A Beginner’s Guide to Shooting Coverage for a Film Project

Coverage of your characters in a movie film can be a hard challenge to tackle.

Getting all the characters in one shot can be one way of doing this.

The movie Bird Man famously did a one take that handled the choreography of the characters very well.

For most movie producers, handling the coverage of the actors faces is going to take multiple takes.

A lot of time will be spent in the editing room making sure that all faces and voices are heard.

Key Takeaways:

• Coverage is about the order and strategy used for a movie scene. Most movies have shots of the set and then use close up shots of the actors to set the pacing.
• You don’t want to break the 180 degree rule. This is about keeping the camera focusing one side and not looking backwards. That would open up errors in continuity and lighting.
• You want to make sure you don’t have characters blocking the view of other characters. Sometimes you have to shoot a scene from multiple angles so you are not obscuring the view.

“V Coverage may seem like a headache, but the reason we use it so frequently is because it allows for plenty of options on set and in the edit.

You can light each character in way that accentuates the qualities you like, and you’re free to use the very best take of each line.”

Read more: https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/shooting-coverage-film-project/