TV Production at Cox Communications SOCCCD Collaborative 2008-2009 CTE Grant Funded Externship Brian Devaney - TV Journalism/Video Production Teacher San Juan Hills High School Capistrano Unified School District April 17 - April 24, 2009
The Remote Shoot The day begins at 3:00 for the Cox crew, even though the lacrosse game begins at 7:30. The team arrives with the portable studio truck and begin immediately to start pulling cable and setting up equipment.
Assignments 13 crew members, including ten freelance employees, work together to make sure everything is in place for game time. While each person has a designated job, everyone pitches in to set up the equipment.
Setting Up Cables must be pulled from the truck in the parking lot to each of the six cameras, three feedback monitors and five microphones on the field, spectator stands and press box. Thousands of feet of cable must be safely tied down everywhere spectators will be walking.
Cameras Camera operators set, white balance, and focus each of the six cameras. Two cover the field from the press box, 1 on the scissor lift in the end zone, 2 on the field and one, unmanned, pointing at the scoreboard.
and More Cameras
Audio The Audio Engineer is stationed in the truck and makes sure that viewers can hear the play-by-play and color commentating, with just the right amount of on-field action and crowd reaction.
Talent The talent will be positioned in the press box, watching the game and their monitors while describing all of the action. While the crew is setting up, they are talking with the coaches and taking notes on players.
Graphics Throughout the game, names, scores, statistics and more will be superimposed over the video. These are prepared in advance, for the most part, with an eye for accuracy and clarity as well as aesthetics.
Replay Watching the game with an eye for big plays is the job of the replay operators. They have to be ready to show the plays that the talent discuss, while simultaneously editing a highlight reel that will be aired at halftime.
Testing 1,2,3 Everything is in place but before the crew can break for dinner, each camera, microphone monitor and headset must be checked by the director and producer in the truck.
Calm Before the Storm Dinner is brought to the location so the crew is available and no time is wasted traveling and ordering. The crew was generous with advice for my students (and pasta for me) and I learned as much during dinner as during the shoot.
Places Everyone Dinner is finished and the show is about to tape. Called live-to-tape, the show will be recorded in real time, with gaps left for the exact amount of time for ads that will be inserted later. Once the show begins, it will record non-stop and aired 11:00 that same night.
Pre-Game The pre-game analysis is taped only minutes before the game begins and will serve as the intro to the show. Production Supervisor Gordon Spencer lends a hand on the field as he has in the production truck. He is to be able to do anyone s job and does not mind getting his hands dirty. The crew seems to respect his expertise.
Showtime The game begins and for the next 2.5 hours, everyone will work, non-stop, as a team to coordinate the broadcast. At half time, Joe will pick up the first tape and digitally encode it back at Cox. Commercials will be added and the first half will be ready to air at 11.
Time to Tear Down The game is over and the second tape is on its way to be encoded as the crew begins to strike the location. Faster and easier than the set up, the crew is able to put away equipment safely and correctly so that everything will be where it should be for the next location taping.
The Studio Shoot Less than a week later, many of the same crew that I met on the lacrosse shoot are working on producing two 30-minute talk shows, backto-back, at the Cox studio in R.S.M.
Same But Different While the job titles remain the same, many of the jobs are slightly different. For instance, instead of instant replay, b-roll tape will be added live as supporting visuals to the audio.
Controlled Environment Since the cameras, mics and lights are already in place, set-up takes minutes instead of hours. Striking the set involves mostly powering down. The crew is able to complete two, 30-minute shows in about 2 hrs.
Encoding Rather than digitally encoding the shows during post-production as is done on a remote shoot, studio productions can be encoded live and readied for airing before the crew leaves.
Planning The producer plans the shooting schedule weeks or months in advance for the original content shown on Cox 3. Game of the Week, It s Curtooning, and others begin on this board before ending up on your TV.
Teamwork The crew depends on each other to be on time, know their jobs, act professionally and get along. Everyone in the crew wanted students to understand these were the qualities crucial to succeeding in TV.
Thank You Participating in the externship has been an invaluable learning experience that I will be able to share with my students. I want to thank Gordon Spencer and everyone at Cox for their time, expertise and advice. Gordon invited me, with a small group of students, to observe other tapings so I hope this relationship continues for years to come.