Maximum coverage involves shooting the scene from different angles, starting with a wide master shot then close ups of each actor in the scene. The footage is then edited together to make up the scene. Continuity of physical performance, eye lines, dialogue and props is vitally important when shooting this type of coverage.
During recording of the master shot the actors should ideally cheat toward the camera slightly so the camera sees more of their face and less of their profile. Cheating in master shots allows the camera to be moved in nice and tight behind the actor who is working with the actor in their close up shot. This allows for seamless shot by shot editing of the recorded material.
Depending upon the size of the set and the available space, furniture can be cheated and moved toward the front or back of the set, or the actors themselves can be cheated for the camera. For example, the director may be shooting a dinner party scene on a small set and decide that it will be far quicker to change the props in the background than to set up and relight on the other side of the table. This can be done simply by moving the actors and their props diametrically across the table, thereby leaving the camera and the lights set up where they were for the previous shot. A single wall in the background then becomes two walls in the same room.
The purpose of shooting maximum coverage is to gather as much material on the scene as possible for the edit. The scene can then be constructed for maximum impact and the rhythm and dynamic of the scene can be manipulated to enhance the actors performances. This gives the director and the editor enough material to shape and define story and character on a scene by scene basis throughout the program.
A stage actor can have a good, bad or mediocre night but a screen actors performance via maximum coverage and the subsequent editing is always far greater than the sum of its parts.
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