Developing a Rock Solid Shot List

[warrenspears511]

Hi, all!

Recently, I worked on a project in which the director came from a Theatre background and so wasn’t very familiar with the visual language of movies. Because of this, large swathes of the visual style and deciding what the editor would need were on me to decide. The project went smoothly but, as we enter post-production, I worry that there may have been moments that we could have gotten more of that would’ve been helpful in the edit.

I’m wondering if y’all have any “rule-of-thumb” things that you keep in mind when developing a shot list that ensures you’re getting everything you need and then some. Ex. Grabbing a close-up of someone when shooting a medium so that the editor has the option to punch in if they decide.

There are times when I worry that what I’m putting on paper is too “utilitarian” and that the editor may want more. I wanted to see if there are any common threads, in everyone’s experience, of what is generally helpful/nice to have in the edit, if not necessary for the story so that the edit has more options and the visual flow of the movie has that extra “punch” to it.

 

P.S. Collaboration is the soul of making art and its fantastic that this forum exists to facilitate that!

Topic

[Roger Deakins]

There is a balance between shooting only the shots you feel are right for a scene and allowing some flexibility in the edit. It annoys me when shots are used in the edit simply because they exist. But it also annoys me when a performance seems weak because there is a lack of a close shot or another angle. Sometimes an editor needs alternatives to build a performance.

[LucaM]

I was wondering if it happens to you or to other cinematographers to collaborate with the editor in the editing phase . I understand that the cinematographer thinks about  how the image tells the story and the editor has to deal with the rythm of the narrative and everything connected with that, but still he or she has to pick the shots created by the cinematographer.  Is there some kind of communication between you and the editor (through the movie director, for example) or do you just suggest ideas and a possible editing with the shots and  cross finger that the editor won’t ruin change everything?  (of course i suppose there’s also the opposite situation, in which the editor has to find a way to do a good job with poor material).

[James Parsons]

This doesn’t solve every mistake I make, but I find it solves at least one problem on almost every project… shoot a little something before the director calls action, and definitely after they call cut.

If you’re on an actor before the scene starts, you often get a beat of “focus” or “intention” or even “anxiety,” and if you’re on them for a few beats after you can get to see them release tension, or shift focus, or physically adjust position or look or even just twitch a small muscle in an undefined way. Invariably, a director/editor (who you alert to look out for those moments) can Kuleshov effect a clip to create a emotionally appropo  cut away for a flubbed line or a focus bump or a transition in or out of a story beat.

If I’m not on a face, I do the same thing on hands, props, set dressing, background actors, pan around on a location or set, pop off a few frames on clouds or the skyline, etc…. Especially on indie projects there’s never enough b-roll, and there’s definitely never a pickup day to go out and shoot inserts and establishing shots, so I just try to get as much of that as possible informally as I go.

[Author]

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