The Shoot – Start filming
Shooting in sequence
It is important to plan the shots so that they will cut together well. The most conventional text book way is to think in sequences while shooting. For camera operators with little experience, it can be useful to stick to classic continuity editing. Continuity editing was developed in Hollywood, and is editing that is not supposed to be noticeable. It includes techniques such as: |
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‘establishing shot’: a shot at the beginning of the scene that establishes the space |
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‘shot-reverse-shot’: way of shooting dialogue between two characters that can be applied to depict audience viewing a work |
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‘180 degree rule’ always stay on one side of a space and action so as not to confuse the sense of direction of the viewer |
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‘30 degree rule’: always change the angle by at least 30 degrees but stay within the 180 degree rule to make next shot different enough to cut well with the previous shot. |
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‘eye-line-matches’: in continuity editing the idea is that the audience wants to see what the character sees. Eye-line match is in other words a shot of a character looking at something followed by to a shot of what he/she is looking at. |
There are a lot more techniques, but this is a subject that has been widely covered and therefore easy to come by to study further. Be careful not to make your sequences too stylised or fiction-like because that will break the perceived realism of the documentation. |
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