Digital Video Editing I | Shooting and Editing Video

Shooting and Editing Video

Gather your equipment! It's time to go on a video shoot.

In the last lesson, you explored the mechanics of editing video. Now it's time to get familiar with how editing fits into the overall process of digital video production.

"What?" you ask. "We've just done a few edits and now we move on to video production?"

That's right! To do a good job as a video editor, you need a broader understanding of how directors set up and frame shots and how editors capture and digitize the source material (we'll discuss this later in the exercise).

In this lesson, we'll cover some basics of shooting video and how different camera angles and shot types contribute to the mood and feel of your video. In the (quite heavy-duty) exercise you'll learn how to shoot and edit your own clips and present them to the class as your first true editing exercise.

It may sound odd to talk about the framing of an image if you think the word framing only refers to the outside border of a shot, like a picture frame. In film and video it is much more than that. Framing represents a certain point of view and it actively defines the image for the viewer in many ways.

To talk about framing, we have to define first what a shot is. A shot is a continuous action or image on the screen that appears to be the result of a single uninterrupted operation of the camera. This action of course involves framing: deciding the area or the field of view that the camera will record.

The frame selects a slice of the world to show to us. It implies a position from which the material is being viewed. This position will have an angle, a level, a certain height, and a certain distance from the subject.

Camera Angle

The angle of framing with respect to what is shot is theoretically infinite, since there are an infinite number of points in the space in which to place the camera. But three camera angles are particularly important: the straight-on angle (which is the most common), the high angle, and the low angle.

Straight-on angle shot

High angle shot

Low angle shot

We can also distinguish the degree to which the framing is level, in other words, the sense of gravity governing the material that is being shot. If the framing is level, the horizontal edges of the frame will be parallel to the horizon of the shot. But it doesn't have to be always like that—it can also be used creatively, like in the following sequence where a hung-over Ingrid Bergman gets a slanted view of secret agent Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock's film Notorious.

You'll notice in the sequence below that as Cary Grant approaches, the image starts to spiral. Hitchcock often tried to show us what his characters were seeing. Here he uses an elaborately disjointed shot to express Bergman's physical state and mental confusion.

Camera Height

Sometimes it is important to specify the sense that the framing gives us of being stationed at a certain height. Camera angle is obviously related to the height of the camera in a sense, but camera height is not simply a matter of angle. We can shoot at a low height with a straight-on angle like in the last shot of the shower sequence in Hitchcock's Psycho.

A straight-on angle shot from almost floor level

Camera Distance

Framing also supplies a sense of distance from the subject. In the following shot categories, the standard measure is the scale of the human body.

A long shot [LS] is any shot taken at a considerable distance from the subject. It includes the whole body of a person in relation to the environment. An establishing shot [EST] is a long shot that defines the basic location where the subsequent events will take place. This shot is also called wide shot [WS] because the field of view is very wide.

Depending on the distance it is taken from, an establishing shot can also be categorized into medium long shot [MLS] or extreme long shot [ELS]—like a bird's eye view of a place or a city.

Let's examine the following examples of camera distance from Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999):

Establishing Shot [EST]. Establishes the ball that the characters will be attending.

Long Shot [LS]. Shows the characters entering the building, allowing the viewer to see their sumptuous surroundings and clothes.

The medium shot [MS] usually frames the human body from the waist up. This is also sometimes called plain américain, given its recurrence in several Hollywood films where it starts from the knees up. A medium shot usually frames the body from the waist or the knees up. This kind of framing permits a good balance between the subject and its surroundings; gestures and expressions become more visible in it.

Medium Shot [MS]. Shows the experience of the characters walking into the event by depicting their reactions as they walk down the hallway into a crowded room.

The medium close-up [MCU] frames the body from the chest up. A close up [CU] could be a head and shoulders shot or closer, to emphasize facial expression, the details of a gesture, or a significant object. The extreme close up [ECU] singles out a portion of the face (eyes or lips) to isolate detail.

Medium Close-Up [MCU]. Provides a close-up of a conversation, showing facial expressions.

Close-Up [CU]. Provides a very tight close-up of a more intimate exchange!

Case Study: Hobart

How do a director's choices in framing—angle, height, and distance—work in a short film context? The following clip is an excerpt from the silent film Hobart (1999) by Caspar Stracke. Watch closely how the scene is broken down by different approaches to framing, and make a list of all framing/camera angles.

The scene is deliberately exaggerated, as you see two protagonists literally pouring out emotions. We chose this scene because in this context it might be easier to make the connection between framing/camera angle and the intention of the filmmakers. This short film is based on the surrealist story "L'Écume des jours (Foam of the Days)" by Boris Vian. A water lilly has grown in the lungs of Chloe. She is about to suffocate, her partner Colin desperately tries to save her. Doctors arrive.

Hobart (1999). Click the image to watch the clip in a new window.

To develop your understanding of framing, we would like you to make a shot by shot list of this short scene. List each camera angle by its name and think about the filmmaker's intention. Which shots really work well in your opinion (in terms of framing) and which ones maybe work less well?

Viewer Perception

Framing is used to transform everyday reality into a cinematic event full of meaning. The frame defines the scale of an event and indeed controls our understanding of the event itself. And when you combine it with good editing you can achieve incredibly strong results like the sequence on the first attack on Bodega Bay in Alfred Hitchcock's film The Birds.

Click on the picture below to link to that sequence. In it, you can see how the framing redirects our attention from the people running out to help the attacked man to the following situation where gasoline is leaking from his car. A very interesting exercise is to first watch the whole clip without interruptions, then try it again, pressing pause each time the shot framing changes. This will give you a better understanding of how the combination of editing and framing works.

Click the image to see an example from Turner Classic Movies of the function of framing and good editing! (On the linked page, choose your player and press Play. You may need to download and install Windows Media Player. It may take a few moments before the video starts.)

It is tempting to assign absolute meanings to angles, distance, and other qualities of framing. It is easy to believe that framing from a low angle automatically means that a character is powerful and that framing from a high angle presents someone as dwarfed or defeated. But a type framing doesn't have an absolute or general meaning. As you saw in the previous sequence, the context of the film and the editor's choices is what will determine a shot's function.

For example, in Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, a low angle was used earlier in the film to represent Kane's rising power, and the lowest angle in the entire film was used to isolate Kane against an empty background, emphasizing Kane's most humiliating defeat.

Two low angle shots with very different meanings.

Exercise Shoot, edit, and digitize an interview utilizing different camera angles and types of shots. Discussion Share the experiences of your exercise shoot with the class.