- Hey guys, welcome to Travel Feels.
Today, we're gonna talk about
what story you're telling with your shooting angle.
(upbeat electronic)
What I mean by the shooting angle
is basically the camera angle.
Are you pointing straight at your object?
Are you pointing up or are you pointing down?
And so how do you know which angle
you should take when you're filming
a person or an object or whatever you're filming?
Should you go higher and film down at your object?
Should you stay at their eye level?
Should you go low and film up?
What's the right decision?
Well, each of these angles tell a different
story, so first you need to know what story
those angles are telling and then,
what story you're trying to tell.
We need to know what that angle says
to the viewers and use it to serve our story.
This seems like a small and simple thing,
but it actually has a huge effect
on our psychology, but also the way it looks.
So, let's take a look at a few different
examples and see what happens.
So, first off, we have zero angle,
which is kind of a neutral angle.
You're right at the eye level of the object or the person.
And most people, I think, will kind
of resort to this as their baseline.
This is what they'll start with
and that's actually a really good thing
to start off with that and then
figure out where you need to go.
What this kind of angle is telling the
audience is that we're on the same level
with the character or object that we're filming,
so you have a neutral view of that person.
You're not looking down and you're not looking up.
It's just you're looking straight at them.
You're at the same level and what I find
is that you end up projecting a lot of your
own stuff onto that character
because you're at the same level.
So, zero angle, or having the camera
at the eye level is kind of the neutral
way of going when you're not trying to
specifically say anything, per se, with that camera angle.
Notice the background also.
When you have zero angle, the horizon
ends up being right in the middle.
The space above the horizon and the
space below the horizon ends up being
the same amount, so you're seeing what's
on the ground, but also what's up in
the sky or above the character.
Next, we can move the camera up higher and film down.
And now, we're telling something
more specific to the audience.
It, right away, makes it seem like
the character is a little bit smaller,
a little bit weaker, less powerful,
maybe you're looking down on them,
maybe a little bit condescending even.
Your mind automatically thinks these
things without you even realizing it
and without the character even saying anything.
Notice also, now you see a lot more of
the ground and maybe you don't the
horizon or the sky at all anymore.
So, keep this in mind if you're gonna film down.
The ground has to be nice and clean
so it's not distracting the viewer the whole time.
And the third angle we could use is
bring the camera down and shooting
up at the object or character
and this creates the opposite effect of shooting downwards.
Now, you're looking up to this character.
The character feels more powerful, more strong.
And if you go even lower, the character
starts to look at little bit menacing and scary.
And again, this is something that
every person kind of has subconsciously
in their mind as soon as they see a frame like this.
And now, notice that you're only
seeing the sky or what's above the horizon
line and you might not see the horizon anymore.
And typically, I notice that when you're filming up,
it ends up being a lot cleaner, there's
a lot less clutter and stuff in
the sky than there is on the ground.
Using this camera angle, you start
to think that the characters are almost larger than life.
They're like giants in this movie.
So, which angle should you be using?
Well, first off, we can take a compositional approach.
If you're filming down and your ground
is really ugly and cluttered, well that's
gonna make your frame look really bad.
So, maybe you wanna be shooting up because
the sky is a bit more clean and
less distracting to the viewer.
So, the first thing you need to
look at is how the frame looks.
I prefer, most of the time, to
shoot at a little bit of an angle upwards.
I find that this isolates the
characters a little bit better,
not to mention all the leading
lines that start to be introduced when you're pointing up.
A lot of times, rooms have lines
in the corners and even on the roof
or these really nice leading lines
that point directly at your character
and really brings in the focus
exactly where you want it to be, which is the character.
So, the first thing you need to look at is
just how it looks, but the more important
thing is the psychology of that angle
and this is where you really start telling story.
So, for example, if you wanna show
that a character is having a moment
of weakness, maybe you wanna shoot
down at them so they look small and less powerful.
Or, if you wanna make a character look more
powerful, like they have the upper hand on
the situation, maybe you wanna film up at
them to make them look more powerful,
a little bit more scary and menacing.
Again, usually I prefer to shoot a little bit
upwards at the characters just to make
them feel a little bit larger than life.
This is a simple trick that I use a lot
in my documentary film making to make
the characters look a little bit more
interesting and larger than life.
So, next time you're filming a character,
whether it's in a travel film or a
short film, or anything, think about your angle.
Do you wanna be neutral?
Do you wanna be looking down on them
or do you wanna be shooting up at them?
Look at the space around you.
Look what's on the ground, what's on the horizon,
and what's in the sky and what looks best,
but most importantly, what story are you trying to tell?
So, for example, if somehow, you were
filming the president of a country,
you wouldn't wanna be filming down on them,
you would wanna be at least neutral
or a little bit up on them to give
that character a sense of power
and importance that goes along with what they do.
So, that's it for me today, guys.
Make sure to subscribe and like the video
and share it, send it to all your friends.
Guys, enjoy the filmmaking process
and go get some of those Travel Feels.
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