Working With Directors of Photography

Welcome back to “Working With…” My goal with this series is to give people who might be asked to produce video projects, like communications people, a window into how a producer thinks through a project. In this article, I’m going to talk about working with Directors of Photography, or “DPs.” These people are instrumental to bringing your creative vision to life. They’ll determine what camera gear, techniques and other resources will be needed to accomplish your goals and, in most cases, they will be operating the camera on your day(s) of filming. If you’re leading a video project, it is important to give your DP as clear a picture of what you’re envisioning as you can. You also need to give them enough time, resources and flexibility to do their best work. Building a strong working relationship with a DP can be instrumental in getting great creative results. Over time, the process of prepping for shoots becomes easier when you have more experience working together.

Learn the Creative Language of Video

Conveying your creative ideas to a DP can be challenging, particularly if you are not used to putting the visual ideas you have in your head into words. You can start by talking to your DP about your audience, your goals and perhaps most importantly the emotion you want your audience to feel. If you want your video to have a sense of realism, you might want to follow your subject using a handheld camera and rely heavily on natural light. For another audience, you may want your subjects to appear heroic, which might involve capturing slow-motion footage. Think about pacing as well. Are you imagining something fast paced, or slower and more contemplative? Showing the DP examples of the kind of videos you want to emulate can also be very helpful. This will allow your DP to determine what gear and personnel they’ll need to make your creative ideas a reality.

While there are certainly creative implications to how things are shot, there are also logistical implications. If you’re filming interviews and want your audience to focus intently on the person speaking, you may want the background of your interview to be soft and defocused. To achieve that, you’ll need to film in a room big enough to place your subject many feet in front of the wall or corner behind them. The DP will be limited in their ability to deliver that look if the only space available in which to film is an 8’ x 10’ office. Ultimately, you want to work together to make sure all the right pieces are in place for your day(s) of filming. ?

Think Beyond What People Are Going to Say

Think about what you’re going to show, not just what people are going to say. This is easier said than done if you haven’t done many video projects, but it’s crucial to making videos with greater impact. The two-column script format I use forces me to put visual ideas alongside what I’m expecting my interview subject or narrator to say.

Let’s imagine that we’re producing a video about an organization’s culture. You can certainly interview someone about teamwork as a company strength, but your video will be more impactful if you’re also able to show footage of the team working together, collaborating, engaging in a fun activity, etc. Show, don’t tell whenever possible. Don’t be afraid to run ideas or concepts past your DP and ask for visual suggestions. He or she might be able to help you develop out-of-the-box ideas to help illustrate your subject visually.

When conducting interviews, formulate concise questions. This should help your interview subjects give succinct answers that will be easier to edit. If you know your interviews are going to be long, don’t underestimate how much footage you might need to cover them.

Work Out Logistics

Once you know more about how you’re going to shoot your project, you’ll know how many people will be on your crew and approximately how much gear they’ll be bringing. That’ll allow you to start figuring out the logistics involved in your shoot. I learned to do this through a lot of conversations with DPs while planning past projects. Before each shoot, I ask myself questions such as:

• How will the crew load their gear into the location? Will they need to use a loading dock, or can they use the main elevator? Is there a specific door the client prefers us to use?
• Where will the crew park?
• Is the clearance in the garage high enough to account for the crew’s vehicles?
• When it’s time to break for lunch, is there someplace close by or should we plan to have food delivered?
• Will power be readily available in the filming location?
• Will weather be a concern on the day of the shoot?

Solve as many potential problems as you can in advance. DPs (and Gaffers) typically have a lot of gear, and while they usually transport it on rolling carts, it’s not easy to move heavy carts from place to place. You run the risk of falling behind early in the day if one or more crew members need to scramble to find parking, move cars to avoid tickets, or move gear a long distance. Having an orderly, predictable start to the day helps put everyone in a good mood as well.

It might seem strange to worry about lunch in advance, but don’t discount the importance of feeding the crew. Video production is physical labor that involves moving heavy gear and lots of lifting and bending. Always build a lunch break into the day and when possible, have snacks and coffee on hand too.

Build a Realistic Schedule

You will never get all your gear loaded into a location and set-up and ready for filming in 30 minutes. Scheduling interviews back-to-back-to-back at too-close intervals won’t allow much wiggle room if one of your interview subjects is running late. Moving from location to location takes a while. When in doubt, I run the schedule by my DP to make sure it gives the crew a realistic window of time in which to do what I’m asking them to do.

The DP is the person with the most control over what your footage will ultimately look like. Work with them to determine what you’re going to shoot and how you’re going to shoot it. Push yourself to think visually. Then, make sure you’re giving your crew the time and resources it needs to deliver your creative vision.

Thank you to Dave Goulding for his input for this article.

Sue O’Hora is a writer, producer and director with over 20 years of experience. She founded Rising Night Productions to streamline the video production process for busy communications professionals. She brings her extensive network of video experts and her skills in production, project management and digital marketing to each project. Her goal is to make video projects easier for organizations of all sizes.