Shooting Tips and Tricks

Here's a collection of random things I've picked up that help on set to make a better shot.

EASY SHOOTING DYNAMICS

Starting with a more basic principle--keep in mind how dynamic a shot is. What I mean by this is that you should have in your head how much depth you wish to show in a shot. This can be changed with depth of field but more-so with color palette. I bring this up because I was recently given footage from overseas for a piece that was very dynamically flat with rudimentary shot selection. Luckily I was able to work with it in after effects to bring the vibrancy and depth back into the shots but there are very simple things that could have been done to avoid this.

          -Observe the location beforehand for background color. You want to contrast this as much as possible to create depth and definition

          -Choose color of accessories and clothing in contrast to environmental colors

          -When setting up shots, think in terms of composition and design. Focus can be very helpful in creating a depth effect but try looking at the silhouette of the foreground against the negative space of the background

LIGHTING

Lighting is always an issue for any shooting environment. Larger budget productions measure using light meters but the best thing you can do is adapt your eyes to judging lighting without a meter. The best little tip I can give on this is to light a scene slightly more than normal lighting--though this also depends on the camera you use and how it handles light sooo overall-test your camera in every situation and get used to it first.

General tips:

          -make sure there's not too much shadow cast under the neck and face, use a reflector when possible right under the camera bouncing light upward on the subject--a cheap reflector that works like a pro is a piece of poster-board

          -along the same lines of the poster-board, you can bounce light off many flat white objects to get softer, indirect lighting

          -color posterboard works adds a slight color to light

-reflecting light off a reflector that is shaking is the best way to imitate fire-light

-don't waste money on an expensive lighting kit--go to a hardware store and buy work lights which are much cheaper and much sturdier -- they work just as well if not better in certain situations

AUDIO

DO NOT SKIP OVER THIS SECTION--filmmakers constantly underestimate audio and it's the first thing to show an amateur on a film. The best stance you can take is to know the situation-know the environment.

          -shooting next to a road will have terrible results in sound and you may want to record the sound after shooting in a quiet location

          -Little things like sound effects are quite a necessity for certain situations but do not overuse

          -invest in a decent shotgun mic for your camera (this is a situation where the money is worth it)

That's all for now. I will go into some of these topics in greater depth but for now this will do as a few basic tips. For more techniques for very specific shots--I would highly recommend the book "Digital Video Production Cookbook" by Chris Kenworthy. It's a real field manual for little trick shots.