the last frame and which way they were facing. Having them come from a different
direction can be confusing and seem false.
If two or more characters are having a conversation, think about what side of the
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conversation you want to shoot from. It's best to decide and stick with it. If you change
sides mid-scene the characters can seem to switch places in the frame, which can be very
confusing. This is known as the '180° rule' and breaking it is called 'crossing the line'.
The 'line' is the line of eye contact between the two actors as they speak. Imagine this line
extending indefinitely behind their heads- pick your side and stick to it. One of the few
exceptions is if you can cross it within the shot, by moving the camera.
Shooting for the Edit:
If you are shooting a documentary interview or dialogue scene, think about gathering lots
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of different shots. It can be boring to watch one person talking for more than a few
seconds. Your documentary will look much more professional if you can cut to a shot that
illustrates what the interviewee is talking about, or even just cover a cut between two bits
of the interview with a shot of their hands or something in the room. There are different
conventions with drama but it can still be useful to have the option of cutaways during
dialogue scenes.
If you are going to shoot something for a documentary, it's worth getting a few different
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shots of it. Cutting from a wide shot to a slightly closer shot of the same thing from the
same angle looks jerky and boring, so try to get lots of shot sizes and angles.
For example: If you were filming a digger smashing up a building, you would want at
least a wide shot of the whole scene, a medium shot of the digger, a close up of the digger
operator, a close up of the jaws of the digger. You'd probably also do well to get other
close ups like the operators hand on the gearstick, rubble falling, wheels turning etc. The
more options you have, the more visual texture you can provide and the more smoothly
and enjoyably your film will come across.
Once you've decided on a shot, try to record for about 10 seconds at a time without
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changing frame. That gives the editor leeway over how much to use. If you are planning a
shot with movement, try to think of it as three separate shots: the first camera position as
one shot, the movement as another and the final camera position as another. So you
should have 10 seconds of static frame at each end of the movement, plus as long as the
movement takes in the middle.
Framing:
To create a starting framework for pleasing, dynamic pictures, you should divide the
screen into a grid of three columns and three lines and line up the elements of your picture
roughly along those thirds of the screen.
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