Now do you know where it is?
When we run the face to face bootcamps we do a kind of parlor trick that proves an important point for filmmakers.
We pretend we are going to shoot a story about a restaurant.
Then we go around the room and ask everyone to name the top 7 things they would include when they shoot it.
In fact, as there are generally 40 people in each session, we end up with 40 ideas of what to shoot.
As we get to the back of the room, people are really pushing to think of things they want included in the film:
- waiters dropping trays
- the staff smoking behind the restaurant
- the chef yelling at the staff
- the bathrooms
But we make everyone think of something, no matter how much we have to push them.
When we’re done, (and I have been doing this for 20+ years), not one person ever says ‘Shoot the exterior of the building’.
And why?
Because no one cares.
Surveys prove it over and over.
No one is at all interested.
Yet when you go to ‘film school’ or ‘journalism school’ what do they tell you to begin with?
An ‘exterior shot’.
What a pile of crap.
I have spent many years working with The BBC.
The piece above actually aired on The BBC on the evening news.
It’s got plenty of ‘exterior shots’ in it.
Did you look at it?
Take a look.
Good.
Now – tell me, what is it about?
You just watched it.
I bet you don’t have the vaguest idea what it was about.
That’ because the information did not stick with you.
I used to do this at The Beeb also, to prove the point.
I would show it then offer £20 to anyone in the room who could tell me what the story they had just watched was about.
I rarely lost a penny.
The lesson here?
Forget the ‘establishing shot’. No one cares. Least of all, ironically, you.
When you open with an ‘establishing shot’ you are essentially screaming to your viewers ‘please change the channel. This is going to be really boring’.
4 Comments
Michael Rosenblum December 02, 2010
The amazing thing is that this piece actually aired on The BBC, and they have very high standards of journalism. When I use this an example, many of the reporters and producers got very defensive, pointing out that the story was well researched and completely accurate.
eb December 02, 2010
I took the time to actually watch this story. Even after reading your post revealing how nobody could tell you what the content of the story was…
I can’t either.
Amazing. That is an amazingly grand example of a throwaway visual story. Perhaps graphics might have saved it…with perhaps typed words emphasizing key points?
Radio and newspapers exist…. to tell non visual stories.
Television and video journalism exist to tell visual stories.
This is a classic example of a non visual story being told by video… and why it shouldn’t be done. It doesn’t work, and viewers will not waste their time…when they have so much more to choose from.
Eric B December 02, 2010
And forgive the spelling errors… gotta run out the door… to shoot a few shots myself… a few wide, a few tight, and a few medium!
Eric B December 02, 2010
Good point: the main goal is to keep the viewers interested in watching, keep the content compelling, etc… You don’t “need” to follow any particular rules.
But like all generalizations, it should not become a rule in iteself. In otherwords, do not avoid establishing shots… if they add to the story itself. It depends on each individual story.
Sometimes… location is inherent to the storyline. One of the GREAT things about video journalism is that viewers can be “taken to another place and time.” For instance, a person like me who grew up in a small town (672) in North Dakota, finds it fascinating to watch a story in a distant locale… another place and time… and the establishing shot very well can begin that transportation. A scene setting shot… like a street scene in Chinatown San Francisco for example…. or a mountain vista in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado… or a gritty dirty cityscape… or a sleek, sexy, clean look, etc…. etc…
These are instances in which establishing shots help the viewer get out of their space… and into another space… Very valueable tool that can be used effectively.
Content is important… but sometimes an establishing shot IS the Content you want viewers to understand and appreciate!
Certainly, you do not have to begin each story with an establishing shot… you want to grab their attention and keep it… no matter what. But again, each story is different and establishing shots have their usefulness.