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While shooting fiction, one of the commonest methods is to shoot what is known as the 'master shot'. A master shot is where the entire action of the scene is played out by the performers. This means that the movements, etc. have to be marked out well and rehearsals carried out with the performers on camera. The entire scene is shot in one long shot.
Next, the scene is 'broken up' into its components like two shots, MLSs, MCDs, CDs, POVs, OTSs, etc. In order to do this, the camera shifts positions and the focal length of the lens changes and so does the height in some cases. All the shots are then used in appropriate combination on the edit suite. Now you see why directors (yes, even famous ones) draw up storyboards?
One advantage with breaking up the master scene into several other shots is that we can choose the best of each performer and the best take even while providing visual variety and adding pace to the video. You would have noticed on television that actors mostly perform 'for' the camera unless they are interacting with each other that is, they perform in front of the camera lens. Actors normally move away or towards the lens when the camera is not moving. However, when camera movement is involved,with their purchases. This completes a scene. That is, you shoot right from people entering the super store to them exiting it with purchases. Within this scene, you will shoot a number of shot combinations. Low angle of people entering the super store, MCD of people entering the interiors, top angle LS of the super store, CDs of people examining products, and LS of people walking with trolleys, CDs of the products in the trolleys, MS of the product racks, CDs of the products, some good-looking faces, a couple of kids bawling for toffees, MCDs of the sales girls, an MS of people in the queue near the payment counter, CDs of cash or credit cards in their hands, the look on their faces, the counter clerk, a CD of the clerk's hand operating the computer mouse, the computer screen with the data entries, a CD of the printing machine with the receipt emerging out of it, MLS of people walking out, CDs of their feet and the products they are carrying, etc.
Shoot a number of cutaways. Shots of close-ups of the products, the crying child, good looking faces, etc. all serve as cutaways. Do you see the number of possibilities? Give such footage to an editor, who will love it. The variety of shots you have canned will add visual variety to the film. Of course, you would not forget to take care of other parameters like lighting, aperture, shutter speed, etc.
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