Jump to content

Cinematographers Choice?


Guy Meachin

Recommended Posts

I often wonder how a cinematographer chooses what shots s/he can afford to use given a certain budget. How do you plan which scenes are most important and which need to have more finance thrown at them for camera dynamics etc (if they decided that's what they wanted).

 

How do they go through each scene and work out whether they can do what they want with the money they have? Surely this must be a nightmare! Does a cinematographer sit down with the producer?

 

I'm intrigued!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Experience teaches you how long certain types of shots take to set-up and how many crew people are needed to do it efficiently, and what special equipment is needed. More experience you have, the better your estimates, although if you are working with unfamiliar crew or equipment, you may be thrown off your estimates.

 

But it does require sitting down with the director and finding out about the type of elaborate shots he has in mind for a scene so it can be properly scheduled and budgeted. If on the day, the director decides he needs to do a shot that requires a Weaver-Steadman head and you aren't carrying one, then you can tell him that a little warning would have been nice...

 

If you are doing things like remote crane or Steadicam shots, you also have to consider rigging and derigging time and whether it would be more efficient to pick-up a second camera for that stuff so you can shoot while they are rigging.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...