Multi camera techniques Peter Killingback

Coverage of action Keeping the most interesting piece of action in shot, or switching to the camera covering the most interesting piece of action.

Maintaining audience interest Using a variety of camera shots to keep changing the action, keeping the audience engaged. Important when there is only really one important piece of action, but you cant have a static camera.

Communicate meaning to audience Capturing emotions etc. through camera placement and angles, to show the audience an in depth look at the situation. Creating an idea / suggesting ideas with a sequence of events that lead audience to think something.

Visual style Visual style reflects the time the program is shown and differentiates it from other similar programs. Backdrops - colours and designs play a part in setting the style. Set designs - layout of set is important. Lighting – this alone plays a huge part, we can easily distinguish between a number of programs based on the lighting set up. Editing style – fast paced / slow paced editing also changes the whole feel of the program. camera shots/angles – camera shots and angles vary so often that having consistency can make things recognisable.

Constraints of studio or location environment Location Weather will cause huge problems, cloudy and sunny weather, over and under exposing shots, changing white balance, all affecting the consistency of shots, meaning lots of work will need to be done in editing to correct this. Rain and electricity, especially expensive equipment do not go well together. people in public areas have rights to be there so you cant just make them get out the way. Studio Everything can be controlled but space may be an issue, all light is artificial so you have to light up sets appropriately. Green screens and Chroma keying will also be required to change backgrounds, however this can be used to your advantage

Multi-camera simultaneous recording When multiple camera's are all recording the set at the same time. Allowing for quick easy transitions from shot to shot, when needed. All camera’s set up recording from different angles and shooting different things so everything is covered so the most important piece of action can always be shown.

Live music This is Biffy Clyro performing live at Wembley. Many cameras do a great job of always being targeted at something interesting, allowing the best shot to be used at any time. Fast shot changes keep us watching. Angles and shots all clearly show this is a life event with an audience. Live coverage of music almost never has a distinct visual style over others, its very hard to change shots between music differently. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2v4YsLpI8c

Live sport This is Rooney getting sent off during a match. Dozens of cameras do a great job of spotting the action and using replays we are shown bits we missed, this is appealing because we get to see things from all angles. Events like football are always delivered in the same way so very little visual style is present. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8v6kzDGeBc

Studio show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kBir4Hn9Mw This is QI, a popular quiz show presented by Stephen Fry. Cameras are position so there is one focused tightly on each panel member, then one on each side of the panel, one on the host and one far camera that sees the whole panel. This means there is always a camera on the right person, the best shot can be selected later when edited together. QI retains viewer interest most from the nature of the show and use of swapping cameras, it would be boring if their were one static camera. Its also got a lot of visual style mostly due to the vivid set and backdrop. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kBir4Hn9Mw

TV series This is The Big Bang Theory, a popular TV series. The number of cameras usually depends on the number of characters on set, there is usually a close camera for each character and a few others for multi shots. The change between these along with the comedy keeps us interested. Its very easily recognisable most because of the characters themselves, certain occasional things hint as well though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c-vDAr42yQ