Comments on: When Is Too Much, Too Much?

By: The Editor - Techy Gizmos and Great Films | Film Industry Bloggers

The Editor - Techy Gizmos and Great Films | Film Industry Bloggers — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 08:00:29 +0000

[...] on my other blog, Hollyn-wood, about what happens when you pick up a camera which theoretically enables you to shoot unlimited amounts and footage. As an editor, I like more choices as opposed to fewer, of course. But it may surprise you to hear [...]

By: Techy Gizmos and Great Films | The Editor

Techy Gizmos and Great Films | The Editor — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 07:20:07 +0000

By: Mark Stuart

Mark Stuart — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:08:49 +0000

Right on! Wish my former boss would have read this a few years ago.

By: Joseph Bierman

Joseph Bierman — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:42:24 +0000

Sometimes those multiple takes are about trying to achieve a shot that matches the original idea of the shot, an idealized version that we never achieve because it doesn’t exist. The perfect shots are those bits we select in the post production process. They are perfect in context with other shots. Often they are actually flawed shots, or mistakes, but in context they work perfectly to help the scene along. Pursuing raw video village footage that is “perfect” is a fool’s or a very rich man’s game. Limitations in film, time or talent teach us the value of pre-production, but also the value of open minds and open eyes in the editing room.

By: BK Garceau

BK Garceau — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 06:44:31 +0000

Right on, you can’t always improve by shooting more. And really, who has the time and budget to get an unlimited number of takes.

This past year I had a ton of EX experience, from music videos to a feature film. I love the workflow, it’s easy to backup and a very effective system overall. I noticed though on the music video I shot that for a 5 min piece I shot 5 and a half hours. A bit much, but as an the director/dp/editor, I knew what I was going to use – at least for the most part. The parts that suffered for me was when I was shooting the side character stories. I simply shot too much, from too many angles. But for dolly moves on the band, the stuff like that turned out really well.

As far a feature, with limited time and budget, we could only do so many takes. So it really depends how much of your resources your willing to allocate in different areas of production. Just as you mentioned early, shooting more can also lead to a longer post – and may not be ideal in cramped post schedule.

By: Luke Holzmann

Luke Holzmann — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 03:21:38 +0000

You are absolutely right.

…unless you really like Kubrick… [smile]

Actually, I read something about a director who shot the rehearsals. He said he got the same affect that Kubrick got after 40 takes, but much, much quicker [smile].

~Luke

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:39:07 +0000

Great post. I love thinking about why and how we produce things. I used to do take after take after take, on mini DV tapes. In the editing room, I would always end up using a take that I never thought I would use.

I recently built a big wooden rig to hold a camera above a bed. It took me hours to setup, but in the end I probably only shot 5 mins of footage. I remember feeling weird, like I had done something wrong, but I got what I wanted, so I was done with that shot.