About Face

When we’re interacting with people, we spend most our time looking at their face. It has expressions on it, we can see what they are looking at, and plus it’s the part that makes all the noise. If you are making a movie, you’ll naturally have most of your shots framed for your actors’ face.

But when we interact with people, we do take in more than the face. We see body language, we hear their voice, we notice little details about them, like a scratch on their arm. Think about it: if you’ve ever gone people watching, you’ve probably watched entire stories play out before you without ever seeing the person head on, and yet you were able to figure not just what was happening, but also some of the subtleties.

What this means is that if you need to choose between seeing a character's face and some artistic decision, you can decide against the face. This also means you can actively seek options outside of the shoulders and up.

So, first, remember to get details other than the hero’s head. A close-up of a hand compassionately touching someone’s arm, for example, could be a much more effective shot than the accompanying facial expression. Feet are also excellent candidates for inserts – it’s the starting point of a lot of action. Cutaways of other characters in the room, but who aren’t involved in the scene, could fit under this same umbrella; sometime it’s more interesting to see how your heroes are effecting world than it is to see how the world effects them.

And, second, don’t be afraid to *not* make the face the center of your frame. It doesn’t need to be properly exposed, it can go to full silhouette at time. Also, a character can be completely out of focus, if you want. Or maybe you only see part of their face, like just an eye or their mouth. I don’t mean necessarily using an Extreme Close-up, but let objects obstruct the view.

All of this needs to be appropriate to your movie, of course, and sometimes a film is best when you just let the characters perform. But you’d be surprised how much you can push this rule. The most powerful image you have available often doesn't include anyone's eyes. Don't be afraid to use it.

Andy