4 Filming: some tips and tricks from a professional filmmaker
You are now going to focus on the technical aspects of the filmmaking process.
Activity 2
Timing: Allow about 10 minutes for this activity
Watch Video 3, where professional filmmaker Gail Block shares some tricks of the filmmaking trade. Make some notes in the text box below on the kind of advice that you could pass on to young people for filming their docutubes. (Note that this is also a film you can show to your group before they start to film their docutubes.)
Download this video clip.Video player: Video 3
Transcript: Video 3
[MUSIC PLAYING]
GAIL BLOCK:
I think when people are new to camera work, they just go out and they take one shot that's quite a wide shot. But one of the key ways of making your work look really professional is to get up close to the thing that you're filming. And also film lots of different shots of the same thing.
A lot of young people like to film each other presenting. And the best way of getting a good presentation is to rehearse first. You might want to rehearse what camera angle you want. And I'm sure the presenter will want to rehearse their words so that they're really confident.
When you're filming an interview, what the professionals do is that they film the interviewee, but then they may well also film the interviewer asking the questions. That makes it easier to edit.
A lot of visual variety will make a better film, so why not do some drawing? You might want to draw maps, you might want to draw charts. If you have somebody artistic in the team, you could draw people and costumes. Challenge your young people to go out and film shots that will take different roles in the final film.
Landscapes can be really useful to give context to your argument. We call those establishing shots.
Small details like little street signs or works of art can really push forward the argument. Moving shots can give more of a sense of geography, can take us from one part of the argument to another, and can give a sense of dynamism to the final film.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Give the edit as much time as you can afford to. Given the realities that there's not going to be as much time as professionals have, it's a really good idea to start off by concentrating on the story as a soundtrack. And then, if there's enough time, you can layer over the visuals. And if there's even more time you can add captions and even music.
Video 3
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Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).
Discussion
In this film, Gail Block talks about a wide range of filming techniques including the following:
- Rehearse: encourage young people to rehearse first to find out what camera angle might work best and to rehearse any spoken words.
- Encourage them to film a number of different shots of the same scene/object, but from different angles.
- Encourage participants to try out a range of different filming techniques, including:
- Close-up shots where objects or people are filmed close to the camera, with focus on small details
- Establishing shots of landscapes, buildings, street names etc., to set the scene or give context
- Moving shots where the camera moves. This can convey a sense of dynamism.
- If interviews are included, film both the interviewee and the interviewer. If you only have one camera, you can always film the interviewer separately afterwards – edited together, no one will ever know the difference!
- Encourage participants to draw maps, charts, people or costumes that can be included in their films.
IN PRACTICE: Encouraging good filmmaking practices
Remind the groups to film a variety of shots and keep them short, working through the script they have developed in the ‘Plan’ phase of the workshop.
Advise them to delete obviously unsuccessful shots immediately from the camera, so as not to clutter the edit unnecessarily.
Figure 6 A student in London trying out different shots for their docutube.
Here is some further advice from filmmaker Gail Block on what makes a good film shot:
- Composition: think about how you are framing what you are shooting in the frame – do you want a wide shot, showing context, or a closer shot showing the speaker’s facial expressions?
- Camera angle: consider using a tripod for stability.
- Sound: holding the camera close to the speaker also ensures sound is clear and the audience can hear what the speaker says. If a microphone can be connected to the camera, this can also help to give a more professional end result.
- Lighting: this can really bring a shot to life. You want to have what you are filming reflecting as much light as possible – point your light source at your subject, not at your camera (or move your subject into the light). Avoid filming against a window, the contrast in light levels means the speaker will be in silhouette.