Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The other side of high definition TV

tv.jpgI've just returned from being a remote guest on a TV show. This is something I've done a few times in the past, but not since HD TV and things have changed...

The studio was all flat screen monitors and blue (or green) chroma-key backgrounds (I wore a light blue shirt that looked semi-transparent at first, so they had to change the background).

What amazed me was the care taken with the makeup for high definition. My face was thoroughly brushed with gunk, eyes lightened, even something on the lips! Then the makeup artist trimmed my ear and nose hair as, she explained, these show up on high definition camera and look distracting.

The other new technology, at least to me, was the tiny earphone which was wireless and is inserted completely into your ear. The lapel microphone was still wired and run under my shirt.

Talking back to the barrel of a big camera in response to disembodied questions in your ear is still a bit of a challenge, but I think it went OK.

If it turns up on line I'll post a link tomorrow.

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