In the lead up to filming for my Project 3 (a portrait on one of my friends Ben) I have been thinking a lot about framing. I have made two short documentaries as part of my VCE Media studies and therefore have conducted numerous interviews. One thing I have got right every time though is the camera positioning and framing.
For an interview with the subject sitting down, it is best to have the camera at eye level and for the subject to not be in the centre of the screen. It is best to have the person on screen seated to one side however this can often lead to the the background looking very empty. This is what I got wrong in my year 12 documentary. You should place some sort of object in the frame to make the shot look more balanced. This also gives you an opportunity to have objects of some significance to the interviewee to therefore take full advantage of mise-en-scene. Additionally, it is also a good idea to have the subject on a slight angle and not facing the camera face on. All of these little things can make your shot look much better.
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