One approach to the study of the televised image is through the combination of signs, created through production choices. Just as a linguistic sign does not carry exclusively the thoughts of its author but interposes its own material form (thus affecting reading of the text), so does the production choice (technique) infect the thought of the television writer, producer, director, and viewer. One of the dominant stylistic features within the television picture is its varied treatment of time and space. A given space, as defined through the depth of field of a shot, depends upon several technological conditions, such as the amount of light and the speed of the lens. To complement this treatment, one also has to account for the actual physical distance of object/subject to camera position. This space dictates the staging and blocking of the action. Ultimately, the area in which the "what" and the "how" of the viewer's pictorial experience unfold is determined by a variety of technological conditions that, in turn, both specify the staging, the quality of the lens, and the light level of the scene and define the physical studio space. Every successful technique expressed through the image contains traces of production applications, differences not chosen but within the realm of conventional procedures, pictorial signs, and formulas. Informed production techniques and knowledge of the conditions inherent in production are imperative and indicate a strong demand for a revised television dramaturgy. (HOD)