Unit 23: Multi-camera ProductionTutor: Patrick Mullan

Student: Matthew MooneyNDYR2/SEM2

Unit 23: Multi-camera Production

2.1. Multi-camera production roles:

Camera operator – A camera operator is a person who operates a camera to record images that are used to entertain and inform the audience. Camera operators capture images for media products like television shows, documentaries, and news and sporting events. Camera operators work on basically anything that has moving image involved.Sound - Someone who works on sound in a multi-camera production records sound by using a shotgun microphone or a collar microphone. Switcher – A switcher is someone who works a switcher desk in a multi-camera production. The switcher is able to switch between many different camera angles that will be recorded live.Vision mixing – A vision mixer is very similar to a ‘switcher’ in a multi-camera production in the way that they are able to switch between different video sources, and even mix different video sources together to create special effects.Director – A Director in a multi-camera production is responsible for controlling the artistic and dramatic aspects of the production, and visualizes how the multi-camera production will look visually.Producer - A producer is the person that is responsible for managing the making of the film, ensuring that everything is planned and in place for the right time and location. A producer is also in charge of managing the financial aspects of making the film or television show.Lighting - A person that is involved in the lighting department of the film or television show will make sure that the scene is well lit to the director’s instructions.Floor management – A floor manager is responsible for communicating with the director in the control room, and also to the studio crew themselves. Graphics generator – A character generator is someone who is behind the scenes and operates a device or piece of software that allows them to place text or graphics onto the screen which the audience is viewing.Autocue operator – An autocue operator is someone who operates a device called the autocue, which basically runs a script up a small screen, for presenters to read as they are in shot. 

2.2. Develop programme ideas: programme format, such as studio production, live event; content ideas; visual style;Task 2.

Brainstorm

There were several different ideas that we had for the multi-cam project, the main aim that we has was a game show but there were several different ideas for the game show, one of which was a parody game show in which the game would be rigged and scripted in such a way that it would create comedy without the awareness of the participant, the game show wouldn’t have been mean spirited in any way however, as the tricks would be harmless such as buzzers not working and wrong answers even though they were right.

The most popular idea that we had was the multi-cam game show in which 4 contestants would compete against each other in video games. We were a bit iffy about this at first technically this might be very difficult to pull off because of the game capture, but whenever we found out that we had access to game capture technology as well as 2 consoles with multiple controllers, we felt that this project was possible.  

2.3. Presentation style; scripts, links and inserts; refining original ideas to final scriptTask 3.

Production Style

Script

GAME SHOW SCRIPT

INT.STUDIO.BRIGHTLY LIT

IN FRONT OF A GREEN SCREEN STAND A PRESENTER DRESSED IN FORMAL ATTIRE.

PRESENTERHi, I'm the presenter...

CUT TO:INT.STUDIO.BRIGHTLY LIT

IN FRONT OF THE GREEN THE 4 CONTESTANTS INTRODUCE THEMSELVES

CUT TO:INT.GAME SHOW SET.BRIGHTLY LIT

DAY 1! THE 4 CONTESTANTS ARE STATED AND PARTICIPATING IN THE GAME SHOW

CUT TO:

INT.GAME SHOW SET.BRIGHTLY LIT

DAY 2! THE 4 CONTESTANTS COMPETE IN THE SECOND DAY OF THE COMPETITION

CUT TO:

INT.GAME SHOW SET.BRIGHTLY LIT

FINALS! THE 2 FINALIST COMPETE WHILE THE 2 RUNNERS UP WATCH. THE SCENE ENDS WHENEVER ONE OF THE PLAYERS WIN.

THE END

Links and InsertsWe would use links and inserts to give information to the audience as to what

game is being played and what the score is for the contestants.

Refining original ideasWhat was unique about this project was that we were constantly coming up with

ideas as to how to do things, so nothing was particularly set in stone, the only thing that we did keep to was the format which was the screenplay, a lot of what

happens in the show is spontaneous because of the nature of the show, so we didn’t script for certain things to happen during the show, whenever we we’re

filming we did however come up with a few ideas, for example there was a part in which 2 of the contestants were fighting for what felt like forever, so 2 of the

contestants pretended to be uninterested in what was happening.

2.4. Planning processes: range of equipment required; allocation of job roles; conversion of word scripts to shot lists; design, eg lighting, set, sound; location recce; timing and sequencing; health and safety considerationsTask 4.

Task 4Planning Processes

Equipment for principle photography

JVC digital cameras (4) Tripods (4) Shotgun Mics (2) HDTV Nintendo Wii (4 controllers included) Xbox 360 (2 controllers included) Game capture Card Laptop

Job Roles

Matthew MooneyI was the presenter of the show, so I had to inform the audience as to what is happening during the beginning of the show. During the filming of the show I kept a tally of the scored and made sure everything was working fine behind the camera.

Presenter Floor Manager

Connor McCallionI was involved with the setup of the cameras and tripods for the multicam show. I also helped set up the game consoles with the HDTV to ensure everything was working fine before filming.

Camera operator Contestant

Ciaran McIlhinneyMy role in the game show was the equipment manager sound and lighting and I was starring in the game show as a competitor. The thing that I had to do in the job role was to make sure the cameras sound and light was good and that the shutter speed on the camera matches the TV settings.

Camera Operator Contestant

Christopher O’NeillFor this project I had multiple roles, the main one being production manager, I had to organize when we should book out the studio for filming as well as book

out the equipment for filming, I helped with setting up the cameras and tripods as well as help set up the background with the posters which I owned.

Camera Operator Contestant Production Manager

Michael Gomersall The Wii u and Xbox 360 that we used for the production belonged to my brother so I was responsible for bring in that equipment for filming. I volunteered to do the editing for the game show, this is a very time-consuming process as we shot nearly 2 and half hours worth of footage that we need to shorten down.

Contestant Editor

Conversion of Word Scripts to Shot ListWe had a strong idea as to how we were going to film this game show because of

the rehearsals that we did before principle photography, we had an idea of a 3 camera set up in which we would be able to cover 3 of the angles of the

contestants, one being the master which shows all 4 contestants, the other 2 shots being medium shots of 2 of the contestants on both sides, we added in an

extra camera to film the gameplay after we had problems with the game capture card, we were able to hid this camera however with the use of posters as

background decoration. The only other camera we used was for the green screen, which only had two camera shots, a medium close-up of the presenter

and wide shots of the contestants introducing themselves.

Shotlist

Shot number

Scene number

Location Shot type Description Lighting/Angle

1 1 External studio

Medium Close-up

Presenter introducing the show

Brightly Lit/Normal Angle

2 1 External Studio

Wide shot Contestants introducing themselves

Brightly Lit/ Normal Angle

3 2 External Studio

Wide Shot(Master Shot)

Wide shot of contestants

Brightly Lit/High Angle

4 2 External studio

Medium shot

Medium shot showing 2 contestants

Brightly lit/ Normal Angle

5 2 External Studio

Close-up Camera capturing game footage

Brightly Lit/ Normal Angle

LightingWe didn’t want any dramatic lighting for the show, we wanted it to be brightly

lit, the studio lights were very good for brightening up the show, one of the biggest problems was the green screen as the green screen has to be brightly lit without any shadows as this would negatively effect the quality of effect on the

green screen.

SetOur ideas for the set were limited by how we could hid the cameras from frame,

we came up with the idea of putting up 2 walls in the background and joining them be posters, this was done so that we could hid the camera as well as the

tripod which was filming the gameplay off of the screen, we also placed the master camera at a high angle so we couldn’t see that camera.

SoundWe decided to use 2 shotgun mics to record the sound in case one of the

microphones was dodgy and produced poor audio, we had all 4 cameras pick up sound even though it was of poor audio, this was because we needed to synch

the audio for the multicam edit on final cut pro, without this the footage from the other cameras would be out of sync with the good audio’s camera. In terms of sound we wanted to capture the contestants voices over the sounds from the game. We want to see how the edit turns out before we add any non-diegetic

sounds as well as music.

GraphicsWhenever we were brainstorming we didn’t cover the idea of what types of

graphics we would use for our production, we would use graphics to inform the audience as to what the scores are and what game is being played. We would also

use transitions for cuts.

Health And SafetyIn terms of health and safety the biggest threat on set was wires, there were

multiple wires for equipment on the set so it was important that we ensured that no one tripped, we did this by tapping down most parts of the wire onto the floor. Since we were in a studio we had to be aware of the fire exits in case of emergency, since we were in a internal filming location and we weren’t doing

anything too dangerous health and safety was kept at a minimum during production.

2.5. Production documentation: timed scripts; shot lists; studio floor plans; location plans; lighting plans; risk assessments; equipment checklist; camera scriptTask 5.

Shotlist

Shot number

Scene number

Location Shot type Description Lighting/Angle

1 1 External studio

Medium Close-up

Presenter introducing the show

Brightly Lit/Normal Angle

2 1 External Studio

Wide shot Contestants introducing themselves

Brightly Lit/ Normal Angle

3 2 External Studio

Wide Shot(Master Shot)

Wide shot of contestants

Brightly Lit/High Angle

4 2 External studio

Medium shot

Medium shot showing 2 contestants

Brightly lit/ Normal Angle

5 2 External Studio

Close-up Camera capturing game footage

Brightly Lit/ Normal Angle

Studio Floor PlansWe did rehearsals in which we decided what would be the best layout for the

production, we decided to have 4 cameras 3 of which would be directed at the 4 contestants, 2 being close-ups and one being the master shot (wide shot) the 4

camera would be hidden behind 2 walls that we set up with posters put on hiding the camera and tripod that was holding it up, this camera would be used to film the game footage after we came across problems with the game capture

card, we found out where would be the best place to up the setup based on where plugs would be for the TV and consoles as well as what would be the best

light source.

Location PlansWe only had one location for this production, the studio was the only location that we used for this production, there were no external locations, we did not

document this location for a time because we we're limited as to when it would be free for filming. Our crew we're all well notified as to when the studio was

free for filming.

Risk AssessmentWires: to ensure that nobody tripped over wires, we tapped the wires down on

the ground to ensure this didn’t happen.

Equipment Checklist

JVC HD camera (4) Tripods (4) HDTV (1)

shotgun microphones (2) Xbox 360 (1)

Xbox 360 controllers (2) Nintendo Wii U (1)

Nintendo Wii U controllers (1)

Camera ScriptThe camera position during the production were not scripted for this production as the cameras we not movies, we had nothing in particular that we had scripted that required a camera script. The set-up for this production was very basic and

did not require many camera shots and angles.

3 Be able to perform an operational role in a multi-camera production3.1. Perform a practical role: eg cameras, sound mixing desk, vision mixer, direction, lighting desk, talk-back, video playback, floor management, graphics generation; communicate effectivelyTask 6.

My Role – My role on ‘The Fatal Four’ was helping with studio setup, but mainly to present the show, by welcoming the audience to the show, also providing a voiceover so that the audience knows what the next game is, and to make sure that they are keeping up with what is happening in the show itself. At the end of the show I will thank everyone for watching, and telling them that I will see them next week. As the show was being filmed we were using static camera’s, so they required no camera operator, I made sure that the camera capturing the gameplay didn’t have any of the players heads in shot, and that the master shot camera was still capturing all of the players, ensuring none of them were out of shot.

3.2. Operational methods: communication within production team, eg shot calling, talk-back, cueing; vision mixing; video and graphic inserts; sound mixing; health and safety considerations.Task 7.

Communication within teamThere was a great deal of communication between thanks to the fact that it

wasn't a live multi-cam show, after each round in a game we would be given information by Matthew and discuss what we should do for the next game. Even though these moments we're being recorded for the show we were able to cut

them out in the multi-cam edit. Shot calling

We had all of the cameras set up and recording from the beginning, however we decided not to hook them up to a edit desk as we did not want to cut the

production on the fly, we preferred if we brought the footage into a multi-cam edit on final cut and mess around to see what are the best shots to go with.

Talk-BackWe were not using a control room with a editing desk for this production, for talk back we received feedback from Matthew who was not participating in the game show who was giving us advice about we should and shouldn't be saying during the filming, he however was not in a control room but instead behind the set in

the studio.Cueing

As I said before because of the nature of the show there wasn't much rooms for cues, all of the dialogue and actions of the participants during the show were not

staged. The only time we used cues were for the intros that we did using the green screen in which the presenter said some dialogue and the participants

introduced themselves. Vision Mixing

We did not use a vision mixer for the live recording of the show, and effects that we want to add to the final product will be done on final cut after the editor cuts

a raw cut of the show.Video and Graphics Inserts

We intend to add graphics into the cut of the show, these will include text that will provide the audience member with information about the project like what

game is being played and what the scores are. Sound Mixing

For the production we had 2 microphones both picking up the sound of the contestants as well as the sounds of the game, we also had the cameras pick up

sound in order to synch in final cut. The reason why we used 2 microphones was in case of a fault with one of the microphones which would know existed until we

listened to it again on a computer. Task 8.

I think we all communicated as good as can be as a team. We made a group chat on Facebook that allowed us to communicate outside of the North West Regional College. Anytime that we were in class we would discuss what needed to be done on our next shoot, and how it would be done. Communication was pretty good throughout the filming of ‘The Fatal Four’.