(One of a series of tips about the basics, the minimum, you need or should do to produce good media.)
Have a checklist
There’s nothing worse than reaching into your bag for [insert essential piece of gear here] and realizing that you don’t have it. Been there, done that. The cheapest and most valuable piece of gear you can have is a checklist. Nothing elaborate, justa piece of paper. Keep it short so you won’t avoid using it.
What should be on it? The items that you always need when you go on a shoot. You may have other lists for specific projects but this one is for EVERY project. The list may seem really simple and almost too basic. But that’s the point: you have a lot on your mind before a shoot so why risk letting something simple blow it? Download the PDF (shoot-checklist.pdf) or the MS Word version (shoot-checklist.doc) if you want to add your own items.
Use a tripod
That should be the end of this tip but I’ll go on.
Nothing says “amateur” more than a shaky shot. It distracts your viewer and they forget what you’re tryng to say. You cannot hold the camera steady enough. No one can. Besides making you look good what else does a tripod do for you? You don’t have to carry the camera all the time. It helps you pan left and right or tilt up and down smoothly. If you learn to use the “Lock” and “Drag” on the tripod head correctly that is. It markes the space around it as “Production In Progress.”
There is a shooting style called the “Handheld Look.” Only shoot handheld when the project needs it to communicate your message. That would be when you need use the subject’s point of view or you’re working the next disaster epic. Do not shoot handheld because you’re short on time. It will look like you were short on time.
Remember: you cannot keep the camera steady. You can’t. Accept it and move on - to the next essential.
Keep your subject in focus.
You can use autofocus if you have it. But the camera will think for you. And the two of you may not be thinking the same thing at the same time. So switch off autofocus and use the manual focus.
Here’s how to keep your subject in focus
- Frame your subject
- Zoom in to the tip of the subject’s nose (or some key feature of an inanimate object.)
- Focus the lens
- Zoom out and reframe the subject
Now, your subject will be in focus no matter what framing you use IF you stay in this exact spot. When you move the camera always refocus the lens.
Do not use the zoom control (while the camera is running.)
The zoom control was put on professional cameras to make it easy to change framing. Before the invention of the zoom lens framing was changed by changing the lens on the camera. Cinematic production still uses different lenses (called “primes” for “primary focus”.) Watch your favorite film or television show. Something that makes you cry or laugh or get angry. Count the number of times you see a zoom. See? You CAN tell your story or message very well without it.
The zoom control can be used for artistic effect. But using the zoom control (while the camera is running!) does not make your project “art.”
Get Coverage
No, not insurance coverage. Shot coverage.
Before you set off for your shoot you made a list of the shots you needed, right? OK, maybe you don’t have a list because you’re shooting an interview and what’s to list? Whether you have a shot list or not, before you leave the location, get shots of the location, even alternate framing of your interview subject.
This is the time to get the cool, artistic shots you yearn for. Get wide shots, close-ups, extreme close-ups, high angle, low angle, tilt angle, any framing or angle you can think of. If it’s an interview get shots of the room, the exterior of the building, maybe the subject walking into the building.
All of these shots are called “coverage”. You’ll thank me for it at the most critical point in your editing. Because you will need one of those shots. And you will have it.
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