Grammar of the Shot, 2nd Edition

Shooting Overlapping Action for the Edit

Remember, it is your job as the camera operator to provide the appropriate shots to the editor so that the visual elements will make sense and cut smoothly in the final product. When you have to shoot an action from two or more different angles and you do not have the luxury of operating more than one camera, you will have to have the talent repeat the same action over and over again for each take at each camera position. Overlapping action is the action performed by the talent that is visible from each different camera angle covering the shots for a scene. You need to record this overlapping action in each shot so that the editor will have good and varied choices for creating an “action edit” or a “continuity ...