Planning a Scene

Depending on the style of the director, you may have to document how you plan to shoot the project. Furthermore, depending on the style of the scene this could mean a blocking diagram, a shot list, or storyboards.

Blocking

Blocking is the act of deciding where the cameras and characters will go in a scene.

• Start by Reading the Script

Use sticky notes (digitally or physically) to make notes as you go. "How do we show this?" is a common question. Your questions should be about story first. Its okay for the DP to have a number of story questions because everything you do is built off of the story. Its important you understand it. Can also look for moments of very difficult/impossible blocking.

• Start with what needs to be shown in the story.

If two people need to be disconnected, that will have a big effect on the blocking.

Here is a standard process for figuring out blocking:

• Look for the arc in the scene.
• Note any specific emotions you want to illicit.
• Note any specific shots that you have in mind that are beneficial to the story.
• Look for items in the script that can't be shown, but are written.
• Look for opprotunities to make transitions to the previous scene or the next scene.

Then once you make the blocking diagram make sure you:

• Label each character
• Add shot numbers to each shot

Storyboards

While storyboards can work to plan, you may still find yourself looking to use overhead diagrams in its place or in addition to storyboards.

The best planning process with storyboards is going to the location with the director and shooting photo storyboards with your phone.

While some like to use the Artemis App it does not integrate well with any other tool and is cumbersome as a result. Giving you exact focal lengths is oftentimes not that valuable as the iPhone does not give you the same effect a cinema camera would due to its much smaller sensor and large DOF.

• Forces us to think sequentially and does not make cohesive camerawork.
• It’s inherently sequential, as soon as you finish a shot, you go to the next one on the list.
• Best for things that do not have shots that repeat, action sequences for example.

Overhead Diagrams and Shot Lists

Shot Designer for overhead diagrams is a great tool. It can be used on iPad, iPhone, or desktop computers. iPad is definitely a great format for the field and things can be fine tuned on the desktop later. It is also a great way to make shot lists as they can be converted into overhead diagrams if needed.

When numbering these shots. Just use sequential numbers like 1,2,3, and then 3A and 3B if you have multicam. This will prevent confusion as the slate doesn't match the shot numbers you are shooting.

Best to develop even more detailed process for Block/Light/Rehearse/Tweak/Shoot. For example I will do the blocking, take stills of each shot, have operators line up shot while you start lighting, etc. (Have to figure out what this is and this can differ per size of crew)

Scheduling Shots

If you are shooting multi-cam, consider how the director will direct 2 cameras at once. It's much better to do two shot sizes of the same person for both the director and for you, as it will keep their focus on one actor and make it easier on lighting as well.

Cross coverage is always ideal for the actors, but can be very difficult for the crew as lighting for this requires more rigging.