Do you have a hankering to shoot an educational film to post in your
online course or show to your class? It might be something as simple as
creating a video depiction of a clinical procedure in nursing, or as
basic as getting a video archive of a speaker. You can go from simple
to complex, but it's helpful to know how to get the best of what you
have. That's what this blog entry is all about.
Fundamental
to any type of video production goal is the process of getting good
video. It doesn’t matter what type of video camcorder you are using,
professional, consumer, or “prosumer.” I don’t care if you are
operating a Panasonic P2 digital hard drive camcorder, or a “flipcam”,
the principles of shooting good video, suitable for editing, are the
same. In this post I’m going to strive to break down the steps for
shooting good video into simple, understandable terms.
You need at least the following:
* A camcorder
* A tripod
* Adequate sound recording capability.
* Adequate lighting
* Something you want to “show”.
I
emphasize the word “show” because videography is all about showing.
Get a good idea of what you want to show, and why you want to show it,
and that defines what you are going to shoot. Period, end of story. It
really can be that simple.
For this discussion, I will
assume that you are operating the equivalent of a Sony Handycam
camcorder, with a side-mounted, flip-to-open viewfinder, and a tripod.
Let’s proceed with a discussion of the subject to be shot, shooting
techniques, and preparing to edit.
Basic Shots
For
any given video production, there are certain types of shots you want
to be sure you capture, or at least consider capturing, with the
camcorder. For every shot, the best case scenario involves a camera on a
tripod. The closer the shot, the more important the tripod becomes to
maintain a steady shot and avoid shakiness.
The Establishing Shot.
This
is a shot where the camcorder is capturing the entire scene or venue of
the main subject being shot. It’s a wide shot of the location, in
other words. The abbreviation for an establish shot is ES. It could
also be WS for “wide shot”
The Full Shot.
This
is a shot of the subject you are shooting, completely filling the
frame. A full-shot could be described as a head-to-toe shot of an
individual. In shooting for widescreen display, the full shot could
consist of a head-to-knee shot. This would be a knee-shot. The
abbreviation is FS.
The Medium Shot
The Medium Shot or its abbreviation, MS, is mainly a shot from the waist-up.
The Close-Up
This
is perhaps the most important of the repertoire of shots you will use,
because it will pick out details that must be seen (or “shown”) to
convey understandable meaning to the viewer. For people shots, the
close-up is from the shoulder-up. For smaller objects, the close-up is
best defined as close enough to show, unmistakably, what needs to be
shown. It’s abbreviation is CU.
Note for
post-production purposes (i.e., “editing”): The close-up is virtually
never a stand-alone type of shot. It needs the support of the
previously mentioned shots, the establishing shot, ES, and the Full
Shot, FS, to show a meaningful visual context to the viewer.
The Tight Close-up.
For
people shots, this is a shot of the face, cut off at perhaps the
hairline at the top of the frame, and the chin at the bottom of the
frame. It’s effect is intended to be dramatic. Use TCU for the
abbreviation.
The Extreme Close-up.
Pretty
obvious what this is: the XCU. Use this shot to pick out minute
details that are important: perhaps an internal organ of a frog being
dissected, a scrap of wording of a text, a component of a computer.
In
shooting your subject, the progression is typically from getting the ES
or WS first, and then moving in closer to get the progression of shots
described above. But don’t be locked in to that order of progression.
Be variable depending on the needs of the shoot. The important thing to
keep in mind is to strive to get the whole repertoire, or as much as
you need to meet the goals of your shoot.
The Subject
The
subject of the video shoot is of foremost interest to the question of
what do you want to show and why. What is your goal for the video
you’re shooting? The answer to that question defines how you approach
shooting the subject. I would like to distinguish between two types of
subjects: Stationary, and Moving.
Stationary Subjects
A
good example of a relatively stationary subject is the student
presenter, or instructor, the one who is giving a speech to the class in
a traditional classroom setting. There may or may not be some
movement, but for the most part the student is at the podium, delivering
a speech. As in all shooting instances, you get best results by using a
tripod, and that is what is assumed throughout this post.
Zooms
Customary
to virtually every one-camera shooting situation is to start out with a
wide shot of the subject you are shooting. Then you would want to zoom
in until you fill the frame with the best composition of the subject.
If the subject is a speaker, a MS (Medium Shot) from the waist or
midriff up is probably a good choice. Zooming, like any camera
movement, is best accomplished gradually. In one-camera shoots, pretend
your camera is “live” on-the-air. You wouldn’t expect to see quick,
harsh movements of the camera, so handle your shooting in the same
manner.
Pans and Tilts.
As the subject moves,
and/or as you zoom in on your subject, you will find it necessary to
move the camera from side-to-side (pan), or up and down (tilt). Look
for the pan and tilt braking mechanisms on your tripod, and before the
shoot starts, play with these until you become comfortable with their
use.
Warning: Don’t overdo the zoom, pan, or tilt. If
you do this to excess, especially every other second or so as you try
to capture everything all at once, you’ll be capturing nothing and
ruining your shot. Rapid zooming, panning and tilting of your camera
every couple of seconds is sometimes known as “spray painting” and it
never, never, never works. If the subject you are shooting does not
appear steady in the frame for at least 5-7 full seconds, you will be
very frustrated when you see the result and challenged if/when you go to
edit.
Warning II: Be wary of having too much
“headroom“. Amateurs make the typical mistake of leaving too much empty
air or space between the top of the person’s head and the top frame of
the video. This may because the camera operator is trying to compensate
for all of the displays of time, battery power, and whatnot that are
seen in the viewfinder. Just ignore all those displays or turn them
off. Balance the shot so it looks balanced from top to bottom.
Tip:
For close-ups of people, especially tight close-ups, put the tip of
the subject’s nose in the center of the window; a sure-shot balancing
trick that I learned from a television news director.
Special Topic: The “chalk-and-talk”
If
you are shooting a lecturer who uses the chalk/whiteboard, you might
find it helpful to work out in advance a few boundaries. Make a “tic”
mark in the four corners that define the video frame on the
chalk/whiteboard itself. The lecturer should stay within the imaginary
rectangle formed by these tic marks. At times you will need to zoom in
on a particular math solution or feature of a graph or chart. That’s
fine. Follow the advice that’s been given previously in this post.
Moving Subjects
You
may be covering a sports event, or shooting an earth-moving machine in
action. Maybe it’s a training film for backhoe operators. Again, use a
tripod, for best results. But at times you may need to dismount the
camcorder from the tripod and move quickly to capture video by hand.
First
things first: The chief principle in shooting any action shot is to
keep shooting until the action stops. During your shoot, keep the
subject in the frame, and lead the motion of the subject with the side
of the frame that’s in the direction of the movement. This will give
the shot an appropriate feeling of forward momentum and balance.
For
example, you’re shooting a cross-country athlete who is about to run
past your position. S/he is running from left-to-right. Capture the
runner as s/he comes into the left side of the frame. Using the pan,
stay with him/her. As s/he runs, toward the right side of the frame,
you will want to keep your subject left of center in the frame, so that
there is “room” in front of the runner. Keep following the runner with
the camera. After s/he has run past your position, let him/her run out
of the frame at right. Creating a sense of “lead room” in this manner
gives it forward moving momentum and looks good.
Sometimes,
just keep your camera still as the action comes in from one side of the
frame (as in a road race) and exits the other side of the frame.
The
best case scenario is to start capturing the action with your camera in
a still position, unmoving, as you’re rolling, follow the movement of
the action, and then end your shot with your camera in a still position.
That’s not always possible, of course, but do the best you can.
Try to, at least, end your shot with the camera in a still position– this will help with editing at a later time.
The Action Line
For
shooting action, it is important to stay on “one side of the line”.
Here is what I mean by that: Imagine you’re watching a basketball game
from one side of the court. Now, draw an imaginary line from one basket
to the other. It will be a horizontal line. Stay on one side of that
imaginary line for every sequence of actions that you shoot.
For
one-camera shoots, you may want to get multiple angles of the action
you are shooting. If you are going to edit your video for later
distribution or posting to YouTube, you are going to have to get
multiple angles. Look to that horizontal line again as representing 180
degrees. Now, imagine that line represents half a pie. You’re on the
round side of that half-pie. Follow so far?
Now, slice
that pie into slices every 30 degrees. You should have six slices of
pie. When you change the position of your camera to get different
angles of what you shoot, you must position your camera at least 30
degrees away from the previous angle. (Thompson, Bowen, 2009).
This rule is also applicable to shooting stationary subjects, when you want to get multiple angles.
Handheld shots
Small
mini-DV camcorders and hard-drive or DVD consumer camcorders allow for
amazing creativity. With one hand, and some creative wrist action, you
can capture some dramatic camera angles of the subject you’re shooting.
I have only one rule for you: Use the widest possible angle; zoom out
all the way, when you shoot hand-held shots. And get as close as
possible to your subject without being obtrusive.
Cutaways
What
is a “cutaway”? It’s only one of the most important things you shoot
with your video camera if you plan to edit the video later. The
simplest example I can give to define a cutaway is to describe a
scenario as follows.
You are shooting a presenter at a
major speaking event. Excerpts of this speech will be used in a 4-5
minute video that may be used in class, or uploaded to YouTube. The
presenter said a few good things all through the 20-minute speech, but
there’s a clip (or “soundbite”) at the 2 minute mark you want to use,
again at the 11 minute mark, and again at the 18 minute mark,
hypothetically.
If you edit these cuts of the speaker
in your video, back-to-back-to-back, you will annoy the viewer. Why,
because, like a karate chop, the visual of the speaker talking about
subtopic A suddenly cuts abruptly to subtopic B. And it will look bad.
It’s called a “jumpcut” and it’s almost never a good thing.
So,
how do you cover that jumpcut? You insert a cutaway. During your
shoot, at times you swing the camera around and get a good stable, 5-7
second shot of the audience, listening to the speaker. That shot is the
cutaway.
We’ll talk about video editing another time,
but for now, just know that when you have on the editing timeline the
two or three shots of the speaker talking, and you insert over those
shots the cutaway of the audience watching or applauding, you’ve created
a smooth-looking and pleasing result. The audio of the speaker can
continue during the few seconds that the inserted cutaway is playing on
the timeline.
A cutaway is a shot of something that
fits within the overall context of the goal of your video but is not a
shot of the primary subject being shot. There are numerous types of
cutaways. If you’re shooting a presentation on how to make a peanut
butter and jelly sandwich, and you’ve got a Medium Shot (MS) of the
presenter demonstrating the technique, the cutaway would be a tight
close-up of the spreading of the peanut butter and jelly on the bread.
Guess what? That means you shoot it twice. Once to get the primary
instruction by the presenter (the MS), and the second time a close-up of
the action. You will marry these shots together in the editing room so
it looks like the action is seamless from start to finish.
Some
say that you can never get enough good cutaways. I agree. But let’s
be realistic. You may have only so much tape, or drive space, or time
left on your battery. Be thorough in selecting your cutaways to shoot,
but be selective in the cutaways you will shoot thoroughly. There is a
point in time where you will feel that you’ve got enough cutaways. If
you understand why you are shooting the video and keep its goal in mind,
you’ll know when that point comes.
Roam with your
camera while you’re shooting the event. Set it up at angles equal to or
greater than 30 degrees from other angles. Shoot a variety of shots.
Build a portfolio of shots that you can bring to the editing room.
You will appreciate the results, and so will the person who is editing the work (if it isn’t you).
Finally, the 10-second rule.
As
I’ve stated earlier, each shot must be at least 5-7 seconds long to be
usable. But in reality, you’ll be shooting 10 seconds worth of video
for each shot whenever possible. This requires patience and willingness
on your part. But that extra length of time will benefit the video
post-production and editing process.
For each shot you
take, make sure your camera is steady, and count 10 seconds after you
hit “record”. One thousand one; one thousand two; one thousand three…
and so on, all the way to one thousand ten. Now stop recording.
It’s that simple.
