Production notes
I just watched some footage from my new Canon HV20 on the big (24-inch standard def TV) screen, and I was very impressed. The sharpness is stunning. And that's shooting standard def, autofocus.
Anyway, the other night while we were watching Mahogany, with its great wide-screen camerawork, I was shocked by the occasional zoom. For an urban drama made in 1975, the zooming was downright judicious, but still it jolted me. No, let's be clear: It offended me. There's something about that technique -- the way it draws attention to itself? forces a certain perspective about the story on the viewer? is such an obvious, lazy shortcut? -- that it really bothers me.
Then I realized that I spent several hours at a trade show last week shooting ... zooms! Zooming out, occasionally zooming in, going from signs to wide shots, faces to crowds -- and fast! They're a staple of my news videos, and right smack in the mainstream of Web and local TV news style. I realized it all depends on the context. And I do think there's something quite different about using a zoom in nonfiction film than in a narrative. Off the top of my head, I guess it has something to do with the fact that as a documentarian you can't completely control where you are or where your subjects go, although there are also limits to control in Hollywood filmmaking and non-fiction filmmakers may have more options than we like to think.
All this got me to thinking what I should do about an upcoming project that's nonfiction but not news, more of a documentary with music. Would zooms be OK in something like that? Is it more acceptable just because I'm shooting it on digital video rather than film? And now that I think about it, very slow zooms are not so bad.
Anyway, the other night while we were watching Mahogany, with its great wide-screen camerawork, I was shocked by the occasional zoom. For an urban drama made in 1975, the zooming was downright judicious, but still it jolted me. No, let's be clear: It offended me. There's something about that technique -- the way it draws attention to itself? forces a certain perspective about the story on the viewer? is such an obvious, lazy shortcut? -- that it really bothers me.
Then I realized that I spent several hours at a trade show last week shooting ... zooms! Zooming out, occasionally zooming in, going from signs to wide shots, faces to crowds -- and fast! They're a staple of my news videos, and right smack in the mainstream of Web and local TV news style. I realized it all depends on the context. And I do think there's something quite different about using a zoom in nonfiction film than in a narrative. Off the top of my head, I guess it has something to do with the fact that as a documentarian you can't completely control where you are or where your subjects go, although there are also limits to control in Hollywood filmmaking and non-fiction filmmakers may have more options than we like to think.
All this got me to thinking what I should do about an upcoming project that's nonfiction but not news, more of a documentary with music. Would zooms be OK in something like that? Is it more acceptable just because I'm shooting it on digital video rather than film? And now that I think about it, very slow zooms are not so bad.
posted by Steve at
10:26 PM
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