The ' Are you not inspired?' approach to filming history. Part 1 : The Epic shot
How do you film History ?
In this age of visual communication it is an important question, and one that I and Dr Darius A. Arya have been working on in our The Living History Show film series. Part of my visual approach is the 'Are You Not Inspired?' scene. This is the insertion of an epic shot of Darius as presenter looking on in awe, at a monument, or taking in a breath taking view. This is not a cut away shot to what Darius is seeing, as I am including him in the compostion, so we as audiience see him seeing. This is important because we then maintain contact with him as protagonist, not just as presenter. It personalises the image we are viewing, and charges it with a dose of the Epic & Awesome - this adds dramatic effect to the narrative.
Cinematically this kind of shot does 6 things:
1. It sets up an emotional relationship with Darius via what he sees.
2. It provides a change up/down in the pace of the show.
3. It provides us with a Voice Over platform to express something personal to the audience - what this means to Darius not as an academic but as a personal witness to history.
4. Allows me to change the music to amplify the emotion.
5. Allows me to shift to a pure cinematic shot - wide angle aspect ratio / tint / slow motion.
6. Gives me a great thumbnail picture to engage a viewer on a website.
Technically I get this shot with my GoPro HERO3+ placing Darius in the foreground, slow pan or tilt to cover his view - use 60fps. The shot in the Aqueduct episode which is coming out soon, has him looking off out of the frame emphasing the scale of the Aqueduct beyond what we can see.
Below is the episode we shot on Saving The Colosseum - look out for the Are you not inspired ? shot ...
In 2015 The American Institute for Roman Culture will be offering an exciting Visual Communications Program. I am honored to be part of the teaching staff.
