Guide tips to help improve videos :)

Brodie

YTTalk Shape Shifter
Has anyone ever heard of the filmmaking 'rules' or 'guides'? they are very helpful and have came a long way with me in filmmaking which can be applied to anything! :)

Rule of Thirds
Ever notice that 3x3 grid feature on your phone and camera that you just don't use? It's actually a powerful guide to help position things, get things lined up and in center. It can help make a shot interesting by lining the head with one of the side lines, it's pretty cool! :)
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180 Degree Rule
This is basically a guide to help things make sense to the viewer in filming/editing. For example, a shoulder shot in a conversation, the camera is on the right of someone, it cuts round to the other person, it should now be on their left. Visualizing this the camera has moved 180 degrees. It makes a line, sometimes referred as the 'Line of Action'
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This isn't an exact rule though, you can get away from it and go over 180 buy cutting away to something else or to a close up before going more than 180. If you did any more in the one go people will get confused and disorientated to where everything is supposed to be.

Audio Shot Transition
This is one I use ALL the time :D So, in, let's say, a conversation, you get the camera cutting back and forth. Instead of someone saying their line, then cut away, next line of the other person, there is another way to transition it. Have the next person to speak's voice come in on present shot, then cut to the shot of them talking, so the camera is cutting to something. Technically, 'following' the action. To better explain this, I've devised a little image to visualize this and so you can understand it more easily :)
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Putting Emphasis On Objects
A very simple one, yet useful one is a way to put emphasis on how large you want certain objects in the scene to look. It may be obvious to some, but using overhead shots and underhead shots can make things appear a lot bigger or smaller.
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Take these skyscrapers for example, using an underhead shot it emphasizes the height of the buildings, making them appear taller than they actually are. This shot may be used for a character to make them appear strong and 'able'.

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With this set of skyscrapers, looking down with an overhead shot puts emphasis on height and the size of cars, making it seem higher up and the cars are smaller. This may also be used for a character in a fight scene or general use to make the character seem weak.


I hope this helps you out on your journey to build up your video skills :)
 
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