Village Video

Find your crew

Whether you’re looking for filmmakers across the world who can capture your perfect shot, event attendees who can relay their unique experiences, or production people who can put it all together, Cinebody has you covered. All anyone needs to participate in a project is a phone with a camera and the Cinebody app.

Brief everybody

Cinebody lets you quickly give your team the lowdown on the job at hand. You can provide people with an overall project description, include a digital shot list and specify the camera settings on your filmmakers’ phones so they won’t have to adjust a thing. Then everyone can work together to knock out filming, shot by shot, from anywhere they happen to be.

Connect key people

Once you’re rolling, it’s time to loop in directors, clients, and any agency people who need to see the footage. Instead of spending thousands on travel and packing people in a room during the pandemic, the big decision-makers can log into Zoom or Facebook all across the globe. Advancements in 5G will also let you skip clunky and expensive storage devices and allow clips to be instantly uploaded to Cinebody and reviewed by everyone.

Direct filmmakers

If you’re not quite getting the shots you want, you can always yell “Cut!” from afar. Say for instance, the lighting is a little dim or the wind is too noisy. Cinebody gives you a direct line to your camera operators via the ‘push’ function to make the adjustments you want in real-time, so you’re not left with hours of wasted footage.

Select shots

Out of all the great, high-speed, remote video production tools, a key feature of Cinebody, in particular, is the ability to mark different takes on the fly. There’s no waiting for a digital imaging technician to download and consolidate all the footage for you. Instead, it’s auto-uploaded and served to you on a digital platter, so you can choose your takes with one click, batch-download them and start editing right away.

Thanks to the overall savings and convenience, video villages are likely here to stay, even after COVID-19 finally decides to leave. And their structure will continue to evolve with technology. So the next time you have a big shoot, maybe it’s time you do things the new, old-fashioned way.

It Takes a Village

In its simplest form, the video village is a monitor connected to the camera. Ideally, the monitor is placed out of the way, separate from the cameras, crew and action on set. This setup allows the director and other personnel to keep tabs on the production without getting in the way.

In its most complicated form, the video village is comprised of several high-end video carts residing in tent cities feeding dozens of monitors that run the expanse of the set. On some big studio shoots, there’s even a satellite feed to beam the video to offsite producers. In each of these cases, one fact remains the same. The video village is an isolated location that allows key personnel to monitor what the camera is capturing.

Whether it’s a set designer, make up artist, producer or client, a well set video village gives any and all stake holders the opportunity to confirm they’re getting it right. Does the make-up still look realistic? Is the actor playing to the camera? Does the lighting feel appropriate? Whether you’re working with a freelance videographer you’ve never met before, or crew members you know better than your own family, a video village allows a number of people to get crucial information at the same time. Directing this way isn’t a necessity, but once you employ this directing tip, you’ll quickly realize why it’s done so often.

Building Your Camp

The type of video village you construct depends mostly on how much funding and gear you have. If you’re directing a single camera shoot, all you’ll need is cable running from your camera out to a monitor on a stand. Make sure you have enough slack, that the cable is clearly marked and that the cable is tucked well out of the way.

If you’re using more than one camera, set up a monitor feed for each. This is crucial for multicam shoots as it allows you to see in real-time how easy the cut between the camera angles will be, make sure you’ve got coverage and that both cameras aren’t refocusing or reframing at the same moment. If your camera A is zooming in a bit at the same time your camera B is refocusing then you’ll be out of luck when you edit the scene. You’ll have nothing to cut to.

As your budget increases, the options begin to expand. Wireless monitors are great since they remove the need to run cables between the village and the rest of the set. Bigger monitors, recording and playback decks and more stands are also options used by larger productions when budgets are less of an issue.

Location, Location, Location

In most cases, you’ll want to build your village close enough to the set that you can get to your talent quickly and effortlessly but far enough away that your crew has enough space to work. When out scouting location, consider not just the stage for your action but the space for your crew. If you expect a crowd, give yourself enough room behind you so folks can gather comfortably to watch. Without that buffer zone, people will crane necks and bunch in to catch a peek, which can ultimately create a distraction to you doing your job.

Another important tip is to face the monitors away from the set. Do not allow talent the temptation of watching themselves while you roll camera or you’ll be dealing with a lot of peeks in the monitor’s direction as you record.

What You See is Not What You Get

One crucial aspect of using monitors on shoots – whether physically attached to the camera or connected remotely via cables – is to understand that they’re meant primarily for reference.

What you’re seeing on the monitors in terms of contrast and color isn’t necessarily what the camera operator is seeing through the lens or what the camera is actually capturing. Yes, you can control the color balance, brightness and contrast on most monitors, but you’ll be hard pressed to get a perfect match between that and what shows up in the edit bay.

Check your camera settings before the shoot to make sure you’re properly color balanced. Use the monitor to gauge composition, review action and get a general feel of the how a shot looks. Many news stations pre-set colors using a chip-chart on the set that both cameras see to match the monitors similar to how you’d set up a clap board for audio.

Directing From Afar

As you direct your production from the village, pay close attention to what you’re seeing on those monitors. Before you start rolling take a moment to inspect the images in front of you. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Is the shot in focus?
• Is it framed the way you intended?
• Look closely at the background – is there anything there that will be a distraction?
• If using two cameras, are the shots different enough from each other? Should one camera be in tighter? Zoomed farther out? More off angle?

Once you give the all clear to start rolling, check the monitors again to make sure the cameras are actually recording.

Staying Mobile

If you’re shooting in the field, that doesn’t mean you have to ditch the village when rapidly changing locations…take the village with you! Leave the stands but keep the cord and the monitor and start walking with your camera operator. Once you find the next shot and your camera operator is set, plug back in and observe away. Most professional camera operators are happy to oblige since a happy director means they’re doing their job correctly. The one tricky aspect to this setup is that tethering yourself to a mobile camera operator can be restrictive for both of you. If your cameraperson needs to move through a space quickly and randomly to get the best angle, it’s better to stand back and let them do their job.

A great way to stay on top of your production in realtime is to employ a tenet of film direction techniques: The video village. It allows you see what the camera is seeing while staying out of the crew’s way. It gives the other players in your production a chance to monitor their contributions and offer input if needed.

Setting up a video village to try to get the best video production out of your crew as possible doesn’t have to be a big deal – a simple monitor on a stand is the best place to start. The larger your production and budget, the more you can scale your video village up in size. Whether you’re shooting a backyard BBQ or straightforward studio interview, the directing tips in this article should help you stay focused on getting your shot.