Multi-Camera Production

   A multi-camera setup is uses around two or three cameras sometimes even more depending on the scale of production and type of shoot it is. This method is mostly used in controlled environments such studio locations or live events such as concerts or sports events. The multi-camera setup can also be used in some TV dramas and films, particularly when you need to blow something up like a car or a boat for examples and you can only shoot it once, you need to shoot simultaneously but also want it to be shot from different angles and distances which can only be done by using this method of filming. 

  Another example where multi-camera is used in a big budget production, I'll use Lord of the Rings as my example, first shot, the men of Gondor are leaving the city through the gates of Minas Tirith and are riding slowly two by two down a narrow street, this is a challenging shot to get on single camera and still keep continuity, it would be very hard to replicate so the best way to keep continuity and do it in as little time as possible would be using the multi-camera setup. Another example on the same location is when the gates of Minas Tirith are breached and the orc and trolls rush through to fight the men of Gondor in the square in front of the gate where they make they're stand, here is a dramatic and dynamic shot which uses different angles and distance shots of the battlefield where several cameras such as a crane and so on would be used to film the entire scene from start to finish simultaneously on all cameras. Using this method saves time of having to repeat shots all the time and makes it a lot easier to keep in continuity, because it's hard to replicate such a large shot, the more you replicate the greater the chance of creating continuity errors. If you didn't used this method to simultaneously capture the scene using multiple cameras it would be very difficult to recreate the reactions, where extras would and should be or props being used.

  The most common use of this method is with live events such as chat shows, sporting events and live music acts. Like all environments mentioned the use of 6 or more cameras are used and necessary.

   An example of how a multi-camera shoot works on a studio floor. Using Graham Norton show for example as a chat show, there will be a director, producer, floor manager and the vision mixer, the producer plans everything of the event while the director and a whole host of assistance this and that will be in the room with the vision mixer and a team of people working under them working the controls, switching cameras as and when told, this is called the gallery usually a room backstage filled with monitors and a deck to cut and mix the performance live which is usually the vision mixers job, to edit live so the studio audience can enjoy the show on the screens provided while also entertained by the live act. The live edit then goes to be edited further for a more smoother cut ready to be shown on television, this is the process a chat show goes through.

  To collect the footage from the live act a host of cameras are set up in the studio from dollies, cranes and still cameras. Six or more can be used, each camera operator is attached to a live talk back connection for optimum communication between camera operators to the floor manager to the director. The job of the floor manager is to communicate problems and enforce the directors commands. The need for this is so not all cameras are pointing in the same direction, some will be required to constantly be moving to provide for more variety of a shot and creativity, some are to remain on a particular shot of someone such as maybe camera A is to have a medium shot of the host at all times while camera B has to have a shot of the entire couch where the guests sit.

  The method can be carried out the same way for each kind of studio method whether it is a live music act or a sports event they are generally run the same way with more or less the same amount of cameras, depending on the size of band a music act has you could work with few or require 12 or more cameras.