Once the shot begins, stay with the original frame. Once you frame the shot in the viewfinder and press REC, you will feel a constant urge to do something. Move the camera to the side, zoom in, zoom out. Anything. We are all so conditioned by watching fast-paced television, movies and commercials that we want to do something, anything, to make the shot “work.”
Instead, let the camera run. Just stand there and let it run.
Your original instinct of what to shoot is probably the best one—not always, but usually.
For example, if you decide that you should frame the shot so only the interviewee’s face fills the frame, there is a good chance that this image is exactly what your audience will want to see in the film.
Choose one thing to film. Ideally this thing will be the most important visual element of a scene. Do not try to capture everything you see. Instead, focus on capturing the most important parts of the scene, the parts that communicate the truth of what you see. Start with what’s most important to you.
Get the important things in a scene--get them well--and chances are that your film will be fine.
No matter how steadily you think you are holding a hand-held camera, there will always be some movement. A small amount of movement when shooting hand held is OK. Audiences expect this movement, and recognize it as part of the ‘documentary’ or ‘hand held’ style.
However, extreme camera movement may detract from your film. The images produced by extreme camera movement tend to look amateurish. You could even end up with footage that nauseates the viewer--what some people call “vomit cam”. Some successful productions, like Blair Witch Project, deliberately use this effect. The cameramen on these projects are highly skilled, and know exactly how to use this effect to create an emotional reaction in the audience.
Luotto used very few extreme camera movements in Lucky Joe. The few extreme movements that I saw were exceptions to the rule. These extreme movements—mostly sudden pans--worked because they were unexpected, and few. Most of the time, try to hold the camera absolutely steady.
Small camcorders are difficult to hold steady, so you have to be extra careful about how you hold them. When you are shooting hand-held with a light camera, the slightest movement of your hands or body shows up in the final image.
