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The control room is an elevated room
about ten steps above the floor of the studio. All of the video
and audio equipment is contained in this room. There is also a window
overlooking the studio floor so the sound man and directors can
keep an eye on how the show is progressing.
The 4 cameras, in the studio, are fed up into a video mixer where
the director can choose which camera angle he wants to put to tape.
All of the graphic displays and video effects are done in the control
room by the director in real time. There are many effects that can
be achieved but to tell you the truth, we are not really sure how
most of them work. As far as we can tell we can pan, split the screen,
fade from camera to camera and display text. There are probably
a lot more effects to use but those are for another day.
The directors count off the beginning
of the show to the cameramen, via a headset microphone system, who
in turn hand signal to Mike when to start. After that it's 29.5
minutes of live video. During the show the directors keep in constant
contact with the cameramen informing them which of the 4 cameras
they will go to next as well as giving the cameramen ideas for different
shots they would like to see. They also give the time warnings letting
Mike know how much time is left till the end of the show. This helps
Mike know how much talking or playing he needs to do.
The directors are responsible for
making sure that the cameras are on the right people. If the guest
is talking or playing they need to make sure there is a camera covering
them. If a guest is just about to finish a song and Mike is about
to start talking, the director has to make sure there is a 2-shot
ready or a camera covering Mike. It's actually a pretty tricky job
because it's live and because it's hard to tell what's coming up.
The finished product is displayed
on a monitor in the studio so we can all see what the directors
are up to. The monitor is visible to Mike and the guests so if you
happen to notice Mike or a guest looking up during the show, they
are probably watching themselves on the monitor. Having been a guest
on the show I know how hard it is not to look at the monitor!
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