yet another camera question

They probably had three camera operators with a DP supervising. You could be right about the coverage which would be similar to soap opera coverage. The problem with this type of coverage is your have to compromise the lighting with a general type and not have decent backlights, etc... You end up spending a lot of time tweaking a light out of one of the camera shots, only to realize it just screwed up another shot. Sometimes, the three cameras will point one direction with one on a wide-ish master, one on a medium and another ona close-up. That makes life easier.

If you're shooting outside with mostly daylight, then multiple cameras can save you some time.

Scott

If you do use multiple cameras, try and make sure they're all the same model, or at least the same manufacturer, as different brands often give different looks in what they shoot.

Also, match white balance, exposure, etc. And decide on one camera for audio capturing (unless you're using a different method to record audio) and stick to it.

Just some suggestions to save you some time in post.

"Cameras were set to 4.3 aspect ratio and kept in interlaced scale mode"

I know what 4.3 aspect ratio is but I'm not exactly sure what the whole thing means. They used three Sony Pal PD-150s (is this camera a DVpro?). Does it also mean that they had three DPs? Also, if they are three actors in the scene, do they first take the master, and then simultaneously shoot the over-the-shoulder medium shots/close ups? What if it's more than 3 actors, how do they do it?

Click to expand...

They shot wide screen interlaced. I think scale is one of the 2 speed settings the camera has. I’ve only used a PD150 a couple of times, but it has regular miniDV standard mode, and DVCAM mode (which is the Sony version of DVCpro by JVC). They probably shot DVCAM because it has a higher resolution and audio fidelity.

They may have had 3 camera ops and one DP, or a DP could have run a camera and had two other ops. It’s hard to do that the latter though and get consistent color and coverage. I do a lot of shoots with 2 and 3 cameras, but they’re interviews and such that I really need the coverage. For cinematic, I wouldn’t go more than 2 at the most - unless it’s a stunt or action scene. It’s hard to get good lighting for more than one camera as mentioned above. Multiple cameras work better on sticks. If there is a dolly or other movement, it can complicate things and one camera can be in another’s shot, etc. I’ve found a boom, a stick, and a handheld work well together though for music video or dance coverage.

Scott.. what does DP mean again?

A "DP" is the Director of Photography.

Here is a list of other terms and acronyms that may come in handy.

http://www.aigcorp.com/callboard/members/filmtv/acterms.cfm