Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Every camcorder instructional book I’ve ever seen has always had one major flaw. Every
one. Maybe there are others that don’t make this mistake. I’ve never seen them. They
always have “helpful hints” on taking great video. Most of it is fine. ”Don’t
leave your camera outside and then bring it in to a humid environment” or “don’t
play in traffic.” You know, important stuff.
Then, there’s this piece of advice. ”Place the subject’s head in the middle of the
frame.” It seems obvious, but it’s wrong. There’s only so much space in a frame. Why
would you waste about 1/2 of it by putting the top of a person’s head a little above
the middle? There are good reasons to, but you should know why, not doing it capriciously.
Since the Renaissance, maybe before, artists have put the most important thing on the top
third of their media (canvas, marble, etc.). When you’re looking at a person, normally,
the most important thing is is their eyes. Do me a favor. Turn on the tv. Imagine that
there’s a “tic-tac-toe” board on the screen. Look where people’s eyes are…on
the top horizontal line.
You’ll notice that they’re rarely in the center vertically either. If a person is looking
toward the left, they tend to be on the right side of the screen. If they’re looking to
the right, it’s the opposite. There’s a short-hand term for this. It’s called
nose room. It gives the person room to look in the frame.
The whole rule that defines how to frame shots is called the “rule of thirds.” The most
important things in a frame are always at the conjunction of the lines in our imaginary
“tic-tac-toe” board. Usually, it’s the top two intersections, but not always. It’s
awkward, but somewhat interesting to put the person’s eyes at the bottom third. In news
and for other information dispersal, text and other graphics are often placed on the
lower third. Sometimes you’ll see a list on the right or left third as well.
The edges really matter. They seem to draw things toward them. As you frame a subject,
cutting them off at joints feels awkward, too. Psychologically, seeing someone cut off
at a joint feels like they don’t have anything beyond the frame.
One last thing. When you’re talking to someone, you know how tall they are and how tall you
are. Most people are around average height. Some are shorter; some are taller. You generally
look people in the eye. When you do, you know if they’re shorter than you like children
are or taller. With a camera, you don’t know height, so it’s more subtle. Looking
up to someone adds authority to what they’re saying. Looking down, removes authority, but
also makes people look a little better if it’s done subtly. If I’m given the choice,
I always shoot my pastor from slightly below rather than slightly above. When I installed
cameras at a local church, I tried to do the same for them, but they wanted the aesthetics
of a higher position, so we didn’t.
There are a lot of nuances that you eventually learn and do almost without thinking in videography.
As we continue, you’ll get better and better at them.