Multi-Camera Technique – Assignment 1
Practical/Aesthetic reasons
What is a multi camera setup?
A multi-camera setup is not distinctively hard to guess because it is in the name "multi" Multi means multiple therefor its multiple camera's. According to Steves-Digicams here are 5 tips to multi cam shooting:
Equipment needed/Roles
Equipment can vary for a multi cam shoot, oftenly you would use several camera's, these camera's can always vary but it is recommended to have the same camera's as the codec is the same and the quality will deem itself the same when it comes to the export. Lighting is an important piece of equipment, lighting can spice up the picture but could also make the picture dull. Audio is key to a superb shoot because if you don't have any audio but amazing clips they would be useless, however a way to get around that is having it scripted so they could redo the audio in studio.
TV News
TV News usually sticks with the same concept, formal attire, camera to the side, camera to the front, and camera prepared in other areas such as the weather person. But mostly it will be focused on the presenter who will give the daily dosage of news.
Live Sports
Elaborating on sports you genuinely don't "need" multiple camera's but it does come in more intriguing and appealing to the audience as you can have a camera dedicated to the entire game, meaning it see's everything usually at the top of the stadium looking down onto the players to catch everything. But another camera will be up close and personal to capture specific moment of the players, say if they scored a goal you will find most athletes will have it replayed up close, this is what I mean by up close.
In sports shooting they consistently use a shot called the safeshot, it is displayed as the first image. The safeshot is a wide angle of the event to catch everything, it can also be used as a backup if the close up shot(second image) has technical problems or didnt catch anything in time. And then the mid shots which stay directly in the middle(third image) and capture everything possible.
Above is the shot that will constantly be used in the event, it will be cut back to mostly after the close up camera has finished its interesting summary of something. Most of the camera's here but as you can see above to the right of the image the white camera is a phantom, it specializes in higher fps shots which you will find is used variously throughout an event. There are roughly 4-5 camera's used in any professional sports event.
TV Studio Sitcom
TV Studio sitcoms are extremely common in this day and age because it can help the audience and live the show up a bit. But how is a studio sitcom a multicam you ask? Typically there will be 2-3 camera's that will consistently be used throughout a scene. If you look at the image below of "friends" you can see a camera to the left and 2 camera's to the right. What's going on in this scene is one camera is focusing on the conversation Chandler and Joey are having. Another camera is focusing on whats going on in the background(To the left when they're celebrating the child's birthday) And finally one camera to the corner that looks overall at the entire scene, displaying the conversation of Joey and chandler but also showing the background. However that is just one tactic of 2. The camera to the far right could be focusing on joey's face to show his emotions. the right camera could be looking at the far left of the scene focusing on Ross. The left camera could be a summary of that left half of the scene without Joey and Chandler in it. Then there would be another camera to the far left showing Chandler's face to show his emotions.
Game Shows
What is a multi camera setup?
A multi-camera setup is not distinctively hard to guess because it is in the name "multi" Multi means multiple therefor its multiple camera's. According to Steves-Digicams here are 5 tips to multi cam shooting:
- Film from only one side. Multiple camera placed on opposite sides of the action will confuse the views. For instance, if you cover a basketball game from two opposite sides of the court, one camera will show that the action is moving from left to right while the other will show the action towards the opposite direction.
- Include a crossing shot to show change in view. If you wish to film from the other side, you must show one shot where the camera crosses this imaginary line. This is a more direct way of orienting the view on the change of view.
- Use a buffer shot to indicate a change of view. Instead of panning, multiple cameras shoot the same action from at least three sides: the left side, right side, and the front or back. The shots are cut and placed one after another to show the view of the scene moving from one side to another.
- Use different shots of the same scene. You can still have different shots even if they are all taken from just one side. Zooming in on different aspects of the action from the same side will provide additional views. Using the same basketball game as an example, one may have a wide shot covering the entire stadium, a medium shot showing the action between the players and another showing the reaction of the audience.
- Film from different sides only to show discontinuity. In some cases, breaking the 180 degree rule is needed to achieve a stronger effect. Some filmmakers take shots showing the left and right side of the same subject to induce a dramatic change in the subject's character or emotion.
Equipment needed/Roles
Equipment can vary for a multi cam shoot, oftenly you would use several camera's, these camera's can always vary but it is recommended to have the same camera's as the codec is the same and the quality will deem itself the same when it comes to the export. Lighting is an important piece of equipment, lighting can spice up the picture but could also make the picture dull. Audio is key to a superb shoot because if you don't have any audio but amazing clips they would be useless, however a way to get around that is having it scripted so they could redo the audio in studio.
TV News
TV News usually sticks with the same concept, formal attire, camera to the side, camera to the front, and camera prepared in other areas such as the weather person. But mostly it will be focused on the presenter who will give the daily dosage of news.
To show that this is how multi cam works the below and above images are two of the different angles they use during a News report, as you can see one directly in front of the woman and one to the side. It can become handy to the audience having the side shot they normally use it to display possible a clip with the framing set to have the presenter at the side.
Live Sports
Elaborating on sports you genuinely don't "need" multiple camera's but it does come in more intriguing and appealing to the audience as you can have a camera dedicated to the entire game, meaning it see's everything usually at the top of the stadium looking down onto the players to catch everything. But another camera will be up close and personal to capture specific moment of the players, say if they scored a goal you will find most athletes will have it replayed up close, this is what I mean by up close.
TV Studio Sitcom
TV Studio sitcoms are extremely common in this day and age because it can help the audience and live the show up a bit. But how is a studio sitcom a multicam you ask? Typically there will be 2-3 camera's that will consistently be used throughout a scene. If you look at the image below of "friends" you can see a camera to the left and 2 camera's to the right. What's going on in this scene is one camera is focusing on the conversation Chandler and Joey are having. Another camera is focusing on whats going on in the background(To the left when they're celebrating the child's birthday) And finally one camera to the corner that looks overall at the entire scene, displaying the conversation of Joey and chandler but also showing the background. However that is just one tactic of 2. The camera to the far right could be focusing on joey's face to show his emotions. the right camera could be looking at the far left of the scene focusing on Ross. The left camera could be a summary of that left half of the scene without Joey and Chandler in it. Then there would be another camera to the far left showing Chandler's face to show his emotions.
Game Shows
Game shows always use multi-cam because no matter what you can't capture all the good content on one camera, well technically you could but it wouldn't be the same.
Celebrity Juice uses roughly 5-7 camera's in each shoot. One focused on the left panel, one the right, one the middle, one overall, one to the far left where a skit is usually performed, one a close up of the skit, and one to the right where a guest appearance is sometimes made.
An interesting thing about Celebrity juice is the introduction, there is technically two introductions, the performance of Keith Lemon's entrance at the beginning where he is at the top with the audience, the logo comes in, he kicks it out the way and the camera pans around him and stays stationary looking focusing on him. There is an intro before hand which you can see in the video below, the first minute is all the camera work you can see.
If you would like to see more information on the camera setup and how many are used during celebrity juice please click here.
Pros/Cons
Pros:
The camera setup to multi-cam
To elaborate more on the actual camera setup, its an arc shape. I have described the uses above of how the camera setupd would be played out but it is always an arc shape. They may be placed differently but there is a line you can go over because it could affect the lighting, or even get caught in one of the camera's shots. The picture below illustrates what I am explaining.
An interesting thing about Celebrity juice is the introduction, there is technically two introductions, the performance of Keith Lemon's entrance at the beginning where he is at the top with the audience, the logo comes in, he kicks it out the way and the camera pans around him and stays stationary looking focusing on him. There is an intro before hand which you can see in the video below, the first minute is all the camera work you can see.
Pros/Cons
Pros:
- Once the content is figured out and the camera's are setup correctly with a scheduele, alongside the working roles performed correctly you could be churning out episodes and good content.
- Using multi-cam can show it all, it can focus on little and big points getting the max amount of coverage.
- Continuity is always kept and keeps the video entertaining.
- Editing can mostly be covered in the production stage which can speed up the production.
- You don't need to have different equipment for different shows unless it depends heavily on something specific.
Cons:
- The cost can be high due to the excessive camera use.
- Lighting has to be controlled carefully and strictly due to different camera's at different angles.
- The timing of all the footage has to be precise and maintained otherwise one little "cock-up" could mess the entire production.
- The creativity can be limited as it progresses through because its the shame shots over and over and it really rely's on the actors and editors to make it appealing.
To elaborate more on the actual camera setup, its an arc shape. I have described the uses above of how the camera setupd would be played out but it is always an arc shape. They may be placed differently but there is a line you can go over because it could affect the lighting, or even get caught in one of the camera's shots. The picture below illustrates what I am explaining.
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