a camera is shown on a ploor plan as an equalteral triangle. the triangle will have a number inside it, 1,2,3,4 etc to show which camera it is. the reason cameras are number is becuase its quicker and more efficent for the director who is talking to them all to say "cutting to cam 1" rather than saying the name.
the cameras all feed into a large machine known as a vision mixer,(which is displayed as a large retangle) this machine allows the use of more than one camera so that a clean effective cut is produced. the controls on the vision mixer allow the cameras to have a clean cut or allow the cameras to fade into each other. however for our exercise we will be doing clean cuts.
the cameras are known as vision inputs into the mixer. the mixer can also take other inputs though, such as VTR (video tape recorder) DVD player, HDDR (hard disc drive recorder).
The output is known as the programme output.
audio works a little different to vison. the 2 tracks (audio and vision) are split up form each other and edited and programmed differently.
a mcrophone is displayed on the plan as a line with a circle at the end. and the audio mixer is shown (yet again) as a large rectangle. the microphones, like the cameras, are also known as audio inputs, and the mixer (like the vision mixer) can also take other inputs such as, CD player, PC itunes, IPOD, VTR, DVD, and HDDR.
studio terms
the black metal poles that line the ceiling in a studio are called the lighting grid. this suspends the studio lights and im now about to explain the different knids of lights.
the back lights are lights with floresent tubes in. these give off sumfin called soft light and they are used to fill the background in behind the talent. they have something called barn doors on them which limits or amplifies the amount of light given from the lights.
the back lights are lights with floresent tubes in. these give off sumfin called soft light and they are used to fill the background in behind the talent. they have something called barn doors on them which limits or amplifies the amount of light given from the lights.
the spot lights provide concentrated light onto the talent and give off something called hardlight. this is used to light up the talent and make sure they are seen.
the flood lights are sometimes called the scenery lights. they light up the scenery and do a simerla job to the back lights.
the dimmerpack is a large box in which the power to the lights runs through. it can be used to turn the power off, but its not advised.
the STOB box is a large black box in the corner of the room which connects the sound sorces to the audio mixer. STOB stands for, Studio Termination Outlet Box.
the "Blacks" are the studio name given to the black curtains that surround the room. they absorb any unwanted light from outside the studio.
MIC level is weak, 1 volt
Line level is strong, millions of volts
the audio mixer has faders on it which are all seprated and assigned to each audio input. when the fader is up it means its taking one of the sound sources through, when the fader is down however it means that the sound is blocked.
there are 2 types of sound redcord.
Analogue- inefficient due to being difficult to copy and means that the quality suffers.
Digital- makes a perfect copy every single time.
Digital- makes a perfect copy every single time.
most of the studio equipment is analogue but the fianl output is digital. the CD player is digital but is fitted with a device called a DAC, which means that when its putting through a signal its converting digital to analogue.
the mics are analogue.
the deskis analogue.
the deskis analogue.
and the HDDR is fitted with a device which does the oposite to a CD player, ADC, analogue to digital converter.
analogue and digital signals are represented by 2 different shapes.
analogue is represented by a long wavey line.
digital is done by steps.
sound distortian
analogue can "handle a signal" louder than what it should. distortian is when the sound goes crappy due the signal being louder than what it should.
the picture to the right is of a "VU meter" which stands for Volume units meter. the meter measures the sound in decibels (dB) and goes down to infinnete. speech levels should be roughly about -18 too -9.
the levels are shown by colours. Green means the sound is in a good zone, amber means the sound is loud, and Red means the sound is way to loud and will distort. the top of red is marked with a zero, and this is where digital has to stop otherwise it distorts and goes crazy. analogue can have something called "head on room" which means it can go above zero and occasionally to +9!
camera terms
the director or floormanager has a number of phrases which mean that the camera has to move. if the director wants the camra to turn side ways, left or right, the director will say "cam 1 pan right" or "pan left" however from the talents POV the directions will be oposite. the floormanager allways gives instructions from the cameras POV.
if the director wants the camera to move right or left he will say, "cam 1 crab right" or "crab left" in the american big hollywood industry they have the railway tracks for cameras to move on so they say "cam 1 track right" or "track left".
when the director wants the camera to mover back and forwards he will say "cam 1 fall back" or "track forwards".
the red light on top of the camera is called the tally light. this means the camera has been selected by the mixer and is therefore online. the vision mixer has a corresponding light under the numbered button meaning that the director knows ehich camera he has got online.
the cameras all have 2 discs on them which control 2 things.
Focus control- controls the sharpness of the shot.
Exposure control- shrinks or largens the aperture to control the brightness.
