Do Use Multiple Angles and Vary Your Shots

Sometimes the reason you fall asleep watching your best friend’s home movie of his kid’s school play isn’t because the play is dull (or it isn’t only because the play is dull). The fact that your camera-wielding friend didn’t vary his shots might have helped you find your way into dreamland. We have seen dozens of home videos of reasonably interesting events that were shot by someone who set the camera on a tripod and pushed record, never moving the camera or changing the size of the shot. We’re all guilty of it at one time or another. But if you can help it, we recommend eschewing this approach in favor of one in which you get some different shots and angles on your action.

Obviously, playing with angles can get a little dangerous, because you may need to record the event for posterity, for the official record, or for the scores of parents who are going to want a copy to use to torture their children when they’re teenagers. In that case, you probably don’t want to mess around by moving the camera too much—plant the tripod and let it roll. But if you can, get your hands on a second camera, or work with others—fellow parents or participants—who have video cameras, and conspire to use their footage in your editing. Use the other footage to interject some different angles, close-ups (staying out of camera no. 1’s field), and audience reaction shots. Edit those back into the show, and other parents will be amazed by your brilliance.

If you are taping an outdoor barbecue, for example, try to position yourself in a location where you can easily get a good wide shot as well as some close-ups. Most of the time, you will want to begin with a wide shot, establishing the setting and how things relate to each other in the park. During the barbecue, you’ll find reasons to vary your shots. Push in on Bob the nosy neighbor as he listens in on a conversation. Go tight on your mild-mannered librarian friend Susan as she chows down on a foot-long hotdog. During the softball game, make sure you get a tight shot of the angst on Eric’s face when he swings for strike three. (One more word of advice: Walk around an area where you’ll be shooting before the event takes place or at the beginning of the event so that you get a sense of the different angles, walkways, and obstructions you’ll need to consider when shooting.)