Site logo

VISUAL STORYTELLERS


A resource for video content creators


Still Life with Video

No one should be surprised by the popularity of the DSLR camera in video production. The development of the video camera has always been driven by engineers striving for electronic purity. In the video world, equipment is judged by waveforms and vectors, rarely by aesthetics.

Then along comes a photo camera that shoots video. DSLRs are built with creativity in mind. Photography is an art form, after-all. The long-established principles of photography enable the user to control the image and bend it towards their aesthetic tastes. As a shooter, director and editor, I’ve been frustrated with the inability to limit a video camera's point-of-view. All that time wasted on video shoots art directing an entire scene, when now you can let the background go soft.

Beside the depth of field, the other advantage of a DSLR over the new crop of large sensor video cameras is the ability to take a 5184 pixel still. If the video image isn’t moving - shoot a still. That enormous image can be manipulated in a variety of ways - crop, zoom, pan or animate part of the image. It is one more wrench in the creative toolkit.

One last thought; we know you have new creative powers - don’t over-indulge! The art of editing demands a variety of images, a bunch of blurry images doesn’t suddenly make your video cinematic, clear pictures are nice too. It’s best just to think...what would
Ansel Adams, Richard Avedon or Henri Cartier-Bresson do with video. Then you will be well on your way.
blog comments powered by Disqus