not enough coverage

dlevanchuk · Dec 8, 2012

What do you do when you're putting a scene together and you don't have enough coverage?? :weird:

Dialog scene is about 1 minute long, you have only a master shot and two 5 second closeups on a face..

JoshXD · Dec 8, 2012

Record other elements of the set, crop sections (the quality won't be that good but it gives variety).

If you're in a spaceship or factory have announcements in the background, to keep it interesting.

knightly · Dec 8, 2012

Figure out which bits of the action can be done with xcu inserts, then use someone else's hands etc to get the shots to cut in to fill it out/cover edits.

Sweetie · Dec 9, 2012

Hand it to an editor that doesn't have a weapon nearby.

GuerrillaAngel · Dec 9, 2012

Sweetie said:
Hand it to an editor that doesn't have a weapon nearby.

There you go!

dlevanchuk · Dec 9, 2012

Haha! Thanks everyone!

mus · Dec 9, 2012

pick-ups. maybe some cutaways. I just ran into this problem myself with the last scene I shot

jax_rox · Dec 9, 2012

Schedule a pick-up day

Sweetie · Dec 9, 2012

Cat in the window shot. (Who knows where that's from?)

Cracker Funk · Dec 10, 2012

Upload it to withoutabox and send me it to me! :yes:

Without seeing the footage, though, I'm wondering if a REALLY slowly creeping zoom-in might add just the amount of activity that you need. If you keep it ridiculously subtle, a zoom in post will go unnoticed by normal people, and even filmmakers might even think it was supposed to be that way.

Just a thought. Maybe it'll work?

harmonica44 · Dec 11, 2012

What is the scene about? Maybe some exterior shots of buildings or cars will fit in with it emotionally for example, or who knows what you can come up with, depending on what it's about.

jax_rox · Dec 11, 2012

If you're having trouble scheduling actors for a pick up day, perhaps there are ECUs that you can fake? For example, let's say it's a dinner scene. Perhaps you could get ECUs of fingers circling glasses, hands on moving cutlery, a knife cutting into a steak etc.

It may not be great, but at least it's something to cut with..

WalterB · Dec 17, 2012

Use the (sometimes cheesy, sometimes genius) tricks:

- exteriour of the building
- let conversation go on while one of the characters walk on the streets/is staring at the water
- intercut with different scene(s) (like the speech at the end of The Dark Knight)

- or just show it as it is... western style... use sound/music to keep attention.