VT Preparation

This section covers the practical aspects to consider when preparing your VT inserts for use in studio productions, including:

Cutting your VT suitable for Gallery
Editorial duration
Clip duration
Script layout
Audio

Cutting your VT in a way suitable for use in the gallery

Because a VT used in a studio production is only part of the show - unlike an edited ‘film’ in its own right - we have to consider how it will be used and how to deliver it so that it allows for smooth junctions in and out of the video during the programme.

Editorial Duration

This is the duration of the video as it will appear in the programme, and as listed in the programme Running Order.

For example, the programme Titles may be 10 seconds (10”) long, or an insert VT might be 2 minutes, 15 seconds (2’15”).

Clip Duration

For gallery use the length of the video clip itself will be longer. This is because if our titles clip ended after 10 seconds and went to black or a still frame, it would be hard to avoid getting this on air….hard to cut off the titles at exactly the right moment and cue the presenter. It would all be a bit tight and too fraught in the gallery.

But if the end frame of the titles - probably a programme logo - continued for a few seconds beyond the 10” stated duration, there would be time/space to mix out of the titles to the presenter in vision….and importantly, the director would be able to judge the best moment to do so given the feel of the title music and the mood of the show.

Similarly, with an insert VT the end of it might be an interviewee saying something pithy or important. If the video immediately cuts to black or freezes after the comment, it will be hard to avoid either when cutting back to the studio. So it is best to count the editorial length as being to the end of the comment, and then let the video run on for two or three seconds so that the director and vision mixer can cut back to a presenter without fear of broadcasting a black frame or a freeze frame.

So the video clip, in each case, will be a few seconds longer (clip duration) than the time the video will be on air (editorial duration).

In the above example, the video clip is 2’19” long, but the editorial duration is only 2’15”. The dark grey area represents the part of the clip intended for broadcast, the light grey section at the end is 4 seconds of extra image to give space for a smooth transition back to the presenter.

In the script a VT insert should be laid out like this:

VT (Vox Pop)

IN: “I don’t know really…..”

DUR: 2:15

OUT: “....yes, absolutely!”

The name of the VT is given - ‘Vox Pop’

The ‘In words’ are written so that the director and PA can check that it is the correct VT

The editorial duration is stated. (The PA uses this to set up their counts so that we know how long is left on the VT play-in at any point.)

The ‘Out Words’ are written so that presenters, floor manager, director, vision mixer and sound mixer know how the VT ends and can be ready. The PA announces the ‘out words’ as they count down to the end of the VT.

Audio

What happens to the sound at the end of the video depends on the circumstances.

At the end of a title sequence there may be more music beyond the editorial duration so that it can run on under an opening wide shot and/or be mixed under the presenter’s opening lines.

At the end of a VT insert there may also be music which could run on, to be faded out by the sound mixer in the gallery. Even if the video ends with the end of a piece of music there might be some reverb or applause on the VT which could be mixed under the transition back to the studio.

If a VT ends with someone speaking there may be no sound run on beyond the editorial ‘end’ of the film.

The whole idea is to smooth the junctions or transitions between each element of the show; from presenter to VT, from VT to presenter etc.

Written by PS

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