Epic Handheld B Roll: Behind the Scenes

In this Behind the Scenes Video, Daniel Schiffer shows his workflow in shooting an insane cooking sequence. 

Shooting videos handheld is often looked at as a handicap. Since the market is filled with stabilizers and gimbals, we tend to ignore the fact that we can practice to shoot handheld. Also, handheld videos have a distinct look and feel to it, and we might just be missing out on that part in our videos. Daniel Schiffer is known for shooting most of his videos handheld and in this bts video, he shows us his step by step approach in making a b roll kind of sequence. We can also understand how much time it takes to shoot each shot, how the raw footage looks like and how the raw footage transforms into the final product. 

The ideation of each shot, the lighting and the shots that he goes for might give you an idea to shoot your own projects handheld and with a completely different approach. He has shot the entire sequence with a fixed lens (50mm). This video also might make one feel a bit more interested to pick up the camera and to understand that stabilizers and gimbals may not be an excuse. 

 

Amar Ramesh's picture

An entrepreneur by profession and a wanderer by nature, Amar Ramesh is a creative photographer based in Chennai, India. Wedding photography being his forte with over 300 weddings under his belt, he also shoots fashion, kids, documentary films, heritage, and lifestyle. And he enjoys sharing his experiences constantly.

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7 Comments

It's nice and interesting. Cleverly done, simple but good timing.

Epic though? Nah.

I laughed. I cried. It was better than Cats.

Epic!

This wasn’t B-Roll at all. He said, “first shot done; it took what, 20 mins?”

But I do agree it was extremely well done, just not b roll.

I dont like that super shallow dof but besides of that it was great and intresting, nicely shown and informative :)

Cool but seasick for a gimmick. When it's non-stop sliding and turning it's too much a rollercoaster for me.

It's a great dynamic effect and I notice how he's used the motion of one part to lead into the motion of the next.
I'd like it more though if he backed off the wobby cam in a couple of places.

This got me wondering if I could've done some hand-held b-roll of an interview we shot the other day but the guy is an ambassador and I'm not sure that'd suit the more serious mood. It was less personal than that.