Chapter Eight

A Few Words of Advice

  • Know the Rules Before You Break the Rules
  • The Reason for Shooting is Editing
  • Your Shots Should Enhance the Entire Story
  • Involve the Viewer as Much as Possible
  • Take Pride in the Quality of Your Work and Your Set Etiquette
  • Know Your Equipment
  • Be Familiar with Your Subject
  • Understand Lighting – Both Natural and Artificial
  • Study What Has Already Been Done

This book has presented some of the basic rules of visual grammar in filmmaking, defined a number of different shot types, and offered some basic working practices. None of this material is carved in stone and much of it is open to interpretation. Different people may call things by different names or choose to approach things in slightly different ways. Elaboration, ...

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