The Inside Track on Working in a Television or Video Production Studio

First, let me define the differences between what we will call studio and location production. Knowing this will enable you to adapt these techniques for your own career aspirations or income source. We will begin with studio production. Studios vary in size and have many different applications. But whether they are producing a sitcom in Hollywood, a talk show in Chicago, or a local news report, they all fundamentally have similar crew positions and responsibilities. A studio crew normally consists of a producer, director, technical director, audio technician, lighting technician, camera operators, and a floor or stage manager. Depending on the studio, this crew may range in size from about ten to fifty or more people. Other positions such as video playback, computer graphics, teleprompter, script supervision, statistic researchers, production assistants, audience ushers, crews for the previously mentioned positions, and others may also apply.

Let us keep it simple. We will use a local newscast as an example, an environment you will most likely encounter first. Depending on station size the newscast will usually have a news producer(s), or the anchors may even assume the role. In basic terms, the news producer decides which stories will be read and televised, oversees script content and rundowns (crew scripts), and makes final decisions during the broadcast. Some of the content for this daily live telecast may even be decided upon at the last minute. The director then assembles the crew and distributes the rundowns, making any final notations. The rundown informs the camera ops which camera will be on, which shot to use, at what time, and on which anchor during the telecast. There may be three to four cameras used during the broadcast, but sometimes the floor manager may operate one or two of them. The floor manager uses hand signals to communicate with the anchors, and is the communication line to the director during down time.