Going to visit the Channel 3 news station for WCIA in Champaign was an extremely unique experience--one that I won't soon forget. Being able to go behind the scenes in all phases of the TV broadcast was intriguing to watch and see how each person worked together to put on the show. In the "control room," (the name brings up images of NASA guiding a spaceship) a five person crew handled the entire production.
I was suprised to see such a small crew; even with a small TV production like "CI Living," I figured there had to be a small army of workers pressing buttons and pulling levers to make the show work. However, the process was much less chaotic than I anticipated. The director calmly commanded orders to the producer to flip the camera view back and forth at lightning speed ("1, back to the hands, back to 1, zoom out!"). Off to his right, another man was putting together digital images that would appear on the screen to transition back and forth from commercials. Behind the three of them, one man worked the sound board, while a woman had a direct microphone into the host's ear to relay quick messages such as "1 minute left" or "Hold that up toward the camera!"
When we switched over to being on the live floor of the show, the people in charge all seemed very composed under the stressful conditions of live entertainment. I kept thinking of how strange it must be for the host to basically be talking to herself, but must look completely normal to the audience of people in front of their TV's. Also, with our experience from the control room, I now knew the juggling act the host must preform, with one ear listening to the director's commentary for where to look, while still keeping the show rolling.
By: Steve Bourbon
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