I was watching a little video the other day that had been made by someone who had visited Antarctica and was fortunate enough to be landed on the beach (do you call the edge of the icy continent "beach"?) and was able to wander across the snow and ice on foot for a while. This was just a holiday movie of a "once in a lifetime" experience - which is exactly why most people have and need a video camera. The video was of some of the local Antarctica residents, some penguins. The commentary accompanying the video was excellent, easy to listen to, informative -without being like a lecture - and it also expressed the delight this video maker felt about her opportunity to be where she was.

Now that made you sit up and take notice didn't it! To hear that a video was taken and edited AND given a voice over by a woman! Step back, gentlemen! We ladies can be equally as talented with camera, computer and microphone as you are!

Sorry! This really isn't the point I want to make!

Barely had the video begun when I saw a shot of a penguin walking from the left to right of the scene and the camera was moving - panning - to keep the penguin in the frame. The illusion this shot created was that of something sinister. I was half expecting a leopard seal to rear out of the ice behind it. (Like in the big screen movie, "Below Eight" - the movie about the team of huskies that had been left behind in Antarctica.)

The shot in the video I was watching had the penguin waddling fairly quickly across the ice but the camera was having trouble keeping it in the shot - it was over on the right hand side of the screen and travelling to the right and the camera was panning to the right.

Both with still photography and with video, the position of the main subject in the screen is very important. When more space is showing behind the main subject the viewer is primed to expect something to appear in that large space. The mind automatically assumes that the space has been left there for a purpose.

Take a look at the two pictures of the penguin on the snow (neither came from the video I watched, they are "manufactured" pictures!) In one of the pictures the penguin is on the right of the picture and is running to the right - just as I described from the video I watched. When you look at that image can you see that there is a possibility that something else is about to enter the picture?

In the second picture the penguin is on the left but is running to the right. Here the penguin appears to be trying to catch up with the others in the group or racing to reach something desirable. He has "somewhere to go". This is why the space in front of the subject is often called "looking room". These are two still images and yet they create the same emotion as they would if they were moving video.

As soon as the shot is reframed in the camera so that the space behind is less than the space ahead, the image appears far more comfortable and safe.

With stationary subjects, allowing more space in front is not difficult. It is more difficult when the subject is moving fast, for instance, a speed boat or a person running - or a penguin waddling. To keep the camera following at the same speed as the moving subject as well as keeping the space behind less than the space ahead takes a bit of practice.

When you watch the television News tonight, pay attention to the way the cameras have been used. People being interviewed and are seen in profile will usually have more space in front of the eyes than behind the head. Rather than just watching the television tonight, study the camera techniques. You will learn from them.

Next time you use your own camera (still or video) remember to allow "looking room".

http://joanren.blogspot.com

By Joan Rennie

Joan Rennie is an amateur video enthusiast and guest writer for AusCam Online. She can be more widely read at http://joanren.blogspot.com