Farmer for President

Latin Lens

Well-known member
I am not so sure that this particular problem is your fault but this piece, video-wise is so scatterbrained it made my brain hurt. The politician guy was in like 3 different outfits...talking to him in different locations...and it lends to the theory that this story wasn't really built around too much structure. There seemed to be no real plan of attack by you or the reporter. At times you need to take control of locations because you need to envision the end product and how its going to look. Think present but future as well when shooting anything to do with the overall story.

You're gonna make mistakes and I get that...saw a 180 degree break...so be careful with that. And I think the reason that happened is because you seem very addicted to wide and medium-wide shots....very little tight shots. Why is that? Tight shots help you get around the edits better. I can see you are off your tripod so maybe thats it? But learn to use your tripod...its your best friend in the field. You will get better video with it...more stable...and you'll be able to get creative as you learn how to use it with speed. You are limiting yourself by NOT using your tripod.

I also prefer to see nat breaks on a tight shot and then go wide, as a sequence, if necessary...so get more tight shots and your editing will improve because of it. Tight shots also get the viewer more "into" the scene. They see hands clapping, they hear hands clapping...the brain processes it better and faster. Tight shots add the details to help convey info and emotions. Get more tight shots.

You're in a small market...you're learning...keep posting so you can learn and check your progress. Its always nice to know what you are doing right and wrong.
 

optic

Member
To address the different locations we wanted it to have the feel of following him all day so after the speech we followed to the farm, (white shirt interview), then got broll of him around the farm (hes not going to work in dress clothes) So written structure was; speech (introduction) farm (exposition) convient store (break climax back to reality) then back to speech (conclusion) to bring it all back around. Plus we had transition shots for each scene change Ie. Town (set up to show how small town is) into speech location, cows ( pull out interview in front) , barn (show him working on the other side) pickup drives off (interview inside). wide to tight of cashiers (sot). I guess sots could have been chosen differently to fit real life consecutive timeline but its not like the subject is scripted too. And I shouldn't have been so litteral with my shots at intro (should have started with beef capitol then moved in town). But, with the plan now laid out what could have been done to execute better? Oh also on the 180 From the medium of his face to the crowd he is addressing. I was aware but thought it excusable because it is such an obvious transition, at least to me, it was not disorienting.
 

FLotog

Active member
Ditto for what Latin Lens mentioned.

Just a few more things I noticed.

Right off the bat, a personal pet peeve of mine: use of the stick mic. Lose it. I saw you had him laved up while you were getting b-roll. I don't know why you didn't put it on for the interview also. If you have absolutely no other option, then make sure the stick stays outta the shot. Shoot tight. No one hates on a stick mic more than I do. I could write a whole chapter on why I feel this way, but I'll spare ya.:)

I'll reiterate the advice of becoming very close friends with your 'pod. If you throw the cam on your shoulder, keep it wide and move in close to the action.

Always be aware of the lighting conditions of your surroundings. In the interview at 1:56, there was an EPIC shadow across the guy's face. I know it gets sketchy during noon daylight, but it seems like you could've turned him about 45 degrees to the left and the sun would've cast the light to give a partial key light effect.

As for staying within the axis, another way to easily avoid crossing over is shooting tight. LL already stressed the importance of shooting tight shots. This is just another reason to do it. The tighter the shot, the better chance of avoiding a breach in the axis.

Be mindful of your framing. Specifically the (lack of) headroom in the interview at 1:56, the very top of the guy's head was chopped off.

Stay open-minded, and you'll see your work improve with time.
 

optic

Member
Thanks everyone for the critiques. It helps a lot. I think one major issue with the piece was we tried to cram too much in. BTW did anyone notice some barrel distortion from the lens on the ultra wide of the barn 1:03.
 

Latin Lens

Well-known member
Blake...believe you me that I totally get what you were trying to do with the flow of piece...what I was trying to say is that it didn't work because you guys might not have thought it out properly. Not only do you think you got transition shot...but you also need to understand that its important to establish the transition and why you're doing it. Ultra wide/wide shot of his farm with a nat break gets you to the farm and works with the line the reporter wrote...so now you just established this guy is running for office and he works as a farmer...got it and it somewhat "reveals" him. So if you are on the farm then intv him in his farm clothes so it makes better sense. But intv him like you did when he's wearing the white shirt...put him and the intv in context...if you are running around the farm with him then use the natsots to add some character to the man....if he says something funny or serious...transition back to the town again with exteriors that take me to the place you want me to go...and then you start to establish a pattern and theme to how you are doing things. You understand what you are doing...but as a first time viewer, I don't. It can frankly almost come off as sloppy when in reality you are and have done all this thinking and working. Its a fine line...but its a stroytell skill thats learned over time. The reason I can say all this now is becuase I made these mistakes a thousand times...but I learned and got better and will continue to learn and get better.
 

optic

Member
LL I honestly do appreciate the input don't thinks its not well received I just had to defend my case and get more specifics.
 
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