Camera Angles

Camera Angles For Piece To Cameras

Piece to cameras are great for Company Announcements, Presentations and Training Videos. Learn how camera angles can make all the difference to your next piece to camera video.

Video Transcript

Hey, guys, it’s Jimmy from Moco And today we’re going to be looking at camera angles and framing specifically for piece to camera videos like this, where you have a subject talking to camera.

Okay, so piece. to cameras are great for company announcements, presentations, and training videos. The shot you typically start with is a straight on mid shot like this. The camera’s been set up to be eye level. The subject’s framed in the middle of frame, and the shot is wide enough that it includes the subject’s waist and captures hand gestures. And there’s a comfortable amount of space between the top of the subject’s head and the edge of frame.

Now, this is a great starting shot. It’s neutral, it feels conversational, and this is our go to first shot for all the cameras. Now, if you’re going to be editing this video and you are shooting it in 4K resolution or higher, you have the option to create a second camera angle from your straight on mid shot. I’ll explain how this works.

If you’re editing your 4K video footage in a typical 1920 by 1080 timeline, you will already be resizing your footage from 100% to 50% when you bring it into the edit. So if you scale this footage back up to 100% and then reposition your shot, you get yourself a whole other camera angle. You’ve created a close up straight on shot from your mid shot. And the best part is you’ve done it with a single camera. So your subject’s eyeline is direct to camera in both shots.

Now, let’s make things more engaging by bringing in a second camera to create a third camera angle, a wide shot. The camera is being positioned at about a 45 degree angle to me, and in this example we’ve gone for a wide shot that captures almost my entire body. This angle provides some relief from the straight on shot, as the subject is not looking directly into the lens here. And whilst it’s not a shot you stay down for a long time, because of the lack of eye contact and distance from the subject which makes it less engaging, if you use the shot sparingly. It makes the overall video feel more dynamic and engaging.

We also like to take our wide shots a step further by putting our camera on a motorised camera truck. This adds a cinematic movement to the shot, giving it some polish, and it really complements the other static angles.

One quick tip for positioning additional cameras. When you have a subject looking directly into your main camera, it’s important to not put any of your additional cameras too close to your first camera. If you do as we’ve done here, your subject’s eyeline will feel very close to the camera but will not be into the camera. This can be a little awkward, as if the presenter’s distracted by something or mistakenly looking at the wrong spot. So to avoid any confusion, it’s much better to have your subject’s eyeline either directly to camera or very obviously off camera.

Okay, so those three angles from your two cameras should have you nicely covered. If you’re like us and want to take things to the next level, then you can bring in a third camera with a long lens and use this to capture either a close up 45 degree shot of your subject’s face, or some close up shots of their hand gestures. Adding some gentle movement to the camera for these shots can look really nice, and it’s also a great way to break up your video and make it even more engaging.

So there you have it. A quick guide to camera angles for your next piece to camera. If you found this helpful be sure to like and share. Leave any questions in the comments and stay tuned for our next video.