Why You Need More Than One Camera

For anyone working in the corporate video world, you know that filming interviews is as common as eating popcorn while watching a movie. A question we always ask clients when first meeting about a project is if the interviews should be filmed with one or two cameras…or more in some cases. On the surface, it seems like something that may not be that important, but it really can make a big difference. In this installment of what clients should know about video production, we’ll focus on using multiple cameras on a corporate video shoot, and what they add to the production.

Why do we need more than one camera?

There are actually a few answers to this question. A practical answer is that the other camera angle shot can be used to hide the edits made when you shorten or cleanup interviews. Trust us when we say – this can be a real life saver. When editing an interview, there are going to be comments or moments you’ll want to remove– mistakes, coughs, background noise, lines that don’t work for the messaging of the video – and if all you have is a single camera, when you edit out those parts without something to smooth the transition, you’ll be left with a jump cut in the video such as this:

In some cases, the editor can cut to b-roll or a graphic to hide those edits. But when that’s not an option, having another camera angle saves the day. Cutting to a closeup, wide shot, or alternate angle makes the edit smoother so that no one would ever know something was trimmed out.

A second reason would be that using more than one camera makes the interview more interesting visually and emotionally. When covering an interview with two cameras, one is usually setup to be a wider shot with the other being more of a closeup. Staying on just a wide shot of a talking head for the entire video can get boring, but the editing back and forth between the wide shot and closeup adds energy and helps keep the viewer engaged. Plus, cutting to the closeup at the right moment helps add weight and emotion to what the person is saying.

Finally, a purely logistical benefit of multiple cameras on set would be that if you need to shoot a lot of b-roll after filming the interviews, two cameras help get that done much quicker. We’ve had days where the morning was spent filming interviews, and in the afternoon we broke up the crew into two teams to shoot b-roll in separate areas. This allowed us to get twice as much filmed during one production day.

Alternate Angle Options

We mentioned earlier about how having two cameras for your interview gives you two angles on the interviewee. Taking that one step further, we wanted to share some options you have for that alternative angle. Your “A” camera is going to usually set up in a traditional head on shot such as this:

But your “B” camera has a few style options you can choose from. The first is to closely match the “A” camera by framing a closeup like this:

One option for your “B” camera would be to frame more on an angle, or even making it a profile shot:

Another option would be to put the “B” camera on a slider, and give the shot some motion:

When cut together with a static camera, it works rather well.

But don’t let these examples lead you to think you are limited to only two cameras. Adding in a third camera gets you another angle – maybe an extreme wide shot including some of the lighting gear, or seeing more of the space or studio the interview is being filmed in. There are many options for framing, so let your creativity flow see what you can come up with. One of the most fun parts about video production is finding the unique style that best suits the story you’re trying to tell.

We hope this helps you better understand why having two (or more) cameras on set for your video production can be a benefit. When initially talking about your project, we’ll ask if this is an option you want to explore and why it might be best for your project. We understand that including this adds to the overall budget, but the added production value can be worth it. We’re always happy to discuss all your options when putting together a new project. At 100 Acre Films, we want your video production to be exactly what you envision, and we’ll do whatever’s needed to see that become reality.