The VU (Volume Meter) show the levels of sound in the studio. The sound is measured in dB (Decibels) The VU meter makes it easy to find the right level. When a member of the talent is speaking you want them to on the highest possible level with out distorting the sound. You can always tell by the VU meter as the it you by colour if its the the green it good levels, amber you peaking just a little to high and if your in the red the sound is too high and will be distorted. You have to be alert and be have flexibility to adjust when they change their volume of there voice. the ideal level to use is around -8dB and -18dB so their is room to go louder or quieter depending on if and when the talent gets louder.

My Final Job Audio Desk

The audio desk was main role in the second half of the live show. I was in charge of changing the levels of the talent and the host making sure they did peak on the VU meter, also controling the sound to the studio floor of DVD inserts. I was confident in doing this but it was hard to control levels as the the voices was not Consistent therefore i had to try and predicdit the levels. Watching my performace back you can see there was many mistakes made and that the talents projection of there voice was defintly not consistent. If i get the chance to go on audio desk again i would try to get more practice with the talent and double check on all mic's.

Health & Safety

If there is an emergancy there are rules that have to be followed.

If the fire alarm sound or there is a fire in the studio we have to leave calm but quicky through the double doors on the studio floor, or by the single door in the audio room. and go down the corridor to the fire exit and wait by the road.

If there is an evacuation or emergancy on the studio floor, the floor manger is in charge and have to take orders from him/her.

The Director is in charge of getting everybody out of the Audio and Vision Mixing Room.

The set has to be checked before filming, lights checked, flats have been screwed down.

Signal Paths

As you can see from the diagram there is two singal paths line and mic singnals. Line level is a much stronger singal (1 volt) and mic is much weaker (milly volt). Line and mic singnals come from different sources. Firstly the Line level will come from any sort of soundtrack for example a theme tune for a quiz show or a clip of music. The Mic level comes from a stob box which is received any sort if microphone, Both of these audio sound clips and vioces are put through the sound desk in analogue. The CD play is digital but contains a D.A.C (Digital to analogue converter), this is so you dont complicate it. Once the soud has been through the audio desk at the right levels it can be recorded on a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) in digital. This makes the audio recording solid so if copy's are made the quality will not drop. On the studio side of the wall we are able to have up to five different cameras on the stob box and 12 mic inputs.

CANS

Communication is the most important thing when making a live TV show. In a studio we communicate by using cans which are like having walkie talkies, Cans allows you to hear the director at all times also you can hear other camera opperators, FM's, AFM's and audio desk. If there is any problem on the studio floor either the floor manager or any of the camera crew on cans is able to speak to the director and tell the director without moving. This is used in the professionally to keep everything running smoothly.

Studio Floor Plan

This diagram shows you a rough layout of the studio we will be using for our live show, as you can see. The audio control room and vision mixing room are smaller and at the back of the studio with sound proof walls in between. The audio control room has two people operating it a audio director and an audio assistant and a DVD operator, the vision mixing room has the director aswell as a assistant director and the vision mixer. The FM and AFM are on the studio floor and are encharge of running the floor, keeping everything up to date also relaying any infomation from director to the floor. Each camera is used by two people, a camera operator and an assisstant camera operator. Every body should be wearing Cans or can be able to listen to it.

Other Jobs I Done

I was involed in more than just the content on the pre production. I got stuck in with helping the desgin team move flats around and paint on several Occasions. I was also took on the task of Finalising the que cards for the host, along with alex and steph. This includied getting card and Laminates, printing and sticking the logo and question on each card then laminating each one. I helped put the set up and screw it together.

Studio Equipment

Stob Box – This is a very important piece of equipment that connects camera's and microphones to the vision mixing panel and audio mixing desk through the wall. This makes the studio less of a hazard as there will be less wires.

Curtain Track – The curtain track runs around the back of the studio, with black curtains down to the floor. This gives a simple backdrop which is cheap but is effective.

Camera pedestal – This is has the same principles as a tripod but has more complex features, such as moving the tripod up and down smoothly, also crabbing in a gentle form.

Audio Desk- The audio desk controls levels of sound, from the mic’s, DVD inputs, CD inputs and studio sound. The levels have to set right to get a high quality, consistent sound.

Vision Mixer- The vision mixer controls which shot goes live. It is operated by one person who is directed by the director when to change shots. You change shots by pressing buttons on the mixer.

Tally Light - A tally light is a small red light on the top of the camera. It is usually located just above the lens and tells us which camera is live for the benefit of the talent and the cameraman operating.

Dimmer Pack - This powers all different types of lighting and equipment within the studio. this piece of equipment gives everything the right amount of power.

My Job

I was given Job of content producer in my group. This means i was in charge of writing the script and thinking of questions for our groups section of the quiz, which was the quick fire round.

Roles in the studio

Camera Operators - The camera operators take direction from the director to perfect a shot. They control the movement of the camera, focus and zoom. You have to be alert at al times and be one step ahead, also good understanding of the terminoligy used.

Camera Assistant- this person work with the camera opperator help him guide the tripod and remove any trip hazards in the way.

The Vision Mixer - You have to be smooth and very alert of the dirctors orders and no all the terms used.

Sound/Audio Crew - To be successfull on the audio desk you must have good concentration and need to be very quick responding to whats happening live as you have to quickly operate the faders as the talent speak so it's not too loud or quiet and so that no unwanted sounds are heard.

Floor manager and Assistant Floor Manager - Need to take charge of the studio floor, they need to be confident and keep everything in order, need to no all terms used.

Director - Is one of the important members of the crew as they are in charge and lead the entire show. They need to have great communication skills as they are ordering every member of teh crew. They need to have creativity a good understanding of all the technical terminology.

Pre Production Roles

we have been put in to groups of four and was given roles. there are content producer, technical producer, post production director and art director. content are in charge of the script and whats happening in the show, technical producer take control of where the lighting goes and mic's, post productions take control of the credits and titles, and the art director designs the sets.

Camera Terminology

Pan Left/Right - Pivot camera left or right.

Tilt Up/Down - Tilt the camera up and the down

Crab left/right - Move the whole camera sideways left or right

Track back/forward - Move the whole camera forewards and backwards

Zoom in/out - Move the focus of the camera fowards/backwards

Tally Light - This show if the Camera is live or not

Lighting In Studio

LIGHTING GRID - Metal grid on the celling, which hold the lights.

SOFT LIGHT - To add fill light, to can control how much light is used as they have barn doors on them. They also have fluorescent bulbs in which mean they produce less heat.

SPOT LIGHT - Concentrated light, this light used to focus on one object, person. This light is usually used to light the host of a show or talent on screen

FLOOD LIGHT - these lights are used to create general light in the studio so it is easy to record but its harder to control this form of lighting.

Lighting panel - This controls how much brightness going out to each light. This piece of equipment has fader's and a computer screen to make it much easier to use.

Each light has its on socket on the lighting grid, and each of them are numberd Dimmerpack provides power to the lights

Research

First of all we had to researched quiz shows, to get an idea how they set it out, we watched clips of 'Never mind the Buzzcocks','egg heads','Universtiy challenge','Mock the Week' and 'Have i got News for you'. we noted down Fonts used, whats in the background, sounds used and how they linked to the show. this gave us a basic idea of how to design the set.

The Start

We have been set a task of making and filming a live quiz show. We have been given 6 weeks to plan it, build it and produce it. First of all, we had to learn about multi-cam productions, also learning techniques and rules that you have to follow in the studio and with the equipment.