Akpe Experience Podcast

My calls

• The job of this episode is attendance. It airs 48 to 72 hours out, so every segment should produce a clip that sells the night. Build the run of show around clip moments, not around covering everything.
• Shoot at 1080p25, shutter 1/50. Ghana runs on 50 Hz mains, so this kills LED flicker, and it matches the switcher so nothing gets frame-converted.
• Stream at 6 Mb/s. It sits above YouTube's 5 Mb/s floor for 1080p and at the top of Facebook's 3 to 6 Mb/s range for 1080p30, so one feed works on both. In Accra, a steady 6 beats a shaky 14.
• One encoder, one upload, Restream splits it. The ATEM streams once to Restream, Restream sends it to YouTube and Facebook. Streaming twice from the venue doubles the upload you need.
• Lean gets you most of the look. If you upgrade one thing from Lean, upgrade the key lights. Faces sell a panel; a fifth camera doesn't.
• Borrow before you rent. Church PA mics, a TV for multiview, a UPS and a laptop are usually in the building. Tick "have it" on the Kit tab and the budget drops.

Decisions only you can make

Light

Director's cutting rules

• Open and close on Cam 1. Come back to it every 45 to 60 seconds, and any time two people talk over each other.
• Cut to whoever is speaking within about a second. Hold every shot at least 3 seconds.
• Never cut to a camera that is reframing. Operators say "2 clear" or "3 clear" on intercom when steady.
• Lower third on each guest's first words, and once more after the mid-roll for late joiners.
• Reaction shots are seasoning: a laugh or a nod, then straight back to the speaker.
• Cuts for conversation. A 12-frame mix only between segments.

Set rules

• Same-height chairs that sit people upright. No swivel or rocking chairs: they squeak and drift out of frame.
• A rug under the arc. It frames the set and soaks up echo.
• Mark every chair leg with tape after the rehearsal.
• Black out windows. Daylight changes colour across a 60-minute show.

Question bank

Clip moments to engineer

• The name. Ask what "Akpe" means to them personally. A 30-second answer is a ready-made clip.
• The first-timer pitch. "Someone has never been. Tell them in one sentence why they should come."
• A story. One panelist tells the moment from a past edition they still think about. Stories outperform opinions on every platform.
• Rapid fire. One-word answers cut into a 20-second montage.
• The close. Host looks into Cam 1 and gives date, venue and how to register. This becomes your "tomorrow" post.

The stream op logs each moment's clock time in a shared note as it happens, so the editor starts cutting the second you're off air.

Floor manager time cards

Intercom: the 5-headset Comica set covers director, two camera ops, audio and floor manager.