TV Studio Personnel and Operations

I've only experience from in front of the camera, but I think I have a fair grasp of what's needed. Check the credit list next time you watch TV. It's a long list.

You need somebody doing the editing. You need somebody recording the sound, and then somebody doing the mixing. These can all be the same person. Getting the sound rigged up well, can be quite advanced depending on what you're gong to do in the studio. The guy who holds a mike on a boom, is called "boom". In TV I think the director is called a "producer". You only need one cameraman. You need somebody doing the lighting. I don't know if the cameraman can do this, but tends to be a serious skill and not a trivial matter. You also need somebody doing the make-up. This is a lot more important than one would intuitively imagine. People look absolutely bizarre in the studio, but when it comes out on air, it for some reason looks perfectly normal.

Now in the digital age you really don't need much technology. You need a decent digital camera (does not have to be big) and a mike. You also need a good computer for doing the editing on. The programs on it to do the editing are not cheap, and I don't know if the free programs are any good. You need intro and outro and music.

That said, I have been in a studio where all these guys were all rolled into just one, under-paid guy. This was free local TV and the produced shows were utter and total crap. Basically unwatchable.

The big console is the mixer. Each row on the mixer is basically the same. Every channel of sound has it's own row. It's a hell of a lot more straight-forward than it looks. Mixers are not especially expensive or fancy.

I hope this helps.

I worked for a small, locally-produced live half-hour midday talkshow. We had two on-air talent, two camera operators, a sound person, one to two people in the booth directing are putting the commercials on and me (I was floor director) who got the guests seated, put their mics on, moved furniture and cables around, and tried to put the guests at ease.

Stanmiller said:

Re makeup; the interviewer and interviewee are hard-line jihadists. I'm not sure makeup would be appropriate.

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I'd say there might be some fighting about it the first couple times, but when they realize that the studio lights make them look washed-out and weak (think Nixon in the debates with Kennedy), they'll want to improve their on-air appearance.

Stanmiller said:

Thanks M,

Ah. I forgot to mention that the interviewer and interviewee are both wearing keffiyat wrapped around their heads so they can't be identified by facial recognition software. (Hey, this is a thriller, right?)

--Stan

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Not to mention save on their make-up artist bill.

Stanmiller said:

Well...actually I have a body count issue. They're stacking up like cordwood. Good Guy attacks the studio while the interview is on the air and has already gone through gate guards, Bad Guy's bodyguards, plus a couple jihadists that wandered into the scene accidentally. So I'd like to keep the studio personnel to the minimum.

Told you this was a thriller.

--Stan

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Under the circumstances, I'd say that you'd need a cameraman and a board op. I could see a set-up like this spending 90% of their budget on security.

StephanieFox said:

I worked for a small, locally-produced live half-hour midday talkshow. We had two on-air talent, two camera operators, a sound person, one to two people in the booth directing are putting the commercials on and me (I was floor director) who got the guests seated, put their mics on, moved furniture and cables around, and tried to put the guests at ease.

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I was just looking for this information . My character is doing a talk show on adoption . How can I describe the ambience ? I looked around but find no info . pl help
padma

padnar said:

I was just looking for this information . My character is doing a talk show on adoption . How can I describe the ambience ? I looked around but find no info . pl help
padma

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The technology is outdated, but the scenes on Newhart where they're doing "Vermont Today" are pretty accurate.