Coverage Part Deux
By: Patrick Kriwanek
Attention: Secret Hollywood Knowledge Follows
As we were saying in the last article, Coverage is the term we use in the film business to describe the choices we make in the positioning of the camera - choices we make in each setup.
These choices include basic framing, composition, lens choice, camera height, shot size, screen direction, matching of shots between two people, continuity, camera movement and all the other elements which go into choosing "where we are" for the shot and WHY.
Matching
Dudes and dudettes, today we are going to talk about Matching, that is, getting the coverage to look right when you have two characters talking to one another, cutting back and forth from two or more camera "pairs of shots".
Matching shots are shot in "pairs", two shots which match in a number of significant aspects.
You have been watching well-photographed conversations all your life, so now I will break down the rules of how to make it look "Hollywood 101".
Here is the secret knowledge and your choices, in the order in which they should be made.
1. Choose one side of the 180 degree line, and stay on it
When two people are talking, there exists an invisible line between them. I will go into more detail on this later, but basically, in the business, we call this the 180 degree line. When you begin shooting, you will pick one side of that line to begin shooting from, and if you shoot both people from that side of that line, they will always be looking at each other. If you jump over the line to shoot, it will look like both actors are looking in the same direction, away from each other, and looking, together, at something else off screen.
2. Match the "angle" of the camera to the 180 degree line between both shots
Once you have chosen which side of the line you are going to start on (this is almost always determined by the choice of background available on either side of the line, in the real world), you will choose one shot for your first shot. If you measured the angle between the 180 line and your camera, you would have a "first angle" of shooting, and the rule is you have to match that angle with your second shot.
So, if camera is 30 degrees off the line in shot one, it has to be 30 degrees in the reverse, and matching shot.
3. Match the "distance to the subject" in both shots of the pair
Another trick we use to "match" is to make sure the camera is exactly the same distance from the camera focal plane to the bridge of the nose on each actor. You might have noticed this measurement happening when you watched documentaries of "the making of…" on your DVD's, and saw the assistant cameraman using a tape measure to measure the distance from the side of the camera to the nose of each actor. He is matching the distance to camera.
4. Match the "lens focal length" between the two shots in the pair
When we shoot our pairs of shots, we use the same lens, in millimeters, in both shots. So if I shoot the first shot with a 50mm lens, I will keep the 50mm lens on for the second, matching reverse shot.
5. Match the "head sizes" between the "pair of shots"
When I do the three steps above, I will automatically arrive at the same sized heads for both characters, something which is not only coverage-correct and pleasing to the eye, but which also says in film language: "These two are peers, equals. They can talk to each other as equals." Sometimes, in a film, you will see the "lead" actor talking to a minor character. Most filmmakers will make the head size of their "star" a tiny bit larger, to indicate to the audience "Watch this guy more, he's the star."
6. Match the "compositions" between the "pair of shots"
After you have all these sizes correct, you will want to match the framing, headroom, and basic composition of the two shots, creating two very similar framings, one with your talker on the left, and the back of the face and shoulder of your listener in the foreground, on the right and in the reverse, the face of your listener with the back of the face and shoulder of your original talker on the right.
If the composition is flipped, the same framing would be applied.
7. Match the eye line between the two characters
The line between the eyes of the two characters is called the "eye line", and it is an invisible line between the two. The plane on which the camera rests is either on the plane of the eye line, above it, or below it.
If you begin on the plane of the eye line in shot one, you will stay on that plane in shot 2. In fact, this is how you get good, meaningful compositions between two actors who are not the same height.
8. Match the "lighting" in both shots of the pair
And finally, remember, when animating, your light source has to be coming from the same side on your character's faces. When you create the reverse shot, remember to have your light source come from the correct/same side.
If you follow these rules in your storyboards and software, you will have pleasing coverage in shots between two characters.
You can then move in "pairs of shots" between the medium, medium-close up, and close-up shots we talked about in the last article, but remember to keep your shots and edits in "pairs".
As we were saying in the last article, Coverage is the term we use in the film business to describe the choices we make in the positioning of the camera - choices we make in each setup.
These choices include basic framing, composition, lens choice, camera height, shot size, screen direction, matching of shots between two people, continuity, camera movement and all the other elements which go into choosing "where we are" for the shot and WHY.
Matching
Dudes and dudettes, today we are going to talk about Matching, that is, getting the coverage to look right when you have two characters talking to one another, cutting back and forth from two or more camera "pairs of shots".
Matching shots are shot in "pairs", two shots which match in a number of significant aspects.
You have been watching well-photographed conversations all your life, so now I will break down the rules of how to make it look "Hollywood 101".
Here is the secret knowledge and your choices, in the order in which they should be made.
1. Choose one side of the 180 degree line, and stay on it
When two people are talking, there exists an invisible line between them. I will go into more detail on this later, but basically, in the business, we call this the 180 degree line. When you begin shooting, you will pick one side of that line to begin shooting from, and if you shoot both people from that side of that line, they will always be looking at each other. If you jump over the line to shoot, it will look like both actors are looking in the same direction, away from each other, and looking, together, at something else off screen.
2. Match the "angle" of the camera to the 180 degree line between both shots
Once you have chosen which side of the line you are going to start on (this is almost always determined by the choice of background available on either side of the line, in the real world), you will choose one shot for your first shot. If you measured the angle between the 180 line and your camera, you would have a "first angle" of shooting, and the rule is you have to match that angle with your second shot.
So, if camera is 30 degrees off the line in shot one, it has to be 30 degrees in the reverse, and matching shot.
3. Match the "distance to the subject" in both shots of the pair
Another trick we use to "match" is to make sure the camera is exactly the same distance from the camera focal plane to the bridge of the nose on each actor. You might have noticed this measurement happening when you watched documentaries of "the making of…" on your DVD's, and saw the assistant cameraman using a tape measure to measure the distance from the side of the camera to the nose of each actor. He is matching the distance to camera.
4. Match the "lens focal length" between the two shots in the pair
When we shoot our pairs of shots, we use the same lens, in millimeters, in both shots. So if I shoot the first shot with a 50mm lens, I will keep the 50mm lens on for the second, matching reverse shot.
5. Match the "head sizes" between the "pair of shots"
When I do the three steps above, I will automatically arrive at the same sized heads for both characters, something which is not only coverage-correct and pleasing to the eye, but which also says in film language: "These two are peers, equals. They can talk to each other as equals." Sometimes, in a film, you will see the "lead" actor talking to a minor character. Most filmmakers will make the head size of their "star" a tiny bit larger, to indicate to the audience "Watch this guy more, he's the star."
6. Match the "compositions" between the "pair of shots"
After you have all these sizes correct, you will want to match the framing, headroom, and basic composition of the two shots, creating two very similar framings, one with your talker on the left, and the back of the face and shoulder of your listener in the foreground, on the right and in the reverse, the face of your listener with the back of the face and shoulder of your original talker on the right.
If the composition is flipped, the same framing would be applied.
7. Match the eye line between the two characters
The line between the eyes of the two characters is called the "eye line", and it is an invisible line between the two. The plane on which the camera rests is either on the plane of the eye line, above it, or below it.
If you begin on the plane of the eye line in shot one, you will stay on that plane in shot 2. In fact, this is how you get good, meaningful compositions between two actors who are not the same height.
8. Match the "lighting" in both shots of the pair
And finally, remember, when animating, your light source has to be coming from the same side on your character's faces. When you create the reverse shot, remember to have your light source come from the correct/same side.
If you follow these rules in your storyboards and software, you will have pleasing coverage in shots between two characters.
You can then move in "pairs of shots" between the medium, medium-close up, and close-up shots we talked about in the last article, but remember to keep your shots and edits in "pairs".