Another important technique we went over to improve our camera skills was Multi-Cam filming, which is what we were able to try ourselves in this lesson.
Multi-cam Production, or multi-camera, refers to any process of filming where more than one camera is used to record footage. The technique, first used in a Russian historical film called ‘Defence of Sevastopol’, is now more commonly employed in Live TV, to allow the editor or director to cut between cameras at their discretion. Aside from helping speed up the filming of a scene within TV productions, it is also used with live performances and sporting events to get wide coverage. There are multiple cameras that are synced in time and then the different angles can easily be chosen in the software in real-time.
The standard setup for a multi-camera shoot usually consists of 3-4 cameras pointing at the same subject. The central cameras focus on a wide shot, allowing you to see the whole location or set, the outer cameras are used for close-ups on the subject, capturing the details of the action. However, multi-cameras can be operated in many different setups, depending on both the subject and the director. The director brings the many departments and people working on set together, and the multi-cam director does the same with everyone in charge of filming. This involves making final decisions and organising projects, from start to finish.
There is also a set etiquette which everyone is required to be aware of and follow, which we had to consequently learn before being allowed to start filming with the multi-cam technique. Firstly, the directors and producers are the bosses on set, and should be treated as such, no matter how friendly they may act or how casually they prefer the team to work. Employees that work around the main filming area and preferably the majority of the others in the team should dress in dark, plain clothing to avoid distracting the actors and crew, appearing in shots and causing bounce lighting on set. These next ones are basic manners and can be guessed forthwith; don’t talk or move unnecessarily during a take, do not touch what you are not responsible for or willing to pay for and always be respectful on set.
Some of these, we strictly followed, but others were out of our control, such as the requirement to wear dark plain clothing, which we didn’t know about beforehand. This wasn’t an issue thankfully, since nobody walked about in front of the cameras whilst they were shooting (except for marking) and nobody wore anything too flashy or neon for example. I was lucky enough to be chosen as director first and had to make my voice clearly heard whilst saying these commands/following this order:
Director / AD: Quiet on Set, Roll Sound
Sound: Speed / Speeding / Rolling
D / AD: Roll Camera
Camera OP: Speed / Speeding / Rolling
D / AD: Mark it / Slate it – The clapper board
D / AD: ACTION!
D / AD: CUT!
This was the communication between the director and various departments on the set, which I had to organise. I was tasked with giving specific roles to people, such as who would be the marker and choosing how to set up the cameras and subjects. This was very enjoyable for me since I had a strong opinion on how things needed to look in order to be perfect and everyone had to follow my instructions to make it happen. It was the one time I was allowed to be bossy and I really liked how it felt! Being director, however, also meant that I had to take responsibility for anything that didn’t go right, such as the lighting or the angles, which we didn’t have a lot of time to adjust (we had to get rolling and give other people a turn at different roles). So I directed the actors and camera ops to the best of my ability (making sure they knew their lines, they were in position and the cameras were each on a different person, or on both) and yelled out the words above, starting with “quiet on set”. Things quickly stepped into action after that and the interview between the two subjects passed without any problems. I do regret not doing enough with the cameras – there was no movement involved at all. This is because I usually move the cameras to get a different angle, but they were already set up so that all desired angles were being shot and were available to pick and choose from to edit later.
Above is a shot from one of the camera’s footage (middle cam) of the interview which I was directing. I tried to get the subjects closer to one another, but they weren’t happy with this, so I had to work around it and zoom out with the camera since I was prioritising student comfort. Even with just a group of around 20 people, it was sometimes difficult to organise everyone. Not in terms of them doing the right or wrong thing, but rather, everything being cohesive and efficient. In particular, the camera departments should have communicated with each other as well as me, but this wasn’t the case, so I had to go around each group a couple of times and change certain things or ask them to specify on one person etc. They were a good team though, and I think we had too many people and not enough roles or time.
Time always seems to be a problem with our camera skills lessons, since filming requires a lot of planning and preparation – technical as well as theoretical. The director oversees it all, from start to finish and is the ‘head’ of the project, which comes with greater benefits but also greater risks and drawbacks. I really loved the feeling of being able to create something how I wanted it in a large group of people since there are usually compromises and we end up settling on a middle ground that everyone can accept. In this case, the director and producer is boss, although we didn’t have a clear production team either. A big drawback is the pressure of final decisions. Sometimes, one of the camera ops would ask me a question that I wasn’t exactly sure how to answer, and it took having to go over, check for myself, see, change and then decide to actually reach a conclusion. This wasn’t great, since we were on a time limit and it also kept me away from the other two groups, which could have also had questions, but no way to check whilst I was busy. A director definitely needs a dedicated organisational team to help with things like this, which is a role that I believe I would like, being an organised person myself.