O’Colly TV Studios

The O’Colly TV studios is the headquarters of broadcast production at Oklahoma State. Located on the third floor of the Paul Miller Journalism building, students can learn the ins and outs of TV production and the elements that are required. At first it may seem like a lot, but the more you break it down the easier it is to understand. This first-hand look will help explain the whole process and give people a feel for production. The first thing you see when you walk in is cameras, back drops, and lights. You can also hear a difference with the sound absorbing walls that surround the studio. There are wires and cables that seem to go in all different directions. Everything in the room has its own special purpose and contributes to the overall production. Before I go into detail, here is some brief historical background on the Studio. Student News Director Ryan Carns said, “They built the studio with the building, but they didn’t use it very often. They only started using it about five or six years ago when they started the shows.”

To start off with the main floor of the studio. One of the first things you see when you walk in the room is the backdrop panels. These are what the audience sees in the background during the live shows. There are two sets totaling to six individual panels. They are blue and connect to create the image of Edmond Low library. There is one set on each side of the room. This way we can operate two news desks at once if needed. This brings me to the next thing you will usually see in the studio, the news desks. Along with the panels there are two desks set up on opposite sides of the room. The desk furthest from the front door has a set of XLR microphones attached as well as an audio mixer. This is where you can control the master settings on the mics like sound level and balance. The news desk is where the anchors are seated, and this is also what the viewers at home will see in the live shot. The desks are wooden and have a glass finish on top. The desks are big enough to sit two or three anchors depending on how many are needed. Though Ryan says typically there are two news anchors for most live shows.

Moving on to probably the most important item in studio production, cameras. There is a three-camera set up in the studio. This allows for two tight shots, (which are just close shots) and a wide shot. They can rotate 360 degrees and the camera stand has wheels on it, so they are maneuverable. This is so we can utilize both news desks and the greenscreen which is just a portion of the wall on the right side of the room that is painted green that can have graphics inserted. The cameras are manned by cameramen whose primary job is to make sure everything is in frame. Cameramen also focus and check the Iris of the camera but that is an explanation for another essay. The cameramen also use hand signals to communicate to the news anchors during the live shows.

The next thing you will notice when you first walk into the studio is directly above you. What appears to be a jungle gym of cables and cords is the lighting set up. All the light panels are attached to a track system that allows the crew to position them wherever they are needed. These panels are square, and they produce a bunch of light. Some even compare it to a miniature version of the sun. Lighting on set is very important. It may seem like a simple task, but a lot more thought goes into this process then one might think. You must compensate for the contrast and brightness of the light as well as shadows, which is the most difficult thing. Typically, the lights stay in the same place, so it is one less thing the crew has to worry about when setting up for the shows. The other cables strung across the top are primarily just power cables. At first glance they look like snakes hanging from a tree, but not to fear their purpose is to keep the equipment plugged in and powered up.

Ryan gave me some more insight on what the studio is and what they produce. He said they use the studio to stream the live news casts every Friday at five, he also said it is used to record podcast and even weather forecasts. These are just a few examples of the types of shows produced in the studio with the equipment mentioned before. Ryan also gave a base rundown of the equipment in the control room used and said, “most of it is just a typical setup you would see in a real newsroom, like a switcher, graphics machines and prompters.” He compared most of the equipment to news studios in the real world considering the purpose of the O’Colly studio is to prepare students for this type of environment.

Now that everything in the main part of the studio has been introduced, let’s move on to what goes on upstairs in the control room. Think of this as the brain of the whole operation. This is where all the producers work during the live shows. Ryan said, “typically we have a technical director, graphics operator, playback operator, and a prompter.” Everything the audience sees on screen is controlled in this room. The first thing you’ll see when you walk in is a bunch of monitors against the wall. These display all three camera shots, graphics, playback footage, teleprompter, and the live shot If there is one. This is the centralized location for all the footage either being live streamed or recorded. Everything that is being captured is controlled here. The main producer is the head honcho in the room. He or she uses a switcher which is pretty much just a giant button display used to control cameras, graphics, transitions, etc. The news director is not alone in this room, a crewmember stands by for graphics, playback, and teleprompter. Graphics are just the little name tags or images you see on screen during the broadcast. For example, when the news anchors introduce themselves, a small name plate with their full name and occasionally a social media handle will appear in the bottom corner of the screen. All graphics are pre downloaded on a computer before the stream starts and are then uploaded directly to the switcher for use. This same concept is used for playback. This is anything from packages (which are just prerecorded news stories), to B-roll (which is just extra footage of the subject being discussed). A crewmember uploads the footage to the computer before going live, and then inserts the footage when directed to do so. The other important job this person is tasked with is countdown. The playback operator is able it sees the time length of each video and it is their job to remind others of the time, so everyone stays on task. Then there is the teleprompter operator. The teleprompter is a special kind of one-sided glass that is situated on the front of the cameras that reflects the image of the written script for the news anchors to read. There is a monitor attached beneath that is producing this image. The teleprompter operator is tasked with controlling the speed of how fast the teleprompter scrolls. He or she is given a control box with a purple knob on it that controls the speed. The last thing that is a part of the control room is below. The audio room, which houses audio mixers and microphones. This is where all master audio is controlled and is always crewed by an audio engineer.

The O’Colly TV studio offers a lot of great experience for those interested in learning tv and news production. It is set up just like a real studio and has a functioning crew that students can be a part of. Experience is probably the most important thing when trying to find a job after graduation and this is the perfect opportunity. I hope this inside look at the studio inspires media students to become a part of the O’Colly crew.