New web series–“how to” on camera angles

[orionsbelt1128]

Hey guys,

This is my first post on here so bear with me. I hear doing forums is always a good way to get advice and answers on topics, so here goes:

My wife and a friend of ours have started a new web series to be posted on video sites such as youtube, etc. We have experience with acting having worked on real movie sets, as well as script writing (which is whatI went to school for), but none of us have any real experience with filming itself. My question is, to make the movie come out as professional as possible, what are some camera angles/transitions, etc. to use to get the right effect? Or rather, the most efficient effect?

The movie contains zombies and will be fast paced. We are filming in the woods and most of the footage will be during the day. The first couple of episodes are background, so its mostly discussion between two characters. I just don’t want to shoot the film from one angle the entire time and thus make it boring. Any advice?

[BruceMol]

google – blocking actors for video

[JackWolcott]

Buy, read and re-read Josheph V. Mascelli’s The Five C’s of Cinematography (Camera Angles, Continuity, Cutting, Close-ups and Composition.) It doesn’t get any better than this!

Jack

[Kenkyusha]

 +1 for The Five C’s- it is an invaluable resource.  Also, you probably already know this, but storyboarding can help you with ideas before you are on set, so if, for example, you know that you want an establishing shot of your environment, a master of your cast interacting and which close-ups you plan to use, you can plan your coverage to match the natural light most closely (continuity can be a pain when shooting outdoors).

Also, you will probably need to supplement the light around, so don’t forget some bounce boards (even foam core is fine for this) and some reflectors.  Remember to white balance your camera to the environment.

Finally, sound is a major factor- no matter how ‘pro’ something may look, folks will generally give more of a chance to anything with good sound capture.

[Jackson Wong]

There is good advice already being provided here, I’d like to just add a couple resources that you may already be familiar with.

http://www.videomaker.com/article/14564/– Here is an article on the 180 degree rule, which is quite applicable for your dialogue scenes

http://www.videomaker.com/learn/production/cinematography/camera-angles/– this link is a click or two away from plenty of reading on angles

and try checking out some video examples with this video on angles –http://www.videomaker.com/video/watch/tips-and-tricks/531/camera-shots-and-tricks/

I wish you the best with your zombies

[Author]

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