Many people start their television directing careers by directing panel programs. These are the kinds of pro-grams that are sometimes referred to as “talking heads.” They make up most of the work seen on Sunday mornings at the networks and on public-access channels. They’re probably the most popular and certainly the cheapest kind of programming to produce. Knowing how to shoot them well makes working in other formats easier because although the preparation for other formats is different, the conven-tions governing panel programs are the same as those for shooting any kind of conversation or discussion.
Those conventions include discussions in a drama, a sitcom, or simply the banter associated with a late-night talk/variety program. These are the elements you need to know in order to be properly prepared:
1. Preproduction—routine or rundown 2. The ground plan and setting
3. The seating arrangements—180 degrees or 360 degrees, with:
a. One host and one guest
b. One host and more than one guest 4. Production—rehearsal:
a. The procedure for rehearsing a panel show b. Timing the program
c. Shooting options
5. Postproduction, editing—transcript
Preproduction starts with an outline, a ground plan, and a setting. The easiest way to approach the panel show is to imagine that there is just a host and a guest sitting in the limbo of a studio. The limbo, or
“cameo black look,” is very popular in low-budget television all-talk programs. It consists of two or more people sitting in a studio, surrounded by black curtains (cameo black) or a colored cyc, usually a pink or blue cyc (limbo).
Historically, a cyclorama, or cyc, was used in the theater to give the illusion of sky. In both theater and in television today, “cyc” refers to a large wall or curtain that is usually white so it can be lit, but it can be black, too. It’s used as a neutral background.
Sometimes the terms limbo and cameo are inter-changed. Whichever term is used, the intention is to create a background that is as neutral as possible.
Occasionally, light slashes or hanging artwork is used to give accents to the background.
Usually three cameras are used to photograph the participants. Traditionally, one camera shoots the host, one camera shoots the guests, and one camera—the one in the middle—shoots the wide shots. Figure 4.1shows how that looks as a ground plan. When people are seated, their eyes are approx-imately three and a half feet from the ground.
A standing cameraperson has to stoop to keep the lens of the camera on a line with the eyes of the panelists, who are seated on chairs on the floor of
Figure 4.1 A typical ground plan for two people in a
“limbo look” set (not to scale).
Directing and Producing for Television. DOI:10.1016/B978-0-240-81293-9.00004-4 71
© 2011 Ivan Curry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
the studio. Having the lens at eye level with the panelists is important because eyes are often reveal-ing, and we are used to talking to each other that way. Having to stoop to get a shot becomes uncom-fortable for camera operators. Inevitably, the cam-eras get raised to a height convenient for shooting instead of remaining at the best height for communi-cating. The usual solution to this problem is to place the chairs on a platform so that eye level is raised to an easier shooting position. Most panel programs are shot on a one-foot riser for just this reason. The ground plan is then changed to include a one-foot riser, as seen inFigure 4.2.
SEATING ARRANGEMENTS
The two seating arrangements that are used most often are 180 degrees, in which the participants are seated in a straight or slightly curved line, and 360 degrees (in the round). If more than two panelists are involved, they can be seated in four ways: 180 degrees—host at the end (either the right or left side of the panel); 180 degrees—host in the middle; 360 degrees—host in the audience; and 360 degrees—
host surrounded.
Each of these formats has advantages and disad-vantages. The 180-degree choice keeps the panelists on one side of an imaginary line and the cameras on the other side. When that relationship is maintained, the audience keeps a clear perspective of where things are. This imaginary line is called the line of 180 degrees (Figures 4.3 4.11).
If the director does not maintain the integrity of that 180-degree relationship, the screen direction of the panelists gets confused, and as a result, the audi-ence sees close-ups of panelists who appear to be talk-ing to the other members’ backs instead of their faces.
Imagine a classroom in which a teacher stands at the front of the room and points to a door at his or her right. To all the students, the teacher would appear to be pointing left. If the students got up and got behind the teacher, they would agree that the door was to the right. If the line of 180 degrees is broken, each camera cut makes it appear that the cameras are jumping in front of and behind the teacher. The audience can’t tell if the teacher is looking left to right or right to left. The screen direction becomes confusing because the shots are cut from one side of the line to the other.
Figure 4.2 This is essentially the same ground plan as inFigure 4.1, but in this plan a one foot riser or platform has been added to bring the eye level of the guests up to a convenient lens line. This information is indicated by the box drawn around the two chairs and the “112"” (not to scale).
GROUND PLAN AND PICTURES OF A TYPICAL PANEL PROGRAM
Figure 4.3 This ground plan of a panel talk segment (not to scale) shows the placement of cameras for a production that uses the convention of the line of 180 degrees. Ordinarily, cameras and their placement would not be indicated on the ground plan, nor would there be chair numbers. A “112"” would be indicated on all the plans throughFigure 4.14.
Figure 4.4 This ground plan (not to scale) includes the position of camera 2.
Figure 4.5 The photograph shows how the scene as indicated on the ground plan would look from camera 2’s position.
Figure 4.8 This plan (not to scale) indicates the third camera as it should be placed to shoot this program in the traditional 180 degree format.
Figure 4.9 This is what the woman in chair 1 would look like as she talks to the host in chair 4. Note that the host (inFigure 4.7) appears to look from right to left. In this picture, because the line of 180 degrees has been maintained, the woman looks back at her, facing left to right.
Figure 4.6 This ground plan (not to scale) includes the positions of both camera 1 and camera 2.
Figure 4.7 The photograph shows what camera 1 would see from the position indicated on the ground plan.
In this case, the camera has a cross two shot to the host, seated in chair 4, talking to the woman in chair 1.
SEATING ARRANGEMENTS AND CAMERA COVERAGE
180 Degrees with the Host at the End:
Pros and Cons
When the host is seated at one end of the panel, the panelists usually look to that end to answer the ques-tions posed by the host. Shooting this way usually
yields the most head-on shots. Assume we are using the ground plan shown in Figure 4.12. Although numbers do not appear on the ground plan, it’s con-venient for the director and camera operators to agree that the chairs are numbered from left to right, chair 1 through chair 4. In this system, the name or function of the person sitting in a chair is unimpor-tant. For this program, the host happens to be in chair 4; the guests are in chairs 1 through 3.
This kind of ground plan is the basis for almost all nighttime talk/variety shows that are shot in the traditional 180-degree format. The host—from David Letterman and Jay Leno going back to Johnny Carson, Jack Parr, and Steve Allen—traditionally sits at the end of the panel. The difference is that those in the seating positions 1 through 3, or however many people are on the set, are usually seated on a couch, and the host is at a desk in what would be chair 4.
Guests are brought onto the set, they chat awhile, and then each moves one slot down to allow the next guest to talk in close proximity with the host. This seating arrangement keeps the host in a commanding position. The panelists form a united front, respond-ing to the host. On most of the popular panel/variety programs, the host’s home-base area is on the audi-ence’s left side of the stage and is shot by camera 1.
This means that the last camera that needs to leave the chat or “home-base” area to get to the “produc-tion area” is camera 1, the host’s. While being seen on camera 1, the host can say, “And now, here’s [the next guest].”
Camera 3 will have left the talk area and be ready in the production area, usually at the audience’s right, to get the first shot of “the next guest.” Camera 1 is also the first and the easiest to break back to the host after a production area performance is completed.
Each camera in a panel program has a specific function. The director needs to be able to show the
Figure 4.12 This ground plan (not to scale) indicates a numbering system for the seating arrangement.
Figure 4.10 In this ground plan (not to scale), camera 3 has broken the line. It is upstage of the line of 180 degrees, which is an imaginary line that passes between the downstage characters.
Figure 4.11 This shows camera 3’s picture from the position indicated on the ground plan. Because the camera has broken the line of 180 degrees, the host (as seen inFigure 4.7) and the guest (as seen here) face the same direction, which is not at all what the picture from camera 2 shows the audience.
audience a close-up of whoever is talking. That’s usually done with camera 3, on the far right. A wide shot that emphasizes the relationships of the guests and shows any action that may be happening is also necessary. That’s covered by camera 2, in the middle.
The guests are all laughing, for example, or some-body does something that needs to be seen; they stand up and dance, or pull a rabbit out of a brief-case. The wide shot is called a “cover shot,” since it covers the action. In a star vehicle, a close-up of the star is also a cover shot. No matter what happens, we want to see how the late night show’s host reacts;
that’s usually on camera 1. In a symphony orchestra, the wide shot of the orchestra and the close-up of the conductor are both cover shots. On a panel program, or the panel portion of a talk/variety program, the camera setup and shooting pattern are likely to play out something like this:
G Camera 1 has a close-up of the host. Assuming the host is a star, or at the very least represents the viewer, a cutaway to the host is almost a cover shot for the program. However, that same camera can be used to single out a strong panelist who for some reason turns away from the host. Sometimes panelists begin to ask questions on their own or turn and directly answer remarks made by someone else on the panel or in the audience. In this case, camera 1 may leave the host and get a shot of the panelist. When that happens, camera 2’s cover shot becomes very important.
G Camera 2 has a wide cover shot, in which we see everything.
G Camera 3 covers whoever responds to the host.
Shooting 180 Degrees with the Host at the End
A typical shooting scheme for a sequence might be like this:
G Camera 1 is “on the air” as the host asks a question.
G Camera 2 then is put on the line as the first panelist, whoever that is, responds, giving camera 3 an opportunity to find out which panelist is speaking and get the shot.
G At the end of a sentence or phrase, the director cuts away from the wide cover shot on camera 2 and puts camera 3 on the line, which has now had time to find the shot, find focus, and frame the shot.
Creative directors seek out and use other shoot-ing schemes. For example, in the same five-person panel, an alternative approach might be:
G Camera 1 gets a single shot of the host but is prepared to widen to a wide shot, holding the host at the far end of the shot.
G Camera 2 gets the two people in the center.
G Camera 3 gets the two people at the camera left end of the set.
G The host asks a question, and camera 1 widens out to a cover shot. We can then cut to either camera 2 or 3 on a two-shot and zoom into whichever panelist is talking.
G The entire sequence can then be shot in two shots that zoom to the speaker.
A “two-shot” is a picture that includes two peo-ple in it. Sometimes it is a “flat” two-shot. A flat two-shot usually shows two people in profile; it is as if you were standing at the center of a table at which two people were playing chess. Another kind of two-shot is a “cross two-shot,” sometimes called an “over the shoulder” shot. It features one of two people; it’s what you might see if you were standing behind one of two chess players and looking at the other one. The ideal is to have the appropriate shot on the air, as if the entire production were scripted and the director had planned every shot.
180 Degrees with the Host in the Middle: Pros and Cons
In the second seating arrangement, the host is in the middle and is featured, while the guests are on either side, seated in a line (Figure 4.13). This type of setup is used in many political debates. The guests may feel more “on display” because of the seating arrangement, but they will be seen in profile when they respond to the host.
Shooting 180 Degrees with the Host in the Middle
Camera 2 has a close-up of the host seated in chair 3.
It can also have a wide shot that includes the host.
Assuming the host is a star, or at least represents the viewer, a cutaway to this camera is almost always a cover shot for the program. That same camera can be used to single out panelists, but for the most part it is limited to the cover shot of the host or the wide shot.
Camera 1 or 3 has a cover shot—down the line—which is a wide shot from either side, down
the line of the guests. These cameras also get singles or two-shots of the person who is speaking. Camera 1 covers the camera-right panelists (chairs 4 and 5), and camera 3 covers the camera left panelists (chairs 1 and 2).
A typical shooting scheme for a sequence with a host and four guests might be something like this:
G Camera 2 is on the line with the host, who asks a question. The camera can justifiably zoom out to a wide two-shot or cut to:
G Camera 1, which has a two-shot camera-right of the host, or
G Camera 3, which has a two-shot to the left of the host.
An entirely different approach would be to:
G Cut to camera 1 or 3 on a wide shot, and then either zoom in to whoever is talking or use the other camera to cut to a single.
G Once one camera is committed to a close-up of a panelist, any one of the remaining cameras has to get a wide shot. The remaining camera can get singles.
360 Degrees—Host Surrounded:
Pros and Cons
Shooting “in the round” (Figure 4.14) creates a more intimate feeling among the guests, and there is no apparent star. Everyone’s seat appears to be equal, and when sitting in the round the guests may feel that the cameras have been shut out. The guests may be more open in airing their feelings in conver-sation. Of course, the cameras have not been shut off, and the director will still make choices that favor one panelist or the host over the others.
However, the perception the guests get from sitting in the round can result in an easier give-and-take, a more interactive conversation. This seating arrange-ment almost always forces the director to break the line of 180 degrees, so when cutting from close-up to close-up, guests appear to be talking to the backs of one another’s heads. If this happens early enough in the interview, the audience usually accepts the convention and doesn’t mind the unusual results.
Shooting 360 Degrees
Camera 2 has a close-up of the host. It can also have a wide shot that includes the host, all of the downstage guests (chairs 1 and 5), and parts of the other two guests not hidden by the downstage guests. As in the other scenarios, we can assume that the host is a star, or at least represents us, and a cutaway to this camera is almost always a cover shot for the program. That same camera can be used to single out panelists in profile, but for the most part it’s limited to the host or the wide shot.
Camera 1 has a shot of guests 4 and 5 and can shoot them in either a two-shot or singles. Camera 3 has a shot of guests 1 and 2 and can shoot them in either a two-shot or singles. Both cameras 1 and 3 have wide shots, which are similar to each other.
A typical shooting scheme for this setup is similar to the one in which the host is in the center. A sequence might be:
G Camera 2 is on the line with the host, who asks a question. The camera can justifiably open to a wide two-shot or cut to either:
G Camera 1, which has a two-shot, camera right of the host, or
Figure 4.13 This ground plan (not to scale) offers seating for four guests and a host, but by placing the host in the middle chair, chair 3, the guests are likely to look upstage when answering questions. Pictures of the guests will have more profiles than a seating arrangement with the host at either end.
G Camera 3, which has a two-shot, to the left of the host.
An entirely different approach would be to do the following:
G Cut to camera 1 or 3 on a wide shot, and then either zoom in to whoever is talking or use the remaining camera, not on the host, to cut to a single.
G Once the camera is committed to a close-up of a panelist, one of the remaining cameras has to get a wide shot, and the other one can get singles.
PROGRAM ROUTINE
A program that consists of a standard opening and close and two people having a conversation may
A program that consists of a standard opening and close and two people having a conversation may