Why Bad B-Cam Profiles Ruin Good Content (And What to Do Instead)

Originally drafted in 2011 (and never finished and published until now), this post comes from a time when the lock-off people profile shot was just starting to show up in every mock-doc and indie project trying to look “cinematic.” The trend was gaining steam, and even then, it made me shake my head. Over a decade later, I still see it far too often, and it still misses the mark. There’s a better way to shoot with intention, even when you’re flying solo. So if you’re setting up a second camera just to “get coverage,” read this first... 

I love documentary footage. I love to watch it, shoot it, and especially cut it. But there’s one thing I don’t love...

according to DALL-E, I look like my cousin

The dreaded lock-off profile shot. You know the one: the camera is parked below eye-level, off to the side, catching the subject’s (usually un-flattering) profile as they talk to the A-cam. You’ll see this a lot in low-budget productions. And, unfortunately, it looks exactly like that. Low budget. Inexperienced.

You might be thinking, 

I see profile shots all the time in NBC’s old mockumentary comedies!

You’re not wrong. The Office and Parks and Recreation helped popularize that style. They used profile angles of the cast effectively — but here’s the key difference: they weren’t lock-off shots. They were handheld or fluid. Always at eye-level. They felt alive. And in later season of P&R, they let us catch a glimpse of a boom pole or the side of a lens shade. A camera light. It was truly brilliant story telling through technique.

Movement makes all the difference because it mimics how we see the world. We’re constantly adjusting, scanning, reacting. That’s why shows that came later, like Abbott Elementary, Modern Family, and even parts of What We Do in the Shadows, use a similar visual language. The camera moves with intention. It feels observational, not static. Even 24, back in the day with DP Rodney Charters, kept the B-cam handheld and eye-level. That was GOAT deliberate.

So why does eye-level movement matter? Because it puts the viewer with the subject. It replicates how we actually observe conversations. Think about the last time you were eavesdropping. You weren’t frozen below chin level, holding perfectly still. You were at eye-level, catching side glances, adjusting your view. That’s what natural looks like.

But when I see a static, poorly framed profile shot of someone talking to something off-screen, I cringe. And here’s the kicker: we never ever see the other thing. If we did, it would at least justify the shot as a subjective perspective. Most of the time, the profile camera is just there. Sitting off-axis. Staring awkwardly. Doing nothing for the story except showing how bad a person's profile can look.

Now, producer, photographer, editor, jacks-of-all-trades, I hear you:

But I’m a one-person crew and I need all cameras rolling on my interviews for the edit!

I get it. Been there. But ask yourself this: do you really need a full-on, side-angle profile to get that second angle? Especially one that’s locked off, unmanned, framed like a deposition cam, and showing a bunch of waddle and ear hair?

There’s a better way.

Here’s a simple fix that looks (and is) far more professional:

    ☝️ i know you need room for cables, etc.,
this concept rendering gives you the gist

Set up your A and B-cams side-by-side, both in front of your on-camera person or slightly to one side. Keep your A-cam moving slightly. Handheld or subjective subtle movement from a tripod, or a fluid slider, careful not to cross the axis. Lock off your B-cam on a wider, nicely framed shot allowing for leading direction, etc., slightly 

to the right of A. This way, your subject is still addressing both cameras in a natural way. You get your A/B cut cleanly, without a jarring 90° weirdness, waddle, or ear canal.

 

Remember this:  

The more your B (or C) camera is arced away from the A-camera’s line of sight, the more subjective the angle becomes, the more important it is that you show something other than limbo.

But please, please don’t just toss your other camera on a tripod over to the side of your subject without thought, not showing the room, and calling it coverage.

That’s not storytelling.

That’s surveillance.

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