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7 - YOU’VE BEEN FRAMED

It’s not just what’s in the frame, but what’s out of the frame. It might be a random tourist about to interrupt your Oscar-winning moment. Or it might be a saffron-clad monk that will add a blaze of colour.

When shooting iconic buildings in video, it pays to have some motion in the shot. A photograph can capture the Angkor Wat or the Taj Mahal in all its glory, but when shooting video, life and energy will give the footage real flourish. Keep one eye open on the environment around you before you shoot. Tourists don’t generally enhance the scene, but a local family in traditional costume will bring the building or back-ground scene to life.

When shooting with roads in the foreground, look out for iconic vehicles coming into shot. The Royal Palace in Bangkok looks dazzling by day or night, but nothing brings it to life like a Thai tuk-tuk zipping past. Likewise in a local market, the colourful fruit and vegetables will bring the image to life, but having some local hawkers walk through the shot puts a human face to the scene. »

Hold the shot

Once someone or something enters the frame, make sure you keep filming until they exit the frame stage left, as this will help with the editing later.
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