Video Production Q&A: Positions in a TV News Broadcast Studio

Feature: Page (1) of 1 - 07/31/06

Video Production Q&A: Positions in a TV News Broadcast Studio From the Director's Chair: What the heck is a Floor Manager? Gaffer? By Charlie White

In this recurring column, we take questions from readers. Some will be on a very basic level, while others will be intended for more advanced video editors and producers. Some answers will be extensive and detailed, while others will be short and efficient. All will contain opinions of the author. In this edition, a reader asks about the various positions in a television news production studio. If you have questions that you'd like answered in this column, please feel free to e-mail them to us at the address at the bottom of this page.

Q: I'm thinking about getting into television production, and I see the credits on my local newscasts going by and wonder what each one of the people listed on the newscast working in the studio actually do. Sure, I know what the camera people do, but other positions are a mystery. For example, what does the floor manager do? Is that person in charge of sweeping the floors? What about a gaffer? And then, there's the executive producer. That sound like good job, but what does he or she do?

Mindy Duncan

A: Mindy, for every one anchorperson you see on television, there are dozens of people on the other side of the camera putting the production together. Let's start from the top. If you compare a television production to the baking of the cake, the executive producer is the one who decides what kind of cake is going to be baked, gets the money for the cake and decides how much of that money is going to be spent. He also gets to hire and fire the people who will be baking that cake, and often micromanages exactly how that's going to be done.

Meanwhile, the producer is in charge of the recipe for the cake, and decides how much time that cake will spend in the oven, and at what temperature. The director is the one who presides over the whipping of the eggs, when the butter will be added, when it's ready to put into the oven and how it's placed in there, and then sticks a fork into it when he's determining when it's done. And then the camera people and talent are the ones who actually put the combined ingredients into the oven on the command of the director.

Getting away from our cake analogy, let's talk about a few of the positions that are necessary to put together a television newscast. You asked about a gaffer, and that's the person in charge of lighting, who carries out the design of the lighting director or designer, hanging various lights, and then pointing those lights in exactly the right directions and at the proper intensities for the set to be perfectly and evenly lit.

In many situations, the gaffer is the electrician who's completely in charge of the lighting, and in others, a gaffer and lighting designer work closely together, where often before a program you'll see the lighting director standing on the set in the position of the on-air talent with a light meter, measuring the amount of light coming from the various instruments. The gaffer will either climb a ladder on wheels, or will drive around a small lift truck and adjust the lighting according to the directions of the lighting designer.

The floor manager functions as a crucial liaison between the director and the on-air talent, and frequently holds up cards or gives hand signals to the talent, telling that on-air host how much time is left in a segment or in the entire broadcast. He or she is in constant touch with the director via a headset, usually a wireless one, and relays information from the director to those who aren't privy to what's being said on the headset line. The floor manager is also in charge of the studio, and is the person whose voice you'll hear booming out in a firm and authoritative way, "Stand by! Quiet on the set. Thirty seconds to air."

Another crucial position is that of teleprompter operator. Although it looks like the television anchor people are staring directly into the camera lens speaking about the news from memory, that's not what's happening at all. They are actually looking at a piece of glass that's reflecting a small television monitor that has the script scrolling by. The piece of glass is directly in front of the lens, so that the vewers can see the talent, but the talent sees the video monitor with its script scrolling by.

The teleprompter operator is in charge of the rolling speed of that scrolling text, and has to perform a sort of dance with the on-air talent. The speed of the scrolling is critical, where if it's done too fast, the words are already off the screen before the anchorperson has a chance to read them, and if it's done too slowly, the text doesn't appear soon enough for the anchor to read it. If it's scrolled either too fast or too slow, the anchorperson ends up stumbling, and then during the next commercial break, much yelling and gnashing of teeth ensues. Although the position of teleprompter operator is at one of the lowest levels in the television news production studio, it's also one of the most important, because if it's done badly, the highly-paid anchorpeople end up looking foolish.

Another important position in news production is that of the graphic artist. There are numerous full-screen an over-the-shoulder graphics sprinkled throughout the entire broadcast, and these are built by a graphic artist who is familiar with Photoshop or other dedicated graphics software and hardware devices. In some newscasts, there are dozens of graphics that are necessary to fill just a 30-minute show, and many more for longer ones. Every television station in the world has one or more hard-working graphic artists providing these graphics for variety of broadcasts and promos.

And then there's the best position in the entire television station, that of TV Director, who is the air traffic controller on whose shoulders the entire live broadcast rests. The director is the one who decides which camera shots appear on the air at what times, exactly when you see the various taped/recorded pieces, and when the program goes to a commercial. The position requires intense focus and presence of mind as well as serene calm in the face of tremendous adversity.

The competition for all of these positions is intense, where (usually) no one is inserted at the top as executive producer until they've paid quite a few dues, even in the smallest of television markets. Nevertheless, if you find yourself working in one of these positions, it can be an exciting adventure which is sometimes nightmarish, other times exhilarating. Good luck, Mindy, in your quest to be involved in this grand adventure.

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