CAMERA AND STAGING: TOP TIPS FROM PIXAR

Five pro tips from Pixar’s Camera & Staging team on how to effectively and efficiently tell a story and evoke emotion with your film shots

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01 UNDERSTAND SHOT FLOW

A big part of the camera and staging is shot flow: to connect a sequence of shots seamlessly and to direct the audience's attention from one shot to the next. A contrast in the size of the subject, change of lenses, and camera angle between shots can help with a smoother cut. To direct the audience's focus, you need to pay attention to eye fix and eye line. Eye fix is where your centers of focus between two consecutive shots are relatively in the same region of the frame. The eye line is where your character is looking in one shot, which can create an implied line and direct where the audience should be looking in the next shot.

02 FIND OPPORTUNITIES TO COMBINE SHOTS