Studio Production: Blocking and Multi-Camera Direction

In order to better myself within our production and be as good a director as possible i have been researching into way of which i can improve my performance and thought process to help plan and structure the live show before it begins. By doing this i have been looking at Blocking and Multi-camera direction.

Blocking

• Blocking involves the positioning and guidance of actors for the purpose of improving performance.
• By working closely with the talent i can describe exactly what i am looking for with regards to their performance and give them indicators or boundaries with regards to their movements.
• Blocking enables me as the director to find the perfect places for talent to be when filming our production.
• Once the talent are positioned, the cameras can be introduced to cover the talent. Allowing camera operators to get along the correct eye-line and positioned in a way that best presents the talent.
• Once the different cameras are set the coverage of the talent and entire set can be achieved, in a way that is practical, structured and also negotiable.

Blocking allows for plans to be tested, such as floor plans which can result in changes to these said plans but the workshops in which we have been testing these plans have allowed our ideas to become stronger and recognize weaknesses within our ideas and then be able to address them.

Blocking also does not necessarily require the studios, it can be mocked up or discussed through drawings. While a physical look at the set is handy and easier to work with it is still possible to discuss and theoretically direct through plans.

I found a few tips on blocking which will definitely help.

https://www.nyfa.edu/film-school-blog/the-5-stages-of-blocking-a-scene/

Multi-Camera Direction

After a few workshops I am beginning to improve my skills within the gallery, specifically directing multiple cameras at once to the vision mixer. At first it was a very difficult skill to grasp but with practice i believe it will become more natural and structured with the more workshops we take part in.

The things that i have learnt about this are:

• To mainly focus on the 5 cameras and read what is happening and focus on the shot which provides the most coverage.
• Try not to listen to everything the talent says but be able to read where we are in the show and not lose track of time.
• Going into a 'directorial mode' in which my concentration is solely on what is on those screens and the information being relayed to me by the PA.
• Trust that after all the workshops, camera operators are correctly focused, framed and following talent efficiently. However, if not try to recognize this as early as possible.

With further workshops i believe that my skills with both these areas will improve and once a shot list accompanied with a final script is complete, the more detail there is, in which we can plan the shooting schedule of the show.