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This page contains a guide on the role of the PA and how they communicate with the Director during the recording of a live magazine show.
The role of PA - or Production Assistant - is different depending on the type of TV production. Here we are looking at the role in a live TV magazine show.
The PA is part of the script team, making sure that all the relevant details which will help in the gallery are on the script. Particularly the timings of each segment, details of video - or VT - to be used in the show etc.
In the Gallery for a live show or a recording the PA keeps track of timings. All TV shows need to be of an exact length - e.g. a show with a published duration of 30 minutes will actually be, say, 28 minutes and 30 seconds long, to allow time for the continuity announcements and trailers played between programmes.
Each segment of a programme is timed so that it all fits perfectly. Prerecorded elements such as titles and video inserts are of a known duration because they are prepared in advance. Live interviews are allocated a duration by the Producer and the PA times them so the Director and Presenters can ‘bring them out on time’ - i.e. so they do not underrun or overrun.
Let’s see what the PA does as the programme gets underway.
The Director decides when the rehearsal is going to start and in this case triggers the count by saying “Coming to titles in 10…” The PA picks up the count from ‘9’ and counts in seconds down to zero, when the Director will shout “Run VT”.
The PA immediately starts a stopwatch and, knowing the length of the VT titles from the running order, counts the last 10 seconds down to zero.
This tells everyone - Director, Floor Manager, Vision Mixer, Sound, Cameras, VT operator etc - we are approaching a transition when something will change. We need to get from the VT titles to the studio and cue the presenter. The count helps everyone do everything at the right moment, though it should be said that the point of action is confirmed by the Director, in this case saying “Mix to 3 and Cue Keane”.
You can see how the PA is the glue that keeps the production on track.
Watch the clip of the programme opening a few times so you can take in how the PA’s count works in bringing the whole production team together.
In the next clip we see the presenters start the programme by saying what it contains. There is quite a lot of script to be read before the interview starts. This portion of the programme will have been estimated in terms of time (usually allowing one second for every three written words) but the PA does not do any counting at this point.
But during the interview the PA calls out how much time is left for the chat, and this is communicated to the presenters by signals from the Floor Manager.
If the interview runs over time, something else later in the show will have to be shortened so the overall duration is not affected. And if it runs short, the presenters will have to ‘fill’ (adding some ad hoc chat) to make up the time. (For the presenters, getting an interview to be just the right duration is quite difficult, depending on how chatty the guests are.)
Let’s now watch the rest of the show. Coming up next is a video (VT) for about 50 seconds, and then the presenters saying goodbye, and the end titles or end credits.
When a VT or video is played into a programme, just after it starts the PA tells everyone how long it is. We heard our PA say “50 seconds on VT”. This let’s everyone know just how long it is before we go back live to the presenters for the next sequence or segment. It might be a long VT of 3 or 4 minutes, giving time for cameras to move to new positions…. Or it may be only a few seconds - as in this case - so everyone needs to concentrate on what is coming next.
Finally, here’s the whole show with the PA, Director and Floor Manager (FM) shown doing their bit. This is a tried and tested way of working and leads to very fast, complex programmes getting on air ‘cleanly’ - i.e. without any obvious mistakes.
As with all roles, the exact nature of the job depends on the type of production. Some PAs have special skills used in music programmes while others may work as a Script Supervisor in drama production.
It is worth watching the clips a few times to really get to grips with what is going on.
Written by PS
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