How to Brief a Vision Mixer Before a Live Stage Show

A vision mixer works from a running order, so the order needs to be specific. Acts, approximate times, changeovers and any scripted moments should be listed in sequence, with the person responsible for each. If a presenter introduces each act, say so. If there is a surprise guest, tell the mixer, even if the audience is not told.

Where the running order is likely to change, mark the fixed points and the flexible ones. Mixers cope well with a late start or a shortened set when they know which parts are movable. They cope badly when a plan that looked firm on paper dissolves on the night without warning.

Include the names of performers or speakers where you can, and a note on who is likely to move around the stage. Camera operators follow people, and a pianist who stays put is a very different shot from a singer who walks the length of the platform. A single page, sent a few days ahead, is plenty.

Camera positions are the part of a live video operation that is hardest to change once the audience is in. Walk the venue with the camera lead before the day if you can, and agree where each operator will stand, what each camera is for, and which sightlines must stay clear. A camera behind a lighting stand or a speaker stack is a camera that gives you half a shot.

We usually assign a clear job to each position: a wide that never leaves the stage, a roaming shot for close-ups, a locked-off position on the front of house for reference. When every operator knows their job, the director can call shots in short, quiet phrases instead of long explanations.

Check also where the cabling will run. Cables across a public walkway need covers and a marshal, and cables that cross a power run can pick up interference. These are small details that cost minutes on the day, and they are cheap to solve on a site visit.

Replay handling is easy to forget in planning and difficult to improvise. If you want key moments repeated on screen, such as a goal at a charity match or a finale at a festival, tell the team in advance which moments, how long the clips should run and where they sit in the programme. The replay operator needs time to log and cue a clip, and that time must exist somewhere in the schedule.

Graphics deserve the same attention. Names, captions, sponsor credits and any scrolling text should arrive as a final list, spelt correctly, well before the show. A misspelt name on a large screen is noticed instantly and cannot be quietly fixed.

Agree who approves each graphic and who has the final say if two people disagree on the night. One named decision-maker keeps the vision mixer free to concentrate on the picture rather than on a debate behind them.

A rehearsal is the only point at which the whole chain can be tested with real people moving on the real stage. Use it to check that every camera arrives at the mixer, that the output reaches each destination in the right format, and that the backup path actually switches over when the main one is interrupted. Pulling a cable on purpose, with everyone watching, tells you far more than reading a diagram.

Ask the mixer to run a short section of the show start to finish, including a change of act. Watch for lag between picture and sound, for colour differences between cameras, and for any delay that makes the director's calls arrive late. Small mismatches found at rehearsal are fixed in minutes. The same mismatches found during the first song are fixed in front of an audience.

Keep notes of what was changed, and share them with the whole crew before doors open.