Slow motion, natural wipe, close up and a personal interview, all of these were elements that were included in the documentary above.
The first clip of the video was of Mr. Sauce stretching, a very normal shot that was done artistically: First a medium shot of his hands on the ground, the sun and his shadow dancing in the background, following a close up of his face and finally a shot from above as he runs into frame and out of frame. If noticed, the first few clips are all slow-motioned, the first thing that I immediately thought about was the video ‘Slomo’, which Wes presented during class a few weeks ago.
Throughout the first 52 seconds, the subject is running into frame and out of frame, the videographer capturing him in different angels shots, such as the ones at 0:46 where the ‘frame-within-a-frame’ composition was used, and 0:54, where the videographer allowed the doves to enter the frame, which seemed to not only create great visual but also useful background noise.
What I find really hard to do, as I go out for shoots is natural wipe. Most of the time, when someone other than my main subject walks into frame, I quickly move the camera thinking that I lost a really good shot, not realizing that this could be a natural wipe. The video above was a great reminder that if someone or something else is entering the frame, then I should use it to my benefit.
Wes has mentioned multiple times during class that we shouldn’t be afraid of being creative and try to get footage from daring angels and I witnessed that through this video. For instance, the shot at 2:19, instead of filming the train moving by, the videographer shot it from below and used the Nat sound to his benefit.
Also, storytelling is an important part of this video. Mr. Sauce, even though we don’t see a one-on-one interview, is speaking with a clear voice, sharing a story that makes you care about him and also creates questions that you keep asking yourself, such as what is he doing in America, why can’t he go back home and why is he running?
This video is great because it’s a reminder that it’s okay to get strange angels, it’s okay if something unexpected happens during your shoot, t’s okay if you get closer to your subject and play around with the focus. Keep in mind that you could always end up using it to your benefit and in a creative method.