Making television: Two-camera shoot

Hosting the Maker Workshop segment of the upcoming Make: television show has been a quick education on how TV is made.

The show is done as a two-camera shoot. This means there are two cameramen, one covering me and another covering the project. It’s a great way to shoot, because it allows the editor to cut between the guy talking and the thing he’s talking about. (Synchronized time-code between the cameras keeps audio and action all in sync. )

It’s kind of difficult to talk to one camera and hold the thing you’re talking about toward another. Try it sometime. Walk up to a friend and say “Hey, check out this crazy iPhone app!” while you direct all of that action toward someone else. It rips your mind in half. OK, not that bad, but pretty strange. I got semi-accustomed to it, but there were moments, late in the day when I had to be reminded to talk to Mike and show stuff to Butch.