Part Two: the Cameras
So… you’re eagerly awaiting the chance to record your life history; telling your story for the enjoyment and education of your children or grandchildren… and because the whole experience of being a TV personality is just great fun! The lights have been set, you’ve been offered a dab or two of stage make up …. And now the cameras are in place around you. The first tip is to avoid talking directly into the camera lens in front of you. Instead, the director will have his face just to one side of the lens, and will ask that you chat directly to him, keeping your eyeline on his eyes as he prompts you to reflect on your life experiences thus far. It’s a standard television interview technique, designed to stop you unnerving your audience by staring straight out of the screen and piercingly into their eyes. The fact that the viewers in this case will be only the family and friends with whom you share your film does not mean that they won’t find your eyeline disturbing!
“The most important thing is putting everyone at their ease,” says Remarkable Lives director, Robert Strange. “Everyone’s a little nervous at first - but then they realise that we edit out any small mistake, and that we can start over again – and again – at any time, and they just relax and enjoy it. I sometimes tell clients about my own television bloopers, such as the time I held a baby gorilla for a news report from London zoo... and the camera showed us all why baby gorillas wear diapers when their keepers are picking them up. For these films we just want the client to chat about their life story… with no risk of a ruined set of clothes.”
You’ll notice that the main camera has a baby brother on a tripod off to one side. That’s recording as well, so that the editor has two different views which he can intercut when we want to snip out a stumbled word, a glance, a cough, sneeze… or a story that perhaps shouldn’t have been told as the interview unfolds. You have total control over what stories you tell, what is included in your film… and what is left out. We all have complex lives these days, and some memories may best be left on the cutting room floor. That is where the magic of TV and the magic of having two cameras truly comes into its own, allowing you to chat about whatever you like in the knowledge that our Remarkable Lives team have only one mission in life: to make YOU look and sound as good as you are in real life!
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