Six Studio Bulletin Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

The first mistake I see in a studio is lighting that looks fine to the people standing in it and poor on screen. A room can feel bright and still produce flat skin tones, hard shadows under the eyes or a background that swallows the presenter. Cameras read contrast differently from us, and the monitor is the only honest judge.

Before anyone sits down, we put a stand-in at the desk and look at each camera feed in turn. We check the face first, then the edge of the shoulders, then how far the backdrop sits from the person. A presenter too close to the wall picks up shadows that no amount of fixing later will remove.

The cure is unglamorous: build the key light, the fill and the separation light in that order, and check each one on the monitor before adding the next. It takes twenty minutes on a set we know and longer on a new one, and it saves a great deal of apology afterwards.

• Judge the picture on the monitor, never by eye
• Keep presenters well away from the backdrop
• Build lights one at a time, key first
• Re-check after anyone moves a chair or screen

Audio is where studios lose the most time, because a bad picture is obvious at once and a bad sound is often noticed only in the edit. Rustling clothing against a lapel microphone, a desk that carries every knock, or a ventilation hum that the ear ignores but the recording keeps: all of these survive into the finished bulletin.

We ask presenters to talk at their natural level for a minute before a take, and we listen on headphones rather than through the gallery speakers. Speakers hide the very faults we are listening for. We also place the microphone clear of jewellery and collars, and we tape the cable so it cannot swing.

A second mistake is trusting a single audio source. Where a bulletin matters, we record a backup track, even a modest one, so a dropped lapel does not mean a lost story. It costs nothing at the time and is worth a great deal on the one day it is needed.

• Listen on headphones, not gallery speakers
• Record a backup audio track on important bulletins
• Secure cables so they cannot knock the desk

Autocue trouble is rarely about the machine. It is usually a script written for the page rather than the voice, with long sentences, stacked clauses and numbers that tangle the tongue. A presenter who is reading carefully looks like it: eyes fixed, head still, delivery a half-beat behind.

We ask for scripts in short, speakable lines, with figures written the way they are said. We also set the scroll speed with the presenter, not for them, and we agree a signal for slowing down or stopping. A presenter who feels in control reads far more naturally than one chasing the text.

Another common mistake is changing the script after the run-through without telling the person reading it. Late edits are normal in news, and we welcome them, but each one should reach the autocue operator and the presenter together, with the changed line marked so nobody discovers it live.

• Write for the voice, in short lines
• Set the scroll speed with the presenter
• Mark late changes so everyone sees them

On the direction side, the usual failure is imprecision. A call such as 'go to the other one' leaves a camera operator guessing, and a guess made live becomes a visible hesitation. Clear, consistent calls, using camera numbers and the same words every time, keep a gallery calm even when a story changes mid-bulletin.

We rehearse the shot list, not only the words. Each camera has a job: a wide for the opening, a tight on the presenter, a cutaway or two-shot for an interview. When the operators know what is expected, they frame without being told and the director can concentrate on timing.

The second trap is cutting too often because the equipment allows it. A presenter speaking to camera usually needs a steady shot, and a change of angle should have a reason, such as a new speaker or a change of subject. Restraint looks more professional than variety.

• Use camera numbers, never vague calls
• Give every camera a clear job in the plan
• Cut only when there is a reason to change

Studio interviews go wrong when the guest is treated as an afterthought. Someone arrives, is clipped with a microphone, sits in a chair that swivels and is asked to begin. Nervous guests then fidget, look at the wrong camera and give shorter answers than they would anywhere else.

We bring guests in early enough to see the set, sit in the actual chair and have a few moments with the interviewer before recording. We tell them where to look, and we ask the presenter to start with an easy, open question. The first minute sets the tone for everything after it.

We also settle the length and the running order in advance. A guest who knows there are four minutes, and what the opening question will be, usually relaxes and answers more fully. That small courtesy improves the clip more than any adjustment to the lights.

• Let guests sit in the chair before recording
• Tell guests which camera to look at
• Open with an easy question

The last mistake is rushing from the final take to delivery without a check. In a busy newsroom the pressure to send is real, but a thirty-second review of the finished file catches wrong captions, a clipped last word or a missing lower third before the audience does.

We run a short checklist on every bulletin: picture, sound levels, names and titles spelt correctly, caption timing, and the file in the format the client asked for. One person who did not direct the recording looks at it, because the director tends to see what was intended rather than what was recorded.

None of this slows a studio down for long. Habits like these become quick with practice, and they are the difference between a bulletin that goes out clean and one that needs a correction an hour later.

• Have someone who did not direct it review the file
• Check names, titles and caption timing
• Confirm the delivery format before sending