Before You Shoot: Editor/DP Communication

Sam here…

So, saw this great article from Johnny Elwyn that I feel like everyone in production should take a look at before you shoot:

http://www.redsharknews.com/production/item/1919-11-things-video-editors-wish-they-could-say-to-camera-operators-and-dops?page=1

My personal favorites/pet peeves are:

• Hold your shots
• Nail your focus pulls
• Ask for feedback

If there’s a couple more I could add to the list:

• Talk to post before you shoot
• Add tracking markers to moving green screen footage

…would be towards the top.

Bottom line is that, you know, we’re all on the same team, guys. We all want our projects to look good. If one of the departments on a project is out of sync with another, the overall project is going to suffer, and our clients will be less happy with us… and when that happens, it makes the whole reason we’re doing the shoot pointless. And while sometimes this is due to hurrying too much or just basic apathy, it’s also a lot of times due to not being in communication between production and post to confirm the needs.

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