Have you ever had footage completely ruined by a shaking camera?

After this series of lessons, you’ll no longer have problems with one of the main reasons why a lot of amateur movies don’t look good.

You can take your shots in two different ways: the static and the dynamic one, as i call them.

To make a static shot, you don’t need to be behind the camera. You just aim your camera at the scene, and do the acting while your camera is recording. For example, if you want to film a pursuit scene, you place the camera somewhere and just run past it. This technique is used a lot in michiel’s shortfilm ‘The Box’. I’ll show you a ‘tool’ you can make to more easily aim your camera, without buying a tripod.

To make a dynamic shot, you move your camera so that your lens follows your actors. For this you can use a tripod, or a dolly (see part 4!)

Tool #1:

Let’s start with the easy one.

Shopping list:

• A plastic bag (If possible with a press-to-close zipper)
• Flour or sand
• Duct tape or double sided tape

Fill a plastic bag 3/4 with the flour or the sand. Then, stick double sided tape on the inside of the bag and close it, fold the open side around and stick some duct tape on it or if you’ve got a bag with a press-to-close zipper, seal it and stick some duct tape on it, for double protection. If you now want to film those running feet without having to place your camera in the mud, just put your bag on the ground, place the camera on it, press it in the sand/flour and aim it to your scene.

No more cameras filled with mud.

Thijs Vandenbussche

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