Confusing or Frustrating Techniques

It’s not difficult to confuse, frustrate or antagonize your audience!

The frustrated audience

Don’t leave your audience feeling that they are missing interesting subjects. It’s better to keep items out of shot than have the viewer tantalized at being unable to see them properly, Regular frustrations include;

• Subjects soft-focused, partly hidden (masked), or shadowed.

• Subjects that merge with the background.

• Shots too distant to see the subject properly.

• Titling or graphics that are not held for long enough for you to read.

• Occasions when book titles, or an interesting-looking notice in the background, are nearly sharp enough to read.

• Watching a cook, instead of what he is cooking.

• Situations that dwell on one feature for too long, when there are many others to be seen.

• Demonstrators preoccupied with putting on a performance, rather than getting on with the job.

• Occasions when the camera concentrates on a commentator, instead of showing us the interesting surroundings.

Promises, promises!

Don’t seem to promise what you don’t deliver! A long shot of an art gallery where we never see the exhibits close to is infuriating. When looking at interesting items, it is frustrating to be told that there’s no time to see more – especially if the program continues with a trivial item.

Annoying attitudes

• The speaker who always ‘sincerely’ parrots the same old opening phrase; e.g. ‘Hello and good evening’.

• The speaker who appears to be busy, and not ready for us; e.g. ‘Hello. I’ll be with you in just a moment.’

• An interviewer who is more preoccupied with notes than the guest.

• An interviewer who handles a guest’s exhibits carelessly or casually.

Unseen happenings

It can be very frustrating when you know that there is interesting action nearby, but you can’t hear or see it properly, because the camera is watching something else!

Wrong camera

• Performers who are cued wrongly, and have already started, or stand with ‘egg on the face’, wondering what to do.

• A cut to an unrelated subject or viewpoint.

• A new person speaks, but the camera remains on an irrelevant shot.

• We see just a glimpse of the actual subject, then someone talks about it instead of showing it!

Puzzling shots

• Don’t leave the viewer wondering what he is supposed to be looking at.

• Avoid too many different things happening in the same shot (split centers of attention).

Background contrast

Hand-held items are often shot against an unsuitable background – a tone or hue that is too similar to the sybject, or of confusing pattern. By holding it against a suitable backgroynd, visual clarity is improved.

Clarity of viewpoint

Is the camera viewpoint the optimum for the particular aspects to be shown? Any of these could be appropriate. It depends on the point to be made.