Every hour spent in the editing suite has an impact on budgets, and as the industry looks at new ways to keep costs down, camera crews receive more pressure than ever to deliver the right shot quickly. Regardless of the type of production, getting it right the first time, versus capturing massive amounts of content, saves time and money.
Tom Guilmette chooses Vinten Vector 75 to shoot at Fenway Park
The most common scenarios that lead operators to do pick up shots range from technical issues such as poor framing, camera shake, or the shot being out of focus, to the camera operator not capturing the precise shot the director wants for the edit, says Tom Guilmette, a Boston-based director of photography and television camera operator who has worked in the professional sports market for over 10 years.
Good planning at the production stage is vital, he continues. The director needs to provide an exact brief, so the camera operator knows precisely what to capture to meet the edit requirements. Secondly, to facilitate the capture of those perfect shots, selecting the right equipment to complement the performance of the camera is crucial. Ultimately, if the equipment doesnt enable the operator to get the shot the director requires, or the image does not meet the quality standards of the production, another shoot will need to be scheduled. Clearly, that is not a cost effective option.
A lack of full control of the camera makes it more difficult to achieve a precise shot, which can affect transitions in the edit as well as the shots themselves.
If control is compromised it could mean attempting the same shot two or three times, and even make it impossible to get the right shot at all, which would have to be worked around in the edit, says Andrew Butler, Applications Manager for Vitec Videocom This underlines the fact that camera operators simply cannot afford to be compromised by the products they use.
Andrew Butler, Applications Manager for Vitec Videocom
Following the action and nailing the shot every time requires the right gear. High-quality camera supports can provide the perfect balance and drag necessary to keep an operator shooting without the worry of mechanical issues.
The most fundamental support in any camera operator's arsenal of equipment is the tripod, advises Guilmette. It is the one piece of equipment that can be used in most applications and helps operators to get the best out of their camera's lens for the majority of shots. The right tripod should be perfectly balanced with precise control of movement so the camera behaves predictably, thus enabling the operator to be completely responsive in unexpected situations.
The same applies from selecting the highest performing lenses and lighting to choosing the best power source. The equipment needs to be appropriate for the specific job and make the camera crew's role easier and quicker. Basics, such as uninterrupted battery power, are vitally important, particularly for today's 4K camera set ups as well as DSLR shooting.
Guilmette points out that the way cameras are mounted into support systems or handheld rigs can obstruct the battery door from opening properly. Dismounting the camera, changing the battery, and then remounting the camera all costs time. Selecting a battery solution that allows operators to power their cameras for hours at a time from a single source removes the need for frequent changes. Each equipment choice needs to be carefully considered to facilitate a smooth shoot where an operator doesn't miss any vital action.
The challenge of capturing the right shot the first time varies dramatically across applications. In news reporting, roughly one tenth of the rushes make it through to the program. In every other application, a much larger percentage hits the cutting room floor. Feature film production is the clear winner, with the proportion of footage captured that is actually used in the final picture is nearer to 500:1. With any given application, everything in a scene could be perfect, but if a piece of equipment fails, the shoot will be disrupted or the opportunity could be entirely lost.
For example, when shooting baseball at Fenway Park where wind is a factor, I choose the Vinten Vector series of fluid heads, Guilmette relates. They allow the operator to move very slowly when following a subject super tight, but also give them the ability to whip pan to the next shot. All this can be done without changing the friction level. This results in no surprises, smooth response and expected behavior in the head, when shooting in all conditions.
Camera operators choose equipment and products they are familiar and comfortable with, but Guilmette recommends they do their research: Invest in a tripod system that is built to last. The initial outlay will pay off in the long run because it is such a vital tool in your arsenal and a good one can last throughout your career.
He concludes, The camera crew know the ups and downs of various support gear on the market. Utilizing this knowledge will increase every production's chances of getting the shot right the first time.
Tom Guilmette is a Boston-based director of photography. He has worked in OB sports television for over 13 years. More recently, he has worked on documentary projects that have taken him to the corners of the globe.
Andrew Butler is Applications Manager at Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company. Butler joined Vinten as a production engineer. He went on to product management, and today he leads the company's strategic product planning for the professional videography & cinematography segments of the industry. Butler is dedicated to understanding and assist in solving a wide range of creative and technical challenges, and incorporating those solutions into the Vitec Videocom product portfol
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
28/08/2025
IBC stand 5.F81
Wowza to Reveal Next-Gen Video Streaming Innovations at IBC 2025
Amsterdam, August 28, 2025 Wowza, a leader in video streaming infrastructur...
Every hour spent in the editing suite has an impact on budgets, and as the industry looks at new ways to keep costs down, camera crews receive more pressure than ever to deliver the right shot quickly. Regardless of the type of production, getting it right the first time, versus capturing massive amounts of content, saves time and money.
