Video question: The Mystery of The Headless Guitarist

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Permalink Reply by Lisa McCormick : Guitar Teacher on December 19, 2010 at 10:24am

I use a couple of different shots to cover this. I have what I call the "talking head" shot, angled in such a way that you can see both of my hands, but also, see me talking to you. Then when I want to do a closer shot of one of my hands, I zoom the lens in on that hand. It is really tricky to get a good close detailed shot of both hands operating at once. Sometimes I will focus the camera on the left hand, and actually move my right hand way down the neck, so that it can be viewed working in tandem with the left hand. The problem with this is that it is not the way I would "really" play the piece. Still, I think it can be helpful for learners to see both hands working together.

 

You can see most of those options in play in this video, posted here on Acoustic Guitar.

http://www.acousticguitarcommunity.com/video/free-guitar-lesson-how...

 

Another option is using 2 cameras and creating a split-screen when you edit the video together. (if you have the cameras and the editing chops!)

 

A wide angle lens is a cool idea!

-Lisa

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Permalink Reply by Stevie Coyle on December 28, 2010 at 2:30pm

Excellent idears, Lisa. I'll surf on by and check out your video link. Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Victor Saumarez on February 13, 2011 at 10:19am

Wide angle lens isn't going to show more head, but the Flip is wide(r). I'm on a Mac and iMovie allows you to crop. So you can start your movie showing everything, and then zero in (crop) to the left or right hand. Maybe PCs have a similar video editing tool?

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