Get a grip! - Analyzing a discourse community

If a director said to a camera operator that he didn’t know what kind of shot he wanted for a certain scene or a lighting director couldn’t figure out how to make the lights work with whatever cameras they were using things might get a little out of hand. Anyone in that type of position has to know exactly what they want and how to tell someone, like a camera operator, how to do it. If they don’

t things probably won’t get done the right way. A good lighting director should know that in small rooms where an interview may be taking place with a single camera, a three point lighting set up would be optimal. This kind of set up takes only three lights; a key light, a fill light, and a back light. Even then the job isn’t done. Anyone setting up these lights also has to know what kind of creative atmosphere the director is looking for so he or she knows if they needs to use soft lights, a scoop light, or even colored gels to put on the lights that give a different effect. Usually people working on movies or a television show have a deadline so things must get done in whatever specific way the producers and director want them.

Last, but not least, there is the very important fact that people on sets need unique words and terms to describe things happening or even just equipment on a set. This helps differentiate what they do from the outside world. Hand signals are a great example of the particular ways in which people on a television set communicate. There are many people on a set at one time and also in control rooms away from the set. Every person including the talent need to know how much time they have left or when to stop. Usually there will be someone called a stage manager or assistant director on set. These people are responsible for giving

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