Back that thing up!

[combatentropy]

Does anybody remember learning about how TV changed camera angles? Hollywood in general had more long shots. TV, with its small, low-res screen, led to more close-ups. Do you think now that we have large, high-definition screens, we can start to back that camera up again?

I don't know about you, but every time I see one of those head-and-shoulders interview shots, I start to feel a little uncomfortable.



Not just claustrophobic but bored. If you combine head-and-shoulders shots with the fashion for shallow focus, there's really not much to look at after very long. And the cool slash of light across the wall or little flower pot in the background isn't cutting it. Just zoom that lens out a little bit, show the person's desk and all the things on it, the wall, and so forth:



It gives my eyes a lot more to glance around at as I listen at length to what they say. And it's not so overwhelming, like a a giant head in my living room.

And while I certainly wouldn't rule out the occasional use of the close-up in narrative, I think movies can back things up a bit too. A scene of seven different medium shots and close-ups feels actually more tired than a good old-fashioned master.

 

[DPStewart]

Agreed!

The constant face-only close-ups of so much TV stuff makes me cringe. It makes me feel claustrophobic.

 

[morgan_moore]

Disagree. There is nothing worse than a 'ball scratcher' where the talents hands drop out of the frame into their groin area to do whatever untold horrors off the bottom of the screen.

If someone is talking and you are scanning the back of the room, well what they are saying is so dull it should be on the cutting room floor. If you wanna see the background, lets see some cutaways of that over the talking head.

mainly!

 

[FrameFarmMedia]

I usually shoot 2 angles in an interview but often only use the wide to start. I use framing to move the audience in closer for the conversation. You would never sit down for an intimate conversation chat someone from across the room so why would I watch an interview like that. As the conversation gets more intense or dramatic I might even punch in tighter (when shooting 4K) for a particular point being made. Most times though any interviews I have shot or cut tend to be covered in B-roll anyway so you don't see the interviewee for long periods of conversation.

The other reason people often end up tight is due to being forced to do interviews in terrible spaces or tight spaces. The background has little to do with the story and would just be a distraction. I want viewers eyes on the person I'm interviewing for the moments I show them.

I agree with Sam, If you are looking around the background and what is on the desk then that is a problem. I don't want to give people more to distract them from the story I am creating.

 

[combatentropy]

You may be right. But I often look at something else while listening to someone talk. Letting the eyes wander down to the snowglobe on the person's desk, books and decor on the shelf behind them, or the window, feels good, even as I hear everything they're saying. Looking someone in the face 100% of the time is emotionally overwhelming. Maybe I'm just sensitive.

 

[mcbob]

Room for all sorts of different styles...

Yes, nice wide shots that place the subject within an environment that may add to their dialogue are lovely. Cacophanies of clutter, unlit and unrelated, aren't helpful.

Tight closeups with minimal background distraction used when the subject is relating a particularly salient point for a limited amount of time are lovely. A huge face talking endlessly about nothing particularly engaging is not.

I'm not a big fan of the conspicuously wide "GoPro angle" on interviews, where you see all the production etc... but occasionally it works. Sometimes I like so insane of a closeup that you're only catching half of the subjects face, with a little unsteady (but not shaky) camera movement and focus hunting... but often that doesn't work. The popular client request is for a medium-wide interview angle plus a significantly off-axis/profile closeup... not always my favorite, but it works for them.

So yeah... room for all sorts of different styles... and the glory is you can do whatever the flip you want.

 

[sonofaresiii]

Show the background and more of the body if there's a reason to-- if there's stuff to look at or motion that actually contributes to what's being said.

if there's not, don't. You don't really WANT your audience looking at all the **** on their desk, if it's just random ****, instead of listening to the subject.

Now, if the interview is about the world's largest star trek action figure collection, and the guy has a bunch of action figures on his desk, hell yeah show it.