Learn me on basics of how TV shows/movies are shot

[Guest]

So I've always wondered about how scenes are ordered and shot in a show or movie. 

Let's say that there is a show with a scene that starts at school, then the character goes home, then goes out at night, and gets in a fight. The next day he shows up at school with a shiner and new clothes. 

Obviously we see everything in linear order. But I assume things aren't shot that way, right?

So how do they do it? If you are shooting a movie with a recurring location, do you just shoot all the shots at that location all at once? So the actor may be wearing makeup (e.g. after a fight the night before) and doing lines that are from the end of the film on day one of shooting? 

If that is how they do it, how do they keep the continuity? What if there are last-minute changes to the script? If shooting a TV show, how many episodes would they shoot at once? So Friday Night Lights for example, -- do they film all the different game scenes against different opponents all in a night or two no matter if it's in episode 2 or episode 12? 

 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4968]

Ask Tommy Wiseau.

[henrygandorf 29185]

8 hours ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

So I've always wondered about how scenes are ordered and shot in a show or movie. 

Let's say that there is a show with a scene that starts at school, then the character goes home, then goes out at night, and gets in a fight. The next day he shows up at school with a shiner and new clothes. 

Obviously we see everything in linear order. But I assume things aren't shot that way, right?

So how do they do it? If you are shooting a movie with a recurring location, do you just shoot all the shots at that location all at once? So the actor may be wearing makeup (e.g. after a fight the night before) and doing lines that are from the end of the film on day one of shooting? 

If that is how they do it, how do they keep the continuity? What if there are last-minute changes to the script? If shooting a TV show, how many episodes would they shoot at once? So Friday Night Lights for example, -- do they film all the different game scenes against different opponents all in a night or two no matter if it's in episode 2 or episode 12? 

the answer to all your questions is money.  think of what is most cost efficient and that's how it's shot.

movies generally film out of order, dependent on both scenes and the availability of actors.  there are exceptions, like rain man, which shot on the road with the movie.  often times big emotional end scenes are shot on like the 3rd day or some crazy shit.  movies with locations will usually film all their locations first then come back to la or wherever and shoot the rest on sound stages.

tv shows may film clumps of scenes together, but generally won't get too far ahead of themselves, because they may get cancelled.  though that's kinda 2010 thinking.  streamers order full seasons so they shoot more like a long film.  multi-cam sitcoms rehearse all week and generally shoot on thursdays or fridays and the show airs a few weeks later.

as for makeup, just assume every single actor is wearing makeup and every female actor is wearing a wig at all times.  they have people in charge of continuity.  those people take a lot of pictures.  

locations like schools are cheap so they can revisit it as often as they need to.  actors are more expensive than locations.  if there's a guest star or a big actor with a smallish part in a movie, assume that actor was only on set for a few days total all in a row.

in football game scenes with a bunch of extras i'm sure they cram as much in as possible and the actors are constantly changing their jerseys.  any scenes with children have different rules and are very restrictive with time.  any scenes with adults probably involve 14-16 hour days and account for a couple minutes total of screen time.

[bernorange 8354]

8 hours ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

So I've always wondered about how scenes are ... shot ...

Ask Alec Baldwin

 

[Harrison Bergeron 1798]

I'm far from an expert, but that's consistent with what I've heard from a few friends in the industry. Scenes are not shot sequentially but based on set / location. The costume errors still make me LOL ... the best is the hot chick who magically loses her lingerie during the same scene.

[Guest]

Thanks HG.

Was thinking about it while watching The White Lotus. Lots of scenes each morning at breakfast and in the evening at dinner. While it's all shot at one location, the characters are in wildly different moods based on what they are experiencing. So I was thinking about the dad at dinner on the first night versus dinner on the last night when he has a shiner. Then I started thinking about the costume, make-up, etc. that goes into that and if it's all filmed out of order it seems impossible to keep track of.

[WhatTheBuck 28748]

Yeah, they shoot out of sequence all the time. Cost effectiveness is always a concern. In movies sometimes it has to do with the actors’ schedules. There may be a big name actor in the film who only has a certain amount of time they are available so all their scenes need to be shot during that window. Sometimes exteriors are shot in one location and interiors are shot in a studio in another city, state, or country. There are also multiple takes of most shots that get spliced together in the editing room. And then a lot of the dialog will get re-recorded in a studio afterward, particularly for scenes shot outdoors. Maybe they didn’t get a good recording when it was shot or there was other noise. So the actor will listen to the original recording and recreate the dialog in sync. If you ever watch old episodes of the Rockford Files it’s painfully evident. Almost to the point of distraction.

A good example from tv is the staircase in Big Bang Theory. The main characters live in two apartments on the 4th floor. They don’t have a 4-story set. They have one set with stairs going down on the right and stairs going up on the left. So, to shoot a scene where characters are walking up/down all 4 flights, they have to re-dress that set for each separate floor, like the police line “do not cross” tape blocking the broken elevator. I don’t know for sure but I assume they shoot all the first floor staircase scenes for an episode at once, for any characters who might be in a staircase scene in that episode, all the second floor staircase scenes at once, and so on. It wouldn’t make sense to do otherwise.

The same things happens in reality tv shows. They’re not live action documentaries. They’re loosely scripted theater. In an episode of Naked & Afraid I saw, the guy tries to start a fire with two sticks (essentially) every day for a few days until he was finally successful. I’m sure those scenes were all shot at once. Never mind that no one would start then give up, start again the next day then give up, and start again on the third day and finally succeed. No, you’d keep at it until you got the fire started. But that’s not as dramatic. So it’s in the script for it to take three days. But when you’re shooting it, you’d shoot those scenes all at once. It takes less time and time is money. 

[WhatTheBuck 28748]

13 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

Thanks HG.

Was thinking about it while watching The White Lotus. Lots of scenes each morning at breakfast and in the evening at dinner. While it's all shot at one location, the characters are in wildly different moods based on what they are experiencing. So I was thinking about the dad at dinner on the first night versus dinner on the last night when he has a shiner. Then I started thinking about the costume, make-up, etc. that goes into that and if it's all filmed out of order it seems impossible to keep track of.

Sometimes in a scene, when they’re shooting a closeup of just one actor, there may be none of the other actors in that scene present. It takes time to set up the camera, sound, and lighting for any shot. So they’ll shoot all the medium shots of the whole group at once and the individual closeups separately. I’ve heard some actors compliment other actors saying they stayed and played their part offscreen while they were getting their closeups. They don’t have to do that. The point being that it helps the actor in front of the camera if they’re reacting to another actor off camera playing their role and not some stagehand just reading lines from a script. 

[Chet Steadman 940]

26 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

There are also multiple takes of most shots that get spliced together in the editing room. And then a lot of the dialog will get re-recorded in a studio afterward, particularly for scenes shot outdoors. Maybe they didn’t get a good recording when it was shot or there was other noise. So the actor will listen to the original recording and recreate the dialog in sync. staircase scenes at once, and so on. 

This has always distracted me in modern tv shows and movies, often dramas.  

Two characters speaking to one another with a camera angle which switches back and forth behind the other’s POV.  Often times, the person who is talking has lips which are not synched at all and the head positioning is wildly off (twss) when the camera does the immediate switch back. 

I don’t watch much tv or film but it’s one of those things I can’t unsee when noticed. 

Edited February 22, 2022 by Chet Steadman

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

I didn't watch the show when it first aired, but Downton Abbey (iTV in UK and then PBS Masterpiece aired it in the US) has a YouTube channel with some videos of how they shot the series that I found interesting because I like history and some of the show was shot at Highclere Castle and covers the period from just prior to WWI to just after. I'm going off memory, but essentially since Highclere is still part private residence (seat of the Earl of Carnarvon) part open to the public, they had to work around that among other things and thus shot in bulk the interior/exterior scenes where necessary and then went to built sets for other parts. I don't have the lingo of film production, so excuse me if I make errors with terminology. Anyway, since most homes have been updated with modern conveniences, the kitchen areas were built at a studio, and those scenes shot with whatever actors were needed for those sequences. When watching an episode, one can see how it might be done based on how each scene was written. It seems to take a lot of talented skilled people in a production to make something worth watching, but I'm glad they do and I appreciate the opportunity to listen and watch and be entertained or to learn something new.

I loved the cinematography for Downton when I finally watched it (didn't finish it, it's basically a soap opera and got a little implausible after awhile). But the costumes and the lighting were very satisfying to view.

[Guest Lobo]

HG, and others, nailed it as per usual.  Only thing I'd add is when you're doing a period piece...you also have to work around the "old shit."  Adding an extra day or two to shoot around old cars, buildings, clothes, etc.  Gets very expensive as well.  As does chasing down weather/time-of-day/landscape lighting.  A good friend of mine wrote/produced the western film "Appaloosa" and joked (but was making a good point about budgets)..."Only thing more expensive than Viggo and Ed Harris is chasing down the fucking sunset.  Fucking thing don't care about SAG hours."  

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

Oh gosh, yes! They talked about that as well in the DA video. Some of the furnishings at Highclere are incredibly old and irreplaceable so one doesn't just bang around with equipment and such. Also, for the actresses, some of the fancy dress costumes were vintage pieces. One of the people interviewed said they couldn't be washed due to fragility so they had "a bit of an odor." I thought about that a little since fabric often gets dull or changes color with age and whether making a new piece would be better (for coloring and filming) but it could be that the beading (hand sewn back in the day) and other details might have been too cost prohibitive. I mean you can do a lot with a glue gun and flat back crystals, but I'm going to defer to their judgement and knowledge of why they do things since this is their metier. Or it could also be just a love of the history of fashion and their chance to showcase the cultural shift.

Apparently the Queen noticed some mistakes with respect to certain military accoutrements/decorations. Good on her for paying attention to detail.

[CooterBrown 17962]

I'd read that Clint Eastwood is a rare exception who mostly shoots scenes in chronological order when possible. He made up the cost by only doing 1-3 takes instead of 10-20.

 

[billfromlaketravis 11427]

24 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

I'd read that Clint Eastwood is a rare exception who mostly shoots scenes in chronological order when possible. He made up the cost by only doing 1-3 takes instead of 10-20.

 

One Take Clint. Sometimes it works, see Gran Torino. Sometimes it doesn't work, Cry Macho. 

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

I can't say if Dirty Harry was behind the camera that I would dare do anything but get it right the first time.

[billfromlaketravis 11427]

On 2/21/2022 at 2:36 PM, FirstTimeCaller said:

So I've always wondered about how scenes are ordered and shot in a show or movie. 

Let's say that there is a show with a scene that starts at school, then the character goes home, then goes out at night, and gets in a fight. The next day he shows up at school with a shiner and new clothes. 

Obviously we see everything in linear order. But I assume things aren't shot that way, right?

So how do they do it? If you are shooting a movie with a recurring location, do you just shoot all the shots at that location all at once? So the actor may be wearing makeup (e.g. after a fight the night before) and doing lines that are from the end of the film on day one of shooting? 

If that is how they do it, how do they keep the continuity? What if there are last-minute changes to the script? If shooting a TV show, how many episodes would they shoot at once? So Friday Night Lights for example, -- do they film all the different game scenes against different opponents all in a night or two no matter if it's in episode 2 or episode 12? 

 

It’s not for everybody, or very funny, but Office Ladies dives into the nuts and bolts of how they made The Office. Many interviews with the cast and crew. 
 

Talking Sopranos does more or less the same thing. 

Edited February 22, 2022 by billfromlaketravis

[Vito Andolini 9115]

Clint’s in a hurry, and you would be too if you were 118.

[WhatTheBuck 28748]

On 2/22/2022 at 11:46 AM, billfromlaketravis said:

One Take Clint. Sometimes it works, see Gran Torino. Sometimes it doesn't work, Cry Macho. 

Sometimes he talks to an empty chair.

[Woland 730]

Watch some Godard and Ozu and then do some study of their film techniques and how they broke the rules.

[Woland 730]

As far as continuity, it’s part of the job of everyone who works on the film to insure continuity is maintained.

[ajax 2596]

2 hours ago, Woland said:

As far as continuity, it’s part of the job of everyone who works on the film to insure continuity is maintained.

But mostly the script supervisor. 

[WhatTheBuck 28748]

9 hours ago, ajax said:

But mostly the script supervisor. 

I was just about to post that. Good thing I scrolled up before posting. 

[WhatTheBuck 28748]

And still, in the original release of Gladiator, you could see a crew member wearing jeans standing behind a horse when Maximus was fighting the Germans.

[davidg 4034]

 

 

[RPM 26289]

2 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

And still, in the original release of Gladiator, you could see a crew member wearing jeans standing behind a horse when Maximus was fighting the Germans.

Hey, Spartacus. Know what time it is?

[UT_OB1 2204]

On 2/22/2022 at 8:14 AM, WhatTheBuck said:

Yeah, they shoot out of sequence all the time. Cost effectiveness is always a concern. In movies sometimes it has to do with the actors’ schedules. There may be a big name actor in the film who only has a certain amount of time they are available so all their scenes need to be shot during that window. Sometimes exteriors are shot in one location and interiors are shot in a studio in another city, state, or country. There are also multiple takes of most shots that get spliced together in the editing room. And then a lot of the dialog will get re-recorded in a studio afterward, particularly for scenes shot outdoors. Maybe they didn’t get a good recording when it was shot or there was other noise. So the actor will listen to the original recording and recreate the dialog in sync. If you ever watch old episodes of the Rockford Files it’s painfully evident. Almost to the point of distraction.

A good example from tv is the staircase in Big Bang Theory. The main characters live in two apartments on the 4th floor. They don’t have a 4-story set. They have one set with stairs going down on the right and stairs going up on the left. So, to shoot a scene where characters are walking up/down all 4 flights, they have to re-dress that set for each separate floor, like the police line “do not cross” tape blocking the broken elevator. I don’t know for sure but I assume they shoot all the first floor staircase scenes for an episode at once, for any characters who might be in a staircase scene in that episode, all the second floor staircase scenes at once, and so on. It wouldn’t make sense to do otherwise.

The same things happens in reality tv shows. They’re not live action documentaries. They’re loosely scripted theater. In an episode of Naked & Afraid I saw, the guy tries to start a fire with two sticks (essentially) every day for a few days until he was finally successful. I’m sure those scenes were all shot at once. Never mind that no one would start then give up, start again the next day then give up, and start again on the third day and finally succeed. No, you’d keep at it until you got the fire started. But that’s not as dramatic. So it’s in the script for it to take three days. But when you’re shooting it, you’d shoot those scenes all at once. It takes less time and time is money. 

Back up on naked and afraid. I’m under the impression that is mostly not staged / scripted.

[WhatTheBuck 28748]

48 minutes ago, UT_OB1 said:

Back up on naked and afraid. I’m under the impression that is mostly not staged / scripted.

Riiiiiiiight. No one is afraid. Other than some butt shots, I’m not sure anyone is actually naked. They could be wearing flesh toned garments hidden by the pixelation. If you want me to think that girl is naked, I’m going to at least see a nipple.

Of course it’s scripted. Drama requires conflict and they can’t take the risk that everything will go smoothly. There has to be some unforeseen obstacle in every episode. They also can’t risk any of the actors getting seriously injured or killed. And that’s what they are. Actors. It’s not a competition. It’s a play. What’s sad is that such obvious artifice is so successful at deceiving viewers. But then that’s why reality tv is so popular. Because it doesn’t take much of a budget and people actually buy it. 

[UT_OB1 2204]

10 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Riiiiiiiight. No one is afraid. Other than some butt shots, I’m not sure anyone is actually naked. They could be wearing flesh toned garments hidden by the pixelation. If you want me to think that girl is naked, I’m going to at least see a nipple.

Of course it’s scripted. Drama requires conflict and they can’t take the risk that everything will go smoothly. There has to be some unforeseen obstacle in every episode. They also can’t risk any of the actors getting seriously injured or killed. And that’s what they are. Actors. It’s not a competition. It’s a play. What’s sad is that such obvious artifice is so successful at deceiving viewers. But then that’s why reality tv is so popular. Because it doesn’t take much of a budget and people actually buy it. 

Yeah, so I looked, and you’re not correct on this. Yes, they producers have to sell a show so they do invent some drama and chop it up. But they are naked. They do have to try to survive, and the dinghy fever and broken toes and all that are real. They give them a bit more medical treatment than they usually let on (ivs, vitamins, food if someone is near death - I’m sure this is required by insurance), and occasionally the contestants convince a random crew member to give them some food or they’ve actually stolen some.  But they are living roughing it for 21 days naked. 

[LonghornSean 3981]

On 2/22/2022 at 8:40 AM, Chet Steadman said:

This has always distracted me in modern tv shows and movies, often dramas.  

Two characters speaking to one another with a camera angle which switches back and forth behind the other’s POV.  Often times, the person who is talking has lips which are not synched at all and the head positioning is wildly off (twss) when the camera does the immediate switch back. 

I don’t watch much tv or film but it’s one of those things I can’t unsee when noticed. 

Some of that does have to do with ADR redubbing of lines, or changing the script long after filming.

But also has to do with how scenes are shot. In scenes like that with two characters facing each other, they will generally shoot all the camera coverage for Actor A first, then flip around and setup for Actor B and do the whole scene again, obviously with numerous takes for each side. So when they are shooting Actor A's side, Actor B is not the focus of the filming. It's just the back of his head being shot, so his performance during that filming might not necessarily be fully realized or perfect to what the actor or director is looking for. That's also when stand-ins are sometimes used, when the character is just being seen from behind.

So the audio you hear when watching the final show/movie will usually be from when each specific actor was being covered, therefore when it's the character you're seeing from behind speaking, the audio won't always match up perfectly with what you see.

I think it's pretty rare that scenes like that shot with both actors being covered simultaneously. That's why big dinner table scenes, or scenes like the Council of Elrond from LOTR for example, are notorious for taking such a long time to shoot. They have to setup for each actor and basically run most if not all of the scene over and over again to get coverage of lines and reactions for everyone so they have it all to choose from in the editing process.

Edited February 26, 2022 by LonghornSean

[Underdog 28529]

As a Stunt Cock in the industry and being in high demand, I'm asked to do the money shot before anything else is shot.  

Happy Days - would be interesting to see what exactly did Chuck do to disappear like he did...  Witness protection? 

 

[WhatTheBuck 28748]

On 2/26/2022 at 11:26 AM, UT_OB1 said:

Yeah, so I looked, and you’re not correct on this. Yes, they producers have to sell a show so they do invent some drama and chop it up. But they are naked. They do have to try to survive, and the dinghy fever and broken toes and all that are real. They give them a bit more medical treatment than they usually let on (ivs, vitamins, food if someone is near death - I’m sure this is required by insurance), and occasionally the contestants convince a random crew member to give them some food or they’ve actually stolen some.  But they are living roughing it for 21 days naked. 

Pics or it didn’t happen. What you read in an industry rag doesn’t mean it’s true.