Desafíos para implementar la metodología

Soon after the rehearsal, the crew gets set for the taping. First, a brief period is set aside to confirm all the last-minute changes that will have been made. These changes may mean extending an inter- view or adding questions that have become more relevant after the latest meeting with the panelists. It will include a touch-up for makeup. It may include different graphics or additions or deletions to the script. Meanwhile, the crew will make their last check-ins with Master Control, confirming that they are still receiving the studio’s signal and that the facilities will remain with the program through the scheduled time.

Once the show is on the air, the director will be involved with the “look” of the show. The producer will consider that, too, but will be more interested in the content of the program. Should different questions be asked? If so, they may be posed either directly through an earphone that the host wears or by a note sent via the stage manager. If the informa- tion will affect the direction of the program, the producer will inform the director. A typical note: “The host is about to ask chair 4 a question that’s a real killer!”

At major stations and the networks, changes in the running time of segments are of little importance to the director, since the producer, associate director, and stage manager run that part of the production. However, at most stations the director is responsible for time-cues as well as the shooting of the program.

Even when the director is working with an AD, he or she still needs to hear the time-cues that are sent to the host. It could be awkward to start setting

up an elaborate combination of shots with the host’s camera tied up on a wide shot and then find there are only 30 seconds left in the interview. Whether the director or the AD keeps track of the time, the back timing remains the same. The “back timing” is done by giving time-cues during the run- ning of the program so the program can be com- pleted in exactly the right time. During segments it means getting each segment off after using up only the time allotted for it. At the end of the program it means getting the program off on time. It’s not unusual to hear the director or AD counting out the show at the end of the program: “Thirty seconds and six credits left, 25 seconds and five credits left,” and so on.

An example of the use of back timing an ele- ment to get a program off the air smoothly occurred regularly on the nightly news magazine program on Channel 13 in New York. The program was designed to end with the music fading out. In order to achieve that, I had the audio engineer “dead pot” the music (start the music but keep the volume at zero) 3 minutes and 28 seconds before the end of the program. (Three minutes and 28 seconds was the total length of the music cue.) Somewhere, about 3 minutes after I had started the music, right after the host signed off, we faded up the remaining time of the music cue for our credits, and when the music ended (3 minutes and 28 seconds after I had started it), the program went off the air with the music nicely back-timed and fading out.

Most panel programs don’t get edited. When they do, all the relevant personnel get together to create the editing log. This usually involves the fol- lowing members of the staff.

G The director G The producer

G Whoever is responsible for notes (such as the

production assistant)

G Whoever is responsible for logging tapes used

and running the edit session (usually the associate director)

G Anyone whose expertise is needed to create an

accurate edit log. (This might mean an expert who had appeared on the program or musicians who might be needed for scoring.)

Whenever possible this is done while the mate- rial is fresh. If the editing is to be extensive, a writ- ten transcript of the material that had been ad- libbed by the panelists is made.

In almost all editing situations, some math will be needed. The math used for television is related to problems in time. Time is base 60, not base 10, as in dollars and cents. It means that we need to deal with 30 frames to a second, 60 seconds to a minute, 60 minutes to an hour, and 24 hours to a day. This is harder to read about than to do!

Inevitably there comes a moment when a seg- ment in a production is too long, and a portion must be removed. The producer says something like, “We’ve got that 7-minute and 12-second segment with the song in it. Let’s remove the song. It runs 2 minutes and 43 seconds. What’ll we have left?”

The part of the problem that you don’t run into with dollars and cents is subtracting a high number that needs to be handled in base 60 (seconds) from a low number of seconds. For example:

7:12—The length of the segment

2:43—The length of the song to be deleted The easiest way I have found to do that is to change the top number. In this example I borrow a minute, or 60 seconds, from the 7. The 7 then becomes a 6, and I add those 60 seconds to the 12 seconds, so it becomes 72 seconds. Then it’s easy to subtract:

6:72—The length of the segment

2:43—The length of the song to be deleted Once the program is over, the producer, or part of his or her staff, will leave the control room to thank the panelists and escort them out of the studio. While that part of the production staff is engaged in good-byes, others are working on the editing journals. Meanwhile, the technical crew will check the recorded tape or file for tech- nical quality, and the stage crew will wrap the camera cable and wrap up the studio, including the lights and props.

REVIEW

G Panel programs are almost always shot either

observing the line of 180 degrees or in-the- round 360 degrees.

G Many panel programs are shot with the guests

sitting on platforms so the eyes of the talent are on a line with a standing camera operator.

G The simplest shooting plan has:

1. A camera on the left shooting close-ups of those on the right

2. A camera in the middle shooting a wide shot

3. A camera on the right shooting close-ups of those on the left

G Another type of shooting sequence features

“two-shots,” in which two people are seen at the same time, and the camera zooms in to whoever is speaking.

G Almost all programs have a working routine,

sometimes called a “program rundown.” This is a skeletal outline of the program. It is used by most of the different departments involved in producing the production.

Whether in hard copy or text file, each separate element of the program is assigned:

1. A segment number

2. A place where the segment takes place 3. Who appears in the segment

4. A very short explanation about what the segment is about

5. The running time/how long it lasts

6. The cumulative time/how far into the show we should be when the segment is over

In a typical network or syndicated panel pro- duction with a full staff, the routine or rundown is made available as a text file readable by monitors appropriately placed or as hard copy and is distrib- uted to:

a. The host b. The producer

c. The director

d. Standards and practices or legal (at some stations)

e. The station files f. The technical director g. Playback or Operations h. The audio chief

i. Stage manager j. Graphics k. Head of props l. Head of lights m. Makeup n. Hair o. Wardrobe

G For the most part paper scripts have been

replaced with computer terminals, and the director and crew work from the files displayed on those terminals.

G Where hard copy is used, specific script

formatting rules govern the preparation of scripts for multiple-camera productions: 1. All multiple-camera television scripts are

written on 81_{/2-by-11-inch pages.}

2. All scripts have a one-inch margin on the left so the script can be placed into a ring binder, if needed.

3. All scripts have a three- to four-inch margin on the right for the director’s (or crew’s) notes.

4. A script is always written in upper and lower case, except for directions, which are always in UPPER CASE.

5. Pages are numbered at the upper right. 6. Each page of the script is keyed to the

program routine. The item number appears at the top left or center of the page. 7. Scripts are always double-spaced. 8. Revisions are color-coded, or at least

indicated on all new pages with the date and time of the revision

G Each segment has at least one page dedicated

to it.

G During rehearsals the director checks all the

elements that can be checked. This is done by actually looking at or listening to each element as it appears on the rundown or script.

G Acronyms and phrases from this chapter:

MOS minus optical sound

SOF sound on film

FAX/FACS facilities

VO voice over

VTPB videotape playback

Heads out The way film needs to be in order to be projected

Hair in the

gate Emulsion or dust deposited on the gateas the film is projected. It appears as a wriggling hair on the screen.