Free TV Engineering Info

I was looking through the different technical documents that Free TV Australia have on their website and i saw something that I found very interesting. They have drawn up documents that specify the OB requirements of various sporting events. From swimming to football, just about every detail of the camera layouts and cable requirements have been spelt out.
Free Tv Engineering Page .


It was interesting to see that Free TV has taken this step. I thought about why such a move was made and came to the conclusion that these documents must have been produced by the people who actually broadcast and organize these events. For example in the cricket plan there are 24 cameras that are specified that should be used. However these include the third umpires cameras and the cameras used by the Hawk Eye technology.

After reading the brief on the technical documents the reasons why they need these documents at all. Free TV tell us it is to create common operating practices, match the international expectations and to make sure the required safety measures are in place.

Such documents would also be very helpful to those people who are in charge of or building venues that may be broadcast from. It would be much more attractive to broadcast from a venue which has taken into account the possibility of a major outside broadcast at the venue. As a student I found the engineering information very interesting as i am very interested in pursuing Outside Broadcasts as a career option. It also made me aware of the immense amount of planning and technology that goes into seeing the sport we love put onto TV. It also shows the extent of the need for very consideration to be taken into account regarding the particular needs of each sport.

Producer - DIrector Relationship

For my last blog i thought i would make a personal reflection on the nature of the relationship between producer and director during the children's show Mish Mash. As series producer I have had the opportunity to see the different relationships between the different producers and directors. Through this experience I have come to the conclusion that every one of these relationships were different. I am not sure whether this is the case in professional industry situations but I expect that it would be but to a much lesser extent.

I thought that the first show showed that a there needs to be a great amount of communication during the whole preproduction process. It became evident that there was more communication needed when both the director and producer had their own script revisions. It is clear that the script is an area for the producer but due to a lack of communication this was not made clear and there was much confusion because of this.

I thought the second episode showed that communication was vital. Throughout the preproduction phase there was much communication between the producer and director. This meant the director was very aware of he shows requirements and was on the same page as the producer. During the show the producer was able to communicate with the director to make changes to the show.

The third show showed much the same as show two. It however was an interesting situation as there was much confusion during the first run through. This was able to be resolved mainly through the director being more in tune to what the show required but the producer also helped to fix the problems from the floor.

The last show was very interesting for me as I had to act both as a director and series producer. I made the decision to ask James to take on the roles I had in the studio so i would be free to stay in the control room. It was also difficult because of the conflict that may have arisen with my producer. Only once I had to override the producer and it was received well. I found that the most helpful thing as a director was being able to understand the where the producer is coming from. Meeting and discussing the show with my producer made it possible to just concentrate on directing the show rather than worrying about where the show was going.

In the end each relationship had both advantages and disadvantages. Clearer definitions of roles would have been very helpful as this was this was the first time our class had been placed in a position. That said if given the chance to repeat the whole exercise there would be many things that would be done differently and the end product would have been proportionally better.