A Tale of Two Productions, Part 2

Public transportation… I love it. Partly due to my roots in a small town, part gas prices, and part Nashville barely has any. So on a recent trip to Chicago to see the sights from the Sears tower, and visit some of my wife’s family in the suburbs, we used the L, city buses, and commuter trains like they were an addiction. One short bus ride from our hotel dropped me a block away from a rather plain warehouse with a huge O in front of it.

I arranged a simple walk through Harpo Studios’ facilities with one of their numerous audio engineers, Gerry Formicola. Gerry has been with Harpo for 18 years. He and his coworkers were Daytime Emmy nominees in 2006 for Outstanding Achievement in Live & Direct to Tape Sound Mixing. Some of you may have enjoyed a consignment item, post Oprah in the past. In addition, Harpo has several ENG kits that have originated here at Trew. They love their Sound Devices 744Ts, Petrol bags, and 302 mixers, amongst their large gear catalog.

As my wife and I entered through a back door, we found a very typical backstage. Our guide pulled us into the main mixing room where a massive Euphonix broadcast mixer centered the room. Hanging high on the wall, above the video monitors was an equally huge rack spanning across the length of the mix room. Of note, Lectrosonics UDR200D’s and Venue systems filled the racks. Gerry explained to me, any person who might talk gets a wireless lav; guests, family members, producers, etc. At times the wireless channels run in the 40’s while stage booms, intro/outro music, media presentations, and audience mics are still in the mix. In addition, every archived show is networked for PC playback. This files are always ready should an older clip need to be pulled. On a typical shoot week, the Monday show is live with the FCC regulated delay, then a taped shoot on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Each day, new guests bring new B roll packages and possible musical instruments that need to be included in the audio path. Microphones range from production lavs to studio mics for every foreseeable kind of on stage talent. A tour of the studio stage showed an XLR patch connector, access panel, or mult box, what seemed like every foot. This includes a rotating center stage with varying step platforms and hidden cable management system. Flexibility is key for Harpo as everyday brings a new challenge. The relatively small size of the studio actually surprised me. The camera angles are precisely calculated to use every non-technical space in view. My wife (who to her credit is very understanding of my technical nerdom) was enamored with the massive lighting grid. Stage crew work for music and drama never would have prepared me for the lighting in this room. I’d venture to say the most experienced grips, electrics, and riggers in the industry would be impressed. In fact the grid was so covered in parcans, scoops, and Fresnels, Harpo had to add steel reinforcements to the roof several years ago to accommodate the lighting grid and the snow of a Chicago winter.

The main focus of our little mini tour took us into a completely technology free control room. A director in this room would feel very lonely as only his or her chair currently remained. Every monitor, switcher, cable, networking file server, and rack in the entire facility was being swapped out for High Definition. So naturally, I was excited. I’m a signal flow junky. In the machine room I observed networking servers, miles of cable and entirely new racks barren of gear but filled with meticulously organized cables. Each new rack was prewired for each carefully planned interface. My wife gasped,”Next time I complain about your studio and gear collection, remind me of this. You don’t have squat.” The machine room was a phoenix rising. Out with the old standard definition gear, patch bays, cables, file servers and the like. Gerry explained it was such as massive job, they started essentially from scratch in the video world. This included a 3-year-old video switcher for the audience video monitors. I asked why they didn’t go HD then? The response was the difference in cost between the switcher in 2004-05 till now paid for the replacement. The February 17, 2009 digital deadline has created these changes for television stations, studios, and networks. Even though the demand is up, the supply chains were happy to accommodate multiple orders, the more units produced, the less each costs.

After buzzing through the studio, Gerry treated us to a delicious lunch at the employee cafeteria. Salmon, smashed potatoes, and grilled asparagus, like craft services in an office building. As lunch was winding down and Gerry shared cycling stories (I am a slow triathlete) with me he was called to duty by someone upstairs. A handshake and a wave, a couple souvenir mugs, and we back on the streets of the windy city. It was a quick step into the life of another part of our industry. From a farm in rural Tennessee to studio in downtown Chicago, my 3rd week in June 2008 was a great eye opener. I hope you’ve found a glimpse into another side of the industry for yourselves.