Instruction manual

A Wide shot of a stage would show the entire stage, and all of the band members. A
Wide shot of a performer would show the person from head to toe.
A Medium shot of a stage would show a smaller area, and fewer band members. A
Medium shot of a performer would show the person from the waist-up.
A Close-Up shot would show a performer from the shoulders-up, or a guitarist’s hands
and part of the guitar, during a lead solo.
An Extreme Close-Up is a very tight shot. An example would be a person’s face or a
ring on a finger.
Shot Description examples: “Close-up of Lead Vocalist’s face, then slow Zoom Out to
show from shoulders-up”; “Close-Up of Guitarist’s hands during solo”. Include any
camera moves when writing down a Shot Description on the Beat Sheet.
SCENE DESCRIPTION - The action that should take place when taping a scene. As a
Director, you should discuss the action with the performers and crew, before each Take.
Examples: “John looks nonchalant as the fire-breathing dragon crashes into the stage”;
“Paul runs from stage left to stage right”; “Olivia should maintain eye contact with
camcorder lens while singing”.
CAMERA ANGLES - Low, Eye Level, High
A Low angle camera position shoots up at a performer, and makes them appear
important, in charge, larger than life, etc. (Imagine standing front row center at a major
concert, looking up at a performer.)
An Eye Level angle camera position is the perspective of standing there eye to eye with a
performer.
A High angle camera position shoots down on a performer. It is often used to make
someone look less important.
CUT - When watching videotape playback, a Cut is an instant transition from one shot to
the next. Editing involves the use of a Cuts-Only editing system, which can play back
only one Source tape at a time. Editing with this type of system is simply a matter of
copying shots - one at a time - from the Source tapes onto the Master videotape. A Cut is
the point where one shot ends, and the next one begins.
Note: During a Take, a Director may see or hear a problem and yell, "Cut!" to stop the
action.
FADE - Most music videos begin by Fading In from Black, and end by Fading Out to
Black. In other words, the first shot gradually appears from Black, and the last shot