THROUGH THE TV TUBE

[Music] so the florida institute for continuing university studies presents through the tv tube teaching by educational television [Music] during our last lesson we talked about visualizing and we saw how the teacher the artist and the director work together in visualizing a program today let's turn our attention to the actual presentation of the television program we're going to consider some of the basic techniques that you as a studio teacher must use we're going to consider some do's and don'ts of studio teaching and we're going to consider rehearsal and preparation to take advantage of her experience i've asked our representative tv teacher mrs gray to take this part and tell us about these points nikki thank you bill that's really quite an assignment and it's one that i'm sure that every person who has had any experience at all with television teaching would have certain ideas about the area we're going to talk about we might call studio technique but the emphasis should be on the individual on the teacher on the person doing the job for what we're going to discuss today is your responsibility you do have a team relationship with other people but in this particular area it depends upon you on your work on your motivation on how you improve in these various areas in other words this is your personal individual concern things that you must recognize when you are teaching on television first let's start with something called studio presence and for this let's go back to the points or characteristics we talked about in our first lesson the first point warmth what is warmth it's the feeling that you project about what you're doing it's the interest you have in and the knowledge you have of your subject and of course this isn't always simple on a cold morning in a big studio and then enthusiasm the quality that makes the difference between a dull boring presentation no matter how excellent the material is and a live vital stimulating presentation sincerity you believe what you're saying and you think it's important you must reflect this in your manner your voice and your entire attitude appearance neat well groomed conservative all problems about appearance solved before you go before the camera and then you will develop ease that will let you forget your appearance all these characteristics help you develop poise poise is the ability to carry on no matter what happens no matter what is out of order or what strange event occurs this poise will help you reflect confidence but not conceit now it's all very well for someone to tell you that all you have to do to teach on television is go before the camera and teach as you did in the classroom this just is not true if you will remember that you are one member of a team a team that is helping you to produce and present to the very best of their ability a portion of a lesson on a certain subject this will give you a feeling of relaxation and relaxing is extremely important you might not be able to do this in the beginning but once you develop confidence in your team then you will feel the relaxation this is a very important idea and then your powers of concentration will certainly get a workout you'll have plenty of chance to use your powers of concentration as you learn for example to change cameras and then to get ready to cross to use a visual the reason you change cameras is so you can have an orienting shop a shot that will show people where you're going and what you're going to do then as you come into your visual a map here you take the pointer move in closely to use the visual well then a second camera will take a close-up shot while you talk for example here about the states of the south south carolina north carolina virginia having made your point you carefully returned the pointer to its position and then when you finished your points you find yourself back on camera again then you cross back to the place from which you started and while doing this of course it's quite possible that you've received a time cue you make a mental note of the time the place you are in as far as your lesson is concerned perhaps the page you're on in your script and all this time you continue to talk very pleasantly and very animatedly about your subject in american history for example the westward movement now directions in the studio studio directions such as time cues camera changes cues from the floor all differ from one studio to another i think there's one very good reason for this because none of us have the absolute answer yet this is a new medium still and we're all still experimenting and another thing is that television makes the most of something called creativity i doubt very much if there ever be rules written down one through ten that we can follow completely and so these directions differ from one studio to the other but the point that we're making here today is you must recognize the fact that there are such things they're your responsibility you learn how to do them how to do them the way your studio wants you to and then you do it correctly remember in our first lesson we talked about the importance of being yourself not playing a part this too takes extra effort on your part this takes extra work because there's a lot of equipment between you and the viewer and so you will have to exert a little extra effort you'll have to be a more forceful you a more intense you more concentrated one person described it this way you have to be a revved up high octane cooking with all burners version of yourself then you will make the kind of impression that you need to make you can't just sit back and say the words you do have to work at it but you will have help and your best friend will be the camera you couldn't get along without it there's no doubt about that and now you might easily ask this question what is a good approach to that camera how do you work with a camera try thinking of the camera as a person a specific person one of your students or a friend to whom you're explaining an idea use that camera as you have been accustomed to using a student in the classroom talk to and with the camera not at it and you'll find that you can be more natural and conversational in your approach this of course will take time this too will take practice and it's something you will develop with your own personality here let's demonstrate how not to do it rather than trying to show you a standard to meet let's ask someone to show us a demonstration that emphasizes how not to do it bill would you try this for us ladies and gentlemen i am professor wingnut your teacher for this course i want all you students out there to get ready to take notes now on everything that i say and don't miss a single word i wish i could be with you in person but since we've got all this television apparatus between us we'll just have to do the best we can on all of this we'll try hard to do our best he's pretty bad isn't he and he's not someone to whom you would want to be very close in the cartoon notice the emphasis just think now he can reach thousands remember that anything comes over the camera the very best you can do will go over and also the very poorest you can do and there's one thing we in educational television certainly do not want to do we don't want to be guilty of something called multiple mediocrity this we must also think about now there's another approach that could be taken a different approach and let's try it this time for example in american history and talking about the westward movement we could stress at first the dates all history teachers seem to like dates that's because there's something to hang their hats on and we could talk about that frontier line moving from the east to the west in the years 1790 1820 and 1850 and then we could go ahead and talk about some of the people some of those exciting americans who went west people like jim bowie people like daniel boone going into kentucky the gold miners called the 49ers who were headed for california and gold but have you ever thought that the movement to the west might be characterized as an adventure of the spirit one man has a man named mr a.b guthrie and he won a pulitzer prize novel for expressing his thoughts on the subject his book the way west and this is what he had to say we americans today are captivated by sheer adventure we are caught up in admiration of those courageous men and women but he says that the greatest value of the west is space the specialty of space for man still wants room to swing his elbows and his mind now of course that makes us think today of the frontier of space in the 20th century maybe this is why americans today are so interested in space in space travel in getting to the moon maybe we still want room to swing our elbows and our mind did you notice that while i was making that point i was looking right at you a personal conversational approach works very well when you're talking this way and this eye contact we've been talking about is very important but it's also something that can easily be misunderstood you do not use your eyes by looking at the lens in the camera in a very hypnotic way until you almost hypnotize the viewers and your eyes almost go out of focus that doesn't do at all but you must not look above the lens or off to one side and continue talking or off to the other side and above all when you are expecting a visual please don't lead your viewers into the visual by darting a glance up just before it's to come up every time this is very distracting that's the word that covers eye contact don't do things that would be distracting to your viewers when you're looking at the camera look at the lens but this doesn't mean you have to stare at the camera all the time you may drop your eyes to your notes as i do to the visual to which you're going as i did when i went to the map do it just as if you were talking to a person easily don't make a thing of it it's ridiculous to approach it that way this is a very good place by the way to make the statement that my actions and words are certainly not meant to be a standard for anyone all we're trying to do is demonstrate something that we have learned from experience you will develop your own natural approach but again you cannot forget something called studio technique and now let's summarize the points that we've made up to this time in studio technique something called studio presence is very important this is the ease and poise you will develop as you work in the studio and you will develop it just as you have developed ease in your teaching the key word here is relaxation studio routine will include how to take camera changes time cues cues from the floor director and so on and although these will differ from one studio to another they will still always be a part of the routine you must let your personality come over the tube this means effort and work on your part but it will pay off you must be more intense your efforts will be more concentrated you work at it approach the camera as a person talk to and with the camera not add it then as you and the camera work together remember the importance of that eye contact and be sure to use it effectively now in the next part of our lesson we're going to talk about things that come in pairs the first pair the first two that go together pacing and timing what do we mean about pacing we mean the pacing that you have written into your script that you have written into your lesson the high points the climaxes that you have already planned you may have one you may have three in a given lesson that's up to you then in considering the pacing the most invaluable person here will be your producer director he will help you with the right type of camera shots with the music behind it with selection of visuals and sometimes elimination of visuals and he will work with you to reach this high point now this is something you may not have experienced and something that i think it's only fair to show you so let's demonstrate this let's take what everyone considers a very exciting part of american history the story of the alamo the story of texas you can go along and tell the story of the battle of the alamo and mention the people you can tell the details of the battle and then you can say that you're very fortunate in having a reproduction here of the buoy knife and you can show the buoy knife on camera and you can also go ahead and give the information the jim boy used this first to kill three men who were out to kill him and this can be the end of your particular talk or you can do it another way you can start in with the story of the alamo talking about the details and you can talk about the details of the battle and then you can build on that spirit that western spirit that spirit that is shown in texas where you can still swing your elbows and your mind [Music] the battle cry was remember the alamo symbolic of the spirit of those who were pushing westward the men beyond the mountains who were on their way to the far west men like davy crockett that tennessean who knew what freedom was knew and wanted to keep it for himself and for others who was willing to fight for freedom and he did this in the battle of the alamo it was a battle of certain death and the men who stayed when lieutenant travis sent his message for help these men knew that their fate would be to fight and die for their cause the fighting was frontier fighting hard tough fierce hand-to-hand combat fighting between the americans about 200 of them and the trained expert mexicans with santa ana his troops numbered around 3 000 and the odds were impossible but the americans were fighting for something they couldn't put into words something that meant more than life itself remember the alamo the place and the men lieutenant colonel william travis commanding officer sending message after message for help that did not come and the men the men who gave their lives in that battle davy crockett jim bowie symbolic of that western spirit another symbol of that same spirit the famous buoy knife used by jim to kill three men who were out to kill him hundreds of knives were patterned after it and every well-equipped gentleman carried one since it was a superior combination of a hunting and fighting knife it became the most popular weapon of the american frontier in the history of american arms it takes its place with the kentucky rifle and the colt revolver this then was texas a state in the union as well as a state of mind pacing led to the high point here obviously it was the knife in this case of reproduction in other cases an artifact from history the director the talent the audio man and certainly the members of the crew all had to have precise and exact timing and then they paste to the climax this is very important and something that you have to be very much aware of when you're teaching on television time of course is something that sometimes people are afraid of but this is not a bit necessary for timing works as a discipline and timing can be a very useful aid to you while you're teaching because you have your content you have your points and you have your outline and then you have a segment of time and so you come right down the line on time and out and this is a very good discipline because then you don't wander off the subject digress talk about things that have no connection with the subject whatsoever you will develop a built-in time clock and this sense of timing will come with practice now let's consider two other items two other items that go together movement and gestures do you have to think about movement on television course you do because everything you do is right in front of that camera let me demonstrate quickly what we mean by this if i were to sit like this at ease relaxed talk to you about the cowboys and the miners of the west continue to talk in this tone of voice maybe slumping a little more as i talked soon i would put you to sleep the crew to sleep and myself to sleep but if i sit up try to reflect animation show the interest that i must have in my subject use facial expressions where they're appropriate smile when it's suitable and not grin all the time at you then i will show in my movements i will reflect in my movements the attitude that i myself have toward the material that i'm teaching and this is necessary now what about gestures here again you have to think before you make a gesture for example if i'm talking about the western movement and those wide open spaces and i gesture right off the camera there's very little that will come over i must use tight short tense control gestures in talking about that frontier line 1790 to 1820 to 1850 if i use a short gesture this will work you cannot shake your finger at the camera like this and you certainly cannot wave and gesture out in this direction if you do this you see what happens distortion so you do have to consider gestures on television and think about them before you use them you don't give them up completely but neither do you do as you would do at a lectern in a large auditorium this won't work and now emphasis on a very important aspect that will be familiar to you something you've done and know a great deal about planning and preparation for your teaching planning and preparation of course is done in any type of a teaching situation but it absolutely must be done on television it is essential beginning with the study guide for your course and the outline for the specific lesson then collecting the materials and doing all the research necessary organizing those points developing the lesson always with television in mind and of course the better planned and prepared this lesson is the more at ease you will be in front of the camera checking those visuals selecting maps and pictures and then eliminating unsuitable ones and this is very important sometimes elimination is just as important as selection substituting changing visuals to suit the content ordering and previewing films choosing just the right film clip and checking to see that that film does what you wanted to do within the lesson and then the final step rechecking to be certain that everything fits rechecking and often reworking and perhaps rewriting a part of the script or lesson for better transition for better pacing for smoothness remembering always that if you aren't certain what you're going to say or what you're going to do that too will come over then into the studio for rehearsal procedures vary here from studio to studio planning and preparation of course may be more detailed but this will all help to give you the ease and poise that is very necessary for you for a good lesson then two other elements two that go together in the area called audio the two elements voice and speech television is composed at least it is for me of two ingredients audio and video often because we actually see the video i think we're more conscious of this and there's great argument going on about which is the most important or which has the most impact some people say it's fifty-fifty some 60 40. i can't answer that question but i know that it should not be 95 video and 5 audio therefore we must think of voice and speech again all i can do is demonstrate some of the things we've learned mine again is not this perfect approach to this but you must use a clear pleasant well-modulated voice and you must think about such things as expression you should not enunciate so distinctly that the viewers are working with you as you put out each word and they're worn out and so are you and they don't hear a thing you say no that's wrong of course but you must eliminate what we call disturbing speech patterns there's certain things you cannot do because they're distracting let's watch for a moment someone who seems to be having a great amount of difficulty in summation then we can say that there are uh four major reasons for the expansion in the west during the period 1790 to 1850. they are land cotton immigrants and and indians indians uh actually though we could say that this isn't a four-part thing it's a two-part thing because the expansion of uh government lands and the expansion of the cotton crop in the south and immigrants coming in from europe uh all those sort of go in the same general category as land now the indians of course were being pushed west of the mississippi but since the indians were freeing up land then i guess then the whole thing then we can make it a one-part summary that land is the whole reason for the expansion of nearing the west during the period 1790 to 1850 or is it he was having trouble there's no doubt about that now his distractions weren't as obvious as the and uh or uh that's overdone but they were just they came over just as hard he just didn't quite know where he was going and you can't let this happen within the area of voice and speech you also have a tool to use pitch and inflection this you do of course with your own voice and this is something we all need to work on and improve let's watch someone struggling with this for example the sun shone brightly down on the island of oahu on that morning in december of 1941 little foretelling the fury of death and destruction blood and agony that was about to be unleashed on the garrison of the united states bases and the crews of the ships of the navy's pacific fleet from the north flying low to avoid the newly installed radar detectors came the first wave of the imperial japanese fleet air force bent on their errand of infamy she had trouble too didn't she she knew every word and went from one word to the other very smoothly but there she was with the improper mood and the improper attitude you just can't talk about dixieland jazz and the causes of world war one in the same voice and here please a warning you can't develop one good voice and use it for everything this won't work you have to change your approach use stress use pausing for emphasis make a point pause pick up your face and go on to the next section these things we all need to work on i've very rarely seen a person who cannot stand for some improvement in the speech and remember when you work here the results will be heard now let's summarize the points we've talked about here the points where we have two together in studio technique the first two points pacing and timing use timing within pacing make them work for you within the lesson the next two movement and gestures think before you move think before your gesture make them short tense controlled movements and they too will work for you and next planning preparation and rehearsal these points cannot be overdone the more time and effort you put here the smoother your own performance will be before the camera and the last voice and speech the two that go to make up the area called audio we've talked of two large areas of studio technique and many points in between maybe too many things what would you pull from these what things can you not do without what are the most important areas the first we might dissolve into a football chair here with a go team go you must be aware of the fact that you are a member of the team and use the team approach this cannot be emphasized enough you are one member of a team the object is to put on the very best presentation of the subject material you're working with you as a member of a team perform one function and you work with the other members engineer director members of the crew artist film director and talent one member of a team the second area the deserves special stress we talked about the audio part it is not all video there is an audio part and then we have these three points that are important for the individual one word called pop planning organization and preparation this is your particular responsibility this has to do with you as an individual only you can plan organize and prepare this lesson correctly this is where you can put your own individual efforts in and they will show results in the area i just mentioned the audio part the reason we mention audio and emphasize it is there might be a tendency to think that tv television is all visual this is not true there are certain ways of emphasizing with the use of audio there's certain ways of creating a background a mood and an attitude and you should be aware of audio and then the final point my favorite one the one we save for last on purpose the word is relax included within the word relax are many things words like stimulation words like fun that word we hear too much of sometimes called challenge there's no doubt about it there is nothing that cannot be done on television or with television what can be accomplished is limitless only it's only limited by your efforts and you can have fun it is creative it's something that you can enjoy and it's something that can be the most stimulating and rewarding experience in education thank you bill i think that does it for now thank you mrs gray for that forceful presentation on studio technique during this lesson then we've talked about some of the basic techniques that we use in the studio we've discussed some do's and don'ts for the studio teacher and we've thought about rehearsal and preparation during our next lesson we're going to see these principles put into action we're going to watch a teacher and a director prepare to produce a studio television [Music] lesson [Music] so [Music] so