Unit 23: Multi-camera ProductionTutor: Patrick Mullan

Student: Matthew MooneyNDYR2/SEM2

Unit 23: Multi-Camera Production2.1. 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.

Task 2-BrainstormWhenever we listened to the song we had a few ideas as to what we

should do for the project, we got some information from the band about what type of ideas they wanted to have in the music video, these ideas

included the main singers daughters dancing, we took this idea and implemented it into the music video we had in mind, since it involved

dancing our crew decided that we would use the studio to film as it could be really difficult to find a suitable dancing ground, the other reason we

used the studio was so that we could use the green screen to add effects the music video, one of the ideas we had which involved the green screen

was fading the girls spinning around each other. We were sceptical at first about using the green screen as it can be really slippery and if one of the girls fell they could get badly hurt, we knew that precautions had to be

put in place to ensure that health and safety was covered. We also decided to use the black curtain as a background so we can have a mixture of both green screen and normal curtain shots to work with.

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

(Present a written statement describing the proposed productions Production style

We had an idea of how we wanted to film the music video, we wanted it to be darkly lit and black and white for the majority of the music video, we believed

that it would make the music video look moody if we had it look dark rather than brightly lit.

Script

LORE BELIEVE

INT.STUDIO.DARKLY LITFADE IN:

THE CAMERA FADES INTO A BLOND HAIRED WOMAN, HER EYES ARE CLOSED, SHE OPENS THEM AND LOOKS DIRECTLY INTO THE CAMERA, A FEW SECONDS PASS AND SHE BEGINS TO SING.

FADE IN:

INT.STUDIO.DARKLY LIT

AS THE WOMAN CONTINUES TO SING TO THE MUSIC THE CAMERA FADES INTO A LITTLE BLOND HAIRED GIRL (6) SHE IS DRESSED IN A DRESS AND IS DANCING TO THE MUSIC.

FADE IN:

THE CAMERA FADES AGAIN INTO ANOTHER GIRL (8) SLIGHTLY OLDER THAN TE LAST GIRL, ALSO WEARING A DRESS SHE CONTINUES TO DANCE TO THE MUSIC.

FADE IN:

THE CAMERA FADES INTO ANOTHER GIRL (12), MUCH OLDER THAN THE FIRST 2 GIRLS, SHE IS ALSO DANCING BUT INSTEAD OF SIMPLY DANCING SHE HAS CREATED HER OWN DANCE TO THE LYRICS, USING HER HANDS SHE EXPRESSES HERSELF ALONG WITH THE SINGING.

FADE IN:

INT.STUDIO.DARKLY LIT

THE WOMAN SINGS ALONG TO THE MUSIC, SHE BEGINS TO SPIN AROUND AND AROUND WHILE CONTINUING TO SING TO THE MUSIC.

FADE IN:

ALL THREE GIRLS BEGIN TO SPIN AROUND, THEY ARE FADING INTO EACHOTHER AND SPINNING IN UNISON.

FADE IN:

INT.STUDIO.DARKLY LIT

THE WOMAN STOPS SINGING, SHE SMILES AT THE CAMERA AS THE SCREEN FADES TO BLACK

FADE OUT:

THE END

Links and Inserts

We did not use any links and inserts for the music video nor did we have any intention to for the production, if LORE liked the music video and

intend on using it for a production then they can add links to their music. They wouldn’t have wanted us to add link and inserts into the music

video, as it would distract the audience from the music.

Refining original ideas from scriptWe didn’t have as many ideas for this music video as we did for the game show so we didn’t change as much of the script, probably the most major

change that we had was turning the music video from black and white into colour whenever they were spinning around, this worked very well

because it fits in perfectly into the music video. We did also have the idea of using stock footage of the

girls with their mother who was the main singer however the footage and images we got were not very good so we decided not to use them.

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.

Equipment required

JVC HD Cameras (3) Tripods (3)

Studio Lights Green Screen

Crew

Christopher O’Neill (Director)For this project I was the director, I was responsible for directing the

camera operators as to what they should film during the making of the music video. I was also responsible for the vision of the project.

Matthew Mooney (Production Assistant)I was responsible for helping with the production, for example, I helped set up the camera equipment along with the setting up of the green screen.

Ciaran McElhinney (Camera Operator/ Editor)For this project I was responsible for operating a camera as well as editing the final product. I ensured that the shutter speed and aperture were all set to the exact same setting on all three cameras to ensure that they all

looked the same.

Michael Gomersall (Camera Operator)I had to operate a camera for this project. I also helped out with other

things in the production such as setting up the green screen.

Connor Mc Callion (Camera Operator)My participation in this project consisted of me setting up and manning a

camera as well as helping out with other aspects of the production.

DesignWe didn’t want there to be much in the background of the music video, we wanted to keep it as simple as possible in order to put all of the attention on the main singer and the girls dancing. We didn’t want to add in many

backgrounds onto the green screen either.

Lighting

We wanted the lighting in the music video to be darkly lit and in black and white, for the normal black curtain we had very low key lighting with only the places where the girls danced lit up, however for the green screen in

order to make it work well we needed to have the green screen brightly lit up in order to prevent shadows on the screen ruining the effect.

SetThe only set that we used for this production was the studio set, this was very good for the green screen and was the perfect place for the girls to

dance because there was a lot of room.

SoundWe didn’t record any sounds for this project, as it was a music video where we would have a song being played over the footage, it was unnecessary to up to pick up any diegetic sounds either as they served no purpose for the music video. We had the main singer sing over the lyrics of the song

that was being played in the background.

Location ReeceWe did not need to do location Reece as we had used the studio for

production countless times before the making of the music video, we also did not shoot any external scenes for the production so we did not have to

do a location Reece.

Timing and sequencingIt was very easy to time certain scenes because of the song, we would

discuss with the singer what she had to do at certain times of the song, for example, whenever the main singer starts to spin around, she knew when

to start because of the music.

Health and SafetyBesides from the normal things that people have to be aware of (wires/fire exits etc.) the biggest concern was the green screen on the floor, if one of the girls was to slip on the green screen they could get seriously hurt, to tackle this problem we made sure that the green screen was completely secured with duck tape across all of the edges, it was taped tightly to the

floor to endure it wasn’t slippery.

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

Shot List

Scene number

Shot Number

Camera Shot

Camera Angle

Description

Lighting

1 1 Close up Eye-level Fade in on main

singer, she opens her eyes and begins to

sing

Darkly lit

1 2 Medium shot

Normal Medium shot of main singer singing

Darkly lit

2 3 Wide shot Low angle Little girl dancing

Darkly lit

2 4 Close-up Low angle Low angle shot of girl

dancing

Darkly lit

2 5 Close-up Normal Close up of girl

dancing

Darkly lit

2 6 Medium shot

Normal Medium shot of

oldest girl dancing

Darkly lit

3 7 Medium shot

Normal Main singer

begins to spin

around

Darkly Lit

4 8 Medium shot

Normal Medium shots of all

the girls spinning around in

unison

Darkly Lit

5 9 Close-up Normal Final shot of main singer

Darkly lit

Studio Floor Plans

We had the plan to do a 3 camera set up in which we would have 2 cameras situated on the sides getting various types of shots depending on

how the girls danced, the middle camera would be the master shot camera which would be framed for a close up or medium shot depending

on the scene. All 3 cameras would be aimed at the curtain and green screen where the main singer would sing and the girls would dance, there

was a good amount of space for the girls to dance.

Location PlansFor the shoot on the day we had the studio booked out a week in

advances and we had it for the entire day, which gave us 6 hours of time to shoot the music video, which was plenty of time. It was the only

location that we needed for the production.

Lighting PlansFor lighting we had the studio lights that we intended to use for the

curtain shots, however for the green screen we needed different lighting so there would be any shadows, we also made sure that the people in front of the green screen were not standing too close to the back as it

would cause a shadow.

Risk AssessmentFor risk assessment the biggest concern was the green screen, we ensured the green screen was safe by taping it down tightly to the floor and making sure it was stretched out as far as possible

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 Lore music video was studio setup. In particular, I helped set up the green screen and make sure it was securely taped down to the floor for the dancers to dance on. I also stood behind the green screen while the cameras were rolling, so I could catch it, just in case the green screen fell over and injured one of the young dancers.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 with production teamDuring the making of this music video we were also in the process of

making a game show, because of this we did not have as much time to plan out the production of this music video as we were focusing more on the game show, this is partly due to the fact that we were working on the game show before we found out about the music video, because of this fact there was less communication on this project as you would want.

Shot CallingWe did not use a editing desk for this music video, we instead used normal cameras not hooked up to the TV studio and took the footage off the cards

on a computer, we then looked at the footage to see what is the best shots to use for the music video.

Talk-backWe didn’t need to use talk back during the production, whenever we

stopped recording we would talk about the scene and discuss what we should do with the cameras.

CueingThanks to the music cueing was easy, if we directed the main singer to do it the music would give her cue to do it, this meant that the director didn’t

have to give any signal.

Video and Graphics InsertsWe did intend to use stock footage of past family events involving the girls

and their mother, however whenever they gave us some footage there wasn’t much to work with and it didn’t fit in well with the music video.

Sound Mixing

We didn’t record any sound for this production because we intended to use the music from the song that we were making a music video for, the only problem we faced for sound was making sure that the main singer‘s singing synched up with the singing in the song, to ensure this we played

the song over the filming so she could match the singing in the song.

Health and Safety ConsiderationsThe biggest thing we had to do was tape the green screen down to ensure

that the girls didn’t trip and get hurt.

Task 8Communication throughout the process of planning and shooting the music video for Lore was very good. We created a group chat on Facebook with all of the team members involved and we were always in contact about what needed to be done. This allowed all of the team to know what needed to be done the night before the day of our shooting. Being able to communicate with the rest of the team outside of college was great because everyone knew what needed to be done for the next day, so when we came in we didn’t have to waste any time figuring out what needs to be done, or who needs to do what. The communication with the female singer and her young children dancing was also good, although we tried to keep this to a minimum to reduce the chances of them being nervous.