March 2014
www.tvbeurope.com
TVBEurope 39 The Workflow
the fine detail of Weatherfield has been the most incredible experience.”
Alongside the actual ‘street’,
the Corrie site consists of four studios, all dedicated to the programme. “We have a total floor space of around 33,500sqft — 3105sqm,” states Stan Robinson, technical manager, Coronation Street. “There are two galleries, but
any studio can be connected to either gallery depending on the production requirements of the day.” Three Ikegami HDK 79 III
cameras are employed in each studio, although a fourth can be accommodated, if necessary. “Our studio cameras are equipped with Canon XJ22 box lenses, while on location the choice of lens is HJ17. We decided to use the same cameras for both studio and location shoots to ensure consistency.” Each gallery is equipped with a FOR-A HSV 300 vision switcher. “It is a small mixer — but we do not need anything more elaborate as all the cuts are eventually made in post production,” explains Robinson. “For audio mixing, we have opted for Studer Vista 1. Previously, we used analogue mixers, but the move allowed us to go for a digital unit.”
Unique network That digital format has allowed Robinson to introduce a unique fibre transportation system for the signals around the site. Based on an Optocore network structure, Robinson designed portable stageboxes that allow signals from the studios (or anywhere else on the site, for that matter) to be routed to either gallery. “There are no technical wall boxes. Each gallery has its own stagebox, and we simply wheel it to where we are shooting and plug in to our SMPTE 311M camera cable network. There are 100 SMPTE sockets distributed around the site that can be patched to Camera Base Stations or to the Optocore Router. Once connected the signals are automatically routed delivering signals, such as microphones, foldback, picture monitoring, video router control and talkback to the Studio Floor and Galleries. In effect, the whole site becomes our studio floor.” The stagebox also incorporates the microphone amplifiers. Once a microphone is plugged into the appropriate input in the box, that source
immediately appears on the relevant fader in the sound control room. “Another innovation is our
ETC Paradigm lighting control system which allows strip lights around the studio to be
controlled by the gallery to show the status of that studio. Our studios are large, and it could be that a scene is being recorded in one area, while a set is being built in another. With several sets in each studio, the view
across the floor is severely restricted, but this lighting system ensures all areas can immediately see if the studio is in rehearsal or ‘live’ mode.” Lighting the studio and
location sets is a mixture of LED
and tungsten lamps. “We are utilising an app which allows the lighting directors to make adjustments through their iPads, if necessary. That means they don’t have to return to the gallery each time a change is required.”
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