In Willy's last message he mentioned asking someone else to shoot the scenes where he appears in his next movie. That is indeed the usual way to do it ... but regular contributor to this forum, Ian Gardner, has made several movies where he is the lead performer or is conducting interviews. I think this is unusual.
For specialised purposes many movie makers have done this:
I think Ken Wilson, Ken McRonald and John Astin also shot themselves when they recorded thoughts on judges for a talk I was giving. (Richard Curry also contributed but I believe Gerald Mee shot his piece.)
Many top fiction film makers recorded themselves for Ken Wilson's DVD to accompany his articles on film making. (It's in the IAC video library as V302 (MiniDV) V303 (DVD) "Take One".)
Albert Noble included himself in sequences for his tutorial on animation. (Also in the library V299 (VHS) / V300 (S-VHS) / V301 (MiniDV - 2 tapes) "Animation Animates Any Mate".)
I did it for the collection of British movies I assembled for our German speaking friends a few years ago.
Many judges do it if they cannot attend the presentation ceremonies for the awards.
But for "normal" use in documentaries and fiction movies ... has anyone else included themselves without asking another person to direct those scenes?
Dave
Shooting Yourself !
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Ian Gardner
Re: Shooting Yourself !
As David said, I shoot myself. The good thing with modern video cameras is that they have a nice large screen you can swivel round. If I needed a panning shot of myself then I would be in trouble but.... When theres a will, there`s a way. I would have to come up with something. Even making some kind of gadget to do this.
With cameras having remote control, zooming and focus are no problem if you can get your hand out of shot. I would love to go on a `proper` shoot, but I also love doing things myself. When you make a film, ideas come
flooding in while I`m making the film. These are written down or locked up in the brain. Working like this could be chaotic for someone else because things are done soo fast when working by yourself. Just a blur!
Ian Gardner
With cameras having remote control, zooming and focus are no problem if you can get your hand out of shot. I would love to go on a `proper` shoot, but I also love doing things myself. When you make a film, ideas come
flooding in while I`m making the film. These are written down or locked up in the brain. Working like this could be chaotic for someone else because things are done soo fast when working by yourself. Just a blur!
Ian Gardner
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Ken Wilson
Re: Shooting Yourself !
Quite right Dave. I have shot myself a few times. (No suicidal implications here of course.)
The reason for this is that I am hopeless in front of a camera and need lots of takes to get something half decent. I rehearse and rehearse and memorise what I am going to say.There is no script and no "idiot" board, but I find that constant repetion makes me remember it so that I eventually get something usable. I find a point of reference to look at off camera, so that the eye lines look right.
Ken.
The reason for this is that I am hopeless in front of a camera and need lots of takes to get something half decent. I rehearse and rehearse and memorise what I am going to say.There is no script and no "idiot" board, but I find that constant repetion makes me remember it so that I eventually get something usable. I find a point of reference to look at off camera, so that the eye lines look right.
Ken.