Shooting with one camera is challenging enough, but filming with multiple cameras can be stressful for even a professional filmmaker. As camera equipment pricing falls and integration becomes easier on editing apps, multi-camera filming is becoming as casual a demand as regular videography.
As a professional videographer, you may have to do a multi-camera shoot at some point, so it’s better to get a head start. The intricacies of multi-camera filming are daunting but nothing you can’t handle with a couple of insider tips.
Top 5 tips for multi-camera film productions
1. Camera placement
The purpose of shooting with multiple cameras is to optimise your coverage of the scene. So it defeats the purpose if you cameras are wandering across the room shooting nothing but confusing footage.
The 180-degree rule is a multi-camera filming technique that ensures that all the cameras are filming from a singular direction. Crossing the 180-degree line means that the footage from either side won’t work well together. If the audience can’t get a good sense of angles from the footage, what’s the point of multi-camera filming?
2. Scout the location
Visit the location of the shoot as soon as possible to get an understanding of the angles, so you can decide your camera placements. You can also meet the technical team to share ideas and overcome any foreseeable challenges that the venue poses.
If you need additional structural requirements or perhaps better lighting, any necessary adjustments can be made well in advance. Just don’t show up at the time of the shoot and compromise on creativity to make up for missing requirements.
3. Aim for consistency
If you’ve ever seen the final product of multi-camera production, you must have noticed that all the footage has a similar resemblance in terms of quality and aesthetics. To maintain this visual consistency, try and use cameras of the same make and model – and similar lenses as well.
If the footage doesn’t match the rest in visual look, try and fix it in post-production to make sure the final video looks unified. Shooting with a ‘LOG’ high dynamic range picture profile will help with colour grading in post-production.
4. Allow time for setting up
When filming with one camera, you’re aware of the time you need to perfectly set up on site. So make time accordingly, while setting up multiple cameras; you don’t want to miss out on any aspect.
Ensure your data cards are formatted, check the camera sensors, and place all your cameras on the same settings. Consider any battery requirements for your cameras so that they don’t give way halfway through the shoot.
5. Have a trial run
Nothing guarantees success like practice. If you have access to the venue before the production, try shooting a trial to make sure everything is working as planned. You can then go over your footage to see if the camera placements can be improved or if the camera lenses should be changed.
After you watch the trial footage you can even make recommendations to the technical team, such as adjustments to lighting or changing prop positions to avoid clashing with the camera locations.
Some of these tips are easier to master than others but you can always learn on the job so that you don’t make the same mistake twice (but better still – practice first).
Multi-camera filming isn’t suitable for every kind of project, so don’t use it just because you have the resources. This technique of filming can add a valuable visual appeal to high-quality productions, however, so it’s a great technique to learn for future career prospects. It’s worth investing some time getting the technical aspects right.
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