Coverage — Field Card · Quiet Pursuits

180°THE LINE

The other 180° rule. Draw an axis through the action — the eyeline, or the direction of travel — and keep every camera on one side of it. Screen direction stays consistent; the audience keeps their map. Cross it and left becomes right.

Cross on purpose only: cut to a neutral shot on the axis, move the camera across in-shot, or reset geography with a clean close-up.

GEOGRAPHY

EWS

BODY + CONTEXT

WAIST · ACTION

CHEST · STANDARD

MCU

FACE · EMOTION

DETAIL · PUNCTUATION

ECU

Working the line

Grammar

ALL POSITIONS ON ONE ARC · THE AXIS IS THE EYELINE OR PATH OF TRAVEL

Moving subjects have a line too — a hiker traveling left-to-right must keep traveling left-to-right, shot after shot.
Solo trick: a locked wide is your neutral. When in doubt, cut to the master, then re-enter anywhere.
Trails and roads: shoot both directions of travel at every location, but log which is which — the edit needs one consistent flow per journey leg.

Cutting geometry

Grammar

CHANGE THE ANGLE ≥30° — AND THE SIZE

30° rule: consecutive shots of the same subject need a real angle change, or it reads as a jump.
Jump two sizes: WS → MCU cuts clean; WS → WS stutters.
Cut on action — mid-step, mid-reach. Movement hides the seam.
Motivate it: a look, a sound, a question. Every cut answers "why now?"

Tri-cam match matrix

Setup

Body	Role	Rec	Log	Shutter	WB
A · α6700	Main / sequences	4K24 · HS 10-bit	S-Log3	1/50	K locked
B · α7R V	Second angle / stills	4K24 · 10-bit	S-Log3	1/50	Same K as A
C · HERO12	POV / action / mount	4K24 · 10-bit	GP-Log + LUT	1/48	Lock (ProTune)
D · iPhone 16 PM	Pocket / gimbal / BTS	4K24 · ProRes	Apple Log	1/48 (FCC)	Lock (FCC)

Everything at 23.98. One frame rate, one timeline, zero judder. Shoot 60p only when a 40% conform is the plan.
Three logs, one grade: convert each (S-Log3 / GP-Log / Apple Log) to a shared working space first, grade once, match by eye on skin.
The phone and GoPro drift warm/cool on auto — lock WB on every body or spend the evening keyframing it back.
D shoots in Final Cut Camera (free): shutter, Kelvin, Apple Log — and ProRes fills a phone fast, so record to a USB-C SSD. C at a locked 1/48 needs its ND — the aperture is fixed, nothing else gives.

Sync & conform

Setup

One clap per setup.Loud, on camera, every time all bodies roll. Costs two seconds.
Waveform sync in the NLE.Needs scratch audio on every body — so record it everywhere, even on angles you'll never use sound from.
Timecode as label, not lock.HERO12 syncs TC by QR in the Quik app; the iPhone runs time-of-day TC in FCC; the α6700's is preset-only. All drift apart eventually — trust the clap.

S&Q is silent — no waveform, no sync

Slow-mo angles need a visual sync: flash a light or slate in frame before the action.

The five-shot system

Field

Wide — establish, locked, 15 s.Doubles as your neutral for line crossings.
Medium — the action, waist up.
Close — hands, gear, detail.
POV / over-shoulder — what they see.The GoPro's whole job.
Creative — low, high, through foreground.

Five shots make any activity cuttable — brewing coffee at camp or crossing a pass. Shoot them in whatever order the moment allows; the edit reassembles. Locked master + roaming tight is the solo default.

Two-cam interview

Setup

I INTERVIEWER · S SUBJECT · BOTH CAMS SAME SIDE OF THE EYELINE

A near the axis (10–15° off), just past the interviewer's shoulder — the subject's eyes land beside the lens, not in it.
B at 40–50°, same side, tighter. Different size and angle means A→B always cuts.
Never twin sizes. A holds MCU, B holds CU. Cut to B for emphasis, back to A to breathe.
Lenses at eye level. Sympathy comes from height, authority from looking up — choose on purpose.
SOLO VERSION: A = α6700 LOCKED · B = α7R V LOCKED · YOU SIT OFF-AXIS AS THE EYELINE

Multi-cam pre-roll — every setup

Field

All 23.98
Shutters 180°
Logs set
WB locked, all
Scratch audio on
Cards + batteries
Clap
Roll all

Roll the bodies you can't reach first, the one in your hands last. The clap comes after everything is rolling — not before.