Video Production Class

[Jimorian]

Hi all,

For the next 6 Saturday mornings, I'll be taking a video production class from the local cable access channel. It's a hands-on course with high-quality pro equipment that teaches every aspect of running and operating a 3-camera studio setup.

From there, once I put in some time crewing for some of the other local productions, I can sign up to use the studio and equipment for FREE as long as the resulting show has some local interest.

My plan is for a local songwriter/musician showcase with live studio performances and interviews. :smallcool:

It should be a lot of fun and interesting to see all the details of what goes into TV production. There's probably similar programs in most US cities. The class was only $30 (+ $30/yr membership in the organization).

Anybody else here ever work in video production or with local access? Any advice? ::Nervous and excited:: :smalleek:

[Jimorian]

Report from class #1. :smallsmile:

This was mostly an overview. First order of business, handing out copies of the release forms for anybody that appears on camera. 10 people in the class, a couple others who are also interested in music related programs, so that's a good start for mutual support/crew.

A lot of emphasis on "yes, you can do this" to put everybody at ease, some discussion of lighting and how it's typically done. 1 back light, and 2 front lights at 45 degrees to a person. We made a map of which overhead lights are tied to which faders *now*, but sometimes people move and replug them without telling anybody, so the light that says "14" on it might be attached to control 7 this week, and 12 next week.

A tour of the control room, the different panels, recorders, characters generator (for onscreen text/credits), sound board, etc. I guess not everything is quite up to date, the switcher is original equipment from 1985, and the chroma key is out of commission, so no cheesy 80s videos, heh. The actual signal is digital and there's both Digital tape and DVD recorders to work with (heck, even standard VHS if you want your show to look like crap, lol).

A good talk then on thinking about what we want to do. Our "homework" this week is to pick a show to model from and log how many cameras are used, map them to the set/subjects, and to log the timing of each shot. In other words to start thinking about the technical aspects rather than as passive entertainment. Since about 70% of their programming is interview oriented, he recommended Charlie Rose, Tavis Smiley, and Bill Moyers. I think I'll look at those definitely for the interview portion of my own, but also look at Austin City Limits and probably some musical performances on Letterman to see how they break down. Finding a "rhythm" to the cuts seems to be the key here.

He's going to break us into teams of 5, with one team working on lighting next week while the other goes into the control room, then switch us the week after, then weeks 4/5 will go into more complicated studio setups/control room work again with a switch, then week 6 putting it all together with a "real show". Lots of emphasis on the director/switcher, and the Character Generator for credit rolls etc, since in a live setting, this is where the most pressure is (a fair number of live productions go out from the channel).

While my concept is going to use post-production to splice the interviews with the artists recorded in one session, with the performances of the songs in another session, there aren't separate recorders for each camera (standard 3-camera studio setup that most stations use), so the song performances are going to have to be directed/switched live, which is one of the big procedural questions I had going in. In a way this is good, because the resulting footage will be "done" and it's just a matter of mashing the bits together in an interesting way (easy! :smalltongue: ). Otherwise I could see myself fiddling with the camera angles and timing for days.

He talked a little about preparation, and how planning ahead really helps. I think this is where I'll do pretty well. One thought that occurred to me afterward was to think about presenting the story of the artist and their work. This was something I really tried to structure and convey in the handful of online interviews I've conducted, and I think it will be a useful framework to build everything else around.

Finally, we hooked up a camera and monitor, had somebody sit in a chair, and saw how the lighting really does work. Then it was time to clear out so that an actual show could start their setup. A very interesting and fun 3 hours! :smallbiggrin: