I'm helping a friend cover a gig next week and I'll be operating a camera. To be honest, I haven't logged that many hours behind a camera in my time. Lots behind the visual control desk, but not so many on the camera itself - so I'm no expert really. But I have done it, and having been on control desk often, I do know what shots I'd want to be receiving, so there is some reverse insight. Would that be outsight..? Hmmm... well, you know what I mean.
In any case, it's been a while, so I'm trying to refresh my memory on the basics of what I used to tell people who were fresh to cam-op'ing. While I'm churning it over I may as well share my basic top tips with you all. These tips have been formed over a few years, mostly from the legends Simon Graham and Matt Smith, with some... indeed more than I'd like, learnt the hard way from mistakes.
Scene and Positions
Fairly obvious - but make sure there's good camera positions reserved for you, some nice backdrops to use, make sure nothing is in the backdrops you're going to use that shouldn't be, etc etc. Don't interview someone with the sun behind them, be aware of wind direction on microphones and on the subjects themselves - spend some good time weighing up the setting and the angles well before the event and it will pay of a thousand fold when you come to shoot.
Shot Types
Firstly, let's talk about the basic kinds of shots we use. When you're on camera, the person mixing the feed in post or live production will be lifting segments from you. Not everything you point your lens at is going to be used, so you spend your time moving from one 'shot' to another to give the mixer a variety to pick from, taking instruction where possible. While a shot is live, you tend not to move from it, but many a cam-op have watched the big screens confused as to why their feed is not being used at all - so try to think about what it is you're actually providing and where it fits into a mix of the other cameras on the team.
You might find it helpful to ask yourself how your view fits into one of these categories, and to look at what the mixer already has available.
Long
When mixing, I always liked to have one cam on long. This is a view that carries little detail - it's an 'audience eye view' if you like, and will likely cover the entire stage or setting of activity. I sometimes call this the safe shot - because if the closer zoomed cams are missing some sudden and key action, flicking to long will capture it at least in a wide setting. You can always fade back to a closer cam once the op's on the ground have picked up on the action. Generally because of the nature of the shot - you only need one long per setting/stage, because it's saying everything there is to be said.
Ambiance
This is a variation on the long - it's just even wider and your subject is not the main subjects of the piece. In a concert situation, this would be a crowd shot, or extreme long of the stage from the very back of the audience. There's no detail at all in fact - it's an establishing shot, a super safe shot, and something you should be hardly ever using beyond that.
Mid
Focus on a person or group, capturing their waist to their heads with a little space around them. This is a nice shot for getting some detail closer than a live audience can make out on the ground, but giving you some margin to follow smoothly should the subject move about. Especially useful on speakers who pace, sporting events, drama groups. The majority of shots will tend to be mid shots - it carries with it some context, some subject detail - it's just nicely balanced for the viewer.
Close
So the band's doing that bit of the song where all the instruments have built up to a very loud very intense noisy sound and the singer is about to go into that really long emotional wailing that started as a word but just carries on as an undefined emotional drone and then there's a sustained series of similar effects. The guy always looks hilarious when he's doing this - like he's constipated or something, and that amuses you and the team, meanwhile the audience and the band think it conveys a depth of emotion or something... point is - we all want to see they guys' face, tightly shot on the big screens so we can see the wrinkles and the sweat beads and everything. The close is the most detailed, the most intense shot, but if that guy moves the camera will lose him instantly.
Do use this shot - it's well worth it but don't over use - it will lose potency for the bit in the song you really want it for. Don't use when they're likely to move a lot, and if they do move out the shot - don't try and follow them - either smoothly zoom out until your range is broad enough enough to catch them in it or stay still, and the mixer will change camera. Following a moving target on close will just make the audience dizzy.
Craftsman
A very special close up. Just like the above but specifically this is a close shot not of the subject, but of the subject of the subject. Using our band example, this is the lead guitarists hand on the strings of the guitar during an impressive solo. Another example is where we get the name - a craftsmans hands as he's working on a wooden carving.
Partial/Merged Shots
When in doubt, go to the shots listed above. But where you are one of several cameras, some more advanced shots might be acquired. Remember you are one part of several, and where the technology allows, a number of views might be combined to make a more unique effect. These shots will be sprinkled in amongst stretches of the above basic shots to just keep interest fresh and liven things up periodically. There's lots to do, but a simple example I often use is to have on person get a mid shot, but hanging the subject to the very left side of the view, leaving loads of empty space on the right. A second camera should get a close up but only using the right of the screen. The desk will fade them together with a soft transparency and hey - funky shot.
Bringing it together then...
We start with an ambiance shot, looking down on an old industrial shed like building. We cut to a view inside the building - a mid shot of the man working a block of wood, perhaps mix in a long shot of the internal of the workshop for better context. Back to mid, and then fade to a close up of the mans face - see his concentration as the voice over will talk about his years of experience. As the narrator moves from that to talking of the techniques the man uses, we merge to the shot of the mans hands as he carves, stay for a moment, then back to our mid. Yes - using that formula alone, over and over, you could produce any program on the BBC's education hour. And they do.
If you're looking for a homework assignment - try thinking of what merged shot you could use in this little example if you wanted to really shake things up with the education production team.
Head Space
Let's talk about space. The space is the area of the shot that is not a subject, and getting the right balance of space and subject is what makes the quality. As the viewer you get engrossed in the subject - so much that your brain filters out the space around them and you don't much notice, but this is where we separate the men from the boys. It is your job to not let your brain filter it out, and to keep the space in your thoughts. There some common sense to be had on this whether the subject is a person or an object or whatever, but I'm going to just talk about people subjects because it's what I see wrongly done most often.
Back and Front
When dealing with people, there should be little to no space that is directly behind the subjects head. Best illustrated by side shots - the back of the persons head should be close to or touching the frame of the shot, even if this leaves you with more space in front of the subjects head. If it looks wrong - you need to zoom in a bit, but space in front of a person will look good - you're including a bit of space the person is looking into and that pleases the viewers brain - makes you feel like you yourself have space to occupy - that there's a wider area - less 'squashed up with the subject'.
Top and Bottom
Too much space above and below the subject isn't often helpful. Again - you need to zoom in a bit if you're in this situation. Back, top, and bottom space is 'dead space', and I think top space is the easiest to creep in on you. A small margin might work nicely, but too much and you're making your subject look short and insignificant. In some cases, you might actually be going for this - perhaps a contrast in a drama, but in general camera work you want to be conscious of top space and try to keep it trim. Bottom space isn't so bad if it's adding context - the stage floor can provide an interesting angle effect but be critical and conscious of what the space below the subject is doing to your over all picture.
Motion
The word is smooth. I usually tell green op's if they're on screen, just don't move - it's easier and I'll cut to another view when I want change. This removes a huge amount of effects though and isn't always possible, so when you move, try and be smooth about it. Remember the audience isn't controlling the camera - similar to a driver in a car, you don't quite feel how sharp that swerve you just made was because you were expecting it. The passenger didn't know it was coming, and don't know when you were going to swerve back, and so will have been much more disturbed by it. Keep the audience in mind and try not to make them sick.
Zooming
Again - smooth. Zoom at an even pace, and here's a gotcha for any human subject when zooming from mid (waist to head) to close (head) - the centre of a mid shot is the breast plate. If you zoom, you will be looking at their breasts, so you need to slowly tilt up as you zoom in equal proportion. Practice this a little to get it smooth because I can't tell you the number of times I've seen a zoom into boobs, then a sharp tilt up to face.
Exceptions
All the above guidelines may well be suspended or deliberately broken to achieve a particular effect. Perhaps you want jerky zooms in and out to match a crashing sound effect, perhaps you're emphasising that the person is facing the wrong way, or that you are anticipating and event to occur in the top space. Camera Op'ing is about instinct and intuition more than strict rules, and your director should help guide you in specifics.
Well... hope that's been helpful. There's tonnes more but this is about all I mention to monkeys who get landed with me.
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Phil
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