Lights - Long Branch Public Schools



LightsMost of the lighting instruments used in a video production studio are suspended from lighting grid or movable battens. Hanging the lighting instruments above the scenery and action keeps the lights out of camera range, allows the cameras and the people to move about freely, and, if it is a permanent set, minimizes the time needed for lighting it. Some studios still have a physical lighting patchboard (which routes lights to specific dimmers) and even the actual dimmer controls in the studio itself. When using computerized lighting control units, you may find the main control unit in the control room and an additional remote lighting control in the studio. The one in the control room is used for the actual studio production; the one in the studio is for setup and rehearsals. The patching—the assignment of lighting instruments to dimmers—is usually done with computer software.For our class the lighting switchboard is located in the studio, and that is where the lighting director sits during production. Intercommunication systemsReliable intercom systems are one of the most important technical installations. Normal studio intercoms use P.L. and I.F.B. systems. The P.L. (private line or phone line) system, also known as the party line, allows all production and engineering personnel to be in constant voice contact with one another. Each member of the production team and the technical crew wears a headset with a microphone for efficient communication. Such systems can be wired (through the camera cables or separate intercom cables) or, in larger studios, wireless. Most P.L. systems operate on at least two channels so that different groups can be addressed separately.Producers and directors make frequent use of the I.F.B. (interruptible foldback or feedback) system, which allows them to communicate directly with the talent, who wear tiny earpieces instead of headsets while on the air. Such instant communication from the control room to the talent is especially important during news and interviews.In our studio we do not have an I.F.B, but we do have a P.L. system. The people on this line include all three camera operators, the floor director, the Character Generator, Technical Director, Audio Engineer, & Teleprompter Operator. MonitorsA monitor is a high-quality video display that cannot receive broadcast signals. You need at least one fairly large monitor in the studio that shows the line-out pictures (the video that goes to the video recorder or transmitter) to everyone on the floor. By viewing the line-out picture, the crew can anticipate a number of production tasks. For example, the operator of the camera that is not on the air can vary its shot so that it does not duplicate that of the on-the-air camera; the floor manager can see how close he or she can be to the talent for the necessary hand signals without getting into camera range; and the microphone boom operator can test how far the mic can be lowered before it gets into the shot.News- and weathercasters often work with several studio monitors that carry not only the line-out pictures but also the remote feeds and the video playbacks. Because the weathercaster actually stands in front of a plain chroma-key backdrop when pointing to the (nonexistent) weather map, the monitor, which shows the complete key including the map, is essential for guiding the talent’s gestures. For audience participation shows, you need several monitors to show the audience how the event looks on-screen.Studio Control RoomThe studio control room, housed in a separate area adjacent to the studio, is designed to accommodate the people who make the decisions while production is under way as well as the equipment necessary to control the video and audio portions of the production. The control room equipment is designed and arranged to coordinate the total production process. Specifically, it facilitates the instantaneous editing (selection and sequencing) of video images, the selection and the mixing of sound inputs, and the lighting control. Some control rooms have windows that let the control room personnel see what is going on in the studio. More often, however, you will find that the only way you can see what’s going on in the studio is by watching the monitors that show the various camera points of view. A studio that is used primarily for instruction, however, should have a large window. Such a window will greatly help students translate what appears on the control room monitors into actual studio traffic.In our studio the people who work in the control room are the director, the producer, and their associates; the technical director (TD); the C.G. (character generator) operator; the audio engineer; and the Teleprompter Operator. Studio MonitorsRecall for a moment the video switcher. Each of the buttons on the program bus represents a separate video input. But how can you tell which pictures to choose from all the inputs? Wouldn’t you need a separate monitor for each major video input? Yes, indeed. This is why even a modest control room requires a large bank of monitors. ON AIR MONITORPREVIEW MONITOREven a small control room requires a surprising number of monitors. These monitors are stacked in a variety of configurations in front of the director and the TD. The preview (or preset), line, and air monitors are generally large color monitors placed side-by-side. They usually have the wide-screen 16:9 HDTV (high-definition television) aspect ratio. All other preview monitors are smaller and may still have the traditional 4:3 STV (standard television) aspect ratio. You may wonder how anybody can ever watch all these monitors at the same time. Actually, you don’t pay full attention to all of them all the time; you scan the active ones, much like looking at your rearview mirrors while driving, and then focus your attention on the monitors that carry the video most important to you. Nevertheless, you must always be aware of what the rest of the monitors are showing. SwitcherSwitching refers to instantaneous editing using simultaneously available video sources. The term switcher can also refer to the person who does the switching, although usually the TD fills this production role. You accomplish this type of “editing-on-the-fly” with a switcher.A production switcher allows you to punch up video sources, such as the pictures supplied by two or more cameras, a computer file, or a C.G. (character generator), while the production is in progress. The switcher offers transitions, such as cuts, dissolves, and wipes, with which you can join the selected pictures. The large production switcher is used primarily in multicamera studio productions or in big remotes for instantaneous editing. It is occasionally used in electronic cinema when multiple cameras are used simultaneously. All switchers allow you to make basic transitions between two shots, such as a cut, whereby one shot is instantly replaced by another; a dissolve, in which two images temporarily overlap; and a wipe, in which a portion of an image is gradually replaced—wiped off the screen—by another. Program BusTo select and connect certain shots, you need several video inputs. By pressing a certain video input button on the program bus, you will put that source “on the air”; that is, it would go to the line-out—the line that carries the final video output—and from there to the video recorder and/or the transmitter. On our switcher we have Camera 1, Camera 2, Camera 3, the Mac Computer, the C.G. computer, DVD/VCR and PLAY (which will play prerecorded videotapes created in our studio). Each of these video sources can be selected by pressing down the corresponding button by looking at the source names bar. Preview BusBefore putting the selected shots on the air, you will undoubtedly want to see whether they cut together properly. You may also want to see whether a superimposition has the right mix of the two images or whether you have the correct name for a title key over a guest. To preview the sources, the program bus buttons are simply repeated in an additional bus, appropriately called the previewbus. The preview bus is simply used to preview your shots before you put them on the air – selecting the same input in the program bus. Fader Bar & CUT & WIPE TransitionsThe fader bar activates and regulates the speed of fades and dissolves and wipes. The faster you move the fader bar from one limit of travel to the other, the faster the dissolve or wipe will be. When stopped midway, the dissolve becomes a superimposition, meaning one image is seen over another.The full travel of the fader bar can be substituted by the auto-transition button. In our studio we can either CUT, which will instantaneously bring us to another source, or WIPE, which will allow us to have an animated transition into the next selected video source. Character GeneratorThe C.G. and the C.G. operator are also located in the control room. Although most of the titles are usually prepared ahead of time, there are always changes to be made. Especially during live or live-recorded productions, such as sports, the C.G. operator must update the scores and prepare various statistics during the game; or the producer or director may call for titles that have not been preprogrammed. With the C.G. operator in the control room, such changes are readily communicated and quickly made.For our class, the C.G. will make all transitional slides, titles or graphics prior to filming. Both Keynote (MAC version of PowerPoint), and iMovie can be utilized to do this. Pictures can also be captured and or downloaded from the Internet to use during production. PropertiesIn video production properties—props for short—and set dressings are often more important than the background scenery for signifying a particular environment. You will work with two kinds of properties: set props and hand props.Set props include the furniture you use on a set, such as the chairs for an interview, the table for a panel discussion, the desk from which the corporate manager delivers her weekly address, the bookcase and the file cabinet for the office set, and the inevitable couch in situation comedies.When choosing set props, look for functional furniture that can be used in a variety of settings. Small, simple chairs, for example, are more useful and versatile than large upholstered ones. Most regular couches are too low and make sitting down and getting up look awkward on-camera. You can easily remedy this problem by padding the seats or elevating the entire couch. Some set props, such as news desks or panel tables, are custom-made. As with the news set, do not go overboard with such custom furniture, especially if most of the scenes show only medium shots or close-ups of the performers.Set DressingsSet dressings include things that you would place in your own living quarters to make them look attractive and to express your taste and personal style. Although the flats may remain the same from one type of show to another, the dressing gives each set its distinguishing characteristics and helps establish the style of the environment.Set dressings include curtains, pictures, sculptures, posters, lamps, plants, decorative items for a desk and bookshelves, or a favorite toy that survived childhood. Secondhand stores and flea markets provide an unlimited source for such things. In case of emergency, you can always raid your own living quarters or office. As with props, set dressings must be realistic so that they can withstand even the probing eye of an HD camera.CycloramaAt least two or three sides of the studio are normally covered with a cyclorama, or cyc—a continuous piece of muslin or canvas suspended from a pipe or heavy curtain track. The light-gray or light-beige cyc serves as a convenient neutral background for a variety of setups. It should be light enough so that you can tint it with colored lights. A ground row, which is a curved piece of scenery placed on the studio floor in front of the cyc, helps blend the vertical cyc into the studio floor to form a seamlessbackground. Some cycloramas are suspended from a double track, with the front track holding a variety of additional curtains, called drops. The most frequently used drops are the most frequently used drops are the chroma-key backdrop, which consists of a large piece of chroma-key blue or green cloth, and the black drop, used for special lighting effects.In our studio we only have use of drops, which hang from the track above the studio. ViewfinderThe viewfinder is a small video monitor attached to the camera that shows an image of what the camera sees. Most small camcorders have the familiar viewfinder tube, through which you can view a black-and-white video picture, as well as a flat-panelLCD display that can be folded out or attached to the camera for more convenience.Because the black-and-white viewfinder produces a sharper picture than the standard foldout color display and does not wash out in sunlight, most camcorder operators prefer the viewfinder over the foldout monitor.Studio CamerasStudio cameras are used for such programs as news, interviews, game shows, music and dance spectaculars, and of course soap operas. Wherever studio cameras may be located, they are always connected by cable to their CCUs (camera control units) and to other essential equipment, such as the sync generator and the power supply. These three elements constitute what is called the camera chain.Basic Camera MovementsThere are nine basic camera movements: pan, tilt, cant, pedestal, dolly, truck, arc, crane, tongue and sometimes zoom. In our studio we can do six of the nine movements with our equipment: Pan To pan is to turn the camera horizontally, from left to right or from right to left. To pan right means to swivel or move the camera clockwise so that the lens points more to the right; to pan left means to swivel or move the camera counterclockwise so that the lens points more to the left.Tilt To tilt is to make the camera point up or down. A tilt up means to point the camera gradually up. A tilt down means to point the camera gradually down.Dolly To dolly is to move the camera toward or away from an object in more or less a straight line by means of a mobile camera mount. When you dolly in, you move the camera closer to the object; when you dolly out or dolly back, you move the camera farther away.Truck To truck, or track, is to move the camera laterally by means of a mobile camera mount. When you truck right or truck left, you move the camera mount to the right or left with the camera lens pointing at a right angle to the direction of travel. If you want to follow somebody walking on a sidewalk, you would truck with the camera alongside on the street, with the lens pointing at the person. Arc To arc is to move the camera in a slightly curved dolly or truck movement. To arc left means that you dolly in or out in a camera-left curve, or you truck left in a curve around the object. To arc right means that you dolly in or out in a camera right curve, or you truck right in a curve around the object. With the handheld or shoulder-mounted camera, you simply walk in a slight arc while pointing the lens at the scene. Zoom To zoom is to change the focal length of a lens through the use of a zoom control while the camera remains stationary. To zoom in means to change the lens gradually to a narrow-angle position, thereby making the scene appear to move closer to the viewer; to zoom out means to change the lens gradually to a wide-angle position, thereby making the scene appear to move farther away from the viewer. Studio cameras have a rocker switch mounted on the right panning handle. This thumb-operated switch is connected by cable to the servo-zoom mechanism of the studio lens. By pressing the T side of the switch, you zoom in; by pressing the W side, you zoom out.Studio PedestalStudio cameras are usually mounted on studio pedestals. A studio pedestal is a relatively expensive camera mount that supports even the heaviest camera and additional equipment, such as a big zoom lens and a teleprompter. The studio pedestal lets obtain basic camera movements. Instead of the three cable guards of the tripod dolly, the studio pedestal has a skirt, or housing, on the pedestal base to prevent the cable from getting caught in the casters.FocusingNormally, we want all pictures on the screen to appear in focus (sharp and clear). You can achieve focus by manual or automatic controls.Manual focus To ensure sharp, clear pictures, you should focus manually rather than rely on the automatic focus. The manual focus control of all nonstudio lenses is on a ring at the front of the lens that you can turn clockwise or counterclockwise. When operating a studio camera, you stay in focus by turning a twist grip mounted on the left panning handle and connected to the zoom lens by a cable. TeleprompterA teleprompter is a device used in video, film and TV that prompts actors for lines that may be forgotten or missed. Teleprompters are also used for speeches and for providing information such as a news anchor or reporter. The teleprompter operator transcribes scripts or recording into readable banners or special screens that are used to prompt people to remember what they are to say. Some teleprompter information may be provided in advance in the form of audio or videotape that must be transcribed into text format. The teleprompter itself is controlled by an operator in the Control Room. The teleprompter equipment is attached below the lens of the camera. ................
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