‘A film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet’ – Orson Wells.

When I create a film for a client, my heart and soul goes into it. I may not have the head of a poet, but I am aware of adhering to the cornerstones of videography which will stack the odds in my favour of creating a good film. If you follow the basics, the poetry will eventually follow.

Plan Your Shoot

Don’t turn up cold and expect everything to fall into place, have a plan, have a contingency plan, and in fact have a third plan just in case your first two were really stupid. Nothing will make you look less professional in front of your client than being stumped by the unexpected. Your film needs to tell a story and it is your job to provide yourself the opportunities to be able to gather all the facets together that will enable you to tell that story effectively. Be prepared but also be flexible.

Stripe Your Tapes

Non-linear editing suites use time codes to automatically capture scenes from tape. Any breaks in the time codes, caused by stopping and starting recording, will cause this feature to stall. Ensure there are no gaps by placing the lens cap on the camera and pressing record for the entire tape. Rewind the tape and it is ready to go. And please write on the tape, the tape case and use some sort of clapperboard so you know what, where and who is on the tape. Hunt For The Digital Video is an unnecessary and time consuming game and not to be played while driving to a client’s house.

Get an Establishing Shot

Grab the viewer’s attention, inspire curiosity, impart enough information to engage the viewer. Think about films, images or photographs that have had an impact on you. What were the elements that stood out for you, how can you duplicate them or replicate them to suit your filming requirements. Personally, I have always been emotionally moved by Apocalypse Now and the scene where the severed head is thrown into the prisoner’s bamboo cage to land face up in his lap. However, I am yet to duplicate it and work it into a baby film. Be discerning.

Capture Lots of Footage

As a general rule you should shoot approximately five to six times the amount of film that you will eventually use. It may take time but trust me, when it comes to putting your film together you want a lot of shots to choose from. You may have planned and executed the perfect shot and find that one of your off the cuff filler shots works far better.

Use a Tripod

Invest in a fluid head tripod and get steady, level shots. Your film will look very amateurish if it is all over the place, unless of course you are having a poet moment and you specifically want that look, in which case we will call it a special effect.

Follow the Interest

Ok, you might say, ‘duh!’ But remember you decide the action that you want the viewer to follow. Surprising your viewer by using motion can also be effective. Follow a bird’s flight to a location shot, water trickling to a lake, a car driving to a city panorama..you get the idea.

Shoot Matching Shots

If you shoot the same action from two or three different perspectives you can edit them together to allow for a flowing story, continuity and the illustration of a point. For example, you can start with the wide shot of a man getting into a car, a close up of his hand turning the key in the ignition, and the car being placed in gear to a medium shot from the driver’s perspective of the road and the journey’s beginning. Guide your viewer through the logical.

Shoot Cutaways

Often I am in the situation of needing to edit out audio or video from within a piece of footage. Left alone the edit causes the resulting film to be disjointed and jarring to the viewer as the subject or action may move between shots. By inserting a cutaway from the action, the viewer is gently led between edits. For example during an interview the interviewee may cough and you want to edit it out, a cutaway to the interviewer and back to the interviewee would be appropriate to cover the edit.

Vary Your Shots

Use lots of different types of shots, angles and heights. There is no limit to the manner in which you can shoot your subjects. Vary it, spice it up, what is the worse case scenario? You don’t use it in the film? Give yourself the opportunity to make some spectacular footage and some really terrible choices. One of the best ways to learn is by experimentation. Sometimes if you are not told the right way, you figure out a better way. Oh, my poet momentarily surfaced.

The Golden Mean or Rule of Thirds

Composition is better when main objects are not placed centrally in a picture. The rule of thirds or the golden mean splits your canvas into nine equal sections. Where the four lines intersect are where objects or action should be placed to be the most pleasing to the eye. Look around your view finder, don’t just look centrally. Look at the edges of your frame as well, fill up your entire viewfinder with interesting images and avoid blank areas.

Check Your Audio

Always wear headphones! And get plenty of natural sounds. Beware of air conditioners, aircraft, small children, barking dogs, machinery, things that squeak and circus folk with little hands who smell like cabbage.

Crossing the Action Line/Breaking the pane

Imagine a line that runs through the centre of the action from left to right along the screen like a vertical wall. All shots need to be on the same side of the wall, especially reverse cutaways or the action will appear disjointed with objects not appearing to the viewer to be on the correct side when the scenes are viewed sequentially. It’s a commonsense thing.

Get a Closing Shot

Your film is telling a story, it needs a beginning, a middle and of course an end. A poignant ending shot can increase the level of emotion your viewers are experiencing, tie up any loose ends and let everyone know to push back their chairs and give you a standing ovation. You star you!

A Little Perspective

At the end of the day, we are special event videographers not brain surgeons. No one will die if we don’t get a closing shot or break the pane. However, if your film is not professional, tell a story and adhere to the basic rules of frame composition, your client may reach down your throat and pull out your inner poet and give him a slap on the upside of the head.




By: Amanda Nella