Why do we need two cameras in the first place?
Lights, camera, action! You might be wondering why on earth you need two cameras, but the answer is as clear as the nose on your face. Two cameras mean double the angles, double the cuts, and double the fun!
Who wants to watch a talking head video with only one boring angle when you could have a variety of camera angles, cutting out those awkward gaps and even certain sentences to make the speaker sound like an expert public speaker?
Is it possible to achieve the two-camera effect with a single camera?
Now, I know what you're thinking, can't I just fake the two-camera effect with one camera? Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's just not the same. You'll need at least a 4K capable camera if you want to mimic that two-camera effect.
So, how's the workflow going?
Don't worry, you don't have to distribute the video in 4K. You can edit the footage on a 1080 timeline or lower and scale up (or zoom in) the 4K footage without losing any quality. But beware, don't scale it up too much or you'll end up with a video that looks like it was shot on a potato.
After shooting the interview in 4K, the footage should be edited on a 1080 timeline or lower. Because the footage has a greater quality than a 1080 timeline, we can scale up (or zoom in) the 4K footage without ruining it and resulting in a pixelated or unsharp final video to some extent.
When it comes to scaling up any 4K footage, you'll have to see how far you can push it. To put it another way, if you scale the 4K footage up too much, you can end up with a video that doesn't seem as crisp or as sharp as the original footage.
For example, it's generally advised not to scale any 4K UHD footage on a 1080 timeline by more than 200 percent, although I wouldn't go quite that far.
As a quick hint, if the scaled up 4K footage isn't crisp enough, you may add more sharpness before generating the final version.
Given the above information, you should pick your preferred framings by cropping the 4K film into two separate forms, such as a close up view and its original size.
Please see below the samples from an interview that I have shot last year during a EU Project in Turkey.
It's time to render the 4K footage after scaling it up and cropping it.
Let's get down to business and render that sweet 4K footage! As I've said before, this technique is ideal for mimicking the two-camera effect using just one camera. The result is a video that will make your interviewee sound like a real pro.
But hold your horses, cowboy! Before you hit that render button, remember to keep the timeline at 1080 or lower. Trust me, you don't want to end up with a pixelated, fuzzy mess.
And now, the moment we've all been waiting for... Let the editing begin! So, grab a drink, put on some tunes, and have a blast crafting your masterpiece.
Fatih Ugur | Producer@Vidyograf | fatih@vidyograf.com
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