to 200 positions, which are typical in
a lot of episodic television and on fea-
ture films.
But as I noted earlier, in shooting my
own low-budget documentaries and
on a decent percentage of corporate
and even some broadcast projects, I’m
often called upon to act as a one-man
band, meaning that I’m responsible
for picture, sound, makeup, produc-
tion design and often interviewing or
directing by myself.
I don’t want to go too deeply into the
relative merits of having a crew versus
working solo, but they’re apparent to
anyone who has worked with a crew as
well as solo.
What we’re going to talk about is
when you’re required to act as a one-
man band, how do you plan, strat-
egize, execute that strategy and end
up with good-looking and -sounding
footage when you have to do every-
thing yourself?
The Key
When working as an OMB, the key to
success is most often planning.
When shooting solo, you have to
know what kind of situation you’re
walking into. What type of shoot is it?
Will the client give you adequate time
and resources to set up each scene by
yourself and have it look and sound
good? When do you draw the line
and tap out, telling the client that what
they’re proposing is too much for a sin-
gle person to handle?
Planning and knowing what you
are walking into is crucial for suc-
cessfully shooting solo. A location
scout or at least having the client send
you some cell phone pictures will let
you roughly know the size and shape
of the room you’re going to shoot in.
It will also give you a sense of the
ambient light and the ability to con-
trol the lighting (are there windows
or window coverings?). You can also
ask about access to electrical outlets
and ambient noise as well. You won’t
know if you have to black out win-
dows or hang sound blankets with-
out a scout and or planning, and you
won’t know what gear you’ll need to
accomplish your mission, either, with-
out a scout or at least some detailed
info from the client.Realistic Scenarios
The second-most-important compo-
nent to consider after planning is time.
Will you have enough time to load
in all of your gear and make sure that
your vehicle is parked in an area where
it should be and won’t be ticketed or
towed? You’d be surprised,
but a lot of my OMB assign-
ments have taken place in
Hollywood, New York,
London and other big cit-
ies where parking is at a
premium. And parking
in the wrong spot can lead
to trouble.
Also, once you’re loaded in,
will you have enough time to
unpack all of your gear, set it
up, test it and make sure it’s
ready to go before you have
a subject in front of the cam-
era? If a client isn’t willing to
pay for you to hire a PA, gaf-
fer or sound mixer, you’ll end
up performing the functions
of those jobs.
For example, I’ve shot
a series of green-screenTop: Setting up a medium Chimera in homes
and offices and not on stages with high
ceilings can be tricky.Bottom: Using a green screen in your shoot
when working solo can also be a challenge. digitalphotopro.com July/August 2019 | 57