10
Shooting better video HOW TO SHOOT LIKE A PRO
LOOK SPACE
HEAD ROOM
Critical focus
If you’re shooting with man-
ual focus, it’s important that
you get a critical focus (also
called a calibrated zoom) of
your subject every time you
get a new shot.
Here’s how to perform a criti-
cal focus:
Zoom in all the way on
your subject,
focus, and then
zoom out to the framing
you want.
Doing this will ensure your
subject stays in focus, re-
gardless of how far out you
zoom.
Head room and look space
When shooting people, it’s best to follow two simple guidelines in
framing. First, allow for a bit of space between the top of the frame
and the subject’s head. Allowing too little or too much space makes
the audience feel anxious. Second, allow more room on the side of
the frame in the direction the subject is looking. If you don’t, the au-
dience will subconsciously experience claustrophobia, feeling that the
subject is running out of room.
Sequencing
In general, it will be very hard to edit your video well if you shoot
your subject the same way all the time. If you edit together two
pieces of video that are too similar, you’ll create a “jump cut.” Your
subject will change position in the scene instantly, appearing to have
jumped there (example above). Jump cuts are very distracting to a
viewer and should be avoided. It’s much better to arrange your shots
in a logical sequence. The most popular sequence consists of a wide
shot, medium shot, close-up, and cutaway. Let’s take a look at this in
a typical interview setup on the next page.