Project 2012: Day 24
What’s happened to the water? I know at least 3 people having babies in the next 6 months. And you can guarantee that when those children grace us with their presence, an evil will visit us, the like of which we haven’t seen since Uncle Ernie got his VHS Camcorder in 1985…
…Home movies.
Of course today we get to endure this indignity to our sanity far more than ever before. Camcorders are on our phones, and instead of being invited over for “Fondue and Movies of our Holiday in Wollongong (Ibeza, Florida)” we get to view them on YouTube, Facebook, and Vimeo.
With all of the high tech cameras at our disposal, why are home movies so dreadful?
Well, a couple of reasons:
- No story – the movie was just shot and thrown together chronologically
- Crap editing – you really don’t have to put in every transition known to man – but mostly –
- Poor shooting.
Equally a couple of things signify the home videographer’s shooting style:
- Interminable panning and zooming
- Rocky, handheld camera work – I know this is the favoured shooting mode of the Bourne Movies, but seriously, tripod!!
- Shoulder height shots of everyone
It’s this last point I want to address. The one thing that will change your home movies from snore, to “show me more!”
Take the camera off of shoulder height (or adult eye height) and change up the angles.
Get down to your subjects’ (usually kids) eye level. Get in close. Pop the camera on the floor and shoot up. Even give your camera to one of the kids and ask them to shoot.
You really don’t need an expensive camera, or fancy editing software. Neither will help you if you’re shooting from standing up anyway. Just a little creativity with camera angles. Try it, I promise your home movies will never be the same.
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