Thoughts on Master Shot cam location

Neal Buconjic

Neal Buconjic

Well-known member
I'm planning out my shots for an upcoming comedy short. The scene I'm most concerned about takes place in a driveway (as shown in the photo below). The scene contains three characters - two cops (green and red squares) and a suspect (yellow square).

I've essentially edited the film on paper to determine what coverage I'll require. The problem is that it seems I have too many shots. I'm sure that there is much more efficient way to shoot and get all of the coverage I need in 6 or 7 shots?
In particular I was concerned about the location of the camera for my master shots. I was thinking of location 1, but it would get a profile of the suspect, location 2 would be good for the suspect, but get the back side of the cops. If I used both locations, am I disrespecting the 180 rule? I figure as long as I establish the orientation of the characters that the viewer shouldn't be startled or confused.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks.

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Well, it doesn't matter how well everyone knows the locations of the characters, breaking the 180 rule will still be noticed. Now, that's not to say you can't do it. The entire dinning scene in Godfather was done done without breaking the rule and after Michael shot the two guys it broke the rule to add to the confusion and unease of the scene.

Well, I don't really know much about the story or characters, so I can't really judge too much of what you want he scene to show. Are the cops harassing him? Who is the main character cops or the suspect? Is this a turning point for any character. Does this show something essential to the audience. All this (IMO) should be considered when designing shots.

One way to do it is to use camera 2 for a master and then film the suspect's POV for the suspect, although this works best if the subject is innocent and the cops are wrongly accusing him. It would put the audience in his place having police look at the audience accusingly. If you would like, you can email me the scene or post it up here and I can give a little more focused advice. email is at adonkle@gmail.com Anything about the characters, visual style you're going for, or story would be helpful.

One thing to remember, no dialouge scene is just a dialouge scene. Always make it tell and show something.
 
Thanks for the reply Gohanto.

This is a comedy short - in a nutshell, we are following the cops on one of their calls. We'll go from them receiving a call while in the patrol car to the arrival on the scene (the driveway). The bulk (95%) of the 6 minute film will take place at this location.

The cops are the protagonist of the story. They talk with the suspect and begin to look through the contents of a garbage bag. They are looking specifically for a piece of evidence that they have received a tip about. The bag is filled with illegal items (confirming that he IS in fact a criminal), but the cops pay no mind to the items as they are specifically looking for one item. When the bag has been fully searched and the item is not there, the suspect gets very belligerent and belittles the cops. Bad idea. It's the suspect's conduct that leads one of the cops to plant evidence and take him down.
The viewer should be "rooting" for the cops anyway, so this should be seen as justifiable conduct (given that the suspect truly IS a criminal).

It's unfortunate that the chainlink fence runs the length of the driveway as it impedes the amount of room I have to shoot from. I was thinking that if the line of action were between the suspect (yellow block) and cop#1 (green), then the camera can move anywhere on the left hand side - eliminating the need for camera 2.

Thanks for the input and feedback.
 
This seems prety textbook, here is what I would do:

I would stick with camera position 1. If you are worried about a profile, you can safely get an O/S over the green shoulder of the suspect, in fact you should. You can also "cheat" each character and move them around to have them looking as close to the lens (or action line) as possible, just don't cross the line. Make sure everybody is looking offscreen at where the person should be looking offscreen.

For a shot list, I get:
WS
MS suspect
MS cop1
MS cop2
CU suspect
CU cop1
CU cop2
OS suspect
OS cop1
OS cop2
2-shot 2 cops
CU any props
 
IMO as long as you know about the 180 rule it's OK to break it ...

IMO split the screen - left side yellow subject .. right side 2 police officers = don't have to be concerned with 180 rule !!
 
donatello said:
IMO split the screen - left side yellow subject .. right side 2 police officers = don't have to be concerned with 180 rule !!
Click to expand...

Correct.

Also you could shoot the master as a hand held shot or stabilizer shot and move the position of the camera to best suit the way the scene plays.
 
The choice of the camera position for the master shot should be driven by how you intend to get to this scene. Is this part of the story about the suspect or the two officers? Whichever it is should influence your choice of camera position. Is this master to be a locked down shot? Has this location been established to the audience previously in the story? All are considerations.

j's list of shots is certainly full coverage, but if you know how you intend to cut it, you may be able to reduce the coverage depending upon your available shooting time for this scene. If you are unsure and you have the time then shoot full coverage to be safe.

I try to get full coverage if a scene hasn't been fully previsualized (which can be as simple as a good set of boards), but not necessarily full takes on ever bit of coverage. I doubt you need a cu on every character through the full scene. Best not to over shoot your actors, first takes can often be the best performances.
 
Is it a lot of physical comedy? In general, any physical comedy is best getting as wide as you possibly can. Look at the funniest scene in Men in Black; where will Smith is trying to deliver the baby squid thing in the background while Tommy Lee Jones is talking to the father in the foreground. Part of what makes the shot so hilarious is that you are seeing it from far away. We don't want to get close and see how much pain Smith is in since that would take use out of laughing at him.

If it's more dialogue drive you're going to want something closer. Something that will let you see as much of the chacters faces as possible while still letting you see the key action of the scene.
 
Thanks for the feedback.

The film is propelled forward by the action, as opposed to the dialogue. The dialogue is intentionally light and the humor comes from the situation the suspect finds himself in and how the interaction of characters plays out.
There will be heavy use of the suspect's facial reactions (nervousness, anxiety, relief) to what is transpiring. That being said, it is the cops who are "the good guys" in this film.

Actually, yesterday I brought the camera to the location and determined that I couldn't obtain a satisfactory WS with the camera positioned beside the fence. Sure, I was okay if it was aimed toward the road, but for the bulk of the scene with the characters standing in the driveway, I'm stuck with a MS at best. Incidentally, I'm shooting with a friend's XL2 with the 20x lens.

I was also dismayed to hear a lot of ambient sound from the nearby steel mill. I don't know why I never noticed it before, but with the mic and headphones on... wow.

The search is on for a more accommodating location.
 
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