Quoting
authorities and sitting examples , I discussed the role of personnel involved
in television production
Television is
a communication device that sends visual messages through a medium accompanied
by sounds to an audience.
Television
personnel basically refer to the people involved in the production process of
television. These are the people who make it a reality for us to watch programs
such as sports, entertainment, news and the like on television. Without these
personnel, there would be nothing like television production in this country. There
are two types of television personnel in the production process; these are
technical and non technical personnel. Some technical production personnel are
the camera operator, studio supervisor, floor manager, audio technician and the
list goes on whilst non technical personnel also include the director,
executive producer producers, assistant producers and the like.
Now
let’s go deeper and find out what television personnel do or the role they
perform to make television a reality. First on the list is the Director. The name even says it all, he
directs, controls the affairs of the production. On (p 392) of Zettl’s
Television Production Handbook, he described the director as the one who
produces the pictures and sounds that convey the intended message clearly; and
can effectively recognize a scripts essential qualities and selects the
elements that help to interpret it for a particular audience. The director
exhibits artistic, psychological, coordinating and technical characteristics
during production. Being artistic is to be creative and develops quality
pictures and sound for the set. Playing the role of a psychologist enables him
to get members to work as a team. This characteristic of the director is a
broad one which is embedded in his role. The director does not ridicule anybody
who makes a mistake but identifies problems and suggests solutions to them. He
above all is to treat all members involved in the production with respect and
can be firm, precise, assign specific functions to every member and must not be
harsh. The director plays some roles such as working on shooting schedules with
the production manager and also directs the performance of talents. It does not
end there, but continues to supervise the camera crew and the editors. In drama
for example, some directors can be hard as nails. The director is answerable to
the producer since he is an employee of the producer of the project.
In
television production, an Assistant
Director or (AD) is employed to
assist the director. This person is equally important to the production of
television. The assistant director assists the director in the control room by
reading camera shots. The director is the one who instructs the camera man on
the type of shots to take. The assistant then monitors the shots and its
quality for the production.
Another
director who comes in to assist the director in the control room is the Technical Director or (TD). The technical director is to
control or supervise the camera men and ensure proper lighting of the place for
the production. He or she uses the switcher to switch out over the air. To sum
it up, we can say that he coordinates the technical aspect of the production.
The Executive
Producer possesses ultimate authority when it comes to projects. This is
the “bank” behind the project. The executive producer pays wages of all workers
involve in the production. Money for the acquisition of materials needed for production
is provided by the executive producer who is termed as the manager.
According to Mike Crisp, the Producer
is the overall financial controller of the production in smaller companies.
Someone may say he or she produces, but what exactly does he/she produce aside
financing the project? He is in charge of the whole production and responsible
for all personnel working on the production. The role of the producer is basically
to hire people for the production. If hiring alone is his only job, then his
role would be easy to play. After hiring or getting the people to work with, he
becomes responsible for them by providing accommodation for these people till
the end of the production. In a situation whereby the talents would have to go
to a place far away from their home, the producer ensures that there is a place
for the talent or the performer to sleep, Food to eat and is well taken care
of. How well the production crew is treated will make them to put in maximum
efforts to ensure the success of the production. The role of the producer does
not end here but goes on to draw up production schedules and get everybody to
the production site. Transporting members of the production to location,
whether by air or land is enough to motivate the entire crew to deliver as you
expect. if personnel are going to drive all the way from their homes to
shooting sites, will sometimes arrive late and tired to give their best. This
makes the role of the producer very significant. The producer prepares the
script and assembles all inputs necessary for the show- David Ghartey Tagoe.
After writing the script, the producer expects his script to be developed. The
producer of the most watched television series “Chorkor Trotro” for example,
can sack the director if he does not go according to the script he (producer)
has written. The producer is answerable to the executive producer at the end of
productions.
Like the
director, the producer also has his assistant. The Production Assistant or (PAs)
is employed to help the director and producer. The role of this personnel is to
help in the preparation of the script and prepares the paper work for all aspects
of the production. Zettl described his role as remote operations.
The next
key personnel brought on board by the producer is the Talent. This personnel has three characteristics which are actors,
performers and announcers. The talent actor portrays someone else on camera
while performer talent appears on camera in a non dramatic activity. The
announcer talent reads narration but does not appear on camera.
In the
definition of television above, it’s stated that television is accompanied by
sound. These are audio sounds controlled by the Audio Technician. Primarily responsible for the use and control of
mikes during production. It’s this personnel who can tell which mike would best
suit the program. Mixing the audio for the program is also a job for this man
to perform. The audio technician can also create special effects in sound
during the production of certain programs such as sit-com.
The Studio Manager
is the personnel who represent the director on the studio floor during a
telecast-David Ghartey Tagoe. In production, the director cannot risk being
picked up by the microphones when giving instructions to talents. With the help
of headsets, the director can give information to the studio manager also known
as the Floor Manager to relay the
message to the talents. On our visit to the studios of the Ghana Broadcasting
Corporation last year, I witnessed that the floor manager was cueing the
performers when they were on air. I also realized that he was trying to avoid
being caught on camera or coming in front of the camera constantly reminding
the talents about time they had left. The floor manager communicates to talents
on the show in hand sign language since his or her voice can be picked up by
the microphones.
The
director and producer all have personnel to assist them. The same applies to
the floor manager who has people called Floor
Persons or Strange hands to
assist him in the production.
Other
personnel cannot be ruled out in the production process is the Editor. His role is performed after the
shooting. The editor makes sure that the video and audio recordings blend the segment.
The editor’s performance of editing to the success of a production is far
greater than most people realize. This is done to remove or filter the video or
sound recorded for viewer’s consumption. David Rising argued, that editing is
done to condense filtered materials that are interesting, exciting and fits the
producer’s specifications. The editor can therefore make or unmake a
production.
The Lighting
Director comes in as the next personnel to ensure that the lighting of the
studio is done well to promote the success of the production. The lighting
production gives the overall look of the production and the director sees to
it. This personnel is also responsible for arranging the lighting equipment,
sets up the light and checks the light for the shoot. In the studios of Ghana
Broadcasting Corporation, we were told that lighting the place for a program is
very technical. Some lights are very bright and they produce a whether to use
of heat, but it’s the duty of the lighting director to know a thousand watts or
six hundred and fifty watts of light.
Before
a talent appears on camera, a Makeup Person
is required to help with cosmetics. He takes care of the talents and makes sure
that they look good before appearing in front of the camera. The makeup person does
not only concentrate on the face on the talents alone but on their hair as
well.
Camera Operator cannot be forgotten as
television personnel. They work with the director, lighting director and the
audio technician to prepare the set for each shot. This is more than just
operating the cameras. Camera operators mount cameras for shots and ensure its
technical quality. For better shots, the camera operator works hand in hand
with the lighting director to make his work simple and ensure quality pictures.
They also perform various and special camera movements like zooming in and out.
On air, he can dolly, pan, truck and tilt the camera to give viewers a quality
pictures on television. The camera operator however does not take shots at will,
but is instructed on the type of shots to take by the director. The success of
the production can depend on the camera man’s focus on taking good and quality
shots during the production process.
Television
personnel are a lot and involve the Video
Recorder Operator who operates the video recording equipment. Monitoring
the video quality is his job to satisfy the viewer on the director’s
specifications.
Set Designer is charged with designing
the set for the shoot. This personnel can manipulate colors to suit the
program. In designing the set, the set designer takes into consideration the
program before designing for the shoot. A designer cannot design a set depicting
celebration when the shot is about the death of somebody. This was confirmed by
personnel at The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation during my visit to the studio.
To promote consistency when it comes to
shots taking and scenes, a Continuity Secretary
is employed to take notes of the production process. If the shooting of the
program cannot be completed in a day, he/she can tell the director where they
stopped the last time. This enables the director to remain on track.
Before the whole show kicks off,
personnel appointed to put the ideas on paper. Writer is the personnel responsible for writing the scripts for the
program.
The
next personnel is the Gaffer, who is
described by Jeremy Orlebar as the chief electrician. In the course of the
production, he can be fixing broken down equipment to enhance the efficiency of
the program. The gaffer is not allowed to operate any of the equipments but
handles light instruments, cables and other electrical equipments.
The Microphone Boom or Grip Operator is responsible for moving equipments to the shooting
sites or unto the set. The personnel also known as the Stage Hand knows very
well where particular equipment should be placed for quality caption.
Character Generator (CG) is the
personnel who is also important when it comes to television production. Its
role is to produce quality graphics during and after the production. During
interviews or live events, he or she identifies important personnel and the
identity revealed on the screen of our television. At the end of every
production, the character generator rolls credits on the screen. This shows the
importance of every member to the production process.
Video Engineer is the personnel who repair the video equipments
during and after production. The appropriate maintenance of the production
materials is also part of his job. It takes extensive training in electronics
for a video engineer to operate equipments used in master control operations
and transmission by satellites or any other medium.
In
the view of Jeremy Orlebar, Runners
who are parts of television personnel, runs for anything anybody wants. They are
also charged with errands to make tapes and deliver scripts to other personnel
of the production. Runner is the lowest job in the television production.
Referees:
Olebar, J.(2002) Digital
Television Production: Arnold a member of the Hodder Headline Group.
Crisp, M.(1998) Directing Single Camera Drama: Focal Press Limited.
Zettl, H.(2003) Television Production Handbook: Thomson Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Rising, D.(1997) Film, Video
,Photography: Kogan Page Limited.
