What Facilities Are Needs

It is generally better to build up from basic production treatment that will work effectively, than to start with a complex idea that has to be considerably simplified.

A matter of degree

Most subjects can be presented in a number of quite different ways, some more successful than others. But remember, elaboration does not guarantee a better program – often the reverse. Take a subject such as ‘Warfare’.

• Presentation could be very basic – a seated storyteller.

• You might include illustrations … stills … graphics …, film clips … miniature layouts showing battles.

• Given the budget» animated film, dramatic reenactments … even location battles!

But do these make your points better? They may, but on the other hand they might introduce an unnecessary and costly over-gloss instead!

Alternative methods

You can often use several quite different methods to achieve the same effect. Some are easier or more flexible to use than others. A high shot that would really need a camera crane may be obtained by putting a camera on an elevated area (parallels, rostra, frame tower), by shooting into a suspended mirror, or even by cutting to a photo-still taken earlier.

A special facility used for one brief shot alone is usually wasteful of time and effort. But a whole scene might require special treatment, such as shots from ground level throughout. If so, are special low level dollies necessary, or can the problem be overcome by arranging the action on an elevated area, and using normal floor pedestals?

Tempting facilities

Various facilities have become widely available, so that the temptation is to use them – because they are there. Resist the temptation! Think twice before using a wipe, whip-pan, zoom, star filters, superimposition, synthesized color. They may all be there at the touch of a switch, but are they appropriate?

What does the viewer see?

The audience cares little about how difficult or costly it is to achieve a given shot. They are only concerned with the effect. If the camera looks through a doorway and apparently sees a room interior, it is not important that this ‘room’ is really only made from a couple of scenic flats. Carefully chosen camera viewpoints can prove economical in staging and facilities. Judiciously used chromakey (CSO), too, can provide elaborate effects with minimum staging. Although such approaches may preclude interesting developing shots, they can provide considerable visual variety.

Coping without facilities

There will always be times when a program maker’s ambition has to be limited by facilities, budget, time, space, manpower and so on. But by using a little ingenuity, you can often get round these problems. Even when shooting live, difficulties can arise that have quite simple solutions. Here are a few regular examples of ways in which you may create greater visual flexibility than your situation would normally allow.

Too few cameras • Restrict the amount of action in the scene, and the area of movement, so that the camera(s) can shoot effectively. • In a two-camera setup, arrange for one of the cameras to move away before the end of the scene, to the next location, ready for the next scene, • Videotape each section/scene separately, concentrating all available cameras there. • Introduce shots of slides, graphics, film, or videotape, to allow you to move your main studio camera(s) to new positions.

Cameras immobile • Where your camera cannot move around (static tripod, uneven ground, very distant from subject to shoot on a narrow angle lens), arrange the action and subject distances to suit simple panning and zooming. Have the performers work to the camera, changing distance to vary the shot. • If the camera cannot go In to see the detail, cut to inserts (photographs, slides, or videotape) of the detail, shot separately. • Either pan, or pull focus between a series of carefully positioned items. • Occasionally, it is possible to pan from a subject to a nearby mirror reflecting a different scene.

Lens angle is fixed • When you are using a fixed lens angle (i.e. not a zoom lens) you can introduce a great deal of visual mobility by varying the distance of the performers from the camera, and by moving the camera around to follow the action. Wherever possible, have the performers move to give a ‘reason’ for the camera to dolly, e.g. to follow as someone walks from one spot to another. • If another lens is not available for particular narrow angle or wide angle effects, clip on an additional, supplementary lens (‘negative’ for a narrower angle; ‘positive’ for a wider angle).

Insufficient time to move a camera • If during a two-camera live program there is too little time at the conclusion of the first scene for the second camera to move to its new shot elsewhere, the first scene can be ‘stretched’ by adding extra dialogue or things for performers to do at its end (action, business). • Introduce cutaway shots of graphics or slides to bridge the transition.

Limited space • Use wide angle lenses to exaggerate space. • Change the appearance of a setting (revamp) so that it can be reused during the show: by replacing furniture, wall decoration, drapes, etc; or by relighting. • Shoot set from a different angle. • Use small ‘partial’ settings in which although only a localized area is used, the effect suggests a much more extensive arrangement. • Where a studio setting has windows, cover them with nets or drapes, then space-occupying backings will not be needed. Similarly, avoid using doors, or hinge them downstage. • Use chromakey (or front projection), or realistic backdrops (e.g. photo blowups) to suggest extensive locations. • By shooting via a mirror, you can lengthen the effective shooting distance, and the width of shot. • You can introduce false (forced) perspective in the setting for an illusion of greater space. • If two or more small settings have similar decor, when cameras are intercut between them, their combined shots will suggest one large area.

Limited staging resources • See ‘Limited space’. • Use adaptable or reversible scenery (i.e. slip-aside panels; turn-over flats; pull-aside drapes, rear-projected patterns on translucent panels, etc.). • Use a cyclorama as a universal background, with projected light patterns, shadows, pin-on motifs, foreground standing pieces, etc. • Augment standard plain fiats with drapes on lightweight frames.

Limited lighting facilities • Where you have few lamps, restrict the area seen in shot and concentrate available light there. Light and record one scene at a time. • Use chromakey to simulate background/setting, using lighting for color backdrop (keying color) and people. • To suggest lighting wall shading or shadows where facilities are limited, airbrush or paint the effects.

No slide or film island • Project the film image onto a screen (shield off any spill-light) and shoot with a video camera.