Going from FAST-FORWARD TO PLAY
|
by Brenda Lantow |
 A frequent question asked by movie clubs is, “Since there
are hundreds of thousands of video cameras abroad in the nation, why is our
movie club membership small and declining?"
A partial answer is that most of those camcorders shoot one, maybe two events,
and are then left lying in drawers unused. Why ? Because the
“videographers” get tired of holding down the Fast Forward button
when they show their videos.
 Who wants to hear, “Just a minute, somewhere here is the
shot. Just let me find it. Oh, sorry, that’s out of focus, let’s
just skip ahead”? So, even though there are hundreds of thousands of
camcorders out there, there aren’t hundreds of thousands of cinematographers
to go with them.
“Well, they just have to learn to edit,” you say. True, but some
things can’t be edited.
When I teach video workshops, I always make my students show some of their
video at the beginning of class, and I always make a positive statement about
each one’s work. I remember one woman who had a 30 minute tape of her
son’s Boy Scout activities. It was difficult to say something positive
about her work as the camera had been placed on a tripod in the corner of
a gym and had never moved! “Hmm, I said. Good that you used a tripod.”
I could tell other tales of students who walk around with the camera always
on, who never have a scene break, a close-up, anything in focus even with
point-and-shoot video cameras. They are always appalled to show their footage
to the other students. They know bad when they see it: they just don’
t know how to make it good.
 When I teach the video workshop, Getting Out Of Fast Forward
And Into Play Mode With Your Video Tapes, I give students Ten Tips that
will improve their videos 100%. I doubt these tips will be new to anyone
reading this website, but I know that I’ve caught myself forgetting
them, so it probably won’t hurt to remind all of us.
The first tip may be the most important. An apocryphal World War II story
says that young soldiers were sent to war with cameras and told to shoot
wide, medium and close up shots of everything they saw. Guess what? When
anyone does just that, the footage can be edited into something watchable.
Here are the Ten Tips I hand out
-
Shoot Wide, Medium and Close-Up Shots. Establishing shots help orient viewers
. (I know, Hitchcock sometimes didn’t want to orient the viewer.)
-
Change the angle, image size, camera position or something. Get pick-up shots:
cut-aways and cut-ins or inserts. People like faces: Get in close once in
awhile.
-
Motivate camera movement. Pan or zoom to reveal something and only to make
a statement and don’t overdo it. Eliminate terminal zoom-itis and
camera-as-paintbrush syndrome.
-
Know Your equipment. Eliminate technical goofs. Learn to white balance, focus,
set exposure, keep the control track clean, etc. Read your manual.
-
Stop shaky shots. Get a tripod, steady-cam or camera with OIS (Optical Image
Stabilization), or shoot in wide angle standing up close.
-
Make shots just long enough. Remember the Rule of 5: The human eye looks
away after about 5 seconds (Teenagers: 3 seconds, Seniors: 8 seconds). Video
is about movement. Do not shoot boring static overly long shots. Naturally,
panning a horse running across a field will be a longer shot than a man sitting
on a bench.
-
Pay attention to composition. Learn the Rule of Thirds and how to frame a
shot.
-
Pay attention to continuity. Eliminate crossing the 180 degree line, mis-matched
action cuts, and jump cuts (Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino uses them
on purpose).
-
Pay attention to audio. Use earphones, and if you don’t use earphones,
at least don’t point your microphone at a freeway unless that is the
noise you want on your ambient track.
-
Think about what you are shooting. You don't have to script everything you
do, but think "What is the story here?"
Artists often break rules, but they do it on purpose.
Happy Shooting.
- Brenda Lantow
 |
