Today’s production tip – shooting two or more angles whenever possible – will improve the overall quality of your business videos, and make life vastly easier for your editor.
Shooting two angles has a number of benefits.
- Visual Interest – Let’s face it – talking head videos can get boring. Mixing things up with a closeup and a medium shot can add a great deal of visual interest to your messaging videos, helping to keep your viewer’s precious attention.
- Easier Editing – One of the hardest things to avoid in editing content is the dreaded ‘jump cut’, an edit between two different points in the same shot where the speaker appears to instantly ‘jump’ between two places. It’s disconcerting, and can look amateurish if overused. Having a second angle allows you to push in or out to a different view when you need to make an awkward edit, creating the impression of an intentional cut. (We won’t tell anyone you’re doing it to avoid a four second, ‘Uhmmmm… Ahhh….’)
- More Opportunity for Magic – Especially if you’re using just one camera to capture multiple angles, shooting two angles will give your subject more time to get comfortable, more time to refine their messaging, and can often lead to better takes. Use the ‘extra angle’ to get more time with your subject, and more footage shot.
Even if you’re on a tight budget, finding a way to get a second angle will pay off huge dividends once you’re into post production. Use anything you can find – a GoPro, iPhone, even an iPad in a pinch – and just remember that your secondary shot can be stylized later to look great.
Have any other tips for shooting a second angle in business video productions? Let us know in the comments! Need help with your business video production? We’d love to help your business.
Thank you for sharing this tip. I was actually wondering if I could use my iPhone 4S as a second camera with my 5D as I am preparing for a course. Would this be fine or would there be a clear difference?
I plan to use a special app to actually the white balance and the focus.
Thanks!
Depends on the light. Outdoors and in really bright rooms, an iPhone 4S or 5 can shoot crystal clear and match a dslr decently. Even if they don’t match, it’s still usable, just slap a heavy style on the iPhone footage (b&w, grain, vignette, etc) and it’ll look great.
That’s great! Can’t wait to try this! I have actually found a refurbished Canon Rebel Ti which I will use as well. Having the iPhone as a third angle would be just too good if it works!
Lighting is of course my first priority and I got good stuff for that :).
The only concern now is weather I have enough space on the iPhone or if it will even explode of over-heating!
Thanks!
Good luck! You’ve got the right idea for sure – the more angles the better.
Indeed, and good luck to you too :)!