Before Shooting Video

Here are a few key reminders of things you can do while videotaping your movie, which will save you lots of time and heartache later in the editing room.

Provide enough footage!

• Shoot a scene from multiple angles.
  • lets you cut between different perspective of continous action.
• Change your angles
  • keeps your action relatively similar
  • allows for continuity
• After you've shot the main scene, shoot details, close-ups, and other shots that could be used as cut-aways.
• Record some ambient room noise
  • You may need this room 'silence' to blend two shots together or to fill in gaps in the audio created by piecing shots together.
  • This is called "room tone" used by the editor to keep the background noise in any given scene as consistent as possible.
    • When you begin recording room tone, have someone talk into the microphone, stating that this is the "Room Tone" for the next, however many, minutes.

Keep Continuity

• If you have help, give someone the responsibility of making sure continuity is kept consistent.
  • Take digital photographs of the scene in order to help remember how things should be.
    • We've all noticed where someone's cigarette keeps changing length or their wine glass suddenly becomes miraculously refilled when the angle changes.

Camera Log

• Although it's not completely necessary for editing, having a written log of the shots taken on a set can be extremely helpful to the editor.
  • A log is a list of all shots contained in the unedited footage.
  • Typically a log is recorded by a camera assistant and can include any number of notes about a shot.
  • The most important elements to include are:
    • The tapes title or number
    • The scene
    • The take number of the shot
    • Timecode (In and Out - if the camera person can tell you this for each shot)
    • A description of what happens during the shot

Slate

• A slate is a board, held in front of the camera before each take, that identifies the scene and take number, the name of the project, the director's name, and the cinematographer's name.
  • By having a slate at the beginning of each shot, the editor can easily identify the footage on the screen, and this can help keep things organized if there has been a mistake made in the camera log.

   

Maintain Continuous Timecode

• Avoid any break in the timecode
  • The timecode needs to run straight without interruption or the process of batch capturing will not work smoothly.

   

Tape Padding

• With a new tape, record a minute of blank tape (put the lens cap on and press record)
  • The stock at the beginning and end of a tape is often weaker because it has been handled to attach to the reels inside the tape.
• Avoid shooting important material at the last minute of tape.
• Record for 3-5 seconds before action begins, then keep it rolling 3-5 seconds after the scene is over.
  • This will help you dramatically in the editing room when you realize you actually needed a few more seconds for effect.

Sound

• Use an external mike whenever possible to get professional results.
• Omnidirectional mikes pick up sound from all sides, so it's difficutl to pick up the sound of a particular person over other noises. Your built-in camera mike is omnidirectional
• Unidirectional mikes pick up sounds only from the direction where the mike is pointed, so you can get clear audio from one person talking, even in a crowded, noisy room. A boom mike is unidirectional.
• Monitor the sound with headphones
• Record a sample of the audio on tape and replay it back to see how well it sounds BEFORE shooting your footage.
• If you have to use your camera microphone, have your subject stand directly in front of the camera and get as close to the camera as possible. Also, try to eliminate as much background noise as possible.
  • Close doors, turn off air conditioning, etc.