Studio Stage Lighting
Studio Method vs. Field Production
Author: Lorraine Grula
What are the pros and cons of each method? Learning the professional video production skills and become a master !
Television Studios come equipped with multiple cameras and microphones. Lights are attached to the ceiling on a grid. There is a control room with switchers and controllers. You set it up once and leave everything in place ready to go.
Everything in a studio is controllable: the lights, the sound, the action. The action is rehearsed and then done once, using multiple cameras. In the control room, the director switches the cameras and sound sources as the action is happening.
In a well-arranged studio, everything exists for the sole purpose of staging action and getting it on tape.
Every major city has professional television studios available for rent by the day. A PBS station or other small outlet is your best bet to get a relatively low daily rate. Crews are included.
Field production means you’re anywhere but a studio. Field production is always dependent upon the characteristics of your location. Your location might be a doctor’s office, the bottom of a cave or a chicken coop. Then again, it might be a $10,000-a-plate political banquet or backstage at a rock concert.
Each situation calls for unique methods but you can always find similarities. Field production usually requires a lot of setting up and tearing down the equipment.
These days, the same equipment can be used for both methods. This can save the low-budget producer a lot of money. Luckily for us all, video equipment has become cheap enough to let you set-up a studio in a chicken coop!
Although you can put a studio in the field, for low-budget video production, field production usually means only one camera and one mic. There are exceptions to that of course.
The Super Bowl, the mother of all field productions, uses at least seventy cameras along with two huge trucks full of tape decks, lights, microphones, cables, switchers, signal controllers, graphics generators, you name it that extravaganza uses it. But you don’t have to be the Super Bowl to take a TV studio out into the field today. Computers and wireless transmission are two huge leaps in technology that make video production easier.
If you are going to do one-camera technique in the field, here are some facts to help you learn how.
Hollywood movies evolved using one-camera technique. Most field productions, especially low-budget, are done with one-camera technique.
One-camera technique means the action is repeated over and over with the one camera in a new location every time.
For fancy field production, all the lights are moved and re-set up in between every camera location.
Then, all that footage is editing together to simulate the effect you would have gotten had the action been captured simultaneously by multiple cameras, just like what happens in a studio. In other words, field production has always intimidated studio production.
PROBLEMS IN ONE-CAMERA TECHNIQUE
If your videoing some kind of reality situation, like what I did for years in TV news, the action is not repeated for the sake of multiple angles. (Excuse me, Mr. Crook, can you shoot the dude again? I was out of focus.)
SO WHAT TO DO?
In a live situation, the photographer runs her butt off grabbing every conceivable shot as the action happens naturally and then this is edited to simulate multiple cameras.
In a studio, lights are mounted on the ceiling. All the lights are plugged into a board and are controlled individually by sliders and dials on that board. In the field, lighting will either be natural or from portables with collapsible tripods. Portables can be used inside and out.
TIP: You can also get various cloths and reflectors to greatly enhance control over the sun. They’re cheap and make a world of difference in the attractiveness of your finished image. The sun is not controllable, but your image is!
In a studio, the show is edited live through a machine known as a video switcher. This saves TONS of time!
Field productions are edited using a computer after they are shot. Good editing can make even a boring subject exciting but quality editing is time consuming. An editor who knows his stuff will plan on taking a minimum of one-hour to finish one-minute of edited story. Quick, down and dirty editing might go faster, but not much. An extremely intricate :30 commercial that gets bickered over a lot might be in editing two weeks. No wonder the budgets for video can quickly soar out of sight! Don’t let that happen to you.
The higher the level of the production, the longer editing can take. Quality editing can save an otherwise poor production. Good editing is usually planned, and not just a reaction to fixing stuff that went wrong when shooting. Good editing is one of your most powerful story-telling techniques.
TV Production equipment has come such a long way since the early days it never ceases to amaze me. Now you can set up a studio anywhere out in the field, even a mountain top!
It’s not uncommon for crews of two or three to set up multiple cameras and a video switcher for a graduation, wedding or banquet event. Portability is easy. Not having to edit what might be a three-hour event saves days of work and lots of money! The digital capacity of today’s machines can put an amazing amount of power on your desktop.
About the Author:
Lorraine Grula has been a well-respected award winning video professional for over twenty-five years. Lorraine has done virtually every kind of video production imaginable and now shares her expertise on the web. Video Production Tips is full of free information and video tutorials.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Studio Method vs. Field Production
Stage Lighting Demo (For Church)
|
|
EYB Long Life Lamp, 82v, 360w Bulb $2.75 EYB Long Life Lamp Premium quality by Divine Lighting - Manufacturer : Divine Lighting, USA Trade Name : EYB MFR ID : EYB Average Life: 125 Hours Color Temperature: 3000 Kelvin – REPLACES: Osram 54446HLX, GE 12696, Philips 23257-9, Ushio 1000442 JCD82V-360W, 14531, 232579 – Luminous Flux (Brightness): 8,000 Lumens Bulb Type: T-3.5 Operating Orientation: Universal Base Type: G5.3 (Mini … |
|
|
Eiko Supreme ECA Photoflood Light Bulb $2.99 250 watt 120 volt A23 Medium Screw (E26) Base 3,200K ECA Photoflood Projector / Stage / Studio Incandescent Eiko Light Bulb… |
|
|
Eiko 02450 – ELH Projector Light Bulb $3.49 300 watt 120 volt MR16 Bi-Pin (GY5.3) Base 3,350K ELH Projector / Stage / Studio Incandescent Eiko Light Bulb… |
|
|
Sennheiser HD201 Lightweight Over-Ear Binaural Headphones $17.47 A universally compatible enrty level earbud. Key Features:Basswind system Outstanding wearing comfort Availalable in white or black Asymmetrical cable eliminates cable clutterGeneral Description:The MX 460 are the perfect entry-level earbud featuring Sennheiser’s innovative “Basswind” system, offering the best sound for your ears at this price. Additional Features: Ideal for use with all MP3, CD, … |
|
|
Shure SM57-LC Cardioid Dynamic Microphone $146.00 The Shure SM57 is a fixture in the music business. You see it everywhere. In small clubs and 100,000 seat stadiums. This renowned mic is used by legendary performers and the latest up-and-comers. What you may not have seen are the thousands of SM57s at work behind the scenes in professional recording studios around the world. In fact, you’ll probably find it in more studios than any other mic. Not… |
|
|
Alesis iO DOCK Docking Station $399.00 The world’s 1st pro audio dock for iPad connect microphones and instruments; including guitar studio monitors PA speakers headphones and MIDI controllers Musicians can perform craft create and play back music in virtually any conceivable manner or location Universal device works with virtually every audio and MIDI app in the App Store; Core MIDI pliantVideo output for connection to TVs and project… |
|
|
Blue Microphones Icicle XLR to USB Mic Converter/Mic Preamp $59.00 Why should you bother with a bulky interface, when all you want to do is plug a single microphone into your computer? With a Blue Icicle in your arsenal, you can turn any microphone into a totally streamlined, USB-ready recording device. Instead of lugging around some fancy rack and a bunch of outboard gear, just toss an Icicle and a mic in your laptop bag, and take your studio straight to the sou… |
|
|
SetWear Combo Tool Pouch (7.5H x 6.5W) – Black $15.00 SetWear’s most popular pouch to date, the Combo Tool Pouch holds up to 33′ tape measures, has a glove clip on the side and gives you enough room to keep your most used tools on you at all times. 7.5″ Tall x 6.5″ wide, Hook and loop closure. (light/tools/gloves not included)… |
|
|
QSC RMX1450 Power Amplifier $528.99 The RMX Series amplifiers give you clean, dynamic power with the legendary QSC sound quality and reliability that pros depend on. The RMX Series deliver unmatched performance at a new breakthrough price. The power supply is the heart of an amplifier, converting raw AC power from the wall to clean DC for the audio circuitry. The RMX uses a powerful high-current toroidal transformer and ample filte… |
|
|
Set Lighting Technician’s Handbook, Fourth Edition: Film Lighting Equipment, Practice, and Electrical Distribution $26.61 Comprehensive. Detailed. Practical. Set Lighting Technician’s Handbook, Fourth Edition, is a friendly, hands-on manual covering the day-to-day practices, equipment, and tricks of the trade essential to anyone doing motion picture lighting, including the lamp operator, rigging crew, gaffer, best boy, or director of photography. This handbook offers a wealth of practical technical information, usefu… |
