But if all TV News was just an anchorman (or woman)reading over pretty pictures it wouldn't be very interesting, now would it?
So let's spice things up a bit with the #99 on my list of Things you didn't want to know about TV News, the Sound Byte.
The Sound Byte, can also be spelled B-I-T-E, and is usually just called a byte. It's called a byte because it's just a portion of an interview with the subject of a news story. The byte can be any length, but 12 seconds is an average for a stand alone SOT that an anchor or reporter pauses to let play on the air.
Another way a byte is referenced is by the Acronym SOT, meaning Sound on Tape. I sometimes wonder how long this will last now that we are shooting on Disc. And SOD would probably be a bit confusing! (But isn't mine Pretty?)
A combination of terminology such as VO/SOT or VO/BYTE(same things) would mean that the anchor or reporter would read while the video was playing on the air and then pause as the director rolls the BYTE(SOT) and then read again at the conclusion of the SOT.
Not that you really needed to know.
Next time-- How SOTS are used to make PKGS.
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