You may have seen when signing up for Central Casting a section in the Registration Form that asks if you have experience with “Stand-in 3/4 camera.”
While we’re not entirely sure what is meant by the reference, we at Stand-In Central believe it may refer to whether you have experience standing in on a 3-camera project or a 4-camera project.
Shooting a film and most television is different from filming television in front of a live studio audience which likely involves more simultaneous cameras. Those camera setups may involve a slightly different skill set from the stand-in, so knowing that you have that experience standing in under those conditions upfront may be important for booking that kind of stand-in work.
That said, the section doesn’t seem all that important when filling out your information for Central Casting (at least as of this posting).
Do you know what “Stand-in 3/4 Camera” means? Do you work for Central Casting and can you explain? If so, post below!
I’m a Los Angeles stand-in and I can help explain the difference.
Central Casting asks on their forms for you to check a box if you have stand-in experience and which type: single camera or multicamera.
I don’t remember the form specifically but single camera may be called “1 Camera” and multicamera may be called “3/4 camera”.
They are very different experiences.
3/4 Camera or Multicamera shows:
These shows are filmed in front of a live studio audience and following a different shooting schedule than single camera TV shows or films. They will typically have 4 days of rehearsals and one day (Friday) of filming. On rehearsal days, crew (a smaller crew than on filming days), cast, and director are there. The director will rehearse scenes with both the cast and stand-ins to block the shots. Stand-Ins may substitute for actors who are not there that day or for small roles, not yet cast. Typically days are shorter (8-10) hours or less than on a single camera show. You may be given the script the Friday of the week before and should be mostly off-book while rehearsing. There’s a higher change of being given a line or two as a costar since those roles are not yet cast. Over the course of a week, multicamera stand-ins will earn less in overtime than single camera stand-ins but you’ll have more of a chance to practice your acting chops. Lighting is less specific on multicamera shows which results in their obvious stage-play-like cinematography style. Multicamera shows, often comedies, usually have very heightened circumstances and a different acting style that is less subtle and more akin to the theater. Examples currently: Whitney, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory
Single Camera or 1 camera or Film:
All films are single camera even though you may see as many as 5 cameras rolling at once. Single camera means nothing is filmed live and more time and attention is paid to setting up shots, especially in lighting and camera moves. This means stand-ins are used all day long for as long as it takes to film the scenes of his or her actor. Single camera TV shows will usually not require stand-ins to memorize dialogue and it’s rare to get sides early. Depending on the show you may or may not need to act out the scene or read dialogue. Setups for lighting and getting focus marks can take anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour depending on the complexity of the scene and then filming begins. The stand-ins are used between filming for each new camera or lighting set up. Over the course of a week, depending on the number of scenes your actor or actors are in, you’ll like get more overtime and more pay than on a multicamera show. Although it does not require as much acting experience, the necessity of precise knowledge of your actor’s blocking and the higher pay can sometimes lead single camera standing-in to be more prestigious and desirable. Examples currently: Suburgatory, Parks and Recreation, The Office, Modern Family