audiovisual communication tips & best practices
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Audiovisual Communication Tips & Best Practices. What makes a good audiovisual story?. Knowing what theme, meaning, experience you want to communicate Using form and style to capture and organize audiovisual elements that serve your story - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Audiovisual Communication
Tips & Best Practices
What makes a good audiovisual story?
Knowing what theme, meaning, experience you want to communicateUsing form and style to capture and organize audiovisual elements that serve your storyA short film by definition is not a complete treatise on the topic or subject matter … choose your interpretation and stick to that focusThe best visual stories are compact, visceral and evocative
SHOW DON’T TELLThink about how you would communicate your story without words … don’t worry about what’s possible yet – get creative!Think about is the “action” or the “verb” you would use to describe the story and use that as a guiding principle (form and style)Imagine the scenes/moments that you need to capture to most effectively capture and communicate your storyUse the images and sound to make emotional connections – empathize or evoke … and words then give context Create an EXPERIENCE … help the viewer feel what its like to be there
TECHNICAL TIPSFOCUSLIGHT & COLOR
ExposureWhite Balance
TECHNICAL TIPSStay away from auto focus
TECHNICAL TIPSEXPOSURE
Expose for the most important element in the frame about under/over exposureDon’t shoot subjects in front of bright lightsUse your Zebras
TECHNICAL TIPSWHITE BALANCE
White Balance every time your lighting conditions change
COMPOSITION Adhere to the Rule of Thirds
COMPOSITION Pay attention to the SPACE in your
frame: Head Room for Intv,
COMPOSITION Pay attention to the SPACE in your
frame: Look space & eyeline for static
COMPOSITION Pay attention to the SPACE in your
frame: Lead space for moving
COMPOSITION USE NEGATIVE SPACE
accentuate/direct viewer/provide detail/context
(Positive Space: The subject of the image. This is generally the item on which the camera is focused. Negative Space: The rest of the image. It is located between the positive space and the frame.
COMPOSITION AVOID DISTRACTIONS
(poles, plants, paintings) coming out of head
COMPOSITION PROVIDE BALANCE don’t cut off limbs
Try to keep your shot as STEADY as possible Use tripod or stabilization device as much as possible Hand-held aesthetic should be intentional aesthetic Don’t attempt camera moves (zooms, pans, tilts) without the tripod
Allow the action to complete when filming movement Walk out of frame
Door closeFinish task
Shot Movement
Make sure every shot has it’s own logic beginning, middle and end
Hold shot for at least 15 secondsGive yourself paddingat the beginning and end of each shot
Shot Duration
Make sure every shot has it’s own logic beginning, middle and end
Hold shot for at least 15 secondsGive yourself paddingat the beginning and end of each shot
Shot Duration
Establishing shot: establish location & atmosphereMaster shot/Wide Shot: size that includes all subjects to establish main players, main action and a sense of relationships & setting
In documentary good idea to get this shot first & then once main action tcomplete or repeated then get other coverage shots/anglesThink “if I had to communicate whole scene in one shot what would it be”
Medium shots get closer to subject and action – show clothing, gesture, body language
Close-ups used to capture dialogue, facial expression, details
Over the shoulder shots – also show positioning and eyeline. Good for showing interaction or POV
Reverse shot – shows the opposite angle of viewpoint
Cutaways – individualized shots of anything relevant to interview
SCENES & SEQUENCES“cover your scene … “
FIVE-SHOT PATTERN
Make sure audio levels are good (-12 to -20 db range)Always wear your headphonesDon’t talk while shooting visuals – you will need the ambient sound Record room tone for 30 seconds once shoot is over
AUDIO for VIDEO
Always Keep the Camera RollingMake sure to keep rolling once interview officially overConsider rolling before you enter – nice set-up if comfortable
Listen as much as LookPay close attention to the sounds/ambience of the space
Take stockLog/transcribe your footage first chance you get Direct your next shoot/interviewLearn from your mistakes
TIPS