cinematography Filming a play with only 1 camera?

[Analog_Addict]

Hello. I have a job lined up in the coming months to shoot a play and author it to DVD.

My issue is that they have mentioned that the last guy just filmed the play. No audience cut aways or interesting shots.

I only have my one camera, the XL2. Im guessing on a more professional scale you would have a 3 camera set-up or more.

How taxing would it be to shoot with only 1 camera, say for 3 perfomances and then piece it together into a final thing?

Also I suck with pricing since I am student and dont want to ask too much. How much is fair to charge for 3 shooting nights and a crapload of editing hours?

Cheers

PS: How can I get the best sound? I have no wireless mics. I own a NTG1 shotgun mic and the XL2 onboard.

 

[2001 Productions]

As you can see from the array of advice here - all of it good, by the way - there is no one right way to do this. Having recorded nearly 100 plays and dance performances, I can tell you I've done it nearly every possible way. My chosen method nearly always depends on the budget for the production. The cheapest way is one camera, one performance, no editing. I do many of these and am pretty good at anticipating when I need to stay wide and when I can tighten up.

To reiterate some of the best advice given above:

See the show beforehand, if at all possible. Make mental or written notes of any unexpected performer entrances.

If you are shooting by yourself with two cameras, have one stationary on a full stage shot and use the second one for closeups. They don't necessarily have to be in different locations; I keep the cameras right next to each other, as close to center stage as possible. As long as there is enough of a difference between the wide shot and tight shots your edits won't be jump cuts.

If you shoot one camera on different nights, the footage will usually cut together without too much trouble, but I've found that the editing tends to take a little longer than 2 cameras on one night, though that's not necessarily a bad thing because the extra time is often spent choosing the best performances.

Don't white balance on the stage lights - use the tungsten preset on your camera(s) instead. I've designed lighting for dozens of stage productions. The lighting instruments are typically 3200 degrees Kelvin, which is what your tungsten preset is set for. A good lighting designer applies colored gels to his lights to create a very specific tone on the stage; if you white balance under the gelled light, you defeat the purpose of his having added the color.