Budget homemade PTS "on the knees" (Mobile TV-station). Part 2: camera layout and team work

Part two.

<<< go to the first part

Preface 1:
Recall that here we are sharing only personal experience, with a specific example.
This solution can not give you a commercial result. To do this, use a professional TCP. However, when there is no budget, and your event is about to leave without a trace, leaving nothing but memories - it’s still better to take advantage of such a homemade TCP “from what it was” than to stay without a memorable video at all.
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Preface 2:
As always, the text is "VIDEO". In which, we tried to visualize everything as clearly as possible. We hope that if there are difficulties in reading, the video version will help put everything in its place. So let's go!


VIDEO VERSION:


As we found out in the first part - we have 6 cameras . Two are operator-controlled DV cameras and four static webcams.

Two DV cameras are used as “First” and “Second”.
The first , or main, is located in the center of the hall. The depth is chosen depending on the optics, and the size of the scene ... in our case it is somewhere from the fourth to the fifth row. A little to the right of the center.
Our first camera shoots only the main vocalist, or the speaker, or the presenter, so that the TCP director can always show the main at any time. Moreover, we remove - large, super-large, or medium plan (see video). There are no general plans (this is a task of another camera), panoramas and other Labuda. Ideal, focused work on the most important and main frame in the TCP. ... Ideally. Sometimes, provided that the team can work well enough, an additional frame is allowed for the first camera. For example, the closest pair of back-vocalists, to the left of the presenter. The operator takes this frame 20 percent of the time relative to the main ... That is, say, one of the five inclusions the operator takes not the main, but these vocalists.


The second camera. We have this camera takes ALL close-ups that the first one does not take. Large - solo musician, in turn, all the others large. Periodically, she even takes a large hall, or a panorama of the hall. In our case, from the operator of the second camera, perhaps, you need the maximum ability to present the whole picture and feel the TCP. Reaction rate and experience.
Ideally, if this cameraman is a bit of a musician (when shooting concert material), he should understand in advance when and who will start a solo to be on this instrument BEFORE the beginning of this solo ... At what point the drummer has a knockout or accents ... what speed to make a guitar climb on the face of a guitarist, depending on the tempo and nature of the composition, and so on ... These are the things that with proper installation speed on the PTS - it is impossible to explain in terms of audio intercom (if there is any at all) ...
The operator of the second camera has the most difficult role, due to the fact that our PTS does not have the ability to connect running cameras that would carry some of the tasks that fell on the shoulders of the second camera operator.
It is worth noting that both cameras need tripods. And it is for these cameras, we recommend to spend money on television tripods, and not to take amateur. Since the head of TV tripods allows you to work smoothly and adequately on very large plans, quickly change them, and also smoothly follow the lead ... In our case, we use Manfrotto tripods with 501 head, or tripods of the same class ...

For a professional TCP team, these are obvious things, but when experimenting with our “self-made TCP” you don’t fill the bumps “on your mistakes”, we’ll still say: if the first camera takes a “complementary plan”, as we they said above — naturally, the operator of the second chamber is warned about this, and he excludes this plan from his set. This makes it easier for him and eliminates the likelihood of identical frames on the remote, which narrows the choice for the director. In general, how well the director sets the tasks for the operators and the experience of the operators themselves determines the coherence of the work and minimizing verbal communication with the operators. The more the connection works, the more it distracts both the operators and the director. In short, the better you understand each other BEFORE filming, the easier it will be to shoot yourself.

Next on our list are webcams. Consider them on the example of a particular room.
The hall in which musical and concert material is filmed has a relatively shallow stage, which already makes the picture quite flat. Well, that is - that is ... A hall for 200-250 places, in the middle there are three columns. In the presence of a television crane, these columns would be a significant problem. In our case, they provide an opportunity to save on a couple of supports for webcams.


In order for the picture to look as competent as possible, we also need a general camera . To do this, we used one of our two best webcams - pro 9000 (for more information about the equipment, see the first part). It has a wide enough viewing angle to work well in general. Optics, if I may say so, as for a webcam is also more than decent. By the way, if you are constantly shooting in the same place, you can repeat our reception - the camera is fixed on a “self-made tripod” in the form of a plastic pipe that specifically goes down from the ceiling in order not to visually interfere with the audience in the hall, and also not be knocked down while moving people. To put it on a tripod and, even more so, to spend money on a television tripod - does not make sense.

Recall that the camera is desirable to have at the level of the performers. In general, take pains to choose the position in the room for each camera so that the picture looks like on television, and not like from a surveillance camera.

The next camera is also located in the right zone and shows the audience in general . We chose a camera that has weaker optics and a matrix than the first two - this is c310. Since the plan is always the same, it is rarely used whenever possible. Large and interesting shots takes the "second camera", as we said earlier. For the s310th, we needed an improvised tripod from the microphone stand. You can also use a cheap photo pole, which tourists buy for their handheld cameras ... TV stand, again, does not make sense here.

On the right column, behind which we have a central computer masked, we placed the following webcam, c510. She takes the scene to the right . By the way, it looks more effective when the side cameras cross over. That is, the right camera takes the left part of the musicians and the scene, and the left, respectively, the right. Although, perhaps, this is a matter of taste or depends on a specific location. So - it's up to you.

And the last webcam we have, the only one that is located on the left. She takes the side plan on the left , that is, on the side from which the others do not take it at all. For this reason, we put there the second of the two best cameras in the picture - c910, it also has a wide angle, and covers the scene as much as possible. And here we again used the column. In the case of columns, you can also get away with a set of a microphone stand and a square guard next to each of these cameras, which will gently ensure that an inconsiderate visitor of the event does not edit the composition with its bumps or bumps. :)

By the way, afterwards we abandoned the general camera to the hall, and began to use only five cameras, since the second chamber took the hall perfectly, and it was not very practical to occupy the sixth source.


Also, we sometimes use “running” cameras, but in this case they are added only by manual editing after the shooting, and cannot be added in real time.

In the next part we will share how to put it all together, what communication elements we still need. Successful broadcasts!

Happy New Year everyone! And see you in January!