Re: Approx. how many eighths shot per day, by genre?
On our thing (horror/thriller, single camera) we had some 4 page days, we had some 1 page days.
It varied greatly with what was being covered (as has been mentioned before in the thread). Stunt stuff slowed things down, but the talky moments weren't exactly flying by either. With single camera, you need to wind back and take it from the top a few times with different shots.
As a newb, I hadn't realised the significance of single camera. At first I thought it was a budget thing, but the DOP told me that that's the only way he could get the look he and the director wanted. It seems obvious in hindsight, but he explained that with two cams you need to light for both at once, but with just one you can light distinctively for each angle and really pump up the atmosphere.
Re: Approx. how many eighths shot per day, by genre?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but for multi-cam shoots, I think there's a Director of Lighting instead of a DoP.
But I can't picture multi-cam set-ups on location, especially in houses, and even though (in the past) I've shot my own stuff (single camera), there's a huge difference between a talented amateur film-maker and having a professional DoP to get the best out of each visual concept.
Another difference is that amateurs can film tons of pages per day, which is partly why I wondered how long a pro' gig takes (which looks professional - a key difference between the two).
Correct me if I'm wrong, but for multi-cam shoots, I think there's a Director of Lighting instead of a DoP.
But I can't picture multi-cam set-ups on location, especially in houses, and even though (in the past) I've shot my own stuff (single camera), there's a huge difference between a talented amateur film-maker and having a professional DoP to get the best out of each visual concept.
Another difference is that amateurs can film tons of pages per day, which is partly why I wondered how long a pro' gig takes (which looks professional - a key difference between the two).
Consider this your correction.
Feature films use A and B cameras all the time, and sometimes C and D as well. That doesn't change the job of the DP, who is still the DP.
It depends on the scene and the DP. Larry Sher, who shoots the Hangover movies, lights for multiple cameras all the time.
I've worked on a good chunk of stuff in a variety of genres/mediums/budget ranges. As a sample:
-The Crazies was a 60 day shoot (it ran two weeks over), so roughly 2 pages per day.
-2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams shot for 12 days, so 8 pages per day.
-The episodes of Glee I've worked on shot 6-ish pages per day.
-Alexander Payne's Nebraska was a 35 day shoot, so about 3 pages per day
Glee usually shoots 4ish pages now on a average day, it all depends on what kind of scene it is, like Craig says. And if they're doing a dance number it usually takes forever.
Re: Approx. how many eighths shot per day, by genre?
In addition to all the "it depends" comments, it's important to point out a couple of things:
Just because you shoot 3 pages a day (say) doesn't mean you shoot 3 pages every day. You might shoot five pages of dialog one day, and then a page of action another day.
Locations matter a lot. As an A.D. I've worked with (who's one a ton of low-budget stuff, including some films you've heard of) reminded me, though - locations, not sets. If you have a 1.5 page scene to shoot in one location, and another 1.5 page scene to shoot in another location all the way across town, even if that's 3 shootable pages, but you're probably not going to get them in one day.
Now, honestly, when somebody asks how long it takes to shoot something, the answer is almost always: "How much time do you have?" because the reality is you can shoot over twenty pages a day if you have to (handhold, simple soft lighting, next-to-no coverage, simple staging, and every take where the actors don't screw up a line is a "print, next setup!") of course it's not going to be very good, but people do it all the time.
The decisions about how much time to spend on any given scene are a combination of "how much time do we have?" and "how important is this scene?" One thing that low-budget directors really know how to do is identify what moments are important, and make sure they spend enough time on them - where you'll see film students blow half the day on one shot which doesn't even end up making the finished film. (I've actually heard a version of the conversation, "What's important here?" "All of it." But if it's all important, then either none of it's important or you better have an ample budget).
Re: Approx. how many eighths shot per day, by genre?
Add kids and animals to Craig's list - both have trainers that come with them.
No matter how many cameras, you have a DOP... sometimes known as the "Lighting Cinematographer" in Europe. A lighting director may be the Gaffer - who is in charge of the lighting.
On DROID GUNNER we had dolly tracks in almost every location - because they saved time. In the waterfront bar scene, the DOP set up an S shaped dolly track in the center of the room and used it shooting both "north" and "south". The track basically allowed the camera to be pushed to the next set up... or used for a slightly moving shot or a "fully" moving shot.
Everything depends on the DOP and the director. One of my films had the world's worst director - who just shot everything in a medium shot and hated doing close ups and inserts. I battled him (and lost) on what I thought was the most important moment in the movie - when a cop opens the murder suspect's door and enters her house with her. Same director was reading the newspaper during shots.
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS was shot in something like 3 days.
When shooting BURNING ANNIE- 110 pages shot in 22 days for $200k- I knew our UPM was going to be a problem when I saw his breakdown of the script.
For this:
EXT. COLLEGE CAMPUS - WINTER - DAY - ESTABLISHING
The campus quad. Typical day. Students walk the paths. Squirrels frolic.
he added "Squirrel wrangler" to the list of required personnel.
Later, one of our EPs asked to be credited as Squirrel Wrangler in tribute of this surreal moment (which was granted: you can find it in the closing credits).
Out of curiosity, could anyone who has produced a script/had a script produced, give a rough estimate on how many eighths/pages are filmed per day?
I was asking per genre because I imagine that dramas with lots of dialogue flow faster than action/fight scenes. Also, multi-camera TV episodes probably go a hell of a lot quicker than one-camera films... but it's also true that some directors shooting on sets have multiple cameras rigged up too.
Anyway, just to give us an idea, could somebody (in the know) please answer?
I've directed two movies -- one for Charlie Band, had an 11 day shooting schedule, shot for (I think) 85 grand, all in and around a single location -- a big old house in L.A. with the last day being a pick-up day for a scene shot in hell (although actually shot on a small stage at Full Moon).
The script was around 85 pages, so it was just about 8 pages a day, in principle.
I say in principle because I found that I was cutting pages like mad over the course of the shoot in order to stay on schedule -- so it's really hard to say, in fact, how many pages we actually shot.
The first movie I directed was a faux documentary - designed to be a series of interviews between a psychiatrist and a serial killer on death row, so it was all one location, all dialogue and the whole thing was shot over two very long days.
Feature films use A and B cameras all the time, and sometimes C and D as well. That doesn't change the job of the DP, who is still the DP.
It depends on the scene and the DP. Larry Sher, who shoots the Hangover movies, lights for multiple cameras all the time.
A feature shoot that uses multiple cameras isn't classified as multi-camera. Even if there are six cameras running to capture an explosion from every angle.
The multi-camera classification refers to productions with the camera setups, lighting, and editing style used for some sitcoms, and nearly all soap operas, sketch shows, talk shows, game shows, and live events.
Basically, any of the shows that fall under this category:
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