How to Shoot a First-Person POV Shot

[m.avidov]

I was hoping someone could let me in on how you shoot from a
first-person point-of-view, (giving the illusion that we are seeing through the character's eyes- literally).

The scene I have to shoot is of a person lighting a cigarette- we see the hand ("our" hand) take a cigarette out, light it, etc.

Any advice would be very appreciated.

 

[laurent.a]

Well... that's interesting because many students or new filmmakers are often interested into what we call in French the "subjective shot".

It is actually a very difficult filming form.

The point is: will the spectator understand the shot the way you want him to?

There's nothing so obvious like "it is this character's POV", not just any POV.

What I learned (at school and from experience):

- Don't put just one shot in your sequence that is from the character's POV, introduce it, make people understand you are taking this POV, and then, afterward, from there, go smoothly to another POV. A good way to do it is to begin a shot from a "normal" POV, and then move the camera to the subjective one, in the very same shot, tracking, for instance.

- There is a sad tendency to use hand-held for this kind of POV. Some people might have arguments to defend that, I don't know. What I think is that when we look through our eyes, we don't see things moving like a hand held shot would show us.

- Apparently, the fact of not seeing the character in the very foreground of a shot, that could be a very reasonable parameter for characterizing such a shot is not so necessary. The fact of seeing it, in the other hand, and even strange, helps to understand it's his POV... (but we wouldn't call it subjective ok)

- The main thing could be only to respect the character's POV, that is: show what he sees; and the perspective, focal length, viewing angle, of the human eye.

I really would like to have other cinematographers... POV on the question!

 

[m.avidov]

Thank you for the reply.

But actually I was hoping that someone could give me more technical tips, or refer me to some written text on the subject. However, any reply is greatly appreciated.

 

[laurent.a]

What do you mean about technical tips? The lens that would give you the approximate field of view of the human eye? Do you plan this sequence to be all subjective or cut different shots? What rhythm do you feel it should have? What is the background like? Is it night or day?...

 

[m.avidov]

Thank you for your interest.

The background: Night, an alley way lit mostly by street lamps.
Shot in black and white.

The sequence will be flowing and straightforward, telling the story from an outsider's p.o.v (the narrator); and so literally cut from many still shots, but only to create a sort of "flowing" motion to it.

I would like it to have a sort of easy-going rhythm, something that doesn't immediately indicate what kind of movie this is.

By technical tips I mean something along the line of: where do I put the camera? Do I attach it onto the actor, and if so how? etc.

Also I was thinking of an idea combining video and stop-motion through After Effects- so that the background is all built of stills (giving it a 2D effect) and the characters are literally using it as a backdrop by them being shot in video.
If anyone has any experience with this sort of thing, I'd love to read about it.

 

[laurent.a]

the sequence will be flowing and straight-foward, telling the story from an outsider's p.o.v (the narrator); and so literally cut from many still shots, but only to create a sort of "flowing" motion to it.

I would like it to have a sort of easy-going rythm,

Mind that if you have many shots intercutting with one another, you might not get such a "flowing" atmosphere. The cuts cut the action, not make it "flow" (if I understand you well)

Each shot has to be justified somehow, by what it shows. If you cut and move the camera from one place to another, it's usually because you have to change this location to show us what you want us to see... unless you want some kind of speedy sequence, with many short shots, but I don't think it's what you wanted.

One thing I wonder about, as you don't say it clearly is if your character is walking or not.

Then, when you ask

where do I put the camera? do I attach it onto the actor, and if so how? etc.

The fact that the guy's walking or not is a major parameter here right?

The main question

where do I put the camera?

is actually a question nobody can answer but you. If you plan to do it as a "filmmaker" I consider it is actually even may be the only thing that you and nobody else should know.

But you see that if you put the questions the right way, even just put them, then answers will certainly come to your mind easier...

At this point what you may do is just imagine what you see on the screen. Then it will be the very starting point of it.

So, what do you see? And when does he light his cigarette?

You see, I think that a major difficulty for beginners sometimes is to imagine what they'll see on the screen. When you've done it's much easier.

But you only can imagine that after you have very carefully precised the action in its very details...

What do you see?

 

[jlamarking]

Keep in mind too, that in a shot such as someone lighting a cigarette from their perspective, the camera essentially would need to be where the person's head would be.

You could cheat the camera over their shoulder or opt for a looser semi- POV style. Like shooting a high angle ECU insert in the direction of the character's sight line, where the character pulls a cig from the pack. Then shoot an ECU from behind the character that includes a bit of the face, cigarette and hands as he lights up.

 

[laurent.a]

You see M. King, of course it is some kind of what we would obviously do... The thing is I sort of wanted this student to find it by himself. Don't you agree that if he would first have in mind what he wants to see, then it would have been easier and more convenient to help him then? The thing is I might have been wrong in the way I put it as this fellow was going on the dialog but after my last post the 2nd of September, he never showed up again... Too bad. Maybe he had to give his exercise within shorter delays anyway...

 

[jlamarking]

You see M. King, of course it is somekind of what we would obviously do... The thing is I sort of wanted this student to find it buy himself. Don't you agree that if he would first have in mind what he wants to see, then it would have been easier and more convenient to help him then ? The thing is I might have been wrong in the way I put it as this fellow was going on the dialog but after my last post the 2nd of september, he never showed up again... Too bad. May be he had to give his exercise within shoter delays anyway...

I think you put it fine. I just wanted to weigh in with some thoughts that maybe could trigger some ideas for the student. I hope no one ever takes any of my suggestions for shots or lighting as rote instruction. I'm just trying to make visual suggestions. The way you put this is certainly true...

The main question
Quote: where do I put the camera?

is actually a question nobody can answer but you. If you plan to do it as a "filmmaker" I consider it is actually even may be the only thing that you and nobody else should know.

I just wanted to point out that a POV shot doesn't always have to be exactly from a character's sight line. A series of narrow angle shots can be used to suggest a POV sequence.

 

[m.avidov]

Thank you for both of your advice, by the way THIS student is a she.
I will take all things into consideration and probably find my own way of combining all methods, thanks again.

 

[laurent.a]

Nice to see you back, Miss (Sorry about that)!

Welcome again...

Can you tell us more about your studies in Israel?

You can post here for data concerning the different schools in the world

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