Shooting in your apartment or home can look great if you have the right tools and tricks at your disposal. What I’ve found makes video interesting, is creating depth in the shots. Flat shots on painted sheet rock walls are boring and don’t engage the eyes visually. Ever wonder why a lot of studios and sets use brick walls or textured bricks as a background (old school…I know)? Because it creates depth and realness to the eyes. Shots with depth create realism for our eyes since we see in 3D, not in a 2D flat world.
So, if you want to shoot at home, the first thing you should consider is what’s in your background to create depth. Obviously shooting outside is the natural remedy to creating depth, but if you can’t shoot outside you need to be creative inside or even use a green/blue screen. Here’s a studio with a textured wall and monitor which gives the feeling of depth for the shot:
The textured walls and monitors create layers to the shot, thus making the talent stand out or pop. Now you probably won’t have a studio like this at home, but here’s a few things you can do to create depth:
- Never shoot against a flat solid color wall. If you have to, shoot in the corner. The intersection creates depth.
- Use props in the shot to create depth. For example, sit in a chair with a small table in the background that has a lamp on it.
- If you have to shoot against a flat wall, make sure the talent is positioned on an angle and not directly flat or along the same line as the wall. Ideally talent should be between 10-40 degrees perpendicular to the wall, which will help create some depth.
- Be mindful of camera placement as it to should be on an angle and never dead on flat with the talent. These shots are typically used to establish a scene followed by varied angled shots to make the story telling more engaging.
- Shoot with a good lenses that enhances the depth of field on the talent. With the background slightly blurred, depth is created automatically.
With these simple tips, you can create more engaging content at home without having a huge studio or set. Also, if shooting against a green screen, depth will be created by the background selected, so this is more a concern in production (live or post). The next trick to create interesting shots involves lighting which we’ll touch on in another article.
