Marketing Dilemma

Every live show with multiple cameras has a video director behind the cameramen. He usually sits at a board with the ability to change camera shots for live viewing, recording or both. For the show to run smoothly, the director needs the ability to communicate with a variable amount of cameramen. However, even if the director has the ability to communicate to the team, that doesn’t mean that effective communication will always occur with the cameramen on the team.

When I first started directing I was scared out of my mind. I had to direct very seasoned cameramen that had a lot more experience than I did. It didn’t stop me though. I learned very quickly that the best skill to develop as a director is to communicate well. There were other skills I needed to develop, but I knew the only way I was going to be an effective director was to communicate clearly what I wanted my cameramen to do. For me, I always blame my communication and wording if my cameramen are having trouble working with me. Taking a little time to develop effective wording that works for you and your cameramen can move your live productions to the next level.

Here is an example:

Your goal is to keep your cameramen calm and you to think ahead of the show. Instead of saying “Camera one, give me a pan” you should say “set up for a pan” before you need it. By asking your cameramen to set up for shots, it gives you time to prepare for another shot and see where you are going to go to next. When you have a few shots set up, the only thing you need to say next is “Camera one, go”. Once he or she starts moving, you can go live with that shot and move on. Saying the right phrases, and thinking ahead at least two or three shots, can really help keep your cameramen and you from feeling overwhelmed and produce a clean effective show.

Video shutter speed is very different from shutter speed in photography. In still photography, a slower shutter can cause images to be blurred and detail to be lost. In video, at least 30 photos are taken a second, and some of the “blur” might be appealing.

Now that most professional and “pro-sumer” still cameras have video capabilities, it’s good to know the other factors that change when using different shutter speeds. When using slower shutter speeds, the movement has a slight blurring effect in video. When using faster shutter speeds, everything has a slight jerky effect or flicker. Using a faster shutter speed will keep every frame in your video sharp, which can look unnatural at times. This is great if you plan to take some still images from your video or shoot a cinema fight scene, but otherwise it looks slightly odd.

You’ll notice when shooting outdoors that a faster shutter speed will be needed to expose properly if you plan on using more open apertures. A good solution for this problem is a neutral density filter, which I will be talk about later this week.