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Multicamera shooting. Are people doing it?

Samir Patel

Samir Patel

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Hi guys. I have been contemplating picking up a second Scarlet body because I have this desire to get multiple angles on some promotional videos. But I am wondering am I making too much of this thinking that multiple cameras are required? I wanted to ask here if people are actually shooting with multiple cameras for projects or is that only used in sitcoms and tv style production? What I mean is are most of you just using one camera on most jobs and just filming multiple takes from multiple angles with that one camera?

Any advice would be welcome.

-Samir
 
Thanks Chris. I really wanted to pickup another Scarlet (especially after the deal presented tonight). But I expect it would just end up sitting mostly unused anyway. I really wish we new details on upgrade pricing of the Scarlet to Dragon. I guess in the end it is probably best to save up anyway for an Epic Dragon.
 
Hi Samir. I shoot multicam Red, with up to 7-10 Reds at a time for live shows. I own both an Epic and a Scarlet for that reason, and hire other operators as needed. For my non-live stuff I basically never set them both up, instead concentrating on one angle at a time done really well.

If I were in an interview situation I might use both, with one capturing the entire set up.
 
I love 2 camera setup

I love 2 camera setup

2 scarlets used for an interview recently.
 

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I worked on an infomercial about 18 months ago that used five Red Ones. They opted not to slave timecode due to budgetary concerns, and just used common sticks to sync everything up (to 10-track external sound). The end result worked fine.
 
Shapour - do you have a link to the video of that interview?[/QUOTE]

this is a documentary in progress. I will eventually but I can not at ths point.
 
Samir, I do multi-camera shoots every time I can... that is, when I have ample time to set up. I just did a wedding (family member) where I set up one camera behind the altar (outdoors) and the other one offset from behind the crowd. Both were at oblique angles. The camera behind the altar was un-manned and gave me a perfect shot of the bride's and groom's faces as they recited their vows along with the bridesmaids and groomsmen. At high resolution provided by the Epic, I can crop to show just the bride and groom in close-up from the behind-the-altar footage in post.

I manned the camera from behind the guests with a zoom lens mounted and was able to catch the wedding procession at it's beginning and follow the bride and her father as they marched up the aisle. And when the couple was saying their vows I could zoom in and see them in profile from the side opposite to the other camera, which had it's view blocked on occasion by the pastor.

I would have missed many special moments if I had used only one camera, and if I had gone hand held to capture multiple angles, would have been a distraction to the ceremony... much like the stills photographer at this event was. With the Redmote, the quad battery module, the high resolution original image to work from... there is every reason to shoot multi-cam when possible.
 
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We shoot a bunch of web only cooking shows that we've been shooting with multiple AF100's - then we switched to a single Scarlet for some shoots and the whole production slowed and the cuts weren't as fluid. Stopping / starting in the middle of a recipe is PIA.

Picked up a second Scarlet this morning, so we'll be shooting from now on with a 2 cam set-up in 4K. Yes 4K is overkill for web delivery, but it gives us a huge advantage when we decide to re-frame or zoom to a specific action in post.

Plural eyes synch's all the camera's really easily as well.
 
If you think carefully about the things you are shooting (and want to shoot) you can probably best answer that question for yourself. Most things can benefit by having two cameras at different angles or different framing, but it is usually a budget issue that constrains it. For interviews and live demonstrations; anything where it is hard to match a second take from another angle, multi-cam is almost imperative. Even on something like a dramatic narrative, where it is typical to move the camera and reshoot the scene from another perspective, two cameras can be great to save time and match action exactly (and some directors like the genuine reactions of one actor to another). Some shots that are really hard to re-stage (an actor getting splattered with blood or falling into a pool with their clothes on - hair and wardrobe issues), then multi-cam can be a real time saver. The tradeoff with that is having to light the scene to cover both angles simultaneously. In the end, think through what will work best; what is the most cost-effective and/or will give the best footage, and see where the budget falls.
 
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I was on a shoot last week (i was the talent, not on the crew), and they needed another epic so had to spend an extra hour doing a second setup for the other angle(btw was totally my fault, i changed the script at the last second). It was also hard hitting my lines on the 2nd setup right and I'm sure it will be a lot harder for the editors/sfx/adr when they try to fix my mangled lines. I think the 2nd camera really helps on speeding things up, makes it much easier for the talent if their needs to be a second setup. For my "puddles of light" project, I'll be using my second scarlet for a remote jib camera, i was having a hard time justifying the cost of a lighter camera config just to speed up scene setups ... but I can't afford to let this battle tested scarlet opportunity pass by.
 
I've worked on features where we used 2 cameras and it definitely speeds things up. Especially when you're running out of time and you decide to cross shoot. You can essentially grab the scene without a re-light (though I wouldn't recommend it).

More recently, I wrapped a project with Adidas where we had 3 REDs (2 scarlets and 1 Epic) where we were shooting an instructional training DVD. We placed 2 cameras on the same dolly for the wide and the medium and a 3rd camera on a slider to get close ups and beauty shots.

It was great because we had so much coverage and the final delivery is going to be 720 (DVD) so we were effectively getting 6 angles with our set up!

And of course, I've done the traditional single camera narrative work as well.
 
Currently working on a series that is interview intensive. i subject. 1/2 hr. shows. My Red one is shooting the subject straight on - there are two interviewers - and I have the shoulders of both interviewers in the frame. My Epic is on a slider 45 degrees off the subject.- All Prime lenses. Thanks to 4K/5K the show looks like a 5 camera shoot. Editor reframes shots for medium and close up and does an occasional digital zoom. Obviously - no loss of quality.
 
Thanks guys. Wish I hadn't canceled my order for the 2nd Scarlet. But spent to much money this month anyway. Are most of you multi-camera shooters renting the second body just for these interview type shoots or does your production company own both cameras?
 
Up until Scarlet we always bought two of each camera system - Thanks to this weeks generous offer by RED we'll now own two Scarlets as well. Though I know a few guys around town with Scarlets that I could rent with them as operator.
Depends I guess on how much you work (how many rentals until it makes sense to buy), and how you work (do you get last minute jobs where booking, picking up, returning a rental is a hassle).

G.
 
Our VIDEO CAMERA App ($19.99 iTunes 4.5 Stars) allows users to record from up to 8 iOS devices simultaneously. Rather than low-qualiting streaming, we send proxies to the Stage master device and then when recording stops we transfer all of the high-resolution original footage from each device to the Stage automatically and then automatically generate the timeline.

http://vimeo.com/36719479

My hope is to work with RED to support RED and SCARLET as "remote camera players" so that the iPhone and iPad can be used to quickly mock-up edited multi-camera sequences and then we will allow that EDL to be exported and brought into REDCine, Premiere, Final Cut, etc.

Jarred? :-)

Michael Zaletel
Founder, i4software
 
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