Movies for TV - Early Television Foundation

276
THE PROGRAM ANGLE
in the studio and to ensure adequate lighting of the shadows. When
action starts as described elsewhere.
everyone is ready,
Thus far in this chapter only the use of film as an aid to live
production has been discussed and in that respect only as an insert
or scene which could not otherwise be produced. However, there is
another manner in which film can be, and is, used as a direct pro-
duction aid. That is by using it to break up a difficult production so
that time is provided for the crews to get new sets ready or change
camera positions. Live television productions and film making have
a lot in common as far as operation is concerned, but there the
similarity ends. As has been pointed out elsewhere,
television live
shows must go on the air as a continuous production, and the only
break usually afforded the camera crews and participants is for a
commercial. This means that quite frequently certain shots are im-
possible to obtain because of the difficulty of getting a camera in the
right position at the right time due to the fact that it would appear
in the field of view of one or more of the cameras in use. To a certain
extent, the Zoomar lens has solved some of the problems pertaining
to special close-ups by making it possible to get very close shots of
action occurring at a distance. But, even with the aid of this lens,
certain shots are still hard to make because of the angles involved.
If it is required to show some business that is important to an under-
standing of a character but which must be hidden from the general
view of the other players, then a switch to film for this is easy and
logical. The live sound can continue unless problems of lip sync are
involved.
For remote pickups which do not come under the headings of
newsreel coverage and where the most interesting action may occur
sporadically, or at any time within limits, film offers the only well-
planned way of presenting it. This feature of all shows, whether
they are factual or fiction, is called continuity. To be good, a production
must have continuity ; that is, it must flow smoothly with a
steady pace, or, if the pace is controllable, then if it slows it must be
possible to speed it up to recapture the audience's interest. This continuity
control is called editing. Quite obviously in many cases the
subject does not require much editing. For instance, a parade, if