Medium shot to close up. Shoot it or do it in post?

[CraigB]

Hello,
Video beginner question here.

I’m making a corporate ‘talking head’ type video with a single camera setup.

One technique I’d like to use is where the speaker is first viewed with a medium shot for a sentence or two, and that’s followed by a closeup shot – but everything else remains the same (i.e. lighting, background, etc.)

Is this commonly shot to video that way, or is it more common to zoom in on post? Would doing it in post introduce artifacts?

Thanks for any advice!

Craig

[rs170a]

I’ve lost count of how many single camera interviews I’ve shot over the years.
Depending on how much you do it, zooming in in post may introduce artifacts. A very slight amount is ok but going from a medium shot to a close up almost certainly will affect your quality.
I prefer to do my zooming during the interview.
If the person doing the speaking is being interviewed, do your zooms during a question.
If it’s a speech, work with them to pause at specific points to allow you to reframe your shot. Once you give them the thumbs up, they continue talking from where they left off.

Mike

[Brian]

Cameras are cheap. Roll a second camera for an additional angle.

[Author]

Posts