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A well-designed stage is essential for any broadcast. Whether it’s live production like newscasts or recorded ones like talk shows or sitcoms, having a proper and well thought out set design using the right studio equipment, establishes a broadcast production’s quality and success. If you’re new in the business, here are the key elements of a good studio production design to keep in mind. 

Lighting

Lighting is indispensable for any production. Hiring the right gaffer, or person in charge of lighting for the whole production is crucial for any business. Lighting can have adverse effects during production if it isn’t done properly. The gaffer should make sure that there are no glares, excess shadows, unbalanced and inadequate lighting when preparing for the set; otherwise, the footage would be useless, and time will be wasted for reshoots. In the broadcast business, time is essential.

Before a live production, technical rehearsals are always done to ensure that the proper lighting is used. There are several studio equipments for lighting available in the market today, with specific uses for each. For starters, 3 point lighting is a rule of thumb. It consists of a key light, fill light and backlighting. Lights are positioned in a way that mimics a triangle. This way, it minimizes shadows, emphasizing the subject being captured. Having this basic lighting system is a standard of all production designs to follow. 

Multiple lighting techniques are used depending on what kind of production is taking place. For live productions, lights are usually fixed at a specific place. As for recorded ones like variety shows, several overhead lighting can be used and changed in positions remotely via a device on the technical booth. 

Soundproofing

Apart from lighting, audio is also vital. Any production needs to have a  soundstage designed in a way to capture good audio. The studio should be soundproof,  away from any ambient noises that can be captured when shooting. 

When building a soundstage, part of having a piece of excellent studio equipment are absorption panels installed in the ceilings and walls. This can help in canceling out any echoes that could get caught when recording audio for a production.

Video and audio are recorded separately, so a well recorded and high-quality video is useless if matched with poor audio.

Backdrop

Designing the right backdrop affects how your video will look during production. Often, designs are made digitally for green screen use. However, most sets have built-in or movable backdrops. Depending on what type of production you’re shooting, the backdrop can vary in design and function. 

Often backdrops depict the brand and voice of a production. Serious, hard-hitting programs like straight news often use panels with solid color blocking or gradient. Red is used to depict urgency, and blue for credibility and intelligence, these colors can be seen in backdrops and set designs like for CNN and BBC. Warm color schemes are often seen in morning talk shows- think yellow, orange and gold.

Intricate set designs can be seen for variety shows often with patterns and at times, LED screens are used as a backdrop.

Equipment

Studio equipment is the backbone of studio production designs. Without it, the entirety of the production will not exist. Good studio equipment is a collection of high-quality, well-functioning gears, gadgets, rigging, accessories, and tools to aid in broadcasting production. 

Essentially it would consist of the following:

• Lights

• Routers

• Teleprompters

•  Studio Cameras

• Tripods

• Production Monitors

• Boom Mics/lapel microphones

• Control Panels

Investing in high-quality studio equipment will benefit your production in the long run. If you live in the UAE and are passionate about building your own production company, we can provide the best studio equipment in Dubai to help you get started.