Giving head…room

London cabbies call this the Kipper Season, when business slows down a bit, so I’ve taken time to reflect and put pen to paper.
I’ve heard that blogs should let the punters know what they want and not what I want to sell them, so here we go!

I recently received these images of a 2 camera shoot. The close up is OK, but slightly heavy on the head room, however, the wider shot is definitely out of order, far too much head room. The subject is forced down the frame and appears diminished and small.
Furthermore when you cut between both shots the image jumps and the flow is interrupted.

The pictures below would be my suggestion:

When I challenged the DP he said the onsite producer approved the shots. A word of caution, many producers are content driven and not too hot on cinematic language. The DP, however, calls the shots and is responsible for the images. He has to see the full picture and how his images work in editing.

So, all you shooters out there….dont give so much headroom.