Shot selection in any piece you are editing is extremely important, and can either make your show dull and boring or eye catching and exciting.

When editors are working on shows, they have a lot more say in the final outcome than most people might think, and editors should not be afraid to tell the cameraman what they want/need, as at the end of the day, we are holding the ball at the end of the whole process, and you as the editor, should really have to do very little color correction as the footage should be brought to you looking excellent.

I'm going to look at a typical interview segment, and talk about what to look for when setting up your interview subject, and then what to look for when shooting your b-roll.

*THE INTERVIEW*

The interview is the most common segment an editor will work on, but if the cameraman is inexperienced, or simply does not know what they are doing, it will almost always lead to disaster.

Here are some very important things to keep in mind when telling your cameraman what you want.

*/You always need lights and microphones/*

This may seem obvious, but believe me, it's not as obvious as you might think.  Most cameramen think that they will just throw a camera on their shoulder and go with the best available lighting, and the mic on the camera.  NEVER LET THEM DO THIS!!!!

First of all, the cameraman should be familiar with basic three-point lighting which consists of a key light - the main source of light that will illuminate your subject, a fill light which fills all the shadows left from the key light, and a back light that allows your subject to stand out from the background.

Using this lighting technique will never steer you wrong, and will always produce good looking results.

One thing to also keep in mind is that the sun, although might seem like a good idea for a light, can lead to no end of problems, as you really have no control over shadows, and you will always find your talent squinting, as it can be very bright.  Positioning your talent near a window is also not a good idea, because having the sun as your key light, will make it almost impossible to have another light act as your fill, because the sun is so strong.  Also, you will need to keep in mind that tungsten light and daylight are two different color temperatures, and you will need gels to correct either your key light (the sun) or your fill light (tungsten).  Microphones, again, might seem obvious, but is something cameramen overlook on a regular basis (take my word for it).

Make sure your cameraman always takes two microphones.  You have two channels of audio on the camera, so you might as well use them.  Depending on where you are shooting, I normally recommend a lavalier and a boom microphone.  The lav to get your subject's dialogue crisp and clean, and the boom to get the ambient sound around them.  If in doubt, you can always use two lav mic's, one as your main, and one as your backup, just in case!

*/Make sure your framing is correct/*

This is a common problem that I see cameramen run into all the time.  First of all, try to stick to medium (a little above the waist to a little over the top of your subject's head) or medium close-ups (solar plexus to a little over the top of your subject's head).  Second, never have your subject sitting in the middle of the frame.  It looks wrong in just about every way.  Decide which side of the frame you want your talent sitting on, and make sure you leave space in the frame for them to look into.

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If it is an interview segment, make sure your interviewer is sitting on the opposite side of the frame, "looking at them.

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Sticking to these basic framing principles won't steer you wrong, and will give you a nice looking interview for you to work with.

/*Keep the camera still!!*/

Just because the camera has a zoom button on it, doesn't mean you have to use it.  My own personal preference is to only change the shot when the person is done a thought, and a question is being asked.

To be perfectly honest, I am happy with having the cameraman set the shot up, start recording, and not touch the camera again until the interview is completed.

Unless you are editing an edgy, reality TV show that you want to try something different with, don't try to re-invent the wheel, as in most cases, it just won't work.

*THE B-ROLL*

Here's where the real fun begins.  Your B-Roll can make or break your piece, and there are some very simple decisions you need to make that will get you out of any tricky editorial situation.

 

/*The 1:1 Rule*/

As a rule, you should always shoot one hour of b-roll for every minute of "final product" you want.  If you want your piece to be four minutes long, you need four hours of b-roll.

Remember, this is a guideline, but anything less, and you will be shooting yourself in the foot when it comes to finding cutaways to cover your talent.

When I sit down to edit an interview segment, the first thing I do, is cut the piece so the audio sounds correct, which means I remove every "UMMM" and "AHH" and long break that people have when they are thinking of what to say.

You would be pretty amazed to look at your timeline once you have done an "UMM" pass.  You would go from having two or three edits in a minute to fifteen or twenty edits, and every one of them needs to be covered over with B-Roll, so you can see why you need all of this footage.

/*Pick your shots well*/

When it comes to your B-Roll, here is where you want the camera to be moving.  Whether it's a pan, zoom or rack focus, this is where you want things livened up.  My best suggestion for B-Roll is do not shoot the b-roll when you shoot the interview, if at all possible.  That way you can figure out what you need as static shots (establishing shots), and what you need as moving shots.

Don't hesitate to make a list to give to your cameraman that lists in detail what you need.  In most cases I will sit down with a cameraman that is shooting something for me, and give him a list of the specific shots I need, and then a list of shots I want.  Remember, there is a big difference between the two.

On your list of shots, you want to include whip pans, which are fast moving pans where your subject moves from out of frame to in frame that always look really good in slow motion, rack focuses which is where you have elements in your foreground move from being in focus to out of focus, and an element in your background moves from out of focus to in focus.

I also like having the cameramen leave the cameras on auto focus and auto iris because once you slow these shots down, you can get some really nice looking in-camera effects, which is key here.  You want to have the best looking footage with as little work as possible.

Finally, don't hesitate to give the cameraman a little flexibility when they are shooting, because remember that it is a collaborative effort, and if you have a good, experienced cameraman, your suggestions and his will make for a great final product.

A little bit of preparation and a little bit of thought will make your life easier in the edit suite when it comes to cutting your interview and choosing your B-Roll.

If there is anything you would like to know about editing techniques, feel free to drop me a line at kevin@reelclever.com , and maybe your question will be the topic of my next article.