Your Public Best - Lillian Brown [107]
Or you may be given a starting cue by the floor manager saying “quiet in the studio,” or “stand by,” followed by his holding his hand under the lens of the camera that is to be used first, followed by the slashing motion described above. Thus, you will often not be given the “five, four, three, two, one” countdown.
In any case, when there are several cameras, the floor person will always cue you by pointing to the correct camera.
Time cues showing how much time is left in a segment or interview are sometimes printed on cards that are held up by the floor manager. The cards may also read “halfway” or “cut” or “wrap.” Never acknowledge the cue by nodding. The floor person knows you saw the cue and expects you to automatically observe it. If you are given a “hard wrap” cue (either by a card or a circular finger-twirling motion from the floor manager), wrap up your sentence very quickly. In some studios, a slash gesture is also used to mean “cut.”
Other cues you might see include a “broken finger” for a thirty-second cue; hands placed together then widened out horizontally for “string it out—keep talking”; or thumb and forefinger tapped together for “keep talking until the cut.” The latter cue is often used as “please talk” when testing a studio mike for sound levels.
Television Lights. In a television studio, almost all the lights are hung from the ceiling. They are aimed in different directions because each light serves a special purpose. “Key lights” are aimed at each person seated on the set. “Back lights” illuminate the background, while “fill lights” come from the sides to highlight various objects on the set. The lighting arsenal ranges from little “sun guns” to huge six-foot klieg lights.
Soft lights are flattering to the face but lack definition. As a result, they have to be used in combination with focused lights. Light reflected from umbrellas or shiny surfaces is used for special effects.
You can identify your key light as the one that is focused directly on you and blinds you when you look directly into it. It is synchronized with the direction of your camera and is angled so that it drops the shadow of your head properly down onto the scenery behind you. You can improve your image by turning your body slightly into your key light, shoulders straight and head up, so that the light hits under your brow bone. This reduces the circles under the eyes and helps smooth out any wrinkles. When you look down, the shadows cast by the brow bone can give you black “raccoon eyes.” If you have heavy brow bones or deep-set eyes, keep your chin level with the floor. Remember that the viewers need to see your eyes, since eye contact is so important.
If you are about to appear on camera and some of your jewelry is reflecting light, you may be asked to remove it. A gold watch may be tucked discreetly under the sleeve, or a touch of dulling spray, creme makeup, or a bit of powder may be applied to a military insignia or whatever else is shining.
Much of how good you look will be due to the work of the lighting director or lighting technician. Such people range from the near-genius to the mad bomber. Geniuses try to make everyone look good, while others bombard their victims with harsh, unfriendly light that makes everyone look bad.
Lighting directors—especially very experienced ones—often develop their own identifiable styles; they develop a fondness for certain trademark lighting styles. They have to be tough in order to survive because they often take so much blame—it is easy to say that everything wrong with a picture is the “lighting man’s fault.” An old battle-scarred survivor is usually an expert lighting person.
Lighting can add years to your face because the enhanced cameras take pictures of the shadows cast by the overhead lights. Lighting can also wash out your skin tones or show up every little blemish and detail. (Another reason for wearing TV makeup is to help compensate for this.) Harsh light emphasizes the receding hairline or emphasizes