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The Videomaker's Journey: part seven |
CONTENT
The three most used shots are:-
Refer to Use of different shot sizes.
Fig. 7a Big Close Up (BCU) | Fig. 7b Big Close Up (BCU) |
Fig.7c Close Up (CU) |
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Fig. 7f Medium Long Shot (MLS) |
Fig.7g Long Shot (LS) |
Fig. 7h Very Long Shot (VLS) |
The main subject should be off-centre - and the Rule of Thirds.
It is not essential to strictly follow the Rule of Thirds.
The Rule of Thirds is - divide the frame into imaginary thirds, horizontally and vertically and place the subject matter approximately along these lines.
Excessive backlight caused by large areas of sky or water (even in rainy weather) can cause the automatic exposure to darken the other parts of the scene when recording - the automatic exposure control has closed the iris down slightly. Manual adjustment of the exposure will not fix the problem - it spoils the main part of the picture. As a result, the common practice is to ignore the Rule of Thirds in this case - by zooming in closer to reduce the amount of sky or water.
Many professional movie makers keep the main subject to the left or right of centre - sometimes by a small amount, sometimes a significant amount - the extra space is then provided for looking or walking. The vertical location of the subject is a matter of what looks right. If possible keep the sun behind you or to one side when taking the shots.
Provide looking and moving space in front of a face, person, animals or moving machinery and objects. See Figs 7g, 7h, 8 and 9. Pan to follow the action, unless the subject is to move out of the frame.
Fig. 8 Off-centre with looking space | Fig.9 Off-centre with looking space |
Over the shoulder shots (OTS).
These are often used in dramas for two person dialogues. See Fig. 10. Do not use more than two consecutive (OTS) shots at a time; mix in other types of shots. The person with their back to the video camera - should show part of the side of their face.
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Fig. 10 High angle and over the shoulder (OTS) |
This example is from my film |
Click the picture to see a clip from The Problem With Harry Double-click for a larger image. |
< Part 6 | Introduction | Part 8 >
© copyright Arthur Bullock, 2007