Although they are something of a dying breed now 'sitcoms' have been one of the mainstays of UK TV almost since it started.
The process was the same throughout the BBC and ITV companies and on to the 'independent' production companies that appeared in the 80's.
Perhaps you'll let me explain the UK 'production method'.
It assumes a TV studio, say with 4 or 5 pedestal mounted video cameras and proper control rooms for production ('The Production Gallery'-Producer, Director, Vision Mixer and 'PA'), sound ('Sound Gallery'-sound mixer and 'grams operator') and vision ('Vision Gallery'- Lighting Director and Lighting Console Operator and a couple of 'racks engineers' tweaking camera exposure etc).
The show is recorded virtually 'as live' infront of a studio audience and every shot is scripted.
You start with that bare script and during the rehearsals the director decides on his camera shots and notates them against the dialogue and action in the script.
So for instance he'll start a scene on a wide 'establishing' shot and then make cut ins to individual mid-shots or close-ups during the dialogue. He may have 4 or more video cameras on the show, but perhaps be using say 3 on any particular scene.
The next step, after the actors have been through say three days of 'rehearsals' is to bring them into the studio and there will might be a day of 'pre-records' during which you tape any 'sets' that can't be placed directly infront of the studio audience or which perhaps present some difficulty for the 'live show'.
Normally however during one long day the director runs through his script with the PA calling the 'shots' and the camera and sound guys (and gals!) getting to rehearse all the shots assigned to them in sequence.
Sound is always handled by 'studio booms'. These will be the big Fisher studio booms and will often have either Neumann U-87, Sennheiser 416 or perhaps an AKG mic on them...depends on the 'house style' and the likes of the 'sound supervisor' (mixer) on the show. Mics are cardiod or short shotguns. Too directional and the boom ops will have trouble with coverage in fact.
Everyone of course is listening on headsets to 'talkback'.
That's the PA calling the shot numbers ('96 on canera 3'), the director adding details ('tighten please camera 3) and occasionally the vision mixer butting in ('lift the boom...coming to camera 4'). The sound boom ops also hear the sound mixer over the top of that ('bit off mic John ...can you get any closer on shot 96').
The booms work very, very tightly to the cuts, reading off the script placed infront of them on a small 'script rack'. So a wide-shot requires the cameramen to keep to a 'known framing' that just avoids the boom, but the moment the cut to the mid-shot occurs...the boom dives down to give a mid-shot coverage. 2 booms may share dialogue where necessary, but the mixer needs to beware of phasing so lines are assigned to separate booms.('boom A..can you take Pauls entry..then I'll go to boom B').
It takes some years of experience with a Fisher boom to get really good at operating so that the final result works seemlessly but it's a system that has resulted in much more natural sound coverage than any 'radio mic' set up will ever achieve.
The sound mixer has an added complication however...he has to mix in the audience laughter to make it 'exciting' but still retain clarity in the dialogue.
He does this by close miking the audience and yes there are small PA speakers aimed at the audience to let them hear the dialogue well. All the audience mics are brought up through an 'overall fader' and that is well and truly 'ridden' by the mixer.
He learns to 'go for a laugh', lifting the audience fader perhaps 20 db from it's resting position and then ducking it again fast to let the next line of dialogue come through.
Compessors and limiters become the mixer 'friends' in keeping the sound tight....ahh those lovely old Neve's!
Post Production...well picture wise it's just a case of joining the takes as obviously there are stops between 'scenes' and dropping in a few 'iso shots' when the cutting can be improved a bit. Sound wise, it's adding any 'missing' sound effects and perhaps music but mainly sorting out any of the audience laughs that got chopped in the edit. The mixer will have recorded some 'clean laughs' for the post that cane be dropped in to cover the edits.
So you need a purpose built TV studio, not a bare 'hangar' and a proper set of control rooms or OB Truck; experienced production, vision and sound staff; the right way to get your mics to work to the 'picture's perspective' (and out of shot) and actor's who know when to let the audience laugh before they continue with their next line!
David Taylor
(I mixed sit-coms once...now I sit at my Fairlight and 'dub'!)
www.postfade.co.uk