When you guys are working, how many shots you make in a single day?

Thanks! Cheers!

One. I turn the camera on and don't stop. Usually for one 60 minute tape, but sometimes two.

Nice, you could be a less talented andy warhol...

I need a more "professional" answer
please.

It varies a lot. On a short I DPed in the spring (shooting HDV) with a decent-sized crew we managed about 3 scenes in an 8-hour day, averaging about 25 shots per scene.


Recently, shooting 16mm on 100' reels with a crew of four, we've been averaging around 20 shots in 4-5 hours. I managed 27 yesterday, with slow-motion and smoke. Fun fun.

However many I have to get... I don't count setups but I'd estimate around 25-30 shots in 3-4 hours.

Evan and Perry have more professional answers because they're shooting on film where the shot ratio is important. Us digital guys have $4 tapes to work with for a whole hour, so we can afford to leave it running between shots. I tried to avoid that during my last project but still usually walked away with about 10-15 shots per tape, 1-2 tapes per day.

Isn't it annoying to have to import a bunch of useless extra footage? When I work on DV (actually, an upcoming project will be on video), I still start and stop the camera for each take unless they are very close together.

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Isn't it annoying to have to import a bunch of useless extra footage? When I work on DV (actually, an upcoming project will be on video), I still start and stop the camera for each take unless they are very close together.

Have you ever missed a small little thing, or a performance cause your camera wasn't running? Haven't you ever run on a rehersal on the actors, and called cut and print after one rehersal because they nail it simply because they're unfamiliar with a scene like they would be in normal life? You get great stuff that you'd never consider in the first place, try telling an actor to swear for a scene and be upset, it usually comes off as fake, but if he screws up his lines and gets pissed and just starts swearing it'll be genuine, and if you steal these types of shots they add a great element to any project.

Also, ppl probably don't go through the trouble (and neither do I) of shooting a "making of." I've always just taken all the dialogue between me and my actors while the tape rolls, the discussions and changing of ideas, they usually misinderstand what I want and do something better.

I always record audio of rehearsals to dub in if necessary, but leaving the camera on is not an option when you're using film.

If you're doing repeated takes of the same setup with actors, I would agree that leaving the camera on (with video) is OK. It's still a hassle to import unless you carefully log takes, which you technically should do anyway (but I always ignore).

True that Evan. It's a bigger hassle than people think. When you're on-set, you think, "Meh, I'll just let the camera roll, it can't hurt to have more than necessary just to cover all the bases..." But in post-pro, to shuttle through all that wasted time, either during capture or editing, is...such a huge bother. I tried creating a spreadsheet to keep track of timecodes but...that just didn't happen. I stopped using it after one day.

Keeping the camera always rolling is about the worst idea ever. Editing will be a nightmare.

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Keeping the camera always rolling is about the worst idea ever. Editing will be a nightmare.

When you edit your own stuff (which everybody should do) it doesnt make that much of a difference.

It does make a difference. And editing your own stuff isnt alwyas a good idea. Have you read "in the blink of an eye" by walter murch? Good book on editing.

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When you edit your own stuff (which everybody should do) it doesnt make that much of a difference.

I think it makes a difference qualitatively. Even if you cut out the parts between takes or setups, if you leave the camera rolling you tend to frame differently than using discrete setups.

Try treating your video camera like a film camera (no, I don't mean taking it to bed with you). Try to use as little tape as possible and frame each shot carefully. I guarantee you will see some effect on your work, although whether you like it or not is personal preference.

Just today I was experimenting with my GL2 for an upcoming short, leaving it recording and walking around the house finding objects to point at. The mode of visualization is very different when you leave it running.

And yes, it does create a hassle to import and look through all that footage.

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Try treating your video camera like a film camera (no, I don't mean taking it to bed with you). Try to use as little tape as possible and frame each shot carefully. I guarantee you will see some effect on your work, although whether you like it or not is personal preference.

Of course it will, but will it make those performances any better (not "look" better, but "be" better)?

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Of course it will, but will it make those performances any better (not "look" better, but "be" better)?

Why not? It forces the actors to get try more to get it right the first time, and thus think about their characters on a deeper level.

if your just setting a camera up and leaving it running you just a videographer not a filmmaker.

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Of course it will, but will it make those performances any better (not "look" better, but "be" better)?

It doesn't really matter how good it "was" in real life. Just how well it comes across on the recording - unless you're doing theatre.

It certainly won't hurt the performances.

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Why not? It forces the actors to get try more to get it right the first time, and thus think about their characters on a deeper level.

But nobody gets on Stanley Kubrick for doing 80 takes on Jack Nicholson in "The Shining" he just had the economics to shoot them all on film. Taking advantage of the cheap economics of video shouldn't take away from the "art."

When shooting on digital, I'll go over with the actors the blocking of the shot and any other small details, and then have them do the first take with the camera recording. I'll make adjustments from there, but I always want to record that first take.

But when shooting on film, at least for a class project/exercise, that really isn't an option. Half of the effort is making the film, the other half is saving the film.

On my last digital production, http://www.studentfilms.com/film/get.do?id=1258
which came out to 14 mins, I filmed almost everything during two 7 hour days. So I guess about an hour a minute, but I was really rushed.