From the course: Multi-Camera Video Production and Post

Welcome

From the course: Multi-Camera Video Production and Post

Start my 1-month free trial

Welcome

- Hi, I'd like to welcome you to this course on multi-camera video production and post. My name's Rich Harrington. I am a director and an editor, and I'll be sharing my experiences with you when it comes to planning and directing a multi-camera production. And joining me is Jim Ball. - Yes, my name is Jim Ball. I'm a professional director of photography. And I do a good amount of this multi-camera live or live-to-tape video production. - Now, we've been working together on productions for coming up on 20 years, so we have great repoire on set and I've learned a lot from Jim. And I enjoy working with him, and I wanted to bring him on set today so we can share with you the full process of a multi-camera project. First off, we're going to start with planning the production. A lot of times with a multi-camera shoot, we'll go in the day before and get organized. You're gonna see, actually, two days of production here: one day of shooting and all the work we have to do ahead of time to pull it all off. Jim, I know you're a big proponent of planning. Why is it so important that we take the time to do the pre-production? - Well, my philosophy is the more you can do in advance to prepare, the easier, smoother, and just all-around better the day of the shoot's going to go. - [Rich] We're then gonna walk you through the production approach. We're gonna focus on a modern production approach to multi-camera which embraces using a lot of different camera angles. Jim, you've been doing production for a long time, and we've seen it being from really expensive to have more than one or two cameras on set to maybe having 20 or 30 cameras. How has this change affected your style of production? - [Jim] Well, it is a great time to be doing this kind of work because it just gives you more choices. And when you have more choices, it takes the strain off you in terms of the area where you want to be putting your energy into which is the creative end of things. If the tech and the planning and the management becomes a little easier because you have more of these choices, the way it goes for me is the creative stuff's just gonna be better. - [Rich] Now of course, with more cameras we introduce more problems. It becomes even more essential that they all match. And what we're going to walk you through is some of the technical things you need to think about, both aesthetically matching cameras and technically getting them to line up. Jim, why is it so important that you take the time, maybe even the day before, to get everything properly synced? - Same thing. You spend the time ahead of time, less time worrying about technical things and what I call baggage. And you can focus on why you're really there which is to get the creative, the story, to make money and make clients happy, whatever your reasons are. It's not about mixing the paints and trying to get your palette right. It's like that stuff should be done. - Now, once all the pieces have been laid out, it comes down to running the shoot. And you're gonna get a backseat here to actually watch it unfold. We've got lots of different crew people. You're gonna see Jim managing as the Director of Photography. I'm gonna be directing. And we're gonna walk you through practical on set strategies. Jim, what really stands out to you when it comes to running a multi-camera set? Why is control and order so important when you've got everybody and all those different operators in one location? - [Jim] Well, so, the more pieces you have in the puzzle, the more there is a chance for things to get really disorganized. And the more disorganization there is, the less you're gonna spend time actually doing the things that you're supposed to be there for. So it takes a little bit more management. It's nice to have more pieces, more resources, but the point is of having the more resources is to make things go more smoothly. So management comes into play more. Your experience base comes into play more. To make it all seem like, frankly, as if it was a one-camera shoot. - Perfect, and once we've got all this footage in the can, I'm gonna walk you through the post-production process. Now, we're gonna take a look at two different software tools. We're gonna use Final Cut Pro X from Apple and Adobe Premiere Pro. But really, the strategies you use can also be employed with other editing systems. If you look in the Lynda.com library, you'll find that other tools are covered such as Avid or using things like PluralEyes. So you can dig deeper into those. But we'll walk you through all the essential steps you need as well as give you the opportunity to get hands-on with the footage so you can master the post production. Alright, well, we've got a lot of things to cover and a lot of work to do. You ready to get started? - Let's go, let's go, let's go!

Contents