Studio size

just a query really, what is the smallest dimentions you could idealy use for a tv studio which requires more than one set

would 65 square foot be big enough for example

If you're doing the Sooty show, yes.



Seriously though, 65 square foot? That would be 7ft wide x 9ft deep.

Do you maybe mean metres?

sorry I meant 65 foot x 65 foot

isn't that 260 square feet or am I as crap at maths as I think I am

I guess that is 65 feet squared rather than 65 square foot.

Just multiply them together. So that's 4225 square feet.

That's a pretty serviceable space for a set. More sets than not are designed to be "struck" (come apart and be moved), so you can get a lot in a space like you've described. You wouldn't necessarily have permanent standing sets in a space so small.

It depends what you mean by 'set' You can have a small down-the-line or contribution studio with changeable backgrounds

thanks for the maths lessons


I just picked a number off the top of my head and got my feet squared confused with my square feet

just curious how small a studio for a soap or drama could go before it gets cramped

STV's Edinburgh Gateway studio was a pretty small space and Take the High Road was made there for years before going through to Glasgow.

The sets were tight up against each other, with space just wide enough for a camera pedestal to slide through between the linoleum of the 'village hall kitchen' and the carpet of the 'lounge in the big house'. The cameras swung into place as required.

I think they were only one episode a week at that point, so they presumably assembled the sets required for that episode the day before taping. When they moved to Glasgow and increased production, I think the more well used sets remained standing.

Most sitcoms and studio drama style stuff at the BBC is done in studios like TC8. These are approximately 8000 square feet - but for sitcoms quite a lot of this space is lost to audience seating.

At TV Centre there is the large TC1 (which is around 10,250 square feet), then there are TC3,4,6,8 which are all approximately 8000 square feet, and then TC2,5,7 which are all around 3,500 square feet.

Whether a studio is large enough will depend on whether you need an audience during recording (useful on sitcom, not usual on drama), how many sets you need, how big each set needs to be, whether you need all the sets during every recording day etc. and how many shows you need to make in a given time. (For long-running shows that run more than once a week you may have to have space to leave popular sets permanently standing, but for short runs you can set and strike)

so 64 feet squared would be ok for say four set at the most

I take it this was very early 80;s? high road was on twice a week from about 1982 - 1991

65x65 is over twice the size of Pres B - which is where Old Grey Whistle Test used to squeeze in a band and three massive tubed cameras

http://www.tvstudiohistory.co.uk/tv%20centre%20history.htm#pres