Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

From Aaron in Bay Village: Q: Are you the only director or are there others? A: Because of the huge amount of newscasts and other local production we do 7 days a week, we have a staff of 4 Directors plus our Production Manager, Al who also helps us direct. Mark directs the morning news & Good Company; Al does the 11 AM, many of the 6 PM News and a lot of our sports productions; I cover the rest of the 6 PM, plus 7 & 11 PM news on Channel 3 & the 10 PM Akron Canton News; & Eric and Matt direct the weekend morning and evenings shows on Channel 3 and most of 6:30 PM Akron Newscasts during the week.

It's 5:50 PM, about 8 minutes to air. This is when the fun really begins. To my immediate left sits the technical director, Jim - he's the guy that switches all the video elements you see on TV. To the right is Leigh, my producer who has worked tirelessly all day putting the show together. On her right side (in a separate booth) is Bruce, our audio man who is responsible for everything you hear on the air. Behind me on the 2nd level is where the graphics operators used to be until new techology recently allowed the Director to also run the graphics system during the show using computer screens placed strategically in front of me. In the studio with Tim, Romona, Mark and Jimmy is Brian, my Floor Director. He's the guy you often see on wideshots standing next to the cameras, listening to me on a headset and guiding the anchors to the proper camera for each story. He's the one I can yell at if Tim is looking at Camera 12 when he should be looking over at Camera 11. Brian w...

With High Definition, there are number of different types of televisions you can buy depending on what quality you expect and the price you are willing to pay. Prices vary greatly by store and continue to fall as consumer demand increases. CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) These are the direct-view TVs whos technology has been around for years consisting of one large CRT tube coated on the front with phosphors. In addition, the rear-projection model of the CRT TV use three tubes - one each for red, blue & green. THE PROS: The CRT offers the best black level and contrast of all video technologies. It's got a clean look and no frills approach. And the rear-projection CRT TV's are a real bargain right now. THE CONS: In general, the rear-projection CRT TVs are not very bright, so you need to place the TV in a darker environment to get the best picture quality. If are you aren't looking "head on" to the TV, the picture becomes quality gets bad. Plus the three tubes need to be...

From: Darlene in Brunswick Q: Does the weathercaster really have the weather maps behind them? A: No, the Weather maps are electronically placed behind the weather talent through a process we call a chromakey. It's basically a green wall that talents stands in front of. The production switcher in the control room replaces everything in the picture that is green with the weather maps. The talent only see their maps by looking at the TV monitors off to their side and in front on them on the camera. If Mark, Betsy, Hollie or AJ were to wear green clothing, you'd see the maps over top them.

I've often been asked by my friends outside of the broadcast world what a Director does - and I simply say I "direct." That always seems to conjure up the image of the guy on the bandstand with his baton. It's kinda like that. The Director is the pilot of the broadcasting ship during any production, whether it is a newscast or one of the many other local shows we do from our building. The Director is responsible for taking the ideas of the show's Producer and turning them into a visual presentation which you see on the air. For me, this process begins at 3 pm each weekday when I arrive at the station. The first item of the day is usually to get some sugar into my system. This keeps me pumped up and ready to tackle the day after a quick stop by the snack machine to grab some chocolate. Thank goodness for Kit Kats. Afterwards, I head into the newsroom, sit down at my desk, log in to my computer and take a quick look at the show rundown to begin formulating ideas in ...

Let's take a quick look at the main differences between analog, digital and high definition. ANALOG TV: An analog signal or SDTV (Standard Definition TV) is what you have been receiving since TV first went on the air. These types of television sets decode their pictures by using a signal received from a TV transmitter with varying signal voltage and radio frequencies. This format, known as NTSC (National Television System Committee) became the color TV standard in 1953 after the transition from black and white. SDTV has 525 lines of information for every single frame of video. In one second, almost 30 frames of video are broadcast to give your eyes the perception of a continuously moving picture. DIGITAL TV: Digital television (DTV) is fast replacing analog TV which enables us to offer viewers a movie-quality picture and sound using digital modulation data. These are digitally compressed bits of information that require decoding by a specially designed television set or a standard ...

From: Brian in Medina Q: Which newscasts are broadcast in High Definition on Channel 3? A: All of our newscasts are in HD including: Channel 3 News Today from 5 - 7 AM Channel 3 News Midday from 11 - 11:30 AM Channel 3 News from 6 - 6:30 PM Channel 3 News from 7 - 7:30 PM Channel 3 News from 11 - 11:35 PM