Here is a quick moment I’m proud of from a scene I worked on.
The script calls for my character, let’s call him Max, to notice a gift bag on the floor, pick it up, open it, and take out a star-shaped lamp. Then Max holds onto the lamp for the rest of the scene.
Let me tell you now, I don’t own a star shaped lamp.
So, what am I going to do? Bust out some camera technique magic, that’s what!
When they’re watching a scene, an audience wants to be immersed in the story that’s unfolding. They want invest in the action like it’s all really happening. So if you’re faking something – like pretending that you’re holding a star-shaped lamp in your hands – you gotta keep that silliness out of frame where no one will see it or else the illusion will be shattered. And NOBODY wants that!
So as I was working on this moment, I crafted the action to show the audience as much real stuff as I could and keeping the fudging out of frame. I had a gift bag lying around, so I could easily show that. Now Max can notice the present, pick it up, and even reach inside.
But when it comes time for Max to open the gift, I lower my hands so you can’t see what I’m holding. Now you might not see Max with a star-shaped lamp, but you don’t see him with anything that isn’t a star-shaped lamp either. (In reality, I was holding a camping hammock I got for Christmas, in case you were wondering.) But since everything in frame supports the story of the scene, the illusion holds.
In settings like this, everyone knows you’re making it work. But if you do it well, and keep the fakey bits out of frame, the audience doesn’t think about that. From their perspective all they know is that, somehow, it works!