Day 1 - Workplacement 26/9/11

 

Time Started - 9:30

Time Finish - 5:30

Total Hours - 8

Self Assessment Report -

Uniform: 5

Punctuality: 5

Initiative: 4

Cooperation: 4

Work Standard: 5

Development of Skills: 5



The front entrance to the studio.

Today was my first day of work experience at tcn channel 9. Dressed in my smart casual clothing my day began with a train trip to Wynyard, then a bus ride to Willoughby and finally a walk up a very very steep hill to the channel 9 studios. Also doing work experience was Eric, as part of his TAFE course. At 9.30 I was greeted by technical director Marco Snickers and given my pass which allowed me access to the studio every day for the rest of the week.

Before my work placement commenced I was given a tour of the complex. I was taken level 3 of the building were the news edit rooms rooms were and also studio 3 was were A Current Affair and the 11am and 4.30pm news was filmed. Next I was taken to level 2 of the building were the on air tapes office was (the place were the commercials are played), were the audio booths where, were network connections was and most importantly were all the wires and technical cables were stored. Finally I was taken to the ground level of the building where the engineering office was, were I was to be today, to studio 1 were shows like kerri-anne and the 6pm news was filmed and finally I was taken to studio 2, the biggest studio in the complex used to record the footy show, the Sunday footy show and funnist home videos and other shows with live audiences. While in studio 2 I noticed the wide range of lights used hanging from the ceiling including par cans, profile spots, intelligent lights and fresnels. While in studio 2 I was also shown the audio mixing booth that still used a functional 25 year old mixing desk. 

The Cable Tester

Following my tour I was sent to my engineering to commence my work placement. Engineering is very similar to techincal or ICT support as they fix any problems with mixing desks, televisions or other devices. The engineers also make various wire connectors using crimpers and various screws and bolts. While in engineering I witnessed engineer Alex test the cable connection in fader 7 on the audio mixer in studio 1. Alex used a cable tester very similar to the one we have at school. The problem was not with the cables but with what setting the audio technicaian had the mixing desk on. After that problem was fixed I went with Alex to replace a television on level 4 of the building where the executives offices were. Alex told me that they mainly used LG tv's as they are cheap and work very well. After this I was sent to lunch.

Once I came back from lunch Marco sent me to the network cables/ connections office which can basically be described as the control centre for outside material from other connections eg Melbourne, London and LA. As well as this newtwork connections also deals with the frequencies and transmission signals used in live broadcasts. What I found interesting about network connections was how with the flick of a button you could talk to someone in LA. While in network connections I also noticed the first of many communication channel boxes. Most of the studios and offices have these boxes to communicate with all parts of the building. By flicking one of the buttons on a channel down you can communicate with that person in the channel and by flicking it up you can listen to what the other person is saying in the channel. 

Examples of Robotic cameras



Auto cue

After three hours in network connections I was sent to studio 3 for the filming of the 4.30 news with Wendy Kingston. What amazed me most about studio 3 was the cameras. Unlike studio 2 and 1 the cameras are not manouvered by camera operators but the cameras are robotic, controlled by the technical director. Along with the robotic cameras auto cue machines were also widely used in the studio. The autocue machines were actually cameras that reflected text into the cameras lens so that a host can look directly into the camera while saying their script. What also amazed me was the glass window behind the presenters in the studio which displayed the news edit room behind the window. Marco described the mirror as being the most expensive piece of equipment in the building as it is darkly tinted, blurred and placed on a 16* angle to ensure that the lights in the studio don't reflect off or through the screen.

A clip on microphone similar to the
 one Jason showed me

While in the studio I was lucky enough to talk to the audio technician, Jason. Jason showed me the audio mixer and the clip on microphones used on the hosts. These microphones were described as very fine microphones with two cables that feed into an XLR connector that goes into a patch bay on the news desk then into the audio mixer. As an audio technican, Jason is also responsible for the various music and sound effects described by the director as a sting. While waiting around for the news to start I talked to Jason about how he became an audio technician. He told me how he started out as a music producer in year 11 then fell into tv as the music industry detereorated. As I am interested in the music and audio industries Jason told me that employers look for people with engineering degrees from universities such as JMC and SAE.

My pass to get in.

Before the live filming commenced Jason did a line check with Wendy Kingston the host and also various reporters in locations outside the studio. The live broadcast began with a count down from 10 to start the program. After this Jason cued the opening music and voice over. Throughout various times in the program Jason controlled the volume and eq of the various presenters and also the sound effects present in the show including various wosshes and musical sounds. The broadcast however was not without its faults. At one time in the broadcast Jason was too late in turning up the volume of a guests microphone so briefly there was silence. Also a signal was lost during the broadcast so a section of the bulliten was cut short. Aside from these faults the braodcast was good to watch and interesting. After the broadcast I was done for the day.