A close-up look at wideshots

I hate wideshots! I just do. I think they make news stories, or any other kind of video, look bland and boring to watch. I know this goes against the conventional wisdom for news shooting, but I would much prefer to establish something using an interesting mid-shot or close-up than a tedious, empty wideshot.

So many pieces I see on the local news begin with an infuriating wideshot of a police car with its lights on and nothing happening. The problem here is, not only is nothing happening, but it looks just like every other package on the local news. An editor could use the same picture every single night and noone would notice (not that you should do that because it would be unethical). And when a story is actually interesting (not a gas station shooting or home invasion), then why spoil it by using boring wideshots.

If you're not shooting a news story or VNR, and your video is for a corporate client, then you are somewhat freer to use more imagination and less vacuous wideshots. But if you're a news shooter, here are some tips I've compiled on how to liven up your work:

1) Don't open with a wideshot.
OK, so wide shots are meant to establish something - a building, a location, whatever - and let the viewer see the big picture of what is going on. But that doesn't mean it should be the first thing the viewer sees. Take, for example, a story I did recently on turtle harvesting in Florida. Would you start with a wideshot of non-descript lake in Florida (and they all look the same), or tight close-ups of cute turtles writhing around? Of course, you'd pick the turtles! No question. If you want to use a wideshot of the lake to establish where you are, do that a few shots into the story. Script the piece so that you don't have to open with it. Open with the story (ie., turtles), not the lake.

2) Keep the wideshots to a minimum.
In addition to not opening with wideshots, just keep their use to a minimum. In a 90 second news item, I don't want to see more than one or two wideshots in the entire piece, assuming there is actual interesting subject matter to film. If there isn't, then I think it's probably not a story worth doing for television. Close-ups make for much more compelling shots most of the time.

3) Make the most of the wideshot.
Do something with the wideshot. Put in a move of some kind to keep the viewer engaged. If there is something happening, make sure it's happening when you're rolling.

4) Don't keep the wideshot up for too long.
If I see another news package in which a wideshot of a police car is kept on the screen for two full sentences of VO, I am going to kill myself. I would recommend holding a wideshot for maybe three seconds before cutting to a close-up. The close-up you cut to doesn't have to be fascinating. It can just be something within the wideshot - just don't keep the wideshot up there for longer than absolutely necessary.

5) Don't close with a wideshot.
This is the easiest crutch to use. When you've crafted your beautifully written closing sentence, don't screw it up by laying over a crappy picture. Keep the viewer interested until the last second of the piece. Slow close-ups of your interesting subjects (turtles or whatever it may be) right up until the end.

6) Use a tripod!
I dislike wideshots at the best of times. I dislike wideshots that are shaky even more! If you're going to bore me with a wideshot, at least shoot it holding the camera still.

7) Make your close-ups beautiful.
You don't have long to tell the story. You'll probably have to use some wideshots, so make the most of the rest of the time you have to show really stunning close-ups. Again, keep them steady - no shakycam. Take time to frame the shots well, don't use automatic focusing, and try to make the depth of field as large as possible by opening the iris to the maximum and adjusting the light intake using gain, shutter speed and ND filters. It really makes items shot close-up pop out of the screen.

You may think I'm overreacting a little in my distain for wideshots. But I just think far too may shooters use them as an excuse to not have to do any real work while out on an assignment. That don't impress me much.