Movies for TV - Early Television Foundation

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FUNDAMENTALS
(A) (B)
Fig. 11-3. (A) Correct positioning of head in follow shot. (B)
Incorrect positioning of head, too far forward.
properly, the only thing to do is to reshoot. It may
take a little
courage on his part to admit that he has made a mistake, but it
is infinitely preferable to striking the set and finding it has to be
set up again and that all the characters have to be recalled. It
may be that the light changed during the shooting,
outside shot; or the cameraman decided the lens setting was
wrong, or any one of many things.
if it was an
It is essential that all shooting be done with the thought in
mind that it is intended for television presentation, remembering
all the limitation of that art. Because of that, it may be that the
new directors and cameramen who are coming into being as a
result of television's demand for new men and new thoughts will
have an advantage in not being graduates of the motion picture
school. With nothing to unlearn, they will have open minds re-
ceptive to the requirements of television. Very few long shots
should be made, for the size of the television receiver screen renders
them almost valueless. Consequently, the majority of shots will
have to be close-ups or medium shots. The camera is the eyes of the
audience, and their orientation is most important; too many shots
of the same action taken from different angles will quickly confuse
them.
Composition is one of the most important things in production
work. The best story with the cream of Hollywood as its cast will