Advanced Shot Coverage - Implementing Shot Lists and Visual Diversity for Your Project

Whether you’re a director, a cinematographer, an assistant director, a script supervisor, or an editor, you’ll be unable to fully do your job on set if you don’t have a visual plan. This doesn’t just mean how you want the film to ultimately look, but what exactly you need to do in production to get it there. The last thing you want as a filmmaker in post production is to have to compromise your visual story because you didn’t get that one shot you needed. Yet this is incredibly common and one of the main reasons for reshoots, delays in a film’s release, and ultimately going over-budget. This is why having a full understanding of shot coverage and what constitutes the bare visual minimum for any type of scene is essential to making a compelling movie.

No matter what project you’re working on, shot coverage is a vital aspect to have down pat, but as you start producing more involved and complex shoots, coverage needs to be a lot more intricate. If your film or television series contains more than just basic dialogue scenes—if you are working with action scenes, non-verbal scenes, or scenes with a lot of characters—forming your visual plan becomes a lot more challenging and even more important. Not only must you ensure you’re getting the footage you need, but you also need to employ visual diversity so your vision can stand out. This is no easy feat, but mastering advanced coverage will improve your relationships with your editors and actors, make post-production easier, and boost your skill and reputation as a filmmaker.

Brenda Wachel is an accomplished and sought after script supervisor with over 30 years of experience and credits on some of the biggest films of all time, including JURASSIC PARK 3, OCTOBER SKY, BRIGHT, COLLATERAL, FURIOUS 7, and CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER. She has worked with countless directors like Paul Haggis, Joe Johnston, Michael Mann, David Ayer, Tim Robbins, and Terry Gilliam and continues to serve as script supervisor for projects like Netflix’s just released mockumentary feature DEATH TO 2020, written and directed by BLACK MIRROR’s Charlie Brooker and starring Hugh Grant, Samuel L. Jackson, and Lisa Kudrow. Brenda has overseen shot coverage on countless films and television shows and knows how this process can save or destroy a project.

In this advanced level, interactive, and intensive two-part class, Brenda will dive into the intricacies and strategies of shot coverage and give you a series of tools and strategies you can use to best shoot and cover your project, no matter how involved it may be. Brenda will review strategies for shooting basic scenes like standard dialogue scenes and interior car scenes, and will dig more into how to capture complex scenes like action sequences, non-verbal scenes, and transitions. Brenda will also go through how to put together an effective shot list ahead of time and will teach you how to pivot and adapt in the moment as plans change on set. She will then dive into what you can do to expand beyond basic coverage, like employing visual diversity, having multiple masters and using inserts.

Brenda’s lessons will be accompanied by live demonstrations and exercises, including reverse engineering shot lists of notable film scenes and creating new shot lists for a scene of an unproduced script.

Brenda’s deep dive and nuts-and-bolts approach to shot coverage will leave you with a thorough understanding of how to best get the footage you need for your next project and work effectively with your team while doing so.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

• This class is designed for intermediate and advanced students looking to learn how to better cover scenes for a film or television show. This is an in-depth, practical, and detailed class with significantly more content than a standard 90-minute webinar.
• This class will consist of two sessions, both roughly two hours in duration and spaced one week apart from one another. In addition to the presentation-style lessons where Brenda will be walking you through various elements of the craft of shot coverage, you will have the opportunity to ask her questions during each session.
• Plus, to stay motivated and inspired, you will have access to a private, dedicated Stage 32 Lounge where you can communicate with your fellow classmates throughout the process.
• To see the full class schedule, see below under "What You Will Learn".

Praise for Brenda’s Previous Stage 32 Webinar

"Loved the level of expertise. I often take webinars and find that I'm as knowledgeable as the instructor, but this one was exceptional."

-Scott F.

"Brenda was clear and generous in sharing her knowledge."

-Kathleen O.

"I loved Brenda's talk! She provided a ton of work-related experiences that can be applied to the job, many that you cannot find in a book. She was very enjoyable to listen to and she was open and honest. I loved it!"

-Allish S.

"Brenda’s wealth of working knowledge was amazing."

-Pamela F.