Unit 23: Multi Camera Techniques
Live Events
Live events are productions that are filmed for events such as concerts such as the V Festival which is was boradcasted on on Channel 4's sister channel 4 Music until MTV had the rights returned to them. Live events also involves sporting events, such as the Premier League or Champions League which are both broadcasted to millions of people worldwide through numerous different channels but most sporting events for the UK are broadcasted through either Sky Sports or BT Sports. Finally, there's public events like the Royal Wedding which is broadcasted to the whole of the UK and even in other countries on many different channels from the BBC to ITV, even Channel 4.
What Is A Live Event?
A multi-camera setup for a live event can differ, depending on what that live event is. Even when the live event is a sport it can still differ depending on what the sport is for example a multi-camera setup for a football match would be around 20 cameras scattered around the pitch to cover every possible angle. Whereas for a concert there would be considerably less cameras used, most likely using no more than 10. As for
a news broadcast they mainly use 3 or 4 cameras, one
of which is usually fixed in a certain position shooting
a certain angel allowing the other 2 or 3 cameras to
manoeuvre to any possible angle that the director wish
for.
Live Events Crew
Crews for most live events usually includes a director, but this can vary depending on what the live event is like sporting events, concerts or even public events it can differ because each of these things requires something different from the other so they will require different crew. For a sporting event, you'll need a director, producer and most of the crew you'd need for a normal live broadcast during halftime when the pundits talk about what has happened during that half, but when the game is taking place then you have the commentators and camera operators to film the game and a few more in the studio to film the pundits before the game, at half time and after the game, there would also have people who make sure that there's no problem for the viewers. Whereas for a concert, you'd need the crew you'd use for any other concert like stage manager who will organise and co-ordinate the crew telling them where to be, production manager organises the financial side of the whole thing and hiring and firing people, rigger who set up the equipment needed for the shoot and set, lighting technician who will be responsible for how the lighting looks for the production, sound technician is responsible for recording the sound for the production and technical directors is responsible for the software that is used and are seen as the most skilled people on the set. Then you'd have the camera operators - usually operating on a crane, so they don't obstruct view of the audience who are attending - the rest of the crew would probably help with the filming too, or the band/artist will have a crew available to do the filming, or th record label would proviced them with one. Finally, for a public event you'd need a director who will have creative control oer the production, producer whose main responsibilty is to manage the finance side of things, camera operator whose main job is to record the footage ready for broadcasting, then there's sound recordist who is basically incharge of everything to do with recording sound and there's the presenters who the audience will see and be paying attention to most.
Examples of Live Studio Events
Example of Multi-Camera Setup - Live Event
This is an example of a live sporting event, the setup for football involves many cameras all placed around the stadium. These setups are used so they can get a mixture of shots and angles that they can switch to, for example if a player is running down the wing with the ball then they can switch from a long shot of the pitch to a shot of the player running down the wing. It also allows them to move closer or further away from the game but in a way that it doesn't obstuct the view of the audience. With there being a dip in between the stands and the pitch allowing the audience to see all the action. The techniques used by these live events is usually camera movements, hawkeye/goal-line technology, audience reaction. This example doesn't show all of these techniques only showing 2 of the three techniques. They have used audience reaction in this clip because it builds atmosphere for viewers at home, allowing them to get a feel of what it is like at the live event when the goal or decision was made, it builds passion and also builds the entertainment of the whole thing. Th setup they used is very different for the setup that'd be used in other sports, because this setup is perfected for this kind of sport, allowing the broadcasters to get the most out of the event as they possibly can do. The multi-camera technique is used rather than the single camera production method because it allows them to record from different viewpoints whereas the single camera production wouldn't allow this.
This is another example of a live sporting event, Boxing has a completely different setup to the other example, there's not as many cameras involved as there is in a football match, because there's not as much area for the cameras to cover. The setup of the cameras is different from that of the football match, this setup tends to use a crane camera above the ring and then a few cameras that film during breaks in the rounds and before and after the match, unlike football which uses different types of angles. The techniques used by this event is like the football match, they don't use hawkeye/goalline technology either, but they do use crowd reactions but not as much as football use them only using them before and sometimes after the match, they do it for the same reason as football though to build the crowd up and get them excited for the match. They also use camera movements but showing the match from different sides of the rings and rarely going near the ring or close enough to the fighters to disturb them or put them off. Like the football event this sporting event is filmed differently than other sports because of the setting and the limitations they face. They use a multi-camera setup because it allows them to film more without having to setup all over again to start filming from a different angle, which wouldn't be possible if you use the single camera production method, it also wouldn't work because you need to stop and start filming as this isn't possible in a live event, especially not in a sporting event.
Example of Multi-Camera Setup - Live Event
Techniques & Formats
Live events like sporting events use different techniques and formats, like camera movements, crowd reactions, hawk eye technology and goal line technology. Like Sky Sports or BT Sports they use all these things when filming live football. They uses the audience reactions - usually showing them in slow motion - after something has happened such as a goal or close miss. hawk eye technlogoy and goal line technlogoy are very similar to each other both basically doing the same job, it is used to tell the ref whether the ball crossed the line, then the audience is show a recreated image of what happened with the goal during the playback of it. Camera movements are used quite regularly in football with the switching to different shots to give the audience at home the best possible. The pros of using camera movements is that it gives the audience the best possible view at all times, the cons of camera movement is that normally when you are watching it and there's a replay you miss what is happening live so there could be a goal why you're watching highlights. The pros of crowd reactions is that it allows the audience at home to get a the closest they possibly can to what the atmosphere is like when at a game, the cons is that when it's show it can stop the audience at home from seeing anything that is happening live. Hawk eye and goal line technology pros are that they make the game a lot more fair, with it being able to show if the goal should stand or not, the cons are that they take the passion out of football, and that sort of ruins the emotion around the game.
