“The eyes Chico, they never lie” Al Pacino as Scarface
SCOTT TO CAMERA
I’ve got two clients who still use their old laptop camera, despite my best advice.
One of them (ex sThree) looks a bit like he’s being interrogated - it looks like we’re watching footage of him being questioned by the Feds about some devious financial crime…he’s low in the frame…he’s never looking at the camera…for some reason he’s choosing to broadcast from a hallway in his house somewhere. A house that most certainly has more interesting things to act as background.
On the other hand, client two was leaning back, bottom of the frame and he realised that all he had to do was adjust his seat and lean forward.
- Bring that camera up to eyeline
- FOCUS - that’s another chapter in this course
- Get a better webcam
- Use your iPhone as a webcam through Camo software
I know that sounds like a lot, so i’ll go through it in plenty of detail but…Please consider this…you’re selling 6 figure ticket stuff, you’re running a company, you’re just starting out and you genuinely want to make a great first impression and…if you can’t be bothered about your framing…you kinda….can’t be arsed about your audience….sorry but that’s it.
If you want, go back to the F.O.C.U.S chapter for more on this.
So this is how we get to - Lean Back Lean In
It’s another dynamic principle - You deliberately investigate the opposites of expression, in order to find a natural point of rest…and that helps you perform.
So here’s me fully leaning back…like my client being interviewed by the Feds….and here’s me fully in frame…too much…you never want too much of one thing in a performance.
I know a very well established body language expert and she’s always super present…front and centre…uber twinkling…and…it’s rather a tad too much I feel.
When you lean Back…Hands Out (you don’t have to but, think about it)…Peter Mckinnon used to…not sure if he still does…start with “Whats…up…” and his eyes go from wide to narrow…
….it’s most definitely a thing.
Think about filling the frame no matter - i’m not an idiot, sometimes you have to “jump on a zoom or teams call” and you’ve got the laptop and that’s it…well there is a way that you can tilt the laptop (to the top of the wall behind you…) and then you fill the frame
In the end…think Eyes…
Look away and then back only with the eyes (quite fleabag)
Keep your head down and look up….straight on…this is the Kubrik stare…it has varying degrees of menace in it ranging from Clockwork Orange to Jack Nicholson in the Shining.
Open your eyes without lifting your eyebrows
Put on a hat and practise looking up to where your eye is just revealed in the light
Put up a second camera
REMEMBER - YOU ARE NOT TRYING TO BE AN ACTOR HERE. YOU ARE WORKING THROUGH THESE EXERCISES TO HELP YOU USE YOUR EYES MORE…AND THEREFORE CONNECT WITH YOUR AUDIENCE.
Ultimately, if all the body language stuff is to be believed, then you need to be aware of how you’re developing your visual connection with your audience
SO THINK EYES AND FRAME YOUR STORY WELL
- Get a better Webcam - at the time of writing, I have resisted the temptation to buy a tiny 4k camera that can stick to my screen at eyeline.
I’ve also not yet bought a handy plastic piece of…plastic that can hold my iPhone at the right place on the screen, in order to maintain eyeline.
It’s a genuine concern that my clients have expressed…i can’t help looking at you…and therefore away from the camera.
- Using Camo