have chose to shoot scenes did not turn out like I had hoped. A few of the calls I made as a director just did not work. What saved the day? The master shots that were simple and not fancy.
It turns out that the master shots I thought I would never use in post-production (because surely all my “wonder shots” would work) did the job when ever there was editing issues. The editor was able to use the master shots to replace my “wonder shots” and keep the show on track during final edit.
The other side of the story is some of the “wonder shots” I had taken chances on worked beautifully. There is nothing like hearing an editor say, “great camera angles” or “loved the way you shot that scene.” The editor’s mind is now free from having to wrestle with a scene to make it work. Instead they have shots they can edit into a visually strong scene.
Master shots are