The Face of Time - POV - Aarhus Universitet

124 p.o.v. number 13 March 2002
Be careful about the technical side of the production. Making a
documentary – filming 'reality' – is not an excuse for poor technical
quality.
In order to make your persons appear as natural and spontaneous
as possible, it is important to shoot the different scenes at
psychologically the right times and places.
If the person is occupied with something, s/he is more likely to
forget the camera.
If you use such camera movements as panning and tilting, make
sure you have several takes of each shot in which the camera is
moved at different speeds. This will give you more possibilities in
the editing room.
If the camera is handheld it is important to keep it fairly steady.
Make sure the picture pauses for 4-5 seconds every now and again,
as this gives you a natural place to cut.
Avoid zooming unless you have deliberately chosen the aesthetics
of television. It is difficult to edit a shot that contains a zoom. If you
need to get closer to an object it is better to move the camera.