Number of cameras rolling on a given shot?

[Shawn Murphy]

I'm studying the Hollywood Camera Work DVD set with some fellow aspiring filmmakers and we were wondering how often you see more than two cameras rolling on larger budgeted films? Understanding that each project/Director is different (some only use one, and some larger budget actions sequences use many), what are the extremes with the films you've either worked on, or heard of, as far as the number of cameras rolling, and what would you say is the "norm" for the projects you've worked on, mostly one and two?

 

Greatly appreciated.

 

~Shawn

[Gordon Highland]

Tony Scott uses six all the time. See "Domino" and "Man on Fire" for examples of this. His coverage is pretty unique (he seems to find a way to use all of it), and sometimes the kinetic editing style works geat, and other times it beats on the viewer unnecessarily.

 

I understand using a bunch of cameras for a one-time-only stunt, but for normal filming, one does it for me. Maybe two if you want to give the actors some freedom and maintain perfect continuity.

[Stephen Williams]

Tony Scott uses six all the time.

 

Hi,

 

Sometimes more! I've known him shoot 1,000,000' 35mm for a commercial!

 

Stephen

[Jayson Crothers]

It depends on budget and personal preference of the director. About 2 years ago I shot a feature with a number of stunts and fights and we always employed two cameras; we had a scene with an explosion and were rolling 4 cameras at various frame rates. Most of the time the shows I'm on are low budget and can really only afford one camera, but my personal preference is to always have two cameras available. From time to time you can't use that second camera successfully, but I work with a really good B operator who's always been able to find those extra gems that don't compromise my lighting much and don't cost extra time.

[BritLoader]

I understand the limitation of lighting for more than one camera, as ultimately you are always comprimising one shot against the other, with this in mind, are there any hard and fast rules for lighting for more than one camera that limit the comprimise? :ph34r:

[Max Jacoby]

I've worked on a couple of stunt scenes where we used 5 or 6 35mm cameras. For 'regular' scenes it's never been more than 2.

[lauriekgilbertdop]

I worked on a HD feature in Thailand last year that had two full operating DOPs . The way we evolved the work flow was that one was "Mastercam" and one was "Magicam" and it sped things up enormously because with their combined experience ( about 50-60 years) they each instinctly knew what the other was doing - it was FUN! and the director got images on his monitor he never envisioned.

 

Laurie G

DOP