CHAPTER 17

Production Practices

“If something has gone wrong, a director who panics and shouts merely spreads the panic to all those on the intercom and will create an air of uncertainty. Speaking with a calm voice, even if you are inwardly in turmoil, will help to solve the problems quickly and efficiently.”

Simon Staffurth, Director, Britain’s Got Talent

Terms

Action line/axis of action line/eye line: The imaginary line along the direction of the action in the scene. Cameras should shoot from only one side of this line.

Crash start: Takes us straight into the program, which appears to have begun already: An automobile screams to a stop outside a store, a figure throws a bomb that explodes, an alarm bell shrills, a police siren wails—the show ...

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