In order to understand “coverage,” it’s helpful to make yourself a member of the audience. The viewer hasn’t read your script and could care less about the problems you had making your film. And while crash cuts, flash backs and jarring transitions have their place here and there, the viewer will never enjoy your film if you don’t understand their passive, “put-it-in-my-lap” occupation. All they need to do is buy a ticket, sit in the dark and be entertained. Forget this important point and you’ll be doing something else beside filmmaking!

Consider this scene: John and Mary meet at Starbucks and he tells her he’s seeing someone else and their long love affair is over. The first step in getting adequate coverage of this scene is to consider geography and how to satisfy this need for the audience. Sure, you could shoot the typical, “Establishing Shot: Starbucks,” but wouldn’t it be more interesting to start with a close up of designer coffee squirting out of one of those peculiar machines while it makes that awful sound? Even better with that awful asthma-like sound over the previous scene?

The main thing is the audience knows that we’re at Starbucks. When we see John and Mary in a fairly wide two shot sitting at a small table by the window, the stage has been set with a “Master shot.” When you think about this simple scene, the Master shot isn’t much good except to complete the geographical layout which was begun with the previous shot. But the editor has already been given a choice - this is good. Now, they may talk about the weather, but the meat of this scene is that John is going to dump Mary and the sooner we get to that dramatic point the better. Maybe Mary suspects John has been unfaithful and maybe it pains John to break the bad news to her, but the drama is in him telling her the bad news and her reaction to it. This scene has all the same elements as the entire script. A beginning (small talk), rising action (as John skirts the issue and Mary begins to suspect the worse), a climax (after he tells her and she throws scalding coffee at him), the falling action (as she storms out), and the denouement (as John calls his new girlfriend on his cell phone).

We might use a fairly wide shot to cover the coffee being thrown in John’s face and also when Mary calls John a bastard after she’s stood up from the table. Maybe this can be done with the same master. But the “You’re a bastard” shot is directed at John so it must be shot from John’s point-of-view (POV), looking up at her. Otherwise, the overall scene is intimate and dramatic which calls for a lot of coverage in medium close shots and close ups. Of course there are significant limitations to this “let’s get closer” idea. You can’t show what someone’s thinking by taking a picture of their forehead. It’s what people do and say that counts… everything else is just noise.

Now, think about all the things the writer didn’t consider. We need coverage of each character’s silent reaction to what the other has said. We need a shot (or shots), of the other Starbuck’s customers as they see the flying coffee hit John. The editor needs cut-away shots and inserts (i.e.; Mary stirs her coffee, customers chat or rudely talk on cell phones if it’s shot in L.A.). Cut-aways and inserts are always needed to bridge or remove dialogue, fix continuity problems or add a pause when needed. After Mary walks out the front door, does John watch her walk to her car? If so, do we also need a long shot from her car looking back at John inside Starbucks? Should we dolly backward with Mary as she walks to the door so we can see the tears begin to fall but John cannot? Does John even care what that guy with the cell phone and the Tall Latte thinks about him? If so, does this need coverage too?

The point of this exercise is to show the number of choices you have and the important decisions you’ll need to make. When using an actual location you won’t be able to make many of these decisions until you’re actually there. Many times you can’t do the shot you want anyhow because of physical and/or financial limitations. So, you have to learn to make these critical decisions on your feet… instantly. The trick is to clearly understand the emotional intent and dramatic purpose of the scene before you shoot and use this information to make your decisions. When Mary splashes John with her burning hot expresso she’s expressing anger and rage because of the emotional hurt she feels. She’s striking back at the two-timer! She’s been hurt and it’s HER rage being expressed here. We want to see HER anger and HER pain. John may look stupid sitting there in his coffee-covered Lacoste, but we want to experience her emotions right now, not his. Sure, we should get the shot of the coffee hitting John, but I suspect the editor would focus on Mary most of all.

Remember to recognize the emotional heart of every scene and exploit it to the max by giving the editor choices.

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