Excerpt from HD Pro Guide Magazine
By Jesse Placky
The similarities when shooting for TV or for a Film is the creative process. Talking with the director and finding out what is the expectation or vision of the shot. Then we determine the best flight path suited to the event or shoot with taking in all logistics involved, what will we use for Anchor points, are we getting in other camera angles, are there any obstacles in the way.
There is a pretty big difference between shooting for TV or shooting for Film, especially when TV is a LIVE event. When condorcam is shooting for live TV or a live webcast, we’re usually covering a section of a course or the whole course. At that point, we are capturing a broad spectrum of the action, keeping the subject in frame and tracking along side them. We’re considered the “game” camera; taking in the whole perspective of the event. It’s a dynamic way to engage the viewer, along with the beauty shots we are used for coming in and out of commercial breaks. If the event is not live for TV and we’re covering action, we’re usually let free to get creative, try different things, like focal lengths, leading or following subject, switching directions and banking as many different creative angles as possible within that flight path.
When we’re shooting for a film or commercial, we are brought in for a specialty shot. Usually the director had a vision of a camera move and we’re brought in to execute it. We have done film work where we’ve taken a whole day to set up a shot and have done two takes, then we strike the system. The big difference is in TV we’re usually following action for hours, trying new angles, the production wants to get their money’s worth…in film work, shooting times can be so tight, we often don’t have time to sell the director on other looks, they got the shot they need and are ready for a set change.
