STUDIO: "What is 'As Live'?" Lecture (16/01)

Going live is no longer a necessity, it's become a genre within itself.

• 'As live' - recorded to appear live, minimal pick-ups etc, post-production is kept to a minimum
• Not as spontaneous as live, more controllable, more polished - opportunity to re-record elements. 
• Do not require paraphanelia of live programming, satellite trucks etc - cost reduced
• Immediacy makes it an 'event'

• Risk becoming too manufactured, losing ege. 
• Hard to recreate tension of live programming
• Audience can feel cheated

Formats:

• Panel shows 
• Quiz shows
• Chat shows
• Music
• Entertainment/comedy

Themes:

• Audience
• usually in studio - full studio floor crew required
• Often involve on screen guests/talent + main presenter/anchor 
• Often topical/driven by special events or dates
• Often use VT inserts

Genre impact:

• May dictate content, style and location. (Consider differences between question time and graham norton)
• Recorded on location (Outside broadcast/OB) or in studio
• Expectation of audience 

Audience

• Passive - simple quietly viewing
• Participatory/active - actually taking part in some way 
• Appreciative - responding through laughter, clapping etc
• Supportive - there to back a contributor

Content

• Almost anything can be presented as-live, but consider:
• Time (This is a huge factor. Must be carefully time so each segment fits prescribed evaluation. Timings should be considered to test viability of idea.)
• Location
• Budget
• Logistics

On location

• Advances in satellite technology has led to advent of OBs such as:
• Sporting events - Olympics
• National/International celebrations - Royal wedding
• Ceremonial events - coronations or other investitures

CASE STUDY: LIVE AID (July 1985)

• event staged simultaneously at Wembley stadium and JFK stadium
• BBC gave the schedules over to the event - unprecedented - 16 hours of rock music
• Event also broadcast live in the UK on television and radio. (Also broadcasts from Australia, Austria 
• The Soviet Union also broadcast live - first time anyone in the West had ever seen an uncensored, live broadcast from the USSR 
• Plagued by technical problems. (Satellite breakdowns and feedback noise)
• Phil Collins flew on concorde to play both shows.

• ONE OFF SPECIALS e.g. Telethons or concerts 
• Reality TV output e.g. Big Brother 
• News programmes 
• Magazine programmes 

• Disasters are often a prompt for ‘round the clock’ live coverage - DISASTERS e.g. 9/11 
• The advent of domestic handheld video cameras and phones has increased the amount of on the scene material available. 
• During the 9/11 terrorist attacks a stream of on the scene material shot by people on the ground painted an intimate and personal POV of events. 
• This material is readily available and often utilised by broadcasters

• Programme makers increasingly appeal and cater for viewer created content.
• Additional source of content has now evolved into a major source of programme content.
• Broadcasters now collaborate with their audience 
• Eg Facebook Live – offering new opportunities for live broadcasts online.

Current projections estimate a 50% share of viewing time spent online by 2020 the future of live may lie online

• Whatever the platform, live broadcasts represent a unique opportunity to engage audiences and to promote content.
• Become a 'gimmick' to be exploited 
• the added tension of ‘what might go wrong’ can draw audiences in – increasingly being used to market brands. 
• Special editions of Eastenders, e.g. 2010 marking its 25th anniversary, gained an audience of 16.6m ¡ Coronation Street’s 50th anniversary live special in 2010 was watched by 14m.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC (LIVE):

• Buttocks clench, adrenaline pumps
• 'Never been done' experience
• Iconic, public appeal
• Orchestrations pre-recorded, helps actors keep timings etc
• 17 cameras

Live experiment

• Formatting tool - 2011 BBC3 produced 'Frankenstein Live' - Attempt to inject new life into classic 
• success was questionable, but it is a good example of how a live event can be utilised to re-generate a genre.

• Much of what is perceived as live, is in fact pre-recorded - actually relies heavily on pre-prepared VT inserts. 
• E.g. News or magazine programmes using preshot material 
• Expands the possibilities of content and allows producers to vary locations

• Live programming is fraught with challenges, not least of all planning and potential technical issues 
• Meticulous planning is essential
• OB lives even more so as there is the potential for infamous loss of the satellite link
• Strategies are generally evolved to cope with these potential pitfalls. 
• Studio based content - handling back to the studio in times of trouble
• VT - pre-shot material to be moved up and down running order as needed 
• Back up material/stand by VT

• However the possibility of mistakes live on air adds vitality and tension to programme
• Studio team are charged by very notion of being live and this translates to audiences at home

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o9sIZkEego

THE LAW

• Lives are particularly vulnerable to legal problems, be it the use of rude content before watershed
• Sex Pistols swear on live TV 1976
• Even pre-shot VTs can experience live problems
• It is the job of the gallery teams and the producer and PA to work together to ensure they have another story to take over.
• Serious questions posed about the integrity of material presented as live from major broadcasters in 2007/8. Competitons in particular were being 'mocked up' to deal with problems experienced by the production team. 
• Blue Peter was fied £50,000 by Ofcom after a visiting child was asked to pose as a phone in competition winner. 
• Live TV is typically delayed by a few seconds to catch swearing etc.