Viewfinder: Style

Many of us yearn to distinguish ourselves from the pack.

You could be making documentaries, TV commercials, training or wedding videos, but no matter what type of videos you produce, you are not alone. One compelling way to set yourself apart from the video crowd is to work on developing a unique personal video style for yourself.

Lucky for us, one of the wonderful things about making video is how easy it is to examine the works of the masters of our craft. Compared to sculpture, for example, you don't need to go to a museum in a large city to look at every angle and nuance of a piece of art in order to experience the expressions of the great video producers. All you need to do is watch a movie.

Every movie director, from Alfred Hitchcock to Quentin Tarentino has his or her own storytelling and producing style. Every TV show from comedies like Home Improvement and Seinfeld to dramas and reality shows have a weekly format and style that they follow. They have an open, set a stage, create a conflict or puzzle that they will solve or pass on as a cliffhanger to the next episode. They then end the show with a close of some kind. Even though their show concepts differ, they all have on thing in common: consis…