Lessons

Lesson Info

Camera Placement: Interview Set Up

I want to demonstrate how we would capture a scene. So in terms of the basic blocking map that we showed earlier, which I don't think I can pull up right now. But the basic blocking map that we were talking about is our master to shot comes this way. So we're gonna start here and we would open the scene by showing this master to shot of our two subjects. OK, so let's say they're having a conversation. And there whatever. They're nodding there talking whatever I'm going to tell you. It's like he's nervous there on the first date, and, you know, he's really confident. But you don't you know, you're just trying to get a sense of who they are. So, having conversations were setting up this master shot and we're getting the whole seen from this perspective. So now we have our entire we're doing the entire of seen in dialogue from this perspective. So we have the whole scene. It's already happened. It's already been filmed. Great. Cut it. And now we're gonna change positions. So now we're gon...

na move the camera to what's called the over the shoulder shot. So we're gonna move to overlay shoulder. Okay, right there. And now we're gonna get We're gonna run the entire scene again from this perspective. So now when you're watching a movie, are you watching a television show? This is totally standard operating procedure for most conversation or situations between two people where you start with a master wide or some kind of an establishing shot first and into the master wide. And then you go into the over the shoulders for the cut for the conversation. So what we have here now is we would run the entire scene again and we would get what's called coverage on Drew. So now we're on Drew's coverage. So we're gonna get the whole scene again. All his reactions, all of his dialogue from this perspective element, however many times it takes to get it right. I mean, I think he's a one. He's one. Take wonder. So we're not really worried about that and then cut. Then we repositioned camera again. We come back over, and now we're going to shoot over drew shoulder and get lays coverage. So now we will go through the scene. Ah, third time, and we would do every piece of this again. All all the dialogue, anything that needed to happen. And then we would finish this seen from this perspective. So now we have all of the coverage we need now, is it all the coverage we want? Probably not. So what I want to do now is we're going to go back 21 and we're gonna We're gonna go back toe one, which is which was are two shot. And we may very well do something from this angle at a different a different depth or different closeness. And we would do it all over again and do as much coverage as possible, meaning? I got my master coverage. I feel really good about the scene. But now I want to get tighter shots. I want to maybe go in and get a close up. I want to get an insert shot where I'm getting somebody's hands because, like, maybe she's nervous or something like that. So this is gives my editor all kinds of things toe work with and gives me all kinds of different perspectives to shoot with or or to cut with So and main. There also might be insert shots of the space they're in, there might have been an establishing shot of the outside of wherever structure urine to start this. So now all of these pieces can be assembled. But because we captured the core of what this scene is about, which is the conversation between these two people with the two shot and with the over over we have all of the basics that we need. And now it's just about enhancing it to the point where we have everything we want. So it's about what? What do we need? What we want. So every production is a balance between what you need and what you want. So in order to make the scene to make your day, you have toe have a good crew and a good protocol to make sure that all of those things are gonna happen. But the reality is that we have the basics first, go through the basics and then you add onto that as you go so that whatever your shot list, I think it's set it on their before Waas if you got time, get this shot. If you have time, get that shot So basics of coverage right there, the other thing I want to demonstrate is that one of most important concepts in filmmaking is the concept of the 180 degree line. So you'll notice that while we're with the camera, we are staying on this side. The camera is living on this side of this 180 degree line, meaning we're gonna take our master from this angle. And then when we come over here to get over the shoulder, I'm still I'm still on the right side of the line, demonstrate that they were still on the right side of the line, and then he does a semi circle and comes up behind Les, and he's still on the right side off the line. So the reality is that this is a standard practice and filmmaking. It doesn't mean it is the be all and end all. There are times when you will cross over the line, and there has to be dramatic effect to that. So I was watching a scene the other day where one person is talking to another person, and that other person is clearly being duplicitous. There. There are basically talking out of both sides of their face, so that means that at a certain point we broke the line and came over here, and that was an intentional move on the filmmakers part to demonstrate that that person was duplicitous. They did not do that on the over on the other, over the shoulder with the other person, because this person was being honest. So there's there is the rule, and then there is the reason to break the rule. So the reality that in filmmaking there is always there is always a reason why you do something, and that reason should not be that you didn't know. It should be that you did it intentionally for a reason and may work. It may not work, but that that is part off what that is about. So I was gonna say, What are some of the biggest or most common areas you might see with some camera moves or anything kind of like a status thing, one of the best, like maybe just reverse engineering. It may be some classic faux pas air mistakes or years you might see to just avoid right off the bat. Sure, I think that spacing in the frame is something that get go wrong really easily and that if you're not quite sure of the framing, that's something you should study about and kind of, Ah, lot of our familiarity with the way we frame and move the camera should be from our experience in watching film and watching television. And when something doesn't look right, it's probably because it doesn't you know, you talk a lot about head room. I took a lot about knows room. So, like with within the frame, think of the frame is the box. And you know, clearly there are different frame sizes and different aspect ratios that you need to be pay attention to. So the reality is that in a wider, narrower frame, you're gonna have less headroom, so you have to frame differently or in a box of your frame, you might have less knows room. So you need to make sure that your using that and the other thing is the adherence to the rule of thirds in that that is a typical foot photographic technique and practice that applies in film as well. In that understanding that you know that the parallel, the parallel on the vertical lines and those four points whether you're framing a little right or a little left or dead center. Your rule of thirds always applies. So those of probably the things that you see people do wrong mostly on, and maybe then over, use some of the movements or move the camera too quickly. You know, like a typical pan across at 24 frames per second is like 3 to 5 seconds. If it's happening faster than that are slower than that, it's probably going to feel unnatural. So, like those kinds of basic stuff, yeah, Any other questions? Yeah, Destiny has a question about what you capture, sort of, I guess in the foreground. Like if you're doing over the shoulder shot, Yep, What do you trying to capture their hair? Their face? I think it's mostly just the concept of the presence of the other person. I don't know that there is, and there is a particular unless there's something very particular about shooting the backside of somebody. But the reality is that it's really more about giving the impression of you watching a conversation between two people so that just the sense of that person shoulder their hair, the side of their head this side of their face gets the impression that this is how this conversation is playing out, and it just becomes part of that, um, invisible technique that we are not necessarily always aware off. But it's happening all the time, and you just becomes natural for you to expect that That's the way it is. And then when it's not there, you're like, Whoa, that was weird because I've actually seen that in more. Most recently I was watching TV and I was watching a conversation between two people, and one of them was over the shoulder and the other was not, and it just seemed very awkward. And I don't know whether it was intentional or not, because it was TV and it wasn't like I don't know that it was trying to be that cinematic. It was probably just that they had put the camera in that position for that moment, but it was. It was kind of strange to watch that conversation happened, where the cameras at a different angle. The other thing that, based on your question, which is ah, common mistake, is I lines when you're watching a conversation between two people on film and there I lines are wrong. They're looking in the wrong direction that they're not looking where that other person would be. That looks really strange, and you would notice it right away. You might not point it out and go, Oh, my God, there I lines are wrong, but you would feel uncomfortable as the viewer watching that where I lines are incorrect. So it's important to understand the concept of where the eye lines go and the fact that if people are looking at one another, so before we way practiced that set up understanding that you on and lay or a different heights, that if you're if you are significantly different heights, your eye lines would have to be adjusted in camera to make sure they felt like that you were actually looking at one another. So that's a typical kind of thing that you need to be aware off in early parts of filmmaking is that some people are much better at it than others, like anticipating that the positioning of I lines. But when you you'll know it when you see it, when it's wrong, so cool, yes. Got some questions from online. Is there a preferred order of shots when you're working with talent in the set up that we just did. Yeah, I think you get your master first. Yeah, that's typical. And protocol is that you would get your you would get your master first so that if everything else went completely, horribly wrong, you at least have the conversation. You have the scene off the two people having the conversation. And that's the reason why you do it that way is that you start there because if what happens if it rained or let's say one person got sick on set and you couldn't finish the scene, you still have the scene. It may not be ideal, but you still have it. So that's what the whole point of, like layering everything on top of one another, is really important because you start with the master and now you have the scene, and now everything else is layered on top of it. And then you becomes more cinematic and it becomes more in depth as you continue through. So, George actually watching on Facebook. Thanks for watching George has a question. Can the triangle rule you be used in video? The triangle rule. Oh, yes. Absolutely. Yeah. Where you have positioning of people in different places and working? Yes, absolutely. I was reading about, sir. I was brushing up on a lot of different technique talk when I was preparing for this class. And the triangle is definitely something that can still be used for sure. And, you know, like especially when you have three people on screen. It absolutely still works for sure. Cool. I think we get 11 more just came in. Are there rules or photo rules that absolutely should be avoided for video? Huh? Interesting question. I don't you know, that's a good quiet. And it's a good question. I don't I don't necessarily know the answer to that because I don't know that I've encountered anything that I do in photo and photography, that I would absolutely just be disastrous on a video set. But I don't know. I mean, I think that you bring your best practices with you as a visual artist, and if something doesn't feel right or if something just doesn't feel like it's working and clearly you abandon it and move on. But I don't know that there's anything that I found that I consistently like to do. I mean, I think some of the lighting techniques don't necessarily work. I think that in terms of building light, like if you're a portrait photographer or something like that, that kind of lighting doesn't necessarily work because it's you bring your lighting out in front of your subjects. They flatten out to the camera, and I think it becomes very broadcasting. And when I say that, I mean it looks more like a television sitcom than it does a film, because then the there's not as much depth in the frames and it's not as much depth in the lighting, so they doesn't feel like there's any atmosphere. So I think that's probably depending on the type of photography you come from. Might be a significant difference when you get into lighting a film. Set that for me, and I think I'll talk about this a little bit later. Uh, the combination of learning how toe build out lighting for food photography is actually helped me a lot because it is more about building depth in frame than it is about shooting something two dimensional. Okay, so we are good on questions. So if you're working with a client, would you share footage with your client or talent? I guess before the product is finished or do you keep those are two very different things. Client and talent. Very different talent. Absolutely not. Okay, even on films, I mean, unless that person who's on camera is an executive producer of the film, there's no way that they're getting to look at their performance before the film is done, because that might clearly indicate to them that they have a little bit more control over the situation than they do. And also it might influence their performance in a way that you don't want to, so I wouldn't do it. I'm pretty sure Julia wouldn't do it. I think that when you're nowhere near talent, you perform, and then when the film is finished, you get to see it, and that's pretty much was. At least that's the way we're doing it in terms of a client, on the other hand, client to sitting there watching everything on monitor while it's happening now, client meeting in a commercial sense, Yeah, but I mean in terms of like even the executive producers, like depending on the level that they're at in the production, they may get to see dailies they may not. But, um, I would say for the most part, it's probably unlikely that anybody besides the crew and the directors team and the producers would watch any footage you know, after a day or in editing or whatever, Yeah.