It’s 6:15pm.
The stage lights are shining. The set is filled with students rushing to and fro, checking microphone volume levels and camera placement. Students who have finished their tasks chat with the nearest classmates, talking about everything and nothing. Producer Caislyn Hummel stands in the midst of controlled chaos, giving feedback from the sound booth and occasionally calling for quiet on set to run through intros.
These students are a part of COMM 371: Studio Production, a course designed to provide hands-on experience producing and directing the student-run TV program Tonight at Olivet.
But there’s a lot that needs to happen before an episode ever hits the stage, and the producer is at the heart of it, keeping the pre-production organized and on track.
The Pre-Production Process
A producer is in charge of many things, such as storyboarding the show or movie, scripting certain scenes that need to happen just right, and reaching out to special guests that appear on the show.
Holding a whiteboard, Rica DeBarba keeps the show on schedule while Reese Dosemagen takes photos in a Tonight at Olivet special segment. The whiteboard allows the production crew to communicate how much time is left in the segment to those onstage. COM 371 Studio Production course. Olivet Nazarene University. Photo by Rebecca Barak. 
Special guest Bianca Valencia is interviewed by Ava Tueck in Tonight at Olivet special segment. Special guests offer an enticing unpredictable element to TV shows. COM 371 Studio Production course. Olivet Nazarene University. Photo by Rebecca Barak.
Storyboarding a show involves planning out to the second how a show will run. This means that a producer needs to know how long the recorded intro is, how long the transition time will be, and then the length of each of the different elements. This gives everyone the ability to know exactly what is going to happen when, and what they specifically are responsible for. For a producer, it also involves determining what to do during each segment, whether it is a game or interview.
Scripts can be written for specific scenes, such as when the host talks directly to the camera. But they aren’t always applicable to a scene, such as where a special guest is present.
The producer is also in charge of reaching out to the guests that appear on the show and ensuring they show up at the right place at the right time. Before the show, they determine who would be a good fit for the episode and stay in contact to make sure they are still planning to attend.
For more regarding a producers’ responsibilities, read Studiobinder’s How to Produce a Movie: The Pre-Production Process Explained.
Caislyn Hummel, Student Producer
Hummel is a junior majoring in Multimedia Communication with a double concentration in Television/Video Production and Audio/Broadcasting. She acts as both producer and floor director, the latter of which she describes as the link between the backroom and the floor.
“I feel very honored to be the producer, because that’s the person figuring out…the backbone of what’s happening in the episode,” Hummel said.
Hummel shares the title of producer with Ava Tueck, another student in the class. They alternate weeks of production in order to get experience in the role, even while collaborating to make the semester’s episodes look coherent. All of which has helped her prepare for the future.
“I’ve always been told that I have leadership characteristics and abilities,” Hummel says, “So being producer has helped me to gain more of that confidence. If something isn’t right, speaking up about it isn’t a bad thing…it’s gonna just make us better.”
It’s now 7 p.m., and the show’s about to begin.
As the set quiets, Hummel counts down to start the show.
Lights. Camera. Action.Lights, Camera, Action
