An introduction to TV production

Basic concepts of audiovisual productionAudiovisual production involves looking at and showing the world in a certain way; it's all about expressing ideas.

Producing or directing means setting up a series of items in a pre-established script. To do this, you need to control all the factors involved in the process, both technically and more artistically.

There are many kinds of angle: the bird's eye view, a high angle (looking down on the action) or a low angle (looking up at the action). You change the angle by modifying the vertical axis of the tripod head.

The level is usually eye level to give a familiar point of view. However, you can change the angle to achieve a special effect or use camera movement (with a steadicam to achieve smooth movement).

The height of the camera is usually at the eye level of the actors. This can be modified for dramatic and stylistic effects. For example, how would you shoot a child sitting on the floor?

Dynamic shots: frame and camera movement

Panoramas, used for descriptions or to suggest association between items, involve camera movement on its own horizontal or vertical axis.

• Horizontal: to describe the environment, to follow the action, to connect items, to show cause and effect, etc. Typically left to right.

• Vertical: to describe the environment, for physical descriptions, to show cause and effect, to accentuate height and depth, etc.

• Up suggests increasing interest and excitement, anticipation and hope.

• Down suggests decreasing interest and excitement.

• A clean sweep is a fast pan to change focus, create contrast, suggest a break in space or time, etc.

You can also use a zoom, zooming in (with a telescopic lens - narrow shot) or out (wide-angle lens - open shot).

• Changing the focal length changes the size of the object without changing the location of the camera.

• There may be depth of field problems.

Travelling involves physical movement of the camera forward, backwards or side to side. Unlike with zooms, camera movement changes the relative positions of subjects within a shot, changing the perspective, e.g. revealing a person behind a tree. Travelling is more expressive with short focal length lenses. Travelling is used to create subjective effects, to explore areas, to call attention to objects not present in the initial shot, etc.

A steadicam

There are different systems: shoulder cameras, dollies, guides and hydraulic systems. With a crane or steadicam camera movement is added. Steadicam stability is based on hydraulic systems, facilitating ease of operation, with a wireless connection, different kinds of movement, etc.

Types of shot

• General shot: to show relationships between items in a space.

• Long shot: to show relationships between characters.

• American or ¾ shot: from a little above the knees, a shot that was commonly used in Westerns.

• Medium shot: from the waist up, one of the most widely used shots.

• Medium short shot: from the chest up.

• Close-up: from the collar up.

• Extreme close-up: down to the chin, to emphasise a dramatic character, to show reactions and emotions.

• Description shot: to emphasise a single detail.

Choice of shot

Your choice of a shot should be based on information and expression. You should always be able to justify your choice.

In certain situations, as in the case of shot against shot or in the planning of a debate, you might need to balance the size of the different people in the action. This consideration could lead you to make an unconventional shot choice but that's OK as long as there is a justification for your choice in terms of information or expression.

Avoid cutting off people's extremities unintentionally.

Avoid making sudden jumps. For the viewer, it can be disconcerting to go from a general shot to a detail.

Problems with long shots

When the scene involves characters, you can't effectively show their facial expressions.

In a multi-system camera production or in a set of small spaces, long shots may provide redundant information in relation to previous shots and create optical breaks.

Problems with short shots

You may lose interesting information from the rest of the scene.

Excessive use can decontextualise people from their surroundings, making it difficult to associate them with the physical items around them.

2

A camera dolly track system

A close-up shot

If a character moves, they may move out of shot.

Typically, this kind of shot has a limited depth of field.

It's difficult to do tracking for smooth and stable shots.

Composition

Composition is a strategy for items in the image so the viewer feels drawn towards what is shown. A particular composition may lead, for example, to a sense of anticipation, anxiety and excitement.

Composition methods

• design: the director has the freedom to design the set and the movement of the characters.

• disposition: the director may vary the items that make up the scene and may limit the movements of the characters.

• selection: the director can only determine the composition through the placement, framing and movement of the cameras (including or excluding items, the duration of the shot, etc.).

3

An asymmetric composition

The scriptTelevision production and broadcasting in general is based on developing a coherent script. In this course we will focus on a short television magazine but in the following notes we refer to the more general case of developing the script for a story or any large-scale audiovisual production.

A script is the written form of an audiovisual performance. Its preparation approached in differednt ways but here we have divided it into seven different stages.

The idea

• This is the foundation of an audiovisual production.

• The script and the performance develop the idea.

• You should try your best to convey your main idea clearly and concisely.

• Express the idea in a nutshell, in one or two lines.

In advertising, brainstorming (sharing spontaneous thoughts about a topic) is often used to get things started.

The synopsis

• This is a bridge between the idea and the plot, clarifying aspects of the idea.

• It includes an outline of the action and the characters in a short document (less than a page).

• The idea is developed and given dramatic structure.

• Considered as a story, there are four basic parts: the introduction, the body, the climax and the outcome.

• The synopsis not only develops the main idea, but also suggests narrative aspects (how the idea is expressed) and visual aspects (the visual aesthetics).

The plotThis is a summary of the story in a few pages. It is written in the present tense and contains the following information:

• Duration: the time span, when the action takes place, etc.

• Location: where the action takes place (affected by budget constraints?)

• Character profiles: physical, social, psychological traits, etc.

• The four narrative stages (regardless of their order)

Here the project's feasibility can be analysed with regard to:

• Production costs

• Possible markets

• Creative staff (technicians and actors)

• Authorship. Will the author write more?

4

The step outlineThis consists of ordered sequences for the future script (or a breakdown of the plot into short sequences with a brief description).

You have to bear in mind both macrostructure and microstructure.

You should check the overall structure of the script: Introduction, Body, Climax and Outcome.

Here you define the total length and, if it's a series, the division into episodes.

You decide the structure of each episode and each sequence. There various kinds of narrative structure.

Linear story

A straight chronological development of the story. For example, a boy and a girl meet, they fall in love, they overcome some problems and live together happily.

Flashback

The story begins with its conclusion. For example, a boy cries inconsolably at the funeral of a girl. Through flashbacks, we see different moments of their past together: their first kiss, falling in love, getting married, having children, etc.

Parallel stories

Two or more stories are told at once. For example, there is a boy from Barcelona and a girl from Madrid. We alternate moments in both lives until they meet on a plane and fall in love.

Frieze

A story is built up by several overlapping plot lines. This is the typical structure of a soap opera. For example, a story about a boy and a girl is told in more or less linear fashion, but at the same time episodes iclude details of the lives of their families, friends, ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend, etc.

The final draftThis is the final stage of the creative process of a scriptwriter.

• The characters are all specified and well-defined.

• The dialogues are complete.

• The action is described in detail.

• Details of location are included, such as: indoors / outdoors, site, daytime / evening / night.

This material is delivered to the director as a support for performance. No technical observations are included.

Typically, there are two possible styles of presentation for this document.

Single column(American style): like a theatre script.

In two columns (European style): the left column has information on the action (image) and the right column indicates the dialogue and sound (audio).

5

The final scriptThis is a combination of the final draft from the scriptwriter, together with all the technical considerations for filming and recording.

The director is responsible for technical aspects of the final script:

• Types of shot

• Number of cameras

• Point of view of cameras

• Lighting

• Sound effects

• etc.

The precise format of the final script depends on the director, but it should be clearly and correctly expressed so the whole team can understand it.

The basic functions that a director will indicate in a final script are:

• the division of the script into shots, sequences and recording blocks

• chronological numbering of shots

• numbering and definition of sequences

• image of each shot

• allocation of different shots to each camera

• transitions between shots

• indication of sound (music, effects, etc.)

• indication of special visual effects

• etc.

The storyboardHere the script is viewed like a comic. Each picture corresponds to a shot. The shot number and type of shot is indicated under each picture.

Of course, there are many variations on these seven stages of development of a script. In advertising all seven stages are generally followed so as to achieve a vision of what exactly should be conveyed, without confusing the endviewer.

In other kinds of production different scripts are employed, such as timed scripts for subsections of a TV news programme, or more general outlines are used to mark blocks in TV interviews, magazine shows, quiz shows, etc.

6

A storyboard for an advert

Structure, genre and programme scheduling"La realidad es la realidad y la televisión es una forma como otra de acercase a ella con un filtro. Habrá cosas que pasarán por el agujero, otras se quedarán y también las habrá que saldrán torcidas. Querer comprender la realidad a través de la televisión sin entender el mecanismo del filtro equivale a no comprender nada. Identificar el filtro, comprender su funcionamiento y aprender a convivir humanamente con él nos hará más personas y por tanto más libres."

Xavier Obach in "Educación para la Comunicación. Televisión y Multimedia."

Television production exploits a variety of technical resources, such as:

• Cameras for capturing images

• Microphones for capturing sound

• Recording systems for image and sound

• Mixers for the various sources of images and sounds

• Postproduction platforms, where graphics and special effects are introduced (both sound and image)

TV production also relies on a team of highly specialised professionals and sophisticated workspaces.

The human team

Audiovisual production for television is a result of meticulous teamwork. The recording of a programme can be compared to the musical performance of an orchestra, where all the musicians master their instrument and have a score that they have rehearsed, but they also need the conductor to control their ensemble performance.

• The TV producer directs the programme and controls the team.

• The director chooses the arrangement of the cameras and types of shot, and communicates with other studio technicians through an earpiece.

• The floor manager is a specific role in TV studios, rather like an assistant director. The floor manager serves as a link between the studio and the control room. The director can communicate directly with technicians but usually gives instructions through the floor manager, who gives them with hand signals, e.g. when to go live, when to cut for advertising, etc.

• Camera operators control the cameras and follow the orders of the director or floor manager through an earpiece: if they have to track a character, open up, change camera angle, etc.

• Sound technicians control the volume and quality of the sound recording of each microphone used on set.

• Video editors put the progrqamme together by mixing different sources of audio and video.

• Presenters lead the programme on screen.

• An Electronic News Gathering (ENG) unit is a self-contained audiovisual location team for news programmes, normally composed of a camera operator, a reporter and a sound technician.

7

• Other staff: production staff, secretarial staff, make-up artists, hair stylists, lighting technicians, etc.

Workspaces

Television production can take place both indoors and outdoors.

Indoors the production area is divided into two zones: the TV studio or set and the control room. These zones are physically separated but connected with each other via internal microphones.

TV studios or sets are spaces where action is filmed for TV broadcasts.

The control room is for the production team. Here the director gives orders to the team.

The continuity team make sure that the broadcast is transmitted according to schedule. They control the transition between each part of the programme and check for incidents. When these occur, they cut the broadcast and restore the transmission as soon as possible.

TV scriptsThe script is the documentary support for an audiovisual production. In the final draft indications are given of all the items and their timings (e.g. playing a video, presentation on set, an interview, idents (corporate images), commercial breaks, etc.) and the texts read out on set by the presenters. This type of script can occupy several pages. A step outline, on the other hand, is a more functional type of script, showing all the main steps but without all the words spoken. A step outline for a TV show could be just a single page and serve as a general guide for the whole team.

Scripts for works of fictionFictional programmes require a master document with all the narrative elements of the series in order to give coherence to the plot (synopsis, plot, description of each character, division into plots and sub-plots). This document typically includes the storyline but not the dialogues, which are developed later for each episode. Fiction screenwriters often work in teams, sharing out and exchanging different parts of the work under the supervision of coordinators.

Television genresJohn Reith, the first Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation once said, in a celebrated phrase, that its role was to "educate, inform and entertain".

This remains true for public service broadcasting around the world, but nowadays there is a greater emphasis on entertainment and information, with educational programmes being rather more marginal. There is a trend towards hybrid formats. The magazine show can act as a container that accommodates all types of content: interviews, discussions, news, features, humour, etc.

News broadcastsThe different sections and formats include.

• News flashes and breaking news

8

The Al Jazeera English newsroom

• TV news programmes. These occupy prime schedule slots and are expensive to produce. They are prestige programmes for TV channels.

• News specials for sporting and political events.

• Opinion: talk shows and debates.

• Current affairs programmes, such as "Informe semanal" or "30 minuts" in Spain.

• Interviews with social, cultural and political figures.

• The weather and sports are key sections within a newscast, so much so that they are usually slightly independent of the rest of the programme.

TV news items typically last a minute or so and are composed of images with ambient sound, statements of people concerned, and a voiceover where the reporter constructs the storyline along with images of the news item.

Special effects such as music are avoided. The aim is to make the report seem as objective as possible. The reporter is not the protagonist. Rather it is the news itself that is foregrounded. Reporters' questions are not usually broadcast, just the statements of those interviewed.

Sometimes the reporter presents the news item to the camera, but even then the role is as a mere reporter at the scene of the event. Another format is a series of news shorts without a voiceover on location. The narrative comes from the presenters in the studio, who read out a text while the images are broadcast.

Cultural and educational programmes

• Documentaries

• Music

• Education. Programmes may be part of a wider educational scheme or may be "edutainment": part educational, part entertainment.

• Other: specialising in books, art, travel, etc.

• Fiction

• Series: with single-episode or multi-episode stories

• Miniseries: short series such as "Camera Café" on Telecinco in Spain

• "Spanish telenovela": a longer series with a single storyline over many episodes

• TV movies: films produced specifically for television and not released in the cinema

• Movies: these are broadcast on television after a period of commercial exploitation in cinemas

Entertainment programmes

• Magazines, of different genres, serving as a container format

• Galas: musical performances, humour, etc.

9

Teletubbies

Barack Obama is interviewed by David

Letterman on a late-night talk show

• Competitions: gambling, quizzes, talent shows, etc.

• Talk shows

• Reality shows: a popular genre in recent years. Big Brother was the trendsetter. There are now many variants and they usually include some kind of contest: with celebrities, living together, etc.

Sports programmes

• Regular shows, such as the weekly "Match of the Day" football show (in the UK)

• Competitions: football, motorbikes, Formula One, cycling, etc.

• Special events: Olympic Games, World Championships, etc.

Trends in programme schedulingTelevision programme scheduling is currently undergoing a transformation. Traditionally, TV programmes were broadcast according to the concept of "scheduling" (at 10am such-and-such a programme; after the evening news, a late night movie, etc.).

Current technology, and the number of satellite channels, means that viewers can set up their own viewing schedules. Decoders allow viewers to recording their favourite programmes and watch them later on. Viewers no longer need to organise their day according to a TV channel's schedule.

It is too early to say how great a change this will be but it is a growing trend. What will the effect be on advertising? So far it has occupied the breaks between programmes but now there will have to be new formulas (such as those already in use on the Internet, where advertising plays before downloads).

Scheduling techniques such as "block programming" or "tentpoling", which try to influence viewers' habits, will have to be replaced by others not based on programme schedule continuity, as the trend, like on the Internet, is for greater on-demand and fragmented viewing, under the control of the viewer.

10

RTVE's Facebook app copied from their 24 hour on-demand web page

Preparing and recording a TV magazineThe objective of this module is to produce a 5 to 10-minute TV magazine.

Step outline

DURATION TÍTOL CAMERA VIDEO AUDIO NOTES

0:10 Initial titles Video titles

1:00 Introduction to the magazine

0:20 News summary

0:30 News item 1

0:30 News item 2

0:30 News item 3

1:00 Introduction to the interview

1:00 Question 1

1:00 Question 2

1:00 Question 3

1:00 Magazine closing

0:10 Final titles Video titles

11

A step outline of an authentic TV programme

----------------------------------

All photos in this document are from Wikicommons except for the RTVE Facebook app image, which was captured from the RTVE Internet page, and the step outline above, which was kindly contributed by a local TV station.

12