Yes, I’m upset about how cavalierly many productions now treat this vital signifier – where is the person on camera looking – but, I’m not nearly as angry as Travis Bickle is about this issue so, count yourself lucky. In this episode of Corporate Film School, we pin down the meaning and importance of eyelines.
The thing is that eyelines are one of the MOST powerful aspects of a filmed presentation. It’s the difference in impact between shooting a bullseye or just shooting in the air. I get that directors and producers have become bored with the traditional straight-to-camera or just-off-camera eyelines and want to “disrupt” the status quo with radical angles on the person speaking – Wild! I’m seeing the side of her head while she ostensibly talks to me or the interviewer! How is that happening? Where am I? – but giving up the primal impact of direct eye contact or the feeling of being in an intimate conversation is a HUGE loss and rarely compensated for with unusual angles.
Filmed By: Christian Carmody
Edited By: Amos Damroth