Figure 2.23.

A master shot from

Ronin. Once the master has estab-
lished the basic layout of the scene
and the physical relationships of the
characters, the editor can easily cut
to medium shots, over-the-shoulders,
close-ups, reaction shots, and so on
without confusing the audience.

Transitional Shots
Some shots are not parts of a scene themselves but instead serve to
connect two scenes together. We can think of these as transitional
shots. They might come at the end of a scene, at the beginning, or
between scenes. Some are simple cutaways: a scene ends, cut to a
shot of a sunset and then into the next scene. There are many other
types of transitional shots as well, they are a sort of visual code to
the audience that the scene is ending. Scenes of the city or landscape
are frequently used as transitional devices as they also add to the
mood or pace and are generically visual — meaning they don’t need
to make a specific point in order to be interesting.
Invisible Technique
In almost all cases, we want our methods to be transparent — we
don’t want the audience to be aware of them. We are striving for
invisible technique.
THE SHOOTING METHODS
There are many different ways to shoot a scene, but some basic
methods are used most often. The following summaries are some of
the most fundamental and frequently used techniques for shooting
a scene. The master scene method is by far the most frequently used
method of shooting a scene, especially for dialog scenes. Actions
sequences are an exception to this. It seldom makes sense to use the
master scene method for these, as it depends entirely on repeating
the action of the scene many times.
The Master Scene Method
In principal, the master scene method is quite simple: first you
shoot the entire scene as one shot from beginning to end — this is
the master. Once you have the master, you move on to the coverage.
Except in rare cases, it is always best to shoot the master first, as all
the rest of the shots must match what was done in the master. Not
shooting the master first will frequently lead to continuity problems.
The master does not have to be a wide shot but it usually is. Nor
does it have to be static; a moving master is fine too. The important
thing is that it is the entire scene from beginning to end. For com-
plex scenes, we sometimes break it into mini-masters within the scene
, just use common sense to plan how to best get the scene covered.

shooting methods
27
Figure 2.24. Plan-scene, an in-one or
developing master all mean the same
thing: an entire scene played out in
one continuous shot. These scenes
can be shot with a panning camera,
dolly shot, Steadicam or hand-held
but in the case of Songs from the
Second Floor (above) every scene in
the film plays out as a static single
shot. In some countries this method
of shooting a scene is called a plan-
sequence.
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28
Coverage
The coverage consists of the over-the-shoulders, medium shots and
close-ups that will be used to complete the scene. Think of the
master as a framework for the whole scene — coverage is the pieces
that fit into that framework to make it all work together. This is
why you should always shoot the master first. It establishes the con-
tinuity for the scene — everything you shoot after that has to match
what was established in the master. After you have shot the master
you will have to pick one side (one of the actors) to begin with. It
is important to do all of their shots before you turn around and do
the coverage of the other actor, because changing the camera posi-
tion from one side to another often involves changing the lighting
and moving other equipment. It is a huge waste of time to do some
shots of one side, move to the other side and then come back to the
original side. The shots you do on the second actor are called the
answering shots, and it is important for editing that they match the
coverage of the first actor in their lens size and focus distance: this is to
keep them a consistent size as you cut back and forth between them.
Some basic common sense principals apply when shooting with the
master scene method:
• Shoot the master first; if you try to shoot coverage first and the
master later, it will likely cause problems in continuity.
• Get the whole scene from beginning to end.
• If characters enter, start with a clean frame and have them enter.
• If characters leave, make sure they exit entirely, leaving a clean
frame. Continue to shoot for a beat after that.
• You might want to use transitional devices to get into or out of
the scene.
• Shoot all the shots on one side before moving to the other side
of the scene. This is called shooting out that side.
If you know you are going to use mostly the coverage when you
edit, you may be able to live with some minor mistakes in a master. It
is easy to get carried away with dozens of takes of the master.
Overlapping or Triple-Take Method
The overlapping method is also called the triple-take method. Say you
are filming the manufacture of a large axle on a big industrial lathe.
It’s a real factory and you are doing an industrial video for the com-
pany. The metal piece is expensive and they are only making one
today. The point is that you are not going to be able to repeat the
action. You can ask the machinist to pause for a few minutes but
there is no going back to repeat.
On the other hand, you don’t want to show a 5 or 10-minute pro- Figure 2.25. (top) Examples of Hitch-
cess all from the same angle — that would be incredibly boring. You cock’s rule in Touch of Evil. Hitchcock
said that the size of an object in the
need different angles. If you were using the master scene method, frame should equal its importance in
you would film the scene from one angle, then set up the camera the story. In this frame and in Figure
for a different angle and repeat the scene, and so on for over-the- 2.26, the gun is what is important at
that moment in the story.
shoulders, close-ups, and so on. The triple-take method is useful for Figure 2.26. (above) A similar exam-
scenes where the action cannot be repeated. ple from The Lady from Shanghai.
Overlapping
So here’s what we do: as they bring in the metal piece to be cut, you
shoot that in a wide shot to establish the scene; at that point you ask
the workmen to pause for a moment. Then as they put the piece
on the lathe, you quickly move in for a close-up. The machinists
back up a few steps and bring the metal piece in again and carry on
with the action, all the way up to securing it in the lathe. You then
quickly move to another angle and get more of the action. In the end
you will different angles that should cut together smoothly.
Let’s take another example: a lecturer walks into a room, sets his
notes on the lectern, then pulls up a chair and sits down. This is
where the overlapping part comes in. You could get a wide shot of
him coming in, then ask him to freeze while you set up for a closer
shot of him putting the notes on the lectern, then have him freeze
again while you set up another shot of him pulling up the chair.

shooting methods
29
 What you will discover is that the shots probably won’t cut together
smoothly. The chance of finding a good, clean cutting point is a long
shot. It is the overlapping that helps you find smooth cut points.
Here is what will work much better: you get a wide shot of him
walking in and let him take the action all the way through to put-
ting the notes on the lectern. Then set up a different angle and ask
the actor to back up a few steps. Once you roll the camera, the actor
comes up to the lectern again (repeating the last part of his walk).
You then shoot the action all the way through to pulling up the chair.
Again you halt to set up a different angle, and have the actor back
up from the lectern, and repeat the action of putting down the notes
and then carrying it on through to the end of the scene. All this
overlappping will enable you to cut the action together smoothly
with good continuity cuts. The most important principal to take
from this is to always overlap all action, no matter what shooting
method you are using. Giving the editor some extra overlap at the
beginning or end of any shot will prevent many potential problems
when editing the scene.
In-One
Of all the methods of shooting a scene, by far the simplest is the
in-one, sometimes called a oner or a developing master, or the French
term plan-scene or plan-sequence. This just means the entire scene in
one continuous shot. A scene might be simple as “she picks up the
phone and talks” in which case a single shot is probably plenty. Some
in-ones can be vastly more complicated: such as the famous four-
minute opening shot of Touch of Evil or the long Steadicam shot of
entering the Copacabana in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas.
A caution, however: when these shots work, they can be magnifi-
cent, but if they don’t work — for example, if you find in editing
that the scene drags on much too slowly — your choices are limited.
If all you did was several takes of the long in-one, you really don’t
have much choice in editing. Play it safe — shoot some coverage and
cutaways just in case.
Freeform Method
Many scenes theses days (and even entire movies) are shot in what is
commonly called documentary style. Think of movies like Cloverfield
or The Hurt Locker; the camera is handheld, loose, and the actor’s
movements don’t seem preplanned.
It seems like documentary style but it is not really. When shooting
a real documentary, we can almost never do second takes, or have
them repeat an action. Our aim in shooting fiction scenes like this
is to make it seem like a documentary. In most cases, scenes like this
are shot several times with the actors repeating the scene for several
takes. Since the camera is hand-held, the camera operator usually does
their best to follow the dialog: they pan the camera back and forth to
always be on the person who is speaking. This can be a disaster for
the editor. Imagine that you shoot a scene three times like this. You
end up with three takes that are almost the same and the camera is
only on the actor who is talking.
Imagine trying to edit these three takes together — almost impos-
sible. What you really have are three takes that are mostly the same,
which is a nightmare for editors. Editing is all about having different
angles to cut to. If all you have is three very similar takes, there are
not really any different angles to cut to. Also, you have no reaction
shots of the person listening; as we discussed before, reaction shots
are important to the storytelling and the editing. So what to do?

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Shooting the Freeform Method Figures 2.27 and 2.28. Point of View
(POV) is a powerful tool, especially in
Here’s a method that works well; we call it the freeform method: the hands of a master like Kubrick.
• On the first take, follow the dialog. Do your best to stay with Here, Wendy's POV of the typewrit-
ten pages is the final confirmation
the actor who is speaking. This is the dialog pass. that Jack has gone utterly insane. As
• On the next take, pan back and forth to stay with the person shown in the first shot (top), POVs
must nearly always be set up by
who is not talking. This will give you lots of good reaction shots, showing the person “looking.” This
which are important. It will also give the editor lots of things establishes that the following shot
to cut away to. This is the reaction pass. is indeed a POV and leaves no doubt
as to whose POV it is. Both parts of
• For the third take (if you do one) improvise: follow the dialog this POV are important: her look and
sometimes, go to the nonspeaking actor sometimes, occasion- what she sees.
ally back up to get a wide shots — whatever seems appropriate.
This is the freeform pass.
All these together will give you a scene you can cut together smoothly
and give the editor lots of flexibility to cut the scene in various ways
and to tighten up parts that seem to be dragging.

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31
Figure 2.29. (top) The Lady in the
Lake is one of the very rare exam-
ples of truly subjective point of view
sustained throughout the entire
film. Although the entire film is seen
through the detective's subjective
POV, the director cheats a bit to get
a few shots of the detective as in this
mirror shot. It's a cheat because that
is not how the scene would actually
appear to the character as he is look-
ing in a mirror.
Figure 2.30. (bottom) The reaction
shot of the crowd as the detective
enters is very awkward because all of
the actors need to look directly into
the lens, which makes the audience
aware of the camera.

Montage
There is a special form of editing used in dramatic narrative film-
making that does not aim for continuity at all; this is called montage.
A montage is simply a series of shots related by theme. Say the theme
is “Springtime in the city” — you might have a series of shots of the
flowers blooming, gentle rain showers, the sun breaking through the
clouds, that sort of thing.
Some kinds of montage advance the story but without linear con-
tinuity. For example, Rocky prepares for the big fight: we see him
working out, punching the bag, running on the streets of Philly,
then finally running up the stairs to triumph. It is not real-time con-
tinuity — it takes place over months — but we see the story develop.
It’s a series of related shots, not scenes with linear continuity.
All of these methods share one common goal: to be invisible. We
don’t want the audience to be aware they are a movie because this
would distract them from the story. There are some exceptions to
this of course, such as when Ferris Bueller addresses the audience
directly; at times such as this all conventions of fiction are tossed
aside, generally for comic effect (Figure 2.31).

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