With a plethora of digital devices and freeware available today that allow anyone to produce video, how do you make your productions stand out? Camera work sets you apart! Watch broadcast programming, take notes, pick up techniques and employ these techniques to develop a professional production style. Focus on your camera work and work for every shot. Quality acquisition is the key to producing a professional product.
Video is a visual medium and often, the best productions are driven by visual language, with little or no dialogue. By employing different camera shots, moves and positions in your recordings, you can capture creative video for your productions. An easy acronym to remember for location recording is WALLDO, Wide-Angled-Low-Linking-Depth-Opposite. Each time you go out on location to record, think about the different ways you can represent and control the way imagery is presented on screen.
W-Start with a wide shot to establish the relationship of a subject to the surrounding background. A-Use an angled shot to add visual interest to your production and change the viewer’s perception. L-Incorporate a low shot into your production to show dominance or submissiveness in a dialogue between two people. L-Use a linking shot (camera move that links an object or subject to its action) to help the viewer understand the context between the object and action. D-A depth shot is a composition that distinguishes the foreground from the background, adding depth and character to your shot. Use framing, depth of field, angles, lines and elements to separate your subject from the background and create the illusion of 3D. O-An opposite shot reverses the video’s point of view from the viewer to the perspective of the subject or object. Opposite shots (or POV point of view shots) provide a unique perspective and increase your shot variety.
Do more than just capture static action with your camcorder. Take time to compose and record a variety of shots and enhance the quality of your production!
Written by Kate Lee, Smith College Senior Media Producer