Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Chapter Sixteen Visual and Multimedia Storytelling 509 The Five-Shot Method Just as still photographers memorize “Tight, medium, wide, action, reaction, get the moment,” videographers memorize “Hands, face, wide, over the shoulder, creative.” Remember to hold each of these shots for at least 10 seconds or through the completed action. 1. Hands. Get close and shoot what the hands are doing. For example, a school administrator is checking off names as students enter a dance. Show the administrator’s hands flipping through the printed pages, using a finger to scan down the page and find a name, then using a highlighter to mark the name on the list. 2. Face. Now the viewer wants to know, “Whose hands are those?” The next shot in the sequence is of the administrator’s face, a close shot, so the individual’s full body is not seen. Make sure both eyes are in the shot. 3. Wide. Show the reader where and when the action takes place. Show the administrators sitting at a table at the entrance, and show part of the line of students waiting to be checked in. Follow the 180 degree rule and do not cross the axis line you established, so if the administrator is photographed from his left in the previous shots, he should still be facing left in your wider shot. 4. Over-the-shoulder. Use the administrator’s shoulder as a frame and give the viewer a shot of the action from the point of view of your subject, the administrator. Capture part of the administrator’s shoulder and the back of her head in the foreground, with the check- in list and his hands in the middle ground and students lined up in the background. 5. Creative. Potentially the best shot in the sequence, this shot may use lines, angles, lighting or framing. Capture a visually unique part of the story. If you are shooting a dance check-in sequence, use the long, winding line as a leading line to the administrator who is at the top-right center of interest, using the rule of thirds. Hands Face Wide Over-the-shoulder Creative Courtesy of Amy Ding, Monta Vista High School