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INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR:NEWS and Interviews, Dramas and Music

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Introduction to Broadcasting ­ MCM 411
VU
LESSON 31
INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR
The visual broadcast as we have seen in some previous sessions has been more demanding
in terms of communicating the real face of what camera could see. Since this type of
broadcast required both voice and the visual, a problem in any of these areas would lead to
serious problem, especially when it is a live transmission.
Ever since the change that has occurred from radio broadcast to TV broadcast, there has
been a strong feeling among people involved in the electronic communication that the visual
medium is more difficult to handle for this channel comprises many sub channels which are
inevitably involved in the overall communication. But here we are more concerned about the
way broadcast takes place. Although the two broad categories we would be talking in this
chapter are common for radio and TV, the set-up we keep in mind belongs to a TV broadcast.
Broadly speaking the TV broadcast could be classified in two segments ­ the interior
broadcast and the exterior broadcast. Both have their own specific requirements to enable a
meaningful transmission.
Interior
If you ever happen to see a script of some TV program, the first thing you may notice is the
marking of initials INT or EXT which stands for interior and exterior respectively.
So important is marking a shooting script with these initials that a small error here may lead to
a completely wrong camera work of a program.
The interior coverage means operating the camera under artificial lights. The programs which
are essentially done in the interior are;
News
Shows for children, general viewers, women etc
Discussions / seminars
Indoor games
Scenes of dramas to be managed indoor
Interviews
Music programs
NEWS and Interviews
Usually the news coverage is done with two camera arrangement with collar mike hung at an
appropriate point. It is easy to control the sound and the lights for usually one or two persons
are engaged in the studio.
The coverage of interviews is also done with similar camera, lights and mike positions with the
only difference that in this case the two people are facing each other and to cover them some
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Introduction to Broadcasting ­ MCM 411
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different camera shots are applied. There are occasions when interviews of more than one
person are conducted. In such cases the microphone and lighting arrangements have to be
redesigned and the position of the interviewer and the interviewees is redefined. Some time a
panel interview is desired ­ more than one people asking questions from one person, in such
a situation the lighting and microphone position is also rearranged to facilitate a proper
production.
Shows and Discussions
The shows and discussions where more than two people are involved require a lot of effort in
setting up camera points and the adjustment of mike to capture appropriate images and the
sound. With Gibb shots with a huge crane are getting very common these days a lot of space
is also required to make arrangement for these types of interior coverage. And in programs
like seminars where some audience have to be allowed to sit inside the studio and be a part of
the program as a panel of experts gives their opinion on some subject, the interior coverage
has to be given a close look for covering this small crowed under the artificial lights.
Dramas and Music
There are more occurrences of outdoor shots in dramas these days but there was a time
when almost the entire play was recorded under the artificial lights at the TV studios. Still a
major part of soap dramas, or long plays, is recorded at the studios with special light effects
on. Exactly so is the case with music programs which are mainly held at rather a large studios
but under the artificial lights.
As we mention of the interior coverage of the TV programs, the emphasis is on to make you
understand the different nature of this broadcast which require special script ­ from news to
dramas and insertions of announcements during a music program, staff trained for this
purpose and the whole process of production.
Exterior Visual Broadcast
It is a very hard experience to do exterior shooting for the purposes of visual broadcast. In the
interior shooting one can always control the artificial lights, their angles, intensity and height.
But in the exterior camerawork the light is not in your control. Its angle keeps changing with
the orbiting of the sun. Not only this weather keeps changing. It is clear blue sky at the start of
the program, half an hour later it is hazy and after some time it may be cloudy or even slightly
raining. You have no escape but to cover the program as it has to be broadcast later in the
day, or may be it is a live telecast, to make matters worst.
Let's see where we need exterior coverage
Sports
Dramas
Live music shows
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Introduction to Broadcasting ­ MCM 411
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VIPs movement ... arrival of a foreign PM at the airport
Road shows
Gather public reaction / opinion on certain issues
Sports
Half the stadium is under full sun, rest under shade. There is hardly a camera available which
could operate on some mean setting to give you an equal and balanced view of the scene.
The situation becomes very embarrassing when it is a hard sun out there and the shadows of
one side of the stadium are falling on the playing area. It is a real test of the camera team to
make a sensible piece of broadcasting under these odd conditions.
Dramas
Make up of the talent is done under given light intensity and temperature... as other matters
are complete; the lighting composition changes... redo the make ups. That is why outdoor
shooting of dramas take not days but weeks to complete scenes which if done in the interior
may complete in a day or two.
VIP movement
No escape. Coverage has to be done under all circumstances, sun, clouds or rain or even
snowfall.
Again, the purpose of talking about the exterior coverage is to stress the point of specialized
training, script and use of cameras and mikes to record maximum of an activity to ensure an
effective broadcast.
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Table of Contents:
  1. BROADCASTING:Historical Facts about Radio, Wireless and Radio
  2. CLASSIFICATION OF PROGRAMS:NEWS, Language, Sensationalizing
  3. CURRENT AFFAIRS:Talk Shows, Discussions, Seminars, Live Shows
  4. OUTDOOR BROADCASTING I:VIP Movement, Suddenly Assigned Events
  5. OUTDOOR BROADCASTING II:Pakistan Day March Past, General Elections
  6. CURTAIN RAISER:Political, Financial, Sports, Academics
  7. RADIO FEATURE:Personality Features, Features on Events
  8. MUSICAL PROGRAMS:Classical Music, Light and Film Music, Folk Music
  9. RADIO DOCUMENTARY:Narrative, Dramatized, Imagination, Close to places
  10. DISC JOCKEY:Women in Focus, Daily/ Weekly Division, Making Titles
  11. VOICE IN BROADCASTING:Speech, Accent, Loudness, Stress
  12. NOISE:Physical, Medium itself, Problem at sender’s end, Semantics
  13. STUDIO:Drama Studio, Studios for Talk Shows/ Discussions, Music Studios,
  14. RADIO DRAMA I:Stage Dramas, Early Radio Dramas, Ethics, Classification
  15. RADIO DRAMA II:Selection of director, The Playwrights, Script, Voices
  16. ADVERTISEMENT – INCOME GENERATION:Similarities, More Analysis
  17. ADVERTISERS’ APPROACH:Dramatized, Dialogue based, News
  18. FM – A NEW GENERATION IN BROADCASTING:Low Cost, The Difference
  19. MICROPHONE TO TRANSMITTER:Amplifiers, Modulator, Transmitter
  20. WRITING SCRIPT FOR RADIO BROADCAST:NEWS Script, Interviews
  21. INTERACTIVE BROADCASTING:On-line, E-mails, Interview, Views in News
  22. REVISION:CURRENT AFFAIRS, RADIO FEATURE, MUSICAL PROGRAMS
  23. HISTORY OF TELEVISION:Early History, The Black & White Images, Color Television
  24. PAKISTAN TELEVISION (PTV):The Excitement, Timing, Live Broadcast
  25. BROADCASTING LAWS:Laws in the 19th century, Press Council of Pakistan
  26. REPLICAS OF RADIO BROADCAST:The Staff, News Reading, Programming
  27. NEW SCRIPT WRITING AND DIRECTION TECHNIQUES:TV Script
  28. SETS:Permanent Sets, Hot & Cover Sets, Special Sets, Economical
  29. CAMERA SHOTS – THE VISUAL LANGUAGE:Angle Shots, Movement shots
  30. LIGHTS IN VISUAL BROADCASTING:Light Temperature, Light and Distance
  31. INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR:NEWS and Interviews, Dramas and Music
  32. BROADCASTING AND MEDIA IMPERIALISM:The truth in the debate
  33. ENVIRONMENT OF TV BROADCAST:Optical Illusions, POV, Depth of Field
  34. BUDGET:First Part, Second Part, Third Part, The Sponsors
  35. COMPARISON AND CONTRAST OF DIFFERENT RADIO AND TV FORMATS:TV NEWS
  36. CURRENT AFFAIRS – FROM RADIO TO TV:Seminars, Interviews
  37. PRE-PRODUCTION:Brain Storming, Scripting a new program, Approval
  38. PRODUCTION & POST-PRODUCTION:Booking Shifts, Rehearsals
  39. TV ADVERTISEMENTS – MONEY WITH ENTERTAINMENT:Early Phase, Getting Spots
  40. ENIGMA OF MORE CHANNELS:The Investment, Fresh Ideas, Closure of channels
  41. ANCHORPERSON:Appearance and Confidence, Job Opportunities
  42. COMPARISON BETWEEN RADIO AND TV BROADCAST:The Difference, Script
  43. TERRESTRIAL TO SATELLITE TO CABLE TV:Cable Network, CD Channels
  44. CAREER IN BROADCASTING:Production, Direction, Lighting Director, Script Writer
  45. REVISION (LESSON 23 TO 44):Broadcasting Laws, PEMRA, Budget