Multi Cam Production Assignment 1

 

Comparing Multi Camera Productions

Live Music Event Vs TV News

What Defines them?
A multi cam production is a production that uses more than 1 camera (usually 2-4 however this can differ as the size of the event must be considered.) These productions are either recorded or broadcast ed live to a audience. The Cameras each serve a different purpose as some are used for wide shots and some are used for close ups. the use of shots differ in multi cam depending on what type of production it is. for example a TV News production would use close up shots more because they have anchors who are presenting the program. A live music event would use wider shots to show the whole band  and would have audience cameras set up to capture reactions and other things like crowd surfers etc.

Live Music Event
A live music event works a little differently to other live multi cam productions because the camera operators have an audience to work with and avoid. this means that they will capture different shots of the audience and  how the band's music is effecting them but they also have to avoid hurting or blocking the view of the audience because in effect the audience controls the room and an annoyed audience will turn on the band and perhaps the camera operators obviously this is unlikely but what could happen is complaints  and the camera operator would be at fault. Also the production can't be the same 4 shots of the band for 4 mins as this would just get boring to anyone watching so the cameras are constantly changing shots and angles in order to keep the production interesting to watch.

There are some similarities between a Live Music Event And A TV News production. They both use different angles to keep the broadcast interesting for example in a Live music event a shot might show the whole band as a wide shot with maybe some of the audience as reference at the bottom of the shot and similarly at the beginning of BBC's Breakfast program the camera pans in towards the presenters and shows almost the entire studio as you can see the other cameras they are using to the left and the set before they cut to one of the cameras on the left for a more central close up shot. (Begin video at 0:42) Another similarity apart from some news stories which are prerecorded all the presenting and the music playing is live. which means that both productions are at risk of technical failures and glitches.

There are some major differences. For example a live music event will use cameras that are portable and the camera operators will be moving around during a performance to capture the next shot and to differ the shot lengths in order for the production to look good as a music event is meant to entertain people so the production team will be working tirelessly, whereas in a news multi cam production their aim is not to entertain people it is to seriously inform them of the going on's of the world and what is happening locally and internationally so the multiple camera set up for a news production usually has only one moving shot at the beginning to establish who's presenting and the set and then the rest of the shots are captured on camera's that are static and just have varying zoom lengths and will not move at all.

BBC Breakfast Interview 

BBC Breakfast Interview In Studio

TV News Works a lot differently as the two subject matters are completely different as TV News's focus is on the information that they have to deliver. Normally a news anchor will deliver the past days news and what has happened. sometimes if it is a big story (Like a major incident or a significant death) that story will take precedent over smaller news story's, there is also ongoing stories that are regularly  updated with new information or statistics for example the conflicts in Syria. After the main stories have been announced they will delve into reports and maybe interviews either at a location of a report or in the studio. then they will switch to local news for example our local BBC News division is Look North which will then repeat the same structure of presenting just with local news and interviews. then a weather round up and it will cut back to the national news that everyone across the country will see. This is the basic way news is presented basically every day of the year. the way they do it does not ever change mainly because it doesn't have to it's not meant to be entertaining its meant to clearly, seriously  and effectively present the news to the masses.

National Weather Reports Usually at set time during the program 

Pro's of Multi Cam 

Showcases the individual band members 

A pro of shooting a live music event with multiple cameras is the different ways you can showcase the band you can show them at all angles. for example if someone was doing a guitar solo then you can have multiple angles of them performing from showing the audience's reaction or the whole band or the finger movement of the guitar player. Here is an example of showcasing a guitar solo using multi cams. On the song 'Afterlife' By Avenged Sevenfold there is a complex solo that requires some fast finger movement here the solo is brought to life by the multiple camera angles that are shown.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-qkJw8q-uA  (Start at 3:50 End at 4:36)
Another Pro is that by having multiple cameras you can shoot the audience as well as the band performing. this makes the experience not only intense as the audience displays their emotions but it also displays an amount of realism that helps connect with an audience.
However sometimes lives events are one offs for example a music festival or a News report and being able to get every possible angle simultaneously is a great way to capture them.

Cons of Multi Cam 
There are some cons of shooting a live music event for example being live there could be some technical faults with the performance or other things like bad crowd or a band walk off basically a live event is much more unpredictable than a pre recorded studio based event.
Another con could be that an amount has to be entrusted to the camera operators as it is live they can't afford to make a mistake when filming, tripping and getting in the way of other shots could be a problem as the space they have to work in is usually tight and small spaces so they have to work hard as there is no room for messing up.
Another potential con of multi cam is the cost. Presuming you don't have 2-4 high end cameras lying about you would have to rent out some cameras from a company which can be expensive to do and you have to think about budgetary concerns and whether you can entrust expensive equipment to certain people. this concern doubles when filming a live music event as mentioned above crowds can be unpredictable and anything could happen.
Another con of multi cam is there is a lot less flexibility when positioning cameras as you don't want to accidentally have a good looking shot ruined by having another camera in the corner of it.
The Lighting and audio is also effected and you need to ensure that the bands performance is not interfered with.
The Live problems are also applied to live TV News segment and reports as the studio could lose lighting or they lose audio when talking to a reporter or when a reporter is making a live report something interrupts them. here are a few examples of this for reference and for fun, but it does also can outline how common some of the problems are in TV News

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