Neil's Random Video Tip #3: Shoot at Different Distances

[Neil Enns]

Once you've got the shot you want, walk back a bunch of steps and shoot again. Then walk forward past your original position and shoot one more time. This will give you increased flexibility in editing to tell your story. A classic move, I've found out, is to start with a wide shot to set the scene, then move in to a closer shot for the action. Now that I've found this trick out I see it in movies and TV shows all the time!

Note that you have to be careful when positioning things in the viewfinder when you shoot the sequence. If things are slightly out of place from where they were in the first shot you'll have problems when you edit where the subjects look like they jump around. You can cover this with b-roll from tip 2, or use the next tip in the series!

[Neil Enns]

Once you've got the shot you want, walk back a bunch of steps and shoot again. Then walk forward past your original position and shoot one more time. This will give you increased flexibility in editing to tell your story. A classic move, I've found out, is to start with a wide shot to set the scene, then move in to a closer shot for the action. Now that I've found this trick out I see it in movies and TV shows all the time!

Note that you have to be careful when positioning things in the viewfinder when you shoot the sequence. If things are slightly out of place from where they were in the first shot you'll have problems when you edit where the subjects look like they jump around. You can cover this with b-roll from tip 2, or use the next tip in the series!