30 7. ACOUSTIC STAR sings: wi. Guitar in front of curtain
7a.“Tears in Heaven” 4:30 16:00 7b.“Rollin & Tumblin” 4:00 20:00 8. Surprise guest5 LIVING LEGEND/ACOUSTIC STAR talk 1:00 21:00 “Here Comes the Sun”duet with house orch. 4:30 25:30 9. Insert file—RETIRED STARS segment with annc. 1:00 26:30 10. Commercial break 2:00 28:30 11. Intro STRING QUARTET annc. vo audience shots :30 29:00 12. STRING QUARTET—Beethoven quartet 9:00 38:00 13. Insert file—RETIRED STARS segment 2 with annc. 2:00 40:00 14. Intro BROADWAY STAR—annc vo audience shots :15 40:15 14a.“As Time Goes By”—lip-sync 2:15 42:30 14b.“Another 100 People”—track & chroma wall 3:00 45:30 15. Intro JAZZ FAMILY—annc vo audience shots :15 45:45 15a.“Lullaby of Birdland” 3:30 49:15 15b.“Night in Tunisia 3:45 53:00 16. Jam session with BIG BAND behind“Saints Go Marching In” 4:00 57:00 17. Credits over“Saints” 1:00 58:00
Although this is an imaginary program, the fol- lowing considerations that prompt this routine are very real.
# Description & Location
Run Time
Cumulative Time 1. Tease outside music
hall with annc. & house music
:30
The tease invites the home audience, many of whom use these first seconds to “channel surf,” to watch the program. It sets up the content of the program, and if it’s exciting enough, it provides the best chance to capture and hold the viewers.
2. Titles & Billing “Show
Business” Slug & annc. 1:00 1:30
This is similar, except whereas the tease gave a taste of what is to be on the program, this lets the audi- ence know more specifically who’s on the program. It also fulfills credit/billing agreements. It’s impor- tant that the credits be attractive, too, since we still want to hold the audience.
3. Commercial Break 2:00 3:30
This part of the routine mimics the routine for a music special I directed in Nashville. Having a com- mercial so soon in the program might be considered dangerous because that means it will be 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the program before the show begins. This may have been part of a contractual obligation to a sponsor. Ideally the tease and credits will have been strong enough to keep the audience watching the program.
4. Intro show outside auditorium audio from BIG BAND
1:00 4:30
If the home audience stays through the first commer- cial, they’ll probably stay to see at least a portion of the opening number. Since there’s been a commer- cial, we may also attract latecomers who were still surfing. Therefore, this becomes an opportunity to reintroduce the show as well as the first act.
5. BIG BAND
5a. “Hot Time in Old Town Tonight” with vocalist
3:00 7:30
5b. “Blue Skies” with
vocalist & choir 3:30 11:00
The rule of thumb regarding productions is that you start with a big, bright, lively “up” number, perhaps the second-best act of the show, and end the program with the best of the show to “keep ’em coming back.” In any event, in our program, the first act is a BIG BAND and should make for an exciting open- ing. On the production side, it’s efficient to have had the time to preset the orchestra, since that’s going to be one of the most complicated audio and stage set- ups. In this routine let’s assume that the band is pre- set on stage and that the vocalist will walk out to a microphone in front of the orchestra when it’s time to sing. The audio department would probably like the vocalist to work from the side of the orchestra so the singer would be off the axis of the orchestra. (A singer in front of an orchestra is “on the same axis” as the orchestra. If the orchestra is to the side of or in front of the singer, the singer is “off the axis” of the orchestra.) The best way to observe a live mix between vocalists and an orchestra is to watch a pro- gram like the late-night variety programs on CBS and NBC. When singers are featured, they face the audience, and their microphones are off-axis to the house orchestra. However, it usually doesn’t happen that way in concert-style productions. We will not be able to arrange this for our imaginary situation, so a microphone with a very narrow live spot is required. We want to keep the sound of the orchestra out of the microphone of the singer. For the second num- ber, I’m going to assume that a curtain at the back of the stage opens to reveal the chorus in place behind the orchestra. I would want them to “just appear” rather than walk into place. A walk-on might become an enormous stage wait, and the home audience might just decide to surf. If the choir can’t be in place behind the orchestra, I’d suggest they work from one of the sides. The key point is to have the choir in place and miced and then revealed for the second number so we can get on with the show as quickly as possible. If all of that is impossi- ble, we’d want to dramatize their entrance and incor- porate it into the act. Perhaps they could arrive from the back of the house, singing or clapping, while the orchestra played. Audio would need to be consulted
for any such plan so the chorus can be heard as they make their entrance. The chances are that audience mics would have been hung for applause, and they would be put to use here. Since there would be sing- ing as well as applause, the audio team might use dif- ferent “audience mics” than they normally would.
6. Intro ACOUSTIC STAR
from audience :30 11:30
Once the band is finished, they have to get off the stage. This short introduction allows the curtain to close so the orchestra and choir can exit. Simultaneously, the crew can put the simple audio setup in place for the next act.
7. ACOUSTIC STAR sings with acoustic guitar in front of curtain
7a. “Tears in Heaven” 4:30 16:00
7b. “Rollin & Tumblin” 4:00 20:00
This setup probably requires no more than two mics: one for vocals and one for the guitar. The problem is that it’s a quiet number. The members of the orches- tra have to leave the stage behind the curtain during that quiet number. If the curtain has good sound- absorbing characteristics, we’ll be able to continue with the production. If not, we’ll have to wait for everyone to clear the stage before we begin the next number. That will require another edit.
8. Surprise guest 5 LIVING LEGEND/ACOUSTIC
STAR talk 1:00 21:00
“Here Comes the Sun” Duet with House Orch.
Having a surprise guest is exciting. The staffs of both artists would need to be consulted to see if it would be feasible to make it a real surprise. It would be unusual, however, to find a manager who would agree to place an artist on the air in a totally unrehearsed situation. It’s more likely that we’d have a rehearsal in which the two artists, who are probably old friends, would get a chance to rehearse the number before presenting it to the world.
9. RETIRED STARs
segment 2 with annc. 1:00 26:30
In this segment I’m going to assume that we talk to a “Retired Star.” We’ll see some stock black-and-white footage of an appearance made years ago and perhaps some recent footage of a performance if it’s available, or an audio recording over stock video footage if it’s not. The material would have been edited, transferred to a server, and possibly played back to the audience. Placing it in this spot in the program affords us a break that enables the crew to clear the orchestra for item 15, the JAZZ FAMILY, which is the next time the large area will be needed. Although it isn’t indicated, I’d end this segment with a return to the audience applauding and then dissolve to a kind of “standby” picture— perhaps an exterior shot with the program title supered.
10. Commercial break 2:00 28:30
It’s best to hold the standby picture through the com- mercial break. Although the network might sell all the time in the breaks, the standby could be used as pro- tection should there be some failure in the commercial playback. Additionally, the standby might be used as a still frame for program identification.
11. Intro STRING QUARTET
Annc. VO Audience shots :30 29:00
The implication of “Annc. VO Audience shots” is that we will come to a cover shot at the end of each performance. The announcer will introduce the next act—in this case the STRING QUARTET, with a voice over some video. It’s the director’s job to invent the video to help with the segue from item to item. One approach to the return from the commer- cial break is to create a montage of material generic to the production—upcoming acts, for example— and insert that during the editing session. Another approach is to start outside with an exterior shot of the theater and lose the supered name of the program (which had been part of the commercial break standby), and then slowly zoom in to the front of the theater and dissolve to a wide shot from the back of the house. That camera might then slowly zoom in, and as the announcer finishes the introduction, the music is cued to begin. The need to create material for this kind of moment often crops up in a produc- tion, and it’s part of the director’s job to cover such unscripted production demands.
12. STRING QUARTET
This segment ends on applause. Following the quar- tet, we would play back the RETIRED STARS mate- rial to the floor and give ourselves the two-minute running time to clear the STRING QUARTET, with their music and mics.
13. RETIRED STARS segment 2
with Annc. 2:00 40:00
If the playback of this segment were unavailable or not long enough to cover the scene change, we would take the time to make the change on stage and then proceed with the show, realizing that, once again, we had built in an edit.
14. Intro BROADWAY STAR
Annc. VO Audience Shots :15 40:15 14a. “As Time Goes By”
LIP SYNC 2:15 42:30
This segment features one performer standing in front of a curtain. In the second number, a chroma wall is used to key in backgrounds. It should be simple to shoot. The first song is a slow ballad. Too much cutting or moving around might distract from the song itself. In fact, the song could easily be played in a simple spotlight and require only one prop mic. We might have THE BROADWAY STAR enter from stage right or left and walk to the preset microphone. That would give us cover for the musical introduction and allow the audience to applaud.
14b. “Another 100 People”
TRACK & Chroma Wall 3:00 45:30
The second song, another Broadway musical classic, is faster than the first, and because it’s preceded by such a simple number, it demands a different approach. Whatever change in mood or setting occurs has to happen during the applause. Audiences are fascinated with set changes, so we may want to reveal how the effect is achieved. In any event, it has to happen quickly and offer a totally different look. I’ve chosen a chroma-key wall that flies in. It’s an inexpensive way of achiev- ing a “look” (in fact, chroma-key may now seem dated). I would hope that in this case it’s
appropriate for the song, which comes from a Broadway play of the 1970s. It’s really just another tool in the director’s repertoire. Technically speak- ing, it’s easy to achieve, since the chroma lighting can be preset and needs only to be turned on for the number.
15. Intro JAZZ FAMILY Annc.
VO Audience shots :15 45:45
The JAZZ FAMILY will be improvising on the songs they are slated to perform. Unlike the first “Band,” this group ad-libs around a theme. It’s important for the director/producer to understand the structure of the two pieces and know how each number will begin. I once shot a production with vocalist Roberta Flack. In rehearsal, she started with a four-bar piano intro. Somewhere between the last rehearsal and the recording, the band decided that it would sound better if the bass rather than the piano performed the four-bar intro. When we went on the air, live, I spent two bars shooting a close-up of Ms. Flack’s hands before realizing what had happened. I slowly (though in a panic) dissolved through to the bass player—who was finished by the time the dissolve was over. It taught me to tell the musicians of my plans. With that experience in mind, I would ask the JAZZ FAMILY about the order in which they intended to take solos and then tell them about the way I intended to shoot them.
15b. “Another 100 People”
TRACK & Chroma Wall 3:30 49:15
15b. “Night in Tunisia” 3:45 53:00
At the end of “Night in Tunisia,” we’d cut to the audience for applause and then have the JAZZ FAMILY start “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Part of the preproduction for this program would have been a call to everyone who might be playing to make sure that this number would be acceptable. If someone didn’t want to play this song, we’d move on to something else, possibly suggested by the orchestra. There are a few jazz standards that are really from the classical repertoire and for which music rights are not a consideration; one of Rachmaninoff’s themes, for example, became immortalized in the jazz repertoire as the song “You Can’t Go Home Again.” One of the bonuses of including this jam session is that it allows the timing of the show to be more flexible. If there’s a
lot of time, this number could run for as long as 10 minutes; if there’s little time, it can run for only 3 or even 2 minutes. It would be smart to overshoot this number and plan on editing it if it really “took off” after we were supposed to be finished.
16. Jam Session with BIG BAND behind
“Saints Go Marching In”
4:00 57:00
It’s important to plan the entrances of the other artists, who need microphones. We’ll have to arrange the order in which solos are taken and find some way to include the usually seated STRING QUARTET.
17. Credits over “Saints” 1:00 58:00
I would hesitate to add credits while taping this live- to-tape, because credits offer an easy way to shorten or lengthen a production. If you record the credits live, you’re stuck with whatever time they take dur- ing the recording. In fact, this last number was designed to be flexible, so it would be best to edit the credits in postproduction. At the very least, I’d retain an isolated feed of the last number, without credits, so changes could be made later if necessary.