2 Camera Shoots
There are times when you want to get a little creative and maybe do a 2 camera shoot for a recital or theatre production. Two camera shoots are a great way to add whole new dimension to your video. In a two camera shoot I usually use one camera as the main camera and the second camera is used to capture cut-aways or cut-ins to use in the editing process.
The following tips are going to assume you are using your average consumer grade DV cameras that do not have the capability to synchronize their timecodes. Many professional cameras have the ability to synchronize their timecodes with each other which makes editing in post-production a whole lot easier. The action at 01:21:48:1221 is exactly the same on all cameras. You can borrow another camera from a family member or friend.
Planning is key
The key point to remember is that you must have at least one camera acting as the main camera at all times.
If you can talk to the director ahead of time to find out some information about the show. It’s a great idea to attend rehearsals and take notes. How long is it ? When are the intermissions ? Can you get a copy of the program or script ahead of time ? Where does the action take place during the scenes ? How is the lighting ? Are there good positions to tape from ? If you’re at a rehearsal you may want to take some footage.
I going to run through my setup for an actual shoot I did of a theatre production. I set up the main camera at the back of the hall on a tripod. I had borrowed a friends DV camera for the second camera which was going to be hand held near the front of the auditorium. There were no outlets nearby so the second camera could only be ran by battery power. I had to plan for tape and battery changes.
I normally switch tapes at intermission . However in this case the first half of the show was longer than an hour. In the picture below I switched tapes and batteries in camera 2 before my main camera. When I did switch tapes in the main camera I was able to do it in between songs. But in case I couldn’t I had camera 2 capturing a wide shot.
What about sound ?
I planned to use the sound from the main camera for the final movie. I was a little concerned if there would be a difference in the sound between the two cameras if I had to change tapes in the main camera during a song. As a backup plan I had my laptop setup up recording the audio of the entire performance. You can also use a mini-disc recorder.
There were a couple of ways I could have approached the audio for this.
1) Just use the onboard mic.
2) Take a feed from the sound board
3) Place a wireless mike near the stage.
The best way to handle the audio depends on the sound technician. In my case the entire band and almost all the performers were mic’d. By taking a feed from the sound board I was able to pretty much get a pretty balanced mix. If you can’t get a good audio feed from the board I have seen people use a wireless mic up close to the stage.
The Value Of Extra Footage
On the night of the performance one of the songs was messed up. During the editing process I used footage from one of the rehearsals. In the end you couldn’t tell the difference.
