Arts & Entertainment

Frost/Nixon: Steadicam Staging for Frost POV

Lesson time 08:19 min

Ron shows you an alternative approach he could have tried in the film: using a Steadicam to shoot from David Frost’s point of view.

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Topics include: Frost’s POV

Ron Howard

Teaches Directing

Ron Howard teaches directing, editing, and storytelling in his exclusive video lessons.

Preview

What I want to do now is something that is an experiment. It might be the kind of thing that would be really interesting and work on its own entirely. Or it might be something that you could choose to intercut with the Steadicam version. And it's basically to play the scene from David Frost's point of view. He's the guy who's feeling the heat. So we're going to begin with a close up on you coming through. And that'll also teach our Steadicam operator the staging, where you're looking, what you're reacting to. And we'll do a take or two of that. And then, we'll do the point of view, and you guys will actually look at the camera. And you'll just stand behind and feed the dialogue. OK? So we'll start on your close up. Word. Ready? So if you can't get all the way over to the wall, just fake it because we're very tight. So we don't really see your hands. OK? Should we try it? Yeah. Yes. And action. What revolution, David? You just let Richard Nixon claim the country was in a state of revolution. with protesters bombing and assaulting police officers. That's not what I remember. What I remember is people protesting peacefully and legitimately against the Vietnam War. That's what I remember. Music off, please. Music off. By the end-- Let's do it one more time. Why don't you come into here so you do see those guys in the background? Could you maybe just-- yeah, there you go. OK. Great. Yeah, you cheated a little bit over. Let's try one more. It's always interesting. But every time you change a lens-- not every time, but almost every time, there's some accommodation that the actors need to make, as you guys know. We're so used to doing it we don't even think about it. Right. It's a good example of it. Ready? Yeah, because if you can get in a position where you have them, then when we're in his point of view, we can actually be doing the insert of whatever he's doing. Which he's faking right now, but pouring something-- OK, Here we go. Is this a good general distance for you, one more time? Is that a good distance for you? Yeah-- Try to maintain this the whole time then? You could be a little closer. Is this good? Yeah, something like that to intercut with the POV. Ready, and action. What revolution, David? You just let Richard Nixon claim the country was in a state of revolution with protesters bombing and assaulting police officers. That's not how I remember it. What I remember is people protesting peacefully and legitimately against the Vietnam War. That's what I remember. Music off, please. Music off. By the end, wiretapping students and breaking into journalists homes. You made it sound like that was a rational response. Well, I'm sorry you feel this way. I simply cannot share your view. About what? Abo...

About the Instructor

Ron Howard made his first film in 15 days with $300,000. Today, his movies have grossed over $1.8 billion. In his first-ever online directing class, the Oscar-winning director of Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind decodes his craft like never before. In lessons and on-set workshops, you’ll learn how to evaluate ideas, work with actors, block scenes, and bring your vision to the screen whether it’s a laptop or an IMAX theater.

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Ron Howard

Ron Howard teaches directing, editing, and storytelling in his exclusive video lessons.

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