It’s surprising camera work isn't better though given the number of photos we all take. In Photography we call it composition and it's job is to find that "decisive moment", both in time and space, and capture the shot. Quite frankly that moment is really found later, looking at the negatives, or more currently, going over your images in Aperture or Lightroom (software for the digital photographer who can take 2,000 to 3,000 shots for a project. The number of shots we take now is a significant difference between the film way and the digital way - also something we should talk about later.). You're always trying to get the shot, but, as a photographer, you only know about it, really, later.
In video, it too, is an ongoing task to find the correct composition, but it's continuous and lasts over time. In this situation we call it framing, but we also talk about composition. We know if we have the shot while we're shooting. When we stop shooting we know, right then, if we've got it or have to shoot the scene over again, or with documentary work simply have to keep shooting. True, we may not know if we have all of the shots to tell the story we want to (that's sometimes because the story changes on us), but we can decide if we have this shot done well or not.
With both, we have, right up front during the shooting process, the power to draw the eye and help the viewer focus on what we think is the important part. That is if we frame the shot that way. If the shot is too wide we start to wander around with our eyes checking out what’s in the frame. You know I used to have a floor lamp just like that one in the back and look at those drapes, they’re terrible, wait, what did she just say. Missed it.
Good framing allows us to edit out the extra visual elements that draw attention away from what we’re supposed to follow. Too little information in the image and we start making up things, too much and we’ve got way too much information to process. Yes, it’s a balancing act. (The other tool we use to draw the eye and direct attention is lighting, but that’s still yet another topic for later – hey, how many is that now.)
If you’re shooting with a tripod it’s not going to be that difficult to keep stuff out once you decide on what the frame includes. If you’re shooting on a tripod, turn off auto-focus and set it manually; otherwise the camera starts to “hunt” with the lens and that’s really distracting. You zoom in all the way, focus on the persons eyes, then pull out and adjust the placement of the subject in the frame (with the camera, you don't move the people, well you do move the people, but that's before and that's all about directing and that's, yes, you guessed it, a topic for later.). Think what would make a nice photo for their mother to have. That’s it.
We don’t center a person in the frame, but slide them off slightly to one side or the other giving them empty space to talk into (this is particularly true now with the 16:9 aspect ratio of the frame). The empty space is in front of them, not behind their head. You don’t want someone's nose pressed up against the edge of the frame – that hurts. Slide over to the side to open up empty talking space. Think of a cartoon speech bubble floating in the frame (not above them, but to the side). Is there enough space for their words? Conversely, we don’t want them to feel lonely in a big wide shot that they’re only a little part of. Make the subject the star of the show, an important person, the center of attraction (rather the off-center of attraction).
While you usually don’t want to cut off the top of their heads, the most important element is placing their eyes. They should fall about 2/3rds of the way up the screen and the rest of the face falls where it may. OK, we don’t want to cut off their chin either – watch TV, see how they do it. Watch where the eyes get placed. Finally, TV is good for something after all.
Now here’s the hard part, you want to change the shot occasionally while you’re shooting. What? Well, not while the person is talking, but in between the responses, while you’re asking the questions. Just zoom in a little, but enough so it’s noticeable. It can’t be too little because when we edit those shots together if there isn’t enough difference between the two it looks weird – it jumps instead of cuts. It has to look intensional, not like you bumped the camera.
Generally we start wide and work our way in closer and closer. Then you may want to zoom way out wide again and start over. Remember when we edit this later the answers may not end up back to back in the order the person said them, but in the order that makes the most sense for the story we’re trying to tell. That’s why we edit, to make more sense of reality or at least to improve it. We’re like gods. OK, my therapists says the same thing, but I say filmmakers, gods, what’s the difference.
When you get really good with the camera you could try zooming in while they're talking, but only with a lot of practice. If you feel uncertain about it, don’t do it.
I actually often add a little zoom-in to a shot in the edit room to give it a more intimate, personal feel, but only by 10%. Beyond that much the image starts to fall apart, with that much it adds a layer of emotion to the ending of a shot; like you're leaning in to hear what they're saying. In Final Cut you do it in the Motion Tab under Scale. Set a keyframe 15 seconds before the end of the cut for 100%, then jump to the end of the cut, make a keyframe and set the Scale to 110%. Play it back and the image zooms in slightly just before the end of the cut and adds a little “oomph” to the feel. Cool.
Because we may find ourselves with the dilemma of having to use shots that don’t actually cut together well due to a mismatch in size or framing or whatever, we’d also like to shoot cutaways or cut-ins to cover over those jump cuts if we have to. Maybe a really wide shot of the room, or a shot of a hand on the chair, or some action illustrating what’s being talked about.
Same for audio. We need “room tone”. That’s just the ambient sound in the room with no one talking. We need it. Just have everyone stand still for 30 seconds and record nothing. Do it right after you finish shooting, but don’t let people leave, that changes the sound of the room. Later in the edit we’ll use that sound to cover over any audio edits we do that might not be perfect. Isn't it always perfect? Well, no, it's seldom that. Editing is trying to move us closer to that.
So like all of production, or all of life for that matter, it’s just about practice. The more you do it the easier it gets. Then there’s the lighting. (And that growing list of things to talk about later.)
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