Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-03-20
He's q DoubIe-Duty Tv Director
Fronk SIingIond
Guides q Pair
OF NBC Shows
By Harry Macarthur

A slim young television d.
rector named Frank Slingland
is the only practitioner Of his
trade who sees his name at
tached to two network pro-
grams within the space Of one
hour. Just before 8 o'clock
every Sunday afternoon the
legend Directed by Frank
Slingland" comes up on the
screen along with the other
credits at the conclusion Of
Youth Wants to Know" Just
before 4 o'clock 1t appears
again, this time appended to
American Forum"
What's more the former Of
these is q remote" the broad
cast term for any show done
outside the studio. The half
hour between the close Of
youth Wants to Know" and
the start Of American Forum"
is ample for such travelling as
Mr.. Slingland has to do, how
ever. Youth" is done In the
Caribar Room at the Sheraton
Park Hotel, Forum" down a
couple Of flights of stairs in
the WRC-TV studio.
In addition to doing two
NBC network TV shows with
in 90 minutes Of q Sunday
afternoon, Mr.. Slingland has
another distinction shared
with only q few. He does his
directing on the air and II the
whole thing ever blows up In
his face there won't be much
he can do about 1t.
Both Unreheorsed
Television shows with scripts
are rehearsed and camera an
giles are plotted in advance so
q director has an idea, at least,
where he's going. The director
Of one Of the major dramatic
programs. for instance, plots
his, camera angles and shots
80 carefully In advance that he
doesn't say o word during the
broadcast. His technical d.
rector moves cameras and
switches from one to another
by following a detailed pre-
arranged schedule.
Both Of the shows Mr.. Sling
land directs for Theodore
Crank are something else.
They are unrehearsed oues-
tion-and-answer periods. They
may be and often are dramatic
and it is the directors job to
make them exciting television
IN split seconds. Mr.. Slingland
is not one to moan over the
difficulties Of his task, how
ever.
What we strive for Is tim
ing" he says. That's all we
can do once it's on the air
try to keep the pace lively.
Jay does most Of the real
work"
Jay is Jay Royen. WRC's
public relations director. It
is he who guides the course of
youth Wants to Know" while
it is on the air. from a vantage
point just outside of camera
range. With an ear tuned to
Moderator Steve Mccormick
and the guest being inter-
viewed. he selects the next
questioner. then guides camera
and microphone boom to the
proper spot.
If they don't get there in
time. there isn't much Director
Slingland can do about it.
He's of in what is a cocktail
lounge the six other days of
the week, surrounded by equip
ment and three assistants.
Behind him Is the audio
engineer, whose task is to
maintain a steady voice level
with different people talking
at different distances from the
microphones. On the direc-
tors right is the video en-
gineer. charged with maintain
ing picture quality. On his
left is the technical director,
who pushes the buttons to
translate the directors COM
mands into electronic action.
It usually is q quiet rather
than q hectic procedure. The
director learns what's going on
In the studio only through his
camera monitors and his head
phones. He hears MIR. Royen
say, for instance, Second row,
far left" and knows where the
next question will come from.
He passes the word along to