Multi-Camera Technique – Assignment 1
An example of a multi-camera production is sports programs (known
as sports coverage), sports programs such as a football match is a multi-camera
production.
Sports Coverage:
Here is an example of a football match that uses multi-camera techniques;
this video is of Chelsea playing against Manchester United. In this match it
includes "coverage of the action", meaning the practical use of
multi-camera is used in this live production, in this type of production the
footage must cover all the main action in the game.
During a football game there are over 20 cameras filming the
action, to collect total coverage this includes, wide shots, close zooms and
slow motion cameras, all from different angles to ensure to get the best view
of the action possible. The main wide shot it set up on a wire that moves
across the centre of the stadium this covers about 2/3rd of the pitch to get
most coverage as possible.
Because of the visual style of multi-camera productions, this can
allow quick cuts to different angles and different depths to create more visual
tension during the game. This creates a general fast pace for the rhythm of the
game, if the camera visuals were slow, the game would feel a bit slow, boring
and less impact. This also applies to other sports such as basketball, rugby
etc.
Commentators need to be able to be heard clearly by the viewer,
they are usually given "Lip-ribbon microphones" to pick up their
voices, these microphones have a bi-directional polar pattern, this can help to
avoid any interference, therefor these microphones are very wind and noise
resistant, this gives the best possible audio for the viewer’s experience. In
football and rugby matches they have microphones set all around the stadium,
this help to pick up the crowd and atmosphere at the sports event, but also it
can pick up noises within the game, for example in football you can sometimes
here the ball being kicked.
Most sports programs are filled with similar techniques and
formats, for example the Olympics are also filmed with many cameras, and some
cameras are mobile for quick movements to be captured. They also have cameras
for bird’s eye views of the stadium, so that the viewer can have a view of
everything occasionally, this enables them to understand the atmosphere and
layout of the event.
Scheduling the multi-camera production is very important, in
sports coverage, all the camera angles are decided and placed, they do this to
get as much coverage of the area and as many angles and close-ups as they can
get, they plan out which camera will be streaming, for different situations in
the sports, for example for football they might use the main camera on a wire,
to cover most of the game, but then for a corner they would switch to a fixed
camera close to the area, so they can get a better view.
Planning this event is where most of the work takes place,
planning this event helps bring a set schedule to get the best and highest
quality of footage for the audiences, planning a big football event you have to
plan for certain dates for when the matches are held, also these productions
get organised throughout the whole year due to the amount of matches they have
to film. Coordination meetings can take place in advance to the production, any
demands from any department are listed in the meeting, this meeting allows the
departments to communicate and understand the process of the production. Like
mentioned before the schedule helps to plan out all the camera placements,
angles, lighting and movement, this is to again improve the coverage of the
live event.
Pros:
Multiple shots are taking at the same time, allowing for a lot of
shot choices to broadcast and this is done without having to stop or start the
action.
Due to it being a live broadcast it is very efficient and quick to
broadcast live instantly, this means that editing does not need to be done as
it is streamed live.
As it is a live broadcast all reactions and action is genuine.
This is especially important for sports interviews.
Cons:
Setting up equipment is time consuming, due to the amount of
equipment used. This production also requires a lot more crew.
The production is significantly reduced due to it being multi-camera.
As explained before sometimes the environment can become an issue.
As it is a live broadcast, stuff cannot be edited out before it is
shown on the TV.
TV Studio:
An example of this is "Mock the week" a television
program, that is a mixture between comedy and news. Coverage for this similar
to the sports program, it will use a main camera that covers a wide shot of
nearly too whole area of the studio, giving the audience an idea of the layout
and location of subjects in the frame. The scheduling system for TV studios
like sports coverage are different from film, this means that they have to get
less footage in a shorter amount of time, however they have to collect new
footage much more often. In a single camera production they will have a big
group of dates for filming, once completed they have finished the whole production,
because TV shows have episodes the dates are spaced out throughout years, so
that they can capture more and new episodes for the season.
This and many other similar programs have a casual visual style,
where the cuts are neither fast or slow, but have a constant flow, to allow a
very casual natural viewing experience. It switches different camera shots,
depending on who is speaking during the program, so you can basically receive
as much information from the person as possible, seeing their facial expressions
along with their dialogue, if they did not do this it would leave a very
strange viewing experience not being able to view the person who is speaking.
Sometimes there are camera's that are concentrated on the audience and they
will occasionally cut to a shot of some of the audience members, this allows
the viewer to see how the audiences is reacting to the show, this means that
the viewer can sometimes relate to the audience’s emotions or even to influence
their own emotions, by showing them the emotion that they should also be
feeling. The closer shots of each individual guest on the show, keeps the
viewer interested in the show, as it allows the viewer to analyse facial
expressions and body language, also gives the show a feeling of visual rhythm,
if they just used a single wide shot of all the people on the show, it would
give the show a very visual boring and stale feeling.
Constraints of TV studio filming is that, they have to film in a
certain amount of space and resources available to them, this is also a similar problem with sports coverage however
in sports coverage they have a lot more space to film in. Audio in TV Studio
involves microphone lavalieres attached to all the participants in the show, these
microphones are usually well hidden within clothing of the subjects, these
microphones are mainly omni-directional meaning it receives signals from all
directions, this can help to pick up more audio for the voice of the person,
the only issue with this is that it can make it not as strong at noise cancelling,
however these high-end microphones can drown out most of the noise in the
background and also can be further helped in post, boom microphones can also be
recording for a backup recording. Any sound effects are added in post-production.
Differences between these two types of multi-camera production,
obviously the subject is different, however, the way in which the two types of
productions are edited is very different. The sports coverage production will
use different speeds of cuts to influence the tension, for example the cuts may
become faster to add some tension to the atmosphere during the action, also
during the action in sports they will use certain angles so you can get the
best possible view of what is going on during the action, for example they may
use certain angles or closer shots for a better view. In TV studio productions
this is not used as it is not as important to capture all the action, as the
subjects are not constantly moving, we only have to concentrate on the person
who is speaking, which is why it is cut in a much more casual rhythmic way, it
they did manipulate cutting speeds and angles as much as sports coverage does,
then it would start to become distracting to the viewer and not actually add
anything to the viewing experience. Also sports coverage requires a much larger
amount of cameras to capture the action; this ensures most coverage as
possible. TV studio productions do not require as much cameras to film with,
which means the budget for this would be smaller. TV studio needs to express
the facial expressions and body language of their guests on the show, whilst
sports programs just need to capture the action during the program. Another
difference for sports programs is that the weather can effect whether they can
shoot in certain areas, a TV studio is inside so they will not be affected by
the weather.
Similarities
between these two types of multi-camera production are for example both use a
wide view of the area, to allow the audience to understand the layout and
atmosphere of both areas. Both also get shots of their audience’s expressions
to influence and to relate to the viewers of the program. Also both productions
have constraints of where they can shoot during the studio even though there is
more space available during a sports production but still both have the
constraints of this. Setting up the cameras is time consuming for both
productions and also costs a lot of money. Both of these types of production
can also be broadcasted live but also can be shown after the event.
An example of a multi-camera production is sports programs (known
as sports coverage), sports programs such as a football match is a multi-camera
production.
Sports Coverage:
Here is an example of a football match that uses multi-camera techniques;
this video is of Chelsea playing against Manchester United. In this match it
includes "coverage of the action", meaning the practical use of
multi-camera is used in this live production, in this type of production the
footage must cover all the main action in the game.
During a football game there are over 20 cameras filming the
action, to collect total coverage this includes, wide shots, close zooms and
slow motion cameras, all from different angles to ensure to get the best view
of the action possible. The main wide shot it set up on a wire that moves
across the centre of the stadium this covers about 2/3rd of the pitch to get
most coverage as possible.
Because of the visual style of multi-camera productions, this can
allow quick cuts to different angles and different depths to create more visual
tension during the game. This creates a general fast pace for the rhythm of the
game, if the camera visuals were slow, the game would feel a bit slow, boring
and less impact. This also applies to other sports such as basketball, rugby
etc.
Commentators need to be able to be heard clearly by the viewer,
they are usually given "Lip-ribbon microphones" to pick up their
voices, these microphones have a bi-directional polar pattern, this can help to
avoid any interference, therefor these microphones are very wind and noise
resistant, this gives the best possible audio for the viewer’s experience. In
football and rugby matches they have microphones set all around the stadium,
this help to pick up the crowd and atmosphere at the sports event, but also it
can pick up noises within the game, for example in football you can sometimes
here the ball being kicked.
Most sports programs are filled with similar techniques and
formats, for example the Olympics are also filmed with many cameras, and some
cameras are mobile for quick movements to be captured. They also have cameras
for bird’s eye views of the stadium, so that the viewer can have a view of
everything occasionally, this enables them to understand the atmosphere and
layout of the event.
Scheduling the multi-camera production is very important, in
sports coverage, all the camera angles are decided and placed, they do this to
get as much coverage of the area and as many angles and close-ups as they can
get, they plan out which camera will be streaming, for different situations in
the sports, for example for football they might use the main camera on a wire,
to cover most of the game, but then for a corner they would switch to a fixed
camera close to the area, so they can get a better view.
Planning this event is where most of the work takes place,
planning this event helps bring a set schedule to get the best and highest
quality of footage for the audiences, planning a big football event you have to
plan for certain dates for when the matches are held, also these productions
get organised throughout the whole year due to the amount of matches they have
to film. Coordination meetings can take place in advance to the production, any
demands from any department are listed in the meeting, this meeting allows the
departments to communicate and understand the process of the production. Like
mentioned before the schedule helps to plan out all the camera placements,
angles, lighting and movement, this is to again improve the coverage of the
live event.
Pros:
Multiple shots are taking at the same time, allowing for a lot of
shot choices to broadcast and this is done without having to stop or start the
action.
Due to it being a live broadcast it is very efficient and quick to
broadcast live instantly, this means that editing does not need to be done as
it is streamed live.
As it is a live broadcast all reactions and action is genuine.
This is especially important for sports interviews.
Cons:
Setting up equipment is time consuming, due to the amount of
equipment used. This production also requires a lot more crew.
The production is significantly reduced due to it being multi-camera.
The production is significantly reduced due to it being multi-camera.
As explained before sometimes the environment can become an issue.
As it is a live broadcast, stuff cannot be edited out before it is
shown on the TV.
TV Studio:
An example of this is "Mock the week" a television
program, that is a mixture between comedy and news. Coverage for this similar
to the sports program, it will use a main camera that covers a wide shot of
nearly too whole area of the studio, giving the audience an idea of the layout
and location of subjects in the frame. The scheduling system for TV studios
like sports coverage are different from film, this means that they have to get
less footage in a shorter amount of time, however they have to collect new
footage much more often. In a single camera production they will have a big
group of dates for filming, once completed they have finished the whole production,
because TV shows have episodes the dates are spaced out throughout years, so
that they can capture more and new episodes for the season.
This and many other similar programs have a casual visual style,
where the cuts are neither fast or slow, but have a constant flow, to allow a
very casual natural viewing experience. It switches different camera shots,
depending on who is speaking during the program, so you can basically receive
as much information from the person as possible, seeing their facial expressions
along with their dialogue, if they did not do this it would leave a very
strange viewing experience not being able to view the person who is speaking.
Sometimes there are camera's that are concentrated on the audience and they
will occasionally cut to a shot of some of the audience members, this allows
the viewer to see how the audiences is reacting to the show, this means that
the viewer can sometimes relate to the audience’s emotions or even to influence
their own emotions, by showing them the emotion that they should also be
feeling. The closer shots of each individual guest on the show, keeps the
viewer interested in the show, as it allows the viewer to analyse facial
expressions and body language, also gives the show a feeling of visual rhythm,
if they just used a single wide shot of all the people on the show, it would
give the show a very visual boring and stale feeling.
Constraints of TV studio filming is that, they have to film in a
certain amount of space and resources available to them, this is also a similar problem with sports coverage however
in sports coverage they have a lot more space to film in. Audio in TV Studio
involves microphone lavalieres attached to all the participants in the show, these
microphones are usually well hidden within clothing of the subjects, these
microphones are mainly omni-directional meaning it receives signals from all
directions, this can help to pick up more audio for the voice of the person,
the only issue with this is that it can make it not as strong at noise cancelling,
however these high-end microphones can drown out most of the noise in the
background and also can be further helped in post, boom microphones can also be
recording for a backup recording. Any sound effects are added in post-production.
Differences between these two types of multi-camera production,
obviously the subject is different, however, the way in which the two types of
productions are edited is very different. The sports coverage production will
use different speeds of cuts to influence the tension, for example the cuts may
become faster to add some tension to the atmosphere during the action, also
during the action in sports they will use certain angles so you can get the
best possible view of what is going on during the action, for example they may
use certain angles or closer shots for a better view. In TV studio productions
this is not used as it is not as important to capture all the action, as the
subjects are not constantly moving, we only have to concentrate on the person
who is speaking, which is why it is cut in a much more casual rhythmic way, it
they did manipulate cutting speeds and angles as much as sports coverage does,
then it would start to become distracting to the viewer and not actually add
anything to the viewing experience. Also sports coverage requires a much larger
amount of cameras to capture the action; this ensures most coverage as
possible. TV studio productions do not require as much cameras to film with,
which means the budget for this would be smaller. TV studio needs to express
the facial expressions and body language of their guests on the show, whilst
sports programs just need to capture the action during the program. Another
difference for sports programs is that the weather can effect whether they can
shoot in certain areas, a TV studio is inside so they will not be affected by
the weather.