Camera Shots
There are three basic camera shots
Wide shot (also known as Establishing Shot or Long Shot) - This shows the whole scene. Frequently you'll see video pieces begin with a wide shot. It's helpful because it sets the stage - the viewer knows where s/he is. These shots are also good if there is a lot of movement. This might show a person from head to toe.
Medium Shot - This shot shows less of a scene than the wide shot. The camera seems closer to the subject (although it may not be if you use your zoom lens). For example, if you were interviewing someone, this shot would show them from about the waist up in a medium shot. Use this when you want a closer look at your subject, or when you need to transition between wide shots and close up shots (it is difficult for the viewer to follow what you are doing if you go straight from a wide shot to a close up shot).
Close Up Shot -This shot shows an even smaller part of the subject or scene. Great for showing detail, like a person's emotional face or individual leaves on a tree. If you were interviewing someone, this shot would show the person from the top of the chest or shoulders up. An Extreme Close Up Shot is even closer than a Close Up. For example, it is just of the person's eyes, or of a bug gnawing on a leaf.
Composition/Framing Your Shots
Composition - There are many ways to compose a shot, depending on your goals. You want to be aware of what is in the shot and what isn't. Can you clearly see what you intend for the viewer to see?
Rule of Thirds - this classic rule suggests that the center of the camera's attention is one-third of the way down from the top of the shot.
Headroom - A term used with shots of people. This refers to the space above the subject's head. You'll see different amounts of headroom, depending on the intent of the creator of the video. In general, if you're standing right in front of someone, you'll see that they have space all around them - they aren't cut off by a frame. By leaving headroom, or space beside them, you are imitating what you see in real life.
Talking/Walking Room - If you are interviewing someone or have video of someone talking, you generally do not want them looking directly at the camera (again, it depends on your goals - certain situations may call for that). Generally you want the person to be looking off to the left or right of the camera a bit. When you do this, frame your shot so that there is some talking room. That is, you want to leave some extra space in front of their face as if you were going to draw a dialogue box in for them. This space is "talking room." If the person is talking to another person, this shows space between them. Walking room, if the person in motion, gives them space to walk to. Talking/Walking Room leaves space in the shot for the action, whether it be words or movement.
Shot Angles
Your shot angle is the level from which you look at your subject.
Eye-level angle - One of the most commonly used shots is the eye-level shot. Why? Because it's the perspective most familiar to us - we usually see things from our own eye-level. This angle also causes the least discomfort because we're used to it. If you're shooting a person, make sure you shoot at their eye-level, not yours.
Low Angle - In this shot the camera looks up at the subject, making it seem important, powerful, or perhaps larger than it is to the viewer. For example, you might be sitting on the ground looking up at someone who is standing.
High Angle - In this shot the camera looks down on the subject, decreasing its importance. The subject looks smaller. It often gives the audience a sense of power, or the subject a sense of helplessness. In this case, you'd be higher than the other person (maybe they're sitting, or maybe you're standing on a desk) looking down on that person.
Shot Movement
Pan - A shot taken moving on a horizontal plane (from left to right, right to left). If you want to show a frisbee flying across a field, you might use this shot to follow the frisbee from one person to another.
Tilt - Camera movement in a vertical plane. (up or down) If you want to show a tall building but you can't get it all in your shot, you might start at the bottom of the building and go up to the top.
Zoom - This shot brings you closer to the subject. For example, from a Wide Shot to a Medium Shot or Close Shot. If you are looking at the Golden Gate Bridge, and you want to see individual people walking across it, you might zoom in.
Reverse Zoom - This shot moves you farther away from the subject. For example, from a Close Shot to Medium Shot or a Wide Shot. If you have a Close Up shot of a flower, and want to see the entire field that the flower is in, you can reverse zoom.
Three notes about shot movement:
A note about photographer responsibility: you owe it to your viewers not to make them motion sick, unless, of course, that is your goal! Rapid pans, tilts, repeated zooms can make a person feel woozy, and may also prevent them from clearly seeing the video you collected.
The standard rule with moving shots is this: whenever possible, start your sequence stationary on a subject, then pan/tilt/zoom/reverse zoom, then hold stationary again. This helps enormously for editing purposes. For example, if you want to move your camera from one end of a mountain range to another, start while focused on one side of the mountain range and hold that shot for three seconds (stationary position), then pan to the other side (slowly enough so the video won't be a blur), then stay focused on the other end of the mountain range for three seconds (stationary position). If you edit or cut away in the middle of a pan/zoom/tilt/reverse zoom, you may make your viewer disoriented.
In general, use shot movement(s) sparingly. Try to put a still shot (no pan, tilt, or zooming) in between two pans/tilts/zooms. This gives the viewer a moment to get their bearings.
Lighting
Key Light and Fill Light -- We are
accustomed to seeing things in nature illuminated by the sun, or by artificial
light from fairly strong directional sources. Strong directional light creates
a highlighted side and a less bright side, the shadow.
When lighting artificially, we use the Key Light to
replace the sun. If we used the Key alone, the opposite side of the face would
be almost black, as there would be little reflected light to help illuminate
that side of the face. So we use the Fill light to soften the deep shadows
created by the Key Light. The Fill reduces contrasts in the darker areas of
your composition, helping the video camera to produce a better image.
The Key is commonly located about 45 ° to the right
or left of the camera. The Fill is commonly located 30 to 45 ° from the camera,
opposite the Key, and at the same height.
Back Light -- Back light is used to create
visual separation of the subject from the background. It creates a halo of
light on the hair and shoulders of your subject, or on the top of objects you
are video taping. Like the Key and Fill, it should be about 45 ° above the
subject (if possible), and should be on as close to a direct line with the
camera as is practical.
