Evaluation – Unit 23 Multi-camera

My Role and ResponsibilitiesMy group’s roles:

Phelisa Mfazwe – Director Alex Butler – Camera 1 (Sony Z7E Right) Harry Buckberry – Camera 2 (Safety) Matt Errington – Camera 3 (Left) Emily Chapman – Camera 2 (Safety) Sam Thomas – Vision Mixer

The performing arts department put on a Christmas concert for the end of the year and my class were responsible for the filming the production. We were given the running order of the concert therefore we would be able to pick what group films what. In my group I was the director which meant that I had to be next to the Vision Mixer during the performance. When choosing the roles, my group and I were comfortable with any role we could have taken, so we talked about what roles each person really wanted to do then decide from then on. We didn’t do much planning as we worked well with each other and knew what to do from our previous projects. Camera Left and the Safety Camera were the only camera’s that weren’t suppose to be touched, so the operators weren’t allowed to zoom in and out, pan etc. As the director I had to make sure that not only was I working closely with the Vision Mixer and telling them when to cut to specific shots, if any of the cameras weren’t in focus, or the framing didn’t look right I had to go to the operators and get them to fix it. In the performances we recorded we didn’t plan much because everyone knew what they were doing and everything worked organically.

Editing

During the opening song of the concert the audience were asked to stand up and sing along while the orchestra was playing. This meant that the operator had to have the camera at a

Photo 2

high angle above the audience (see photo 1) to then be able to pan and see everyone singing. When it came to the editing we kept everything simple and make the cuts smooth by having the clips fade into the other, it suit the tone and pace of the songs we had to record. As the director I was giving the vision mixer queues on when to cut into the next camera. For the first 2 minutes and 30 seconds of the first song we just had the safety camera on because we were not informed that the audience would be standing up to sing along with the song. So while the safety shot was viewing the orchestra and a bit of the audience, the camera 1 was fixing his camera to it was at a high angle to capture the audience. We didn’t panic during this part as camera one was being fixed, we carried on with our roles and remained professional. As the songs we had picked were mid-tempo and very calm, I made sure that the vision mixer faded the shot in together slowly and cut to the beat as it made the fades look smoother and matched the tone of the performances. During the Barber Shop Quartet camera 1 had a full shot of the four boys performing and kept the camera static as there were just singing and not moving around on the stage, so all there

wasn’t much movement.

Camera 2

Our main problem was that camera 3 on the left wasn’t supposed to be moved at all and our operator during the Barber Quartet kept zooming in and out which made the video blurry as the camera had a fish-eye lens (see photo above). I told the vision mixer to change to any other shots, in hopes that the operator on camera 3 would fix it then we could include the shots when it wasn’t so blurry but we ended up just using the safety shot and camera 1.

Management

These photos below are of the working area while we were setting up our equipment ready for the performance. There were health and safety consideration we had to be aware of to make sure everything ran smoothly. For example we had to make sure that all cables were ducked taped down and protected, this is so none stands or trips on them as there were cables that were sensitive and if handled wrong the wires inside could break. With all three cameras on the tripods people could have easily tripped on them, bumped them which could have led to the framing changing or the tripod falling with the camera. To prevent this from happening we made sure that there were camera operators near the tripods at all time to protect it and make sure people doing touch anything. During the concert there were no problems with the equipment. For more on how we prevented some of the health and safety problems, see on the risk assessment.

Strengths / Weaknesses

Communicating with my group Voicing my ideas when it came to the editing with the vision mixer Understanding the technical side of the project like the set up and equipment used. Not having a backup plan for when something when wrong Loosing motivation mid-way through the production Panicking when something doesn’t go as planned

ImprovementDue to last minute changes and a fish-eye lens being on the camera 3, this caused the

Camera 3

camera to be blurry therefore not using the shot. I would have liked if before the production the group at meeting were we talk about all the things we were doing, make sure everyone knows what to do and what not to do. Another improvement I would have liked to have made was on my part as the director. As soon as I saw that the camera 3 was zooming in and out and should have quietly walking around the back of the audience and go to the operator myself to tell them not to touch the camera.