Most of what we have discussed in previous chapters has dealt with live or live-ontape multicamera productions shot in a studio environment. However, many productions are shot totally or partially in out-of-studio locations with one camera. Many dramas and documentaries are shot entirely on location and then edited. For other productions, such as news and public affairs, the material that is shot is edited and used as a roll-in for a program that is assembled as a studio shoot. The technique of shooting single camera is often called film-style shooting, because most motion pictures are shot with one camera that takes shots one by one from all the various angles employed in multiplecamera shoots. If the shooting is done for news, it is usually called electronic news gathering (ENG).

A more generic term is field production, because the shooting takes place in the field rather than in a studio.

Studio production and field production have numerous similarities, mainly because much of the same equipment is used. A microphone is a microphone whether it is on a game-show set or at the scene of a fire. Pictures should be focused and well composed, and talent should avoid annoying mannerisms, whether in the studio or in the field. And yet, there are many differences in both techniques and disciplines that are caused, to some degree, by the lack of control that exists outside of the studio.

This chapter concentrates on single-camera field production, looking at the similarities and differences between it and studio production, and then covers highlights of remote truck production.

It is organized in a manner that is similar to the rest of the book1 and covers the following topics:

• Reasons for a greater need for discipline in the field (12.1)
• Different cast and crew members needed in the field as well as varying tasks that are undertaken on location (12.2)
• The organizational duties a producer must perform to ensure a smooth production (12.3)
• How to direct on location (12.4)
• How cameras are used in the field (12.5)
• Lighting for both indoor and outdoor locations (12.6)
• Handling audio problems in the field (12.7)
• The lesser role that graphics and sets play in many field shoots (12.8)
• Functions of the recording part of the camcorder (12.9)
• The greater role editing plays in single-camera shooting (12.10)
• How remote truck production is similar to and different from both studio and field production (12.11)