32 Video Production Handbook show an intense close-up of an odd detail of your subject without revealing the complete subject and it can leave the audience puzzled, even though the direc- tor knows that the shot obviously comes from that subject over there. the oppo- site situation also occurs, when a director holds a shot for some time so that the audience can assimilate all the information in it, when in fact they have lost interest in the subject and their minds have wandered onto other things. 3.4 THE PROBLEM OF qUALITY when shooting pictures for pleasure, you can be philosophical if the odd shot happens to be slightly defocused, or lopsided, or cuts off part of the subject. it is a pity, but it doesn't really matter much. You can still enjoy the results. But when you are making a program for other people, any defects of this kind are unacceptable. they will give a production the reputation of carelessness, ama- teurishness, and incompetence so that it loses its appeal and authority. faulty camerawork and poor techniques will not only distract your audience, but they can turn even a serious, well-thought-out production into a complete disaster. 3.5 THE PROBLEM OF "BIGGER AND BETTER" How you tackle any program is directly influenced by your resources (equip- ment, finance, crew and their experience, etc.), time, conditions, standards, intended market, and so on. while there is no one correct way to handle any subject, there are a number of bad methods. suppose you want to discuss the problems of growing a specific crop. You could make an impressive program using special computer graphics, an expert walking through the crops speaking of problems, aerial views of the fields, and time-lapse demonstrations. However, this treatment could be expensive and time consuming. Alternatively, you could use a simpler approach. the camera could explore a typical field and show the program title finger-traced in the earth. it could look at typical crop features, with close-ups of specimens. A commentary could provide an explanatory voiceover to pictures. if any additional sounds are required, they could be the natural ones, such as wind, birds, or tractors, recorded as a wild track at the site. "Bigger is better" does not necessarily translate into a better production. sometimes it distracts viewers from the real subject itself and draws their atten- tion to the clever techniques instead. if all the viewer remembers is the special effects, then you have not communicated your message. the treatment must be appropriate for the target audience and the program content. 3.6 COMMUNICATION CAN BE ELUSIVE there are no absolute rules when creating a production, but there are a lot of well-established guiding principles. these principles have been discovered