Download - Section 16.1
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8/11/2019 Section 16.1
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r
=
roduction
eople
Television production
is
teamwo
rk
- you ve heard
th is
many times.
ul
why does
it
take
a
who
le learn when you can do a reasonab
ly
good job w ith your camcorder all
by
yo
ur
self? ouldn 't total control of the production process and no one interfering w ith
yo
ur
creativity be better? Arent the
othe
r team m
embe
rs more of a liabi lity than an asset?
As you probably suspected, the answer to the last two questions is a simple no.
In professional television production, you must rely on a great number of people each
of
whom
performs a
highly
specific function. For
examp
le
, you may be all
by
yourself
when ch
as
ing a news story with an ENG camcorder, but when you bring the video tape
back to the sta
ti
on, it is the rest o f the news
departm
ent that gets yow story on the air.
Someone decides just w here
in
the newsca st
your
story s
hould
be placed: olhers edit
your videotape. wr it e a sensib le
ne
ws story from your cursory not
es
put it on the vid -
eotape recorde r or video
se
rver for playback at a specific time, and ensu re
that
the tinal
video and audio signals reach the transmitter. A muiticamera
EFP
or studio production
obviously requires more Ihan
one
person to
g t
the project done.
366
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uipmenl. Somcl'im t's inches are significan t, especially i f
the sh
ow
is shot primarily in close -up s. Precise televisio n
lighting and th
e limi t
ed
microph
one
r
adiu
s when
boo
ms
arc used also force to ad here sirict ly 10 the established
bl
oc
king
.
Once the show is on the dir. yo u have ;In Obligatio n 10
fo
ll
ow
the rehearsed action.This is no t tht' time to innov
atC'
just because you have a sudd ('
11
inspinllio n. If the di rector
hdS
not
be tn warned of you r change. the ne\>.blocking w
ill
al ways be \"orse
th
an
{h
e previously rehearsed one. The
camera has a limiled field of viny; if you wa nt to be
st
en,
you
mU
SI Slay > >' ilhin it.
So m
ed
ireClors h ve the floor manager mark th e
e.,X3C1
spo
ts
fo r you to s
ta nd or
the pat hs o f m ovemen t. This is
called jpikillg you r pos il ion. Loo k fo r thest" tape o r chal k
marks
and
follow them witho ut
being too
obvious.
1f
such
sVik e mar
ks
are not used, :I
block
ing mnp by re
memb
er ing where yo u sland for spc
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8/11/2019 Section 16.1
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384
hapter 6
Fo r a single-camera EFP or
fi
lm-st yle stud
io
prod uc
tion, each shot is se t up and reco rd ed separatd y. Such
a prod
uc
tion approach often
gi
ves you a chance to
rea
d
m"er yO
UT lines (o r each lak
e.
Although this approach m:l y
make it e
as
ier to remember Jines,
it is
ha rder to majntain
conl inuiry of action and emotion. Go
od
television actors
do not re ly on prompt ing devices; after aU, you should live,
not read, your role . Nevenheless, rna.ny go
od
aCla rs like
to h
ave
all their lines backed up
by
cue
ca
rds, just in c
as
e.
Most of the time, they ne
ve
r l
oo
k at them.
But
even i f the
cue ca rds function onl y
JS
a
sa
fety net, their contribution
to a good perfo rmance
mo r
e than justi nes their use.
TIMIN
(ike the
t
e
evisioll
per(o rmu. as an
aClor you
ml l
s t
have an
acute sense of timing. Ti m
in
g matters for pacing your per
forman
C{',
for bu
il
ding
10
a climax, for deli
ve
ring a punch
line, and (or staying within
a
t
ig
htly prescribed d ock
lime
.
E
ve
n if a play is videotaped scene-by-scene, you st ill need
10
obserw' carefully the stipulat
ed
running times fo r
ea
ch tak
e.
Yo
u may h
ave
to stretch
a
scene withoui making it ap
pE 3.
r to
dr
ag, or you may need to gain ten secon ds by speed ing up
a scene without des
tr
oying its sole
mn
c
har
ao er.
Yo
u
mu
st
he fl('x
ible without ste
pp
ing out of charac
ter.
Ahva)"s respond immed iately to the
floo
r manager 's
cue
s.
Do n ot stop in
the
middle of
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Section
16 1
Wha t Praducr io n Pe op l e
ery.
Li
sten to the imtr
u..:
t40ns given to you
be
fore
and durin g th e audition. Remembe r that television an
intimatl': mc
dium.
\vhen ins tructed to
demonstrate
a product, pra
ct
ice
lkfore you are o n-camera to make sure
)'oU
know how, for
exam ple, 10 Ope n easy-to-open package. Ask the floor
crew to help }'OU prepare a
produ
ct fo r easy hl'lndling. Also
find o ut
ho
w
do S