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More than 1 camera?

M

movieman1005

Im just wondering if I want to make a movie, does it help to capture the same scene with two cameras at different angles and move the camera to get even more? Can you edit that on a computer, and if so, how do you make sure the audio matches the video with timing and all on switching angles?

I want to make good looking movies and wondering how, if you only use one camera, you can film a scene with different angles and keep the audio the same?
 
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It can help to use two cameras but its not necessary. If you do, you would normally just use the audio from one of the cameras and then match up (sync) the lips/action of the 2nd camera to the audio of the first. Or you can use one camera, shooting the scene multiple times to capture everything you need. In this instance its a good idea to have an assistant watch for actor's hand placements, etc, to make sure everyone is in the same area in each take. Check out some old Twilight Zone reruns, which typically utilized one camera, for a crash course on cinematography. Work out in your head how you want each scene to look and write/draw it on paper. Figure out how many different camera setups/takes you'll need to accomplish your vision. Most of all, experiment and have fun! Make 1 minute shorts to tell simple stories (walking the dog, getting the mail) and you'll be on your way.
 
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In my experience its not necessary most of the time but can be helpful if you have 2 or more people talking to each other you can save on time or if you were doing some kind of complex shot that is hard to repeat you want to get it covered as much as possible.

With audio its best to use the audio from one of the cameras or a separate recording, if you keep switching between the audio of each camera it can sound off.
 
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Absolutely, shoot a scene from multiple angles. Even if you don't have multiple cameras. Coverage is essential to your editor. If he has more angles and more footage to cut to, he has more freedom to piece together the best possible scene with the best possible pacing. If you have different angles to cut to, you can manipulate time and you can piece together the best performances from different takes easier.

Say you have a dialogue scene with two characters. Shoot the whole scene in a wide shot, first. Basically you want to give your editor a long shot that he can establish a space with at first, and cut back to afterwards. Then go into your medium/closeups of each character. Shoot the entire scene on each character even if the character isn't speaking. You can still, and probably will, use that footage for reaction shots.
 
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