+- TV Live Forum (https://www.tvliveforum.com)
+-- Forum: TV Live Forum (https://www.tvliveforum.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=4)
+--- Forum: Programmes (https://www.tvliveforum.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=15)
+--- Thread: Technical programme workflow (/showthread.php?tid=523)
Technical programme workflow - lobster - 26-07-2021
So when it comes to a soap, such as your average episode of Eastenders how is it put together, specifically?
I assume different teams are recording different bits with different actors all the time rather than something with is produced in a linear fashion so how are all the files from the different cameras organised? do they all record to their own card or hdd and then get dropped into a central server or are they all uploaded to a central server almost as they are shot?
and what software would something like Eastenders be edited in? is it graded, edited and mixed all in one place and set of tools or do the various bits of it go to different teams and it's assembled later on? what software tends to be used in most run of the mill soaps and serials?
How long would a single episode of Eastenders take to put together once all the shots have been filmed and are sitting in a media repository?
it doesn't seem to be the kind of show which needs a lot of graphics or comp work (maybe set extension or a matte to hide bits of the exterior) so I assume it can be cut together fairly quickly?
Technical programme workflow - Steve in Pudsey - 26-07-2021
I think the main soaps (EastEnders, Corrie and Emmerdale) are all multicamera vision mixed productions rather than there being independent recordings from multiple camera that get cut together in post.
Technical programme workflow - lobster - 26-07-2021
that's quite interesting, so they must actually produce them in a fairly linear fashion as they go along, more or less in the order of the scenes in the episode? I'm assuming then that a lot of the run of bog standard stuff like gameshows and panel shows are done in the same way, and they are sort of recorded as live?
Technical programme workflow - stewart_scott - 26-07-2021
lobster post_id=30851 time= user_id=890 Wrote:I'm assuming then that a lot of the run of bog standard stuff like gameshows and panel shows are done in the same way, and they are sort of recorded as live?
Most studio based programmes are multi-camera and are pretty much recorded in the order the show will go out in telly, certainly in terms of gameshows and panel shows as you mention.
‘As-live’ suggests that the show is recorded all in one go as a live programme would be. With a gameshow, panelshow etc. you are usually pausing every so often to move a set, reposition cameras and there might be technical hitches every so often which would mean having to pause. But the recording of these shows, certainly gameshows, are usually as pretty quick as they can be providing all goes right - gameshows usually churning out 3-5, maybe more, shows in a day.
Technical programme workflow - Steve in Pudsey - 26-07-2021
I would imagine they (soaps) shoot scenes out of order in whatever way is most efficient, then edit the scenes together.
So if there are a bunch of scenes in the Queen Vic they would do then together rather then doing one, going to somebody's house then going back to the Vic.
Technical programme workflow - James2001 - 26-07-2021
There must be a certain amount of single camera shooting on soaps these days, it's not uncommon to see something shot from an angle where there would be a wall or some other prop in the way or be able to see another camera or crew members if they were shot entirely multi-camera.
EastEnders definitely does a fair amount of single camera shooting at the moment as part of the techniques they're using to make covid restrictions less visible on screen (so for example when you have a conversation between two character sitting on oppoides sides of a table, both sides of the conversation will be shot separately and cut together in post, as the actors are unable to sit at the table together due to social distancing), and part of the reason they've had to shorten episode lengths to accomodate it.
Technical programme workflow - valley - 26-07-2021
Steve in Pudsey post_id=30861 time= user_id=942 Wrote:I would imagine they (soaps) shoot scenes out of order in whatever way is most efficient, then edit the scenes together.Absolutely. I've done blocks of Eastenders where you do a day in the Vic (or another set on that studio), a day in another studio for others, then a few days on the lot, etc. Filming scenes for 4 episodes (generally a week's worth), but completely out of order.
So if there are a bunch of scenes in the Queen Vic they would do then together rather then doing one, going to somebody's house then going back to the Vic.
Technical programme workflow - James2001 - 26-07-2021
With the sheer amount of episodes there are now, I imagine it would be a nightmare trying to shoot them in order, with having to have the right actors in on the right days, not to mention how it's all spread across several studios now.
Technical programme workflow - Neil Jones - 26-07-2021
Soaps are normally done in blocks and then much like most other TV production you probably do what you can in one location for that block (some location shooting for example), then studio shooting, outdoor shooting and then any pick-ups. Sure I read somewhere EastEnders works in two week blocks so they can plan all that stuff out to make best use of actors time (and of course the child actors can only do so many hours a day anyway, which is another factor). EastEnders and soaps are written, plotted, planned in advance and realised relatively quickly, they only work six weeks ahead of broadcast as it is (and of course EastEnders ran out of episodes once the ones they'd filmed in March 2020 had gone out), rising to eight weeks for Christmas.
Even most professional movie productions work in much the same way (often on larger budgets), so they plan it all out to film scenes on location in the middle of nowhere for a while, then go somewhere else, film those, do any studio work/effects/whatever else, any CGI/effects, then hack it together in an edit suite somewhere and then when the preview audience decides the film is crap, they'll make changes which may involve pick-up shots or new effects or some dubbing or whatever.
Gameshows are usually shot in bulk and blocked as well, they can be bashed out relatively quickly, Tipping Point we know does four shows a day thrice weekly I think it is. Indeed Bruce Forsyth said once they could knock an entire series of 13 episodes out of his gameshow vehicles in two weeks. Crystal Maze (original) was done over two days (with two cameras) and the pick-ups were done later. Once you know it was done on only two studio cameras, the pick-up shots are incredibly obvious.
Technical programme workflow - eggsontoast - 26-07-2021
Steve in Pudsey post_id=30847 time=1627303385 user_id=942 Wrote:I think the main soaps (EastEnders, Corrie and Emmerdale) are all multicamera vision mixed productions rather than there being independent recordings from multiple camera that get cut together in post.The last I heard of Corrie, the cameras are all ISO'd and there's no cut recorded, just an EDL generated by the vision mixer.
Non topical panel shows are often recorded in a block and the producer will choose which order the episodes transmit in so the first few and last few episodes are the best so the viewer gets gripped and then wants it to come back for another series.