Digital Filmmaking For Kids For Dummies

PROJECT 17

Enhancing Your Shots

In this project, I show you how to improve the look and feel of the shots you capture during filming by introducing different angles, levels, and styles. These can help make your film look great. I also share a camera-positioning technique that may keep you from distracting or confusing your audience.

There are many ways to enhance your shots. By simply changing the angle or raising or lowering the level of the camera, you can create dramatic-looking shots that transform your film. Enhancing your shots when filming helps capture the attention of your audience and can help build the emotion in a scene. It can also open up more options for the editor in post-production as there are different angles of the same scene to choose from.

One of the jobs of the director during filming is to look out for ways to enhance the shots using different angles and levels. You often see directors walking round a set or location looking for the right angle or the best place to position the camera — looking, in other words, for ways to add impact and feeling into a shot.

My crew often laugh at me for this very reason. I’m always looking for ways to enhance shots, and I often want to film scenes again from new angles. They may laugh, but spending time getting those extra shots really pays off. It’s better to have too much footage than not enough. You don’t want to be left in the position of wishing that you’d taken the time to get more shots or another angle.