Jennifer and Andrew demonstrate two shooting tricks using angles. (Repeat)
Male: Hi, I’m Andrew Burke.
Female: And I’m Jennifer O’Rourke for Video Maker Presents. In today’s tips and tricks we’re gonna tell you about deceptive shooting.
Male: That’s right. Today we’re gonna show you some simple in-camera techniques to help deceive your audiences into thinking your subjects are in more peril than they actually are, or to give them some superhuman abilities, and it’s all done with camera angles.
Female: This first trick is a simple one.
Male: What we did is we found a brick sidewalk that looks exactly like the wall of a building.
Female: Yeah, and I’m gonna climb this wall. Want to watch?
Male: Yeah.
Female: Establish your subject approaching to the wall to portray a perspective in reality. Then have an accomplice toss one end of a rope from the roof down to the subject on the ground. A cutaway of the accomplice on the roof helps seal the gag.
Male: Now cut to a different angle of our wall climber. You can see it’s very Batman-like. Two tips to pull this off: Have your subject wear tight clothing because if she were really climbing her shirt or jacket might flip out behind her, and have a grip pulling the rope to keep it tight. It’s simple.
Female: You can either shoot this normally and then do a vertical flip in your editing software or shoot it sideways. If you’re shooting 16-9 the sideways shot might need tweaking. Either way, it’s a good idea to shoot at least a test shot with the camera tilted sideways to make sure there’s nothing in the background or on the ground to ruin the gag.
This next shot isn’t as easy to execute, but when it’s played out it’s awesome.
Male: We’re gonna show you how we made our subject appear as if he was a world-class mountain climber.
Female: Establish your shot by shooting a huge, very vertical cliff with your subject at the bottom looking up.
Male: Now this is the tricky part. First we find an area with a slight incline. Then, just like the climbing wall, we’re going to tilt the camera, but only slightly this time. Again, do a double and triple check of the background and the foreground to make sure there aren’t any trees or other subjects that appear tilted. Try to shoot several medium and close-up shots, along with as many angles as possible. To finish the deception we have to simulate gravity. Have a grip pull the subject’s jacket and pack away from his back.
Female: Your final shot is on top of mountain with an extreme long shot and a panoramic view of his accomplishment.
Male: It’s so easy and it’s effective.
Female: For next week’s tips and trips we’ll continue our look at deceptive shooting, this time using depth of field to fool your audience.
Male: For tips and tricks this is Andrew Burke –
Female: And Jennifer O’Rourke. See you next time.
To learn more about using camera angles for deceptive and trick shooting, look up these articles on Video Maker’s website: How Do They Do That, article number 12566; What’s Your Angle, article number 8723; Tilt: Using the Frame for Special Effects, article number 8722; and Getting Started: Shooting for the Holidays, article number 1412.
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