Note From Tongal: “Want to Shoot Better Music Videos? Watch Wrestling." is part of a series of Tongal Community-written blog posts that were originally sourced in the Tongal Blog Open Call Project. Read more Tongal Community-written posts here and then Pitch us a topic you'd like to write about for the Tongal Blog!
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The most underappreciated artists in the film and video industry are camera operators on pro wrestling shows. Unfairly maligned as nothing but purveyors of purely schlocky entertainment, these unsung heroes have a lot to teach filmmakers, especially music video directors, about the ways camera movement can be just as important as framing and composition. The same techniques that wrestling camera operators use to create a believable and fun experience through movement can be applied to shoot better concerts and music videos.
Everyone knows pro wrestling is fake, or at least the people working on the shows do. The camera operator's job is to help “sell the hits," or make the combat look more believable by complementing the wrestlers' movements with their camera. Have you ever been to a wrestling event live? From way up in the cheap seats, with a full view of the ring, the matches become flat and boring. A good camera operator can actually make a match look more real than when you pay eighty dollars to see it with your own two eyes. Watch the match below, then we’ll discuss!
Notice how a suplex appears more devastating if the camera shakes when the bodies hit the mat, and a thrown body seems to travel farther if the camera zooms out in time with the airborne wrestler. I guarantee that now that it’s been pointed out to you, you will never be able to stop noticing that every single close-up shot of two wrestlers making contact is always accompanied by some form of camera movement.
The same phenomenon applies to music videos. Have you ever watched a music video that seemed to enhance your experience of the song - even made it sound better to you? That’s probably because the director instructed his camera operators to shoot the way the song sounds. Having your editor cut shots to the beat of the song certainly helps, but it’s the camera movements that can really create a visceral experience for the viewer.
It works for every genre. Take the following two songs for example, each featuring a wildly different style. Notice how the speed, range, and type of camera movements differ, but in each case work to complement the tone of the song.
The “sell the hits” idiom is doubly appropriate when it comes to metal, a genre often described with words like “pummeling” and “brutal.” Don’t worry, if you’re really not a fan of this Chelsea Grin song “Recreant,” you only need to watch the first 45 seconds of the video to see my point.
The video opens with a sinister guitar riff accompanied by some horror movie imagery inter-cut with brief flashes of the band. We’re going to leave out this hokey slasher film story-line and focus only on the performance shots. The magic starts at 8 seconds in when the drums hit. Now that we’ve got some rhythm, we see the band playing in a grimy warehouse or barn. To show this, we’re treated to various wide, medium, and close-up shots that actually head bang in time with the musicians. This added movement helps enliven what would otherwise be a very boring scene of a band playing to nobody on an empty set.
Another great move happens at 26 seconds. When the singer opens his mouth and lets out his first inhuman scream, the camera vibrates. It’s almost as if the power of the singer’s scream causes the whole room to shake.
Not a single shot of the band is completely still. The camera is constantly moving, always following the speed and power of the music. At 32 seconds, the camera slams down hard when a punishing drum fill ends and blasts into the main riff, then drifts slowly for a few shots as if catching its breath, before finally executing a whip pan into the next verse at 39 seconds. The song sounds heavier, faster, and more alive because the camera gives the music a physical presence, much like it can create drama between two wrestlers.
But what about the other end of the musical spectrum? What if the hits you’re trying to sell are more like light touches? Well, the same principles apply.
Take the Post Malone song “Psycho.” Try to ignore the stunning visuals of the tank in the desert, the flamethrower, and the regal fur coats. Just focus on the camera movements for now.
The song opens with a simple and very laid back instrumental. Even as Post Malone goes into singing his first verse, the song isn’t in a hurry to get anywhere, and the camera slowly drifts backward on the relaxed current of the music. Then at 28 seconds in, the drums hit. Starting from far away, the camera flies in at a ramped-up speed along with a full-bodied bass drop. At the first hit of an 808 snare, the speed slows back down as the camera finishes its movement.
This interplay of fast and slow continues throughout the video, echoing the push and pull between the zen-like instrumental and the hip-hop/r&b beat. Notice how even though the speed changes, the camera movements are always appropriately smooth except for one section. When we enter the tank for Ty Dolla $ign’s verse, the camera seems to switch to handheld, both creating the feel of bouncing along inside of a moving tank and mirroring the enhanced prominence of the beat in the mix and Ty Dolla $ign’s slightly faster delivery.
My favorite move in the video comes at 2 minutes and 48 seconds. The beat suddenly drops out, and as Ty Dolla $ign sings and raps over the spacey instrumental, the camera simultaneously tracks backward and zooms into Ty and Post Malone rapping in the moonlit wreckage, creating the illusion of space expanding and contracting around them.
Taking the pro wrestling approach to shooting will also make live performance videos feel more, well, live. One of the things that I love about the Audiotree series (aside from recording amazing sessions with some of my favorite bands) is that their camera operators know how to sell the hits.
Watch this Audiotree recording of the band Being As An Ocean, keeping in mind that they are squeezed into a relatively small recording studio with wires running all over the place. Despite the high energy of the song, the band can’t really move anywhere, but watch how the camera operators beautifully take that responsibility from them and create a visual experience that feels almost like you’re watching the band in the front row of an intimate concert venue.
Look for these techniques in the videos for your own favorite songs. What innovative camera movements do they use to sell the drama and enhance your experience of the music? And if you still think you’re too good to watch pro wrestling, swallow your pride! There’s a wealth of visual inspiration waiting there for you to explore.
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Where are some other unusual places you can learn filmmaking techniques from? Share your thoughts below!
