To hand-hold or not to hand-hold. . . that is the question

[Stephen Pruitt]

Hi all. . .

I'm in a bit of a dilemma.

I am going to be shooting our next feature in a month, and I'm a bit puzzled how to do it.

I love the look of hand-held for some scenes, but maybe not others. How odd is it to use hand-held in some scenes, but not others?

Stranger, I have one scene that has two very different characters: One emotional, one calm. How strange would it be to use hand-held on the one character but not on the reverse when shooting the calm actor?

Sorry for the strange question, but I'm torn between my loves for the Dardenne's and Ida.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Stephen

 

[A. Clint Litton]

Probably good to shoot a test scene where you mix handheld and tripod/dolly/steadi...you may be able to fine tune the use of this method in a way that doesn't adversely affect your shooting days or budget or time with actors. In general I don't think it's terribly odd to have both handheld and non used within the same film, so I guess the bigger question is how well it is employed and for what reasons within a single scene. But I think so long as it's not haphazardly done, it can work. Of course, testing and cutting together a test scene could save you a lot of trouble and headaches down the road, and get you closer to how you'd like to approach the real shooting days. Good luck!

 

[Jake Wilganowski]

Can absolutely work. Moving the camera enhances emotion, so do it in whatever way is needed. Mix it up!

 

[George Bellamy]

It depends on what emotion you are trying to capture. Does the emotion change throughout the scenes? Do you want the viewer to feel more immersed in the story? Handheld is mostly used in action (from what I have found, please do correct me if I am wrong). It makes the viewer feel the action of the seen more; hence portraying a different emotion, instead of it static. It would give the sense of the viewer over seeing the action. Instead of being apart of the action in the scene

 

[Marc Wielage]

It's all about context. I've seen shows where they only use handheld in fast-paced action scenes, and everything else is either steadicam or dollies. I personally think that the danger of excessive handheld is that it calls a lot of attention to itself. Shaky-camera in particular.

 

[Joe D'Arcy]

I suggest to use handheld during action scenes and intense emotional moments where the characters are struggling within themselves.

 

[John Brawley]

I just did a series where we had a kind of rough rule that the closeups were hand held and the wider frames were production mode.

The closer and more intimate we were, the more "loose" we were. The wider we were the more "solid" the shots were. It really came from a personal pet peeve of mine when I see hand held wide shots. It really was a solution for that,
but it worked pretty well, and you don't really even notice the difference till it's pointed out. Every scene was shot with this coverage pretty much....

I remember thinking the great french film La Haine was all hand held but when I went back and looked at it it was kind of the opposite. All the energy was coming from the actors in the scene but the camera was still.

Can you identify why you like some shots more than others ? Is it for the emotional reaction . That it's a scene supporting or scene counterpoint to what's happening ? Is it coming from the "drama" or just a visual snafu you don't like ? it's not at all unusual for scene coverage to be a counterpoint or the opposite of the literal......Maybe the scene action is still but going hand held for the coverage brings a subtle tension that's reflected in the subtext of the scene ?

JB

 

[Hugh Scully]

At the end of "Seven" Brad Pitt is shot handheld and Kevin Spacey is locked off so there's precedent even for Fincher who rarely uses a hand-held camera.

I choose by thinking of the camera as a witness for the viewer: is it to be detached and observant, without judgement or inflection? That formal studio camera is an impartial witness. Is it involved, like another person in the room standing right there - invested, like an individual, breathing, shifting slightly to "read" the person better? Then a gentle hand-held is great.

I think mixing them is fine but you have to think about it. In fact I wish, on my last, which is all hand-held, I had locked off a couple of wides as John thought to. So I'm stabilizing a couple of them.

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

Thanks guys. . . this is all very helpful!

Stephen