Six Skills of Shooting Commercial Images

Six Skills of Shooting Commercial Images

In foreign countries, "behind the scenes" or "production" video shooting has always been an important link in the film and television industry. As long as it is a regular cinema movie or an MV produced by a big-name music company, there will be a corresponding "behind-the-scenes video". Here are six tips for shooting commercial images, which I hope will help you!

Know when to hide yourself.

I feel that the most common mistake photographers make when shooting tidbits is that they want to hide themselves too much. Yes, you don't want others to find you, because the subject may be disguised or unnatural, so the tidbits will become boring. So, the best way is to get as close to them as possible, but make them feel natural. The best advice is to try to get familiar with them before shooting until they get close. Make them feel comfortable and natural in front of the camera. In this way, what they shoot is their truer side.

Many people are afraid of celebrities, so they will avoid talking to them when shooting. But in fact, a large part of them are not used to being intervened by you and the camera, and may even think that you are spying on them. So the result may be completely different from what you want, and it may become very conservative in front of the camera, which is difficult to shoot. Therefore, it is not the right choice not to communicate with the subjects. Therefore, you should talk to them in advance, treat them as normal people, and behave normally yourself, and of course, don't be like crazy fans. Find some topics that have nothing to do with filming and talk to them. They will feel very comfortable and you will feel much smoother during the long shooting process.

Another reason to get on well with them is that you must want them to say something in front of the camera, what they are filming, why they are filming, and so on. Many people will put this in a formal interview unit, before or after filming tidbits. But I prefer to take them aside and ask a few questions at random during the filming, and I will get an answer soon. I think the answer will be much more honest and there will be no pressure to answer many questions.

Finally, know when to put down the camera. No one wants to be recorded by your camera once there are any emergencies or embarrassing moments at the scene. If you stand there and continue filming, it will make them feel uncomfortable, and you will probably never have a chance to shoot again. If you show great respect for their privacy, they will be very grateful and you will be rewarded in the next shoot.

Shooting commercial images: 6 tips for behind-the-scenes tidbits/documentaries!

2. Always be ready to act!

The biggest test of filming tidbits is that everything on the scene is unpredictable. It's not like taking a feature film or a planned photo. What you should do is try to capture those precious and real moments, which are unpredictable. If you used to be a photojournalist, what you have learned before will come in handy. You should always keep your camera on and be ready to shoot.

I found that usually when you feel that there is nothing to shoot, the most informative moment always appears at this time. These are excellent opportunities when the guitarist takes a break between songs and when the actor prepares between shots. Great opportunities occur during intermission, such as when the director is talking to the actors, such as when the musicians are discussing how to arrange music.

Shooting commercial images: 6 tips for behind-the-scenes tidbits/documentaries!

3.b-roll's help

This is more advice for making tidbits videos. Although facial shots and action shots are extremely important in any behind-the-scenes tidbits, I found that there are more materials to shoot some time ago, which will be more helpful for later editing audio. This means you have to bring a lot of tidbits. What's fun to shoot, things around the shooting location, celebrity tricks. These will be of great help to you when you finally edit and make a video.

Shooting commercial images: 6 tips for behind-the-scenes tidbits/documentaries!

4. Don't pursue perfection

To shoot behind-the-scenes tidbits, you have to understand that roughness makes truth. I'll teach you what "roughness" is.

For example, when I first shot a tidbit, my intuition told me that I should shoot it darker to achieve the cool black effect I like, so I followed my intuition. Later, when we watched the demo, the producer complained to me about how dark the picture was. He is very dissatisfied. In order to satisfy him, I improved the ISO, which is much higher than my usual setting. When I gave him the sample again later, the photo was full of particles, but it was really much brighter. I was shocked when he told me that this was what he wanted. Then I understand a truth that I take for granted now, that is, it doesn't matter whether your picture is bright or dark. The key is to ensure that others can see clearly the face of the Chu people and see clearly what is going on in the picture, and that particles and everything are a kind of "realism" and may also be praised as "roughness", which is enough.

Shooting commercial images: 6 tips for behind-the-scenes tidbits/documentaries!

Use a SLR camera

If you are shooting a commercial video, this looks natural. If you make a trivia video, you may not understand why. In my experience, the most efficient machine behind the scenes is the SLR. SLR can be used for many purposes, and taking photos or videos can be done in an instant. This advantage is enough for you to give up the standard camera. Also, believe me, even if you are totally shooting videos, you will still want to take some high-quality pictures. In addition, the SLR is small and inconspicuous, and it can work well in the dark. When shooting video tidbits, I found that lack of light is often the biggest challenge.

6. Edit BTS video, even if it's not your job.

Obviously, this is also specially used to shoot video tidbits. When I first filmed the tidbits, I felt that everything was really under control. The whole process went very smoothly. I took a lot of star moves, and the proofs all looked good. Then I gave them to the editor. As a result, they are in a hurry, and it seems difficult to edit. I don't know why.

Then I started cutting my own version, and everything became clear. First of all, I shoot all action scenes, and there is no B-roll at all, so it is difficult to connect them like breathing and sucking. Also, I'm afraid to get close to the stars, because I'm afraid to offend them or disturb their progress. So the star's shot is not ideal and it is not easy to edit. Actually, it's more than that. It's just the first time. It's normal to make mistakes.

Later, because I couldn't make a movie, my good friend Dustin Chambers did it for me. Later, it happened that every editor was not available, so it was my turn to edit this Dustin sample. What you see above is my achievement. Although it is short, it is my greatest gain. After editing his proofs, I went back to look at my photos, and all the shortcomings became so clear. I can't say it too much: if you want to learn faster, edit a version yourself and compare it with others'. Although this is not your job, what you learn will always be your own.

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