I don't know how much time to put into this because nobody ever listens. But I gave it 30 minutes today.
The public image of President Trump and the Office of the Presidency is be is actively being undermined by the photographers and videographers they allow into the Oval Office.
This has been relentless during his administration.
The persistent use of combinations of (vulnerable) down angles, (powerless) high angles, (confusion) establishing shots and (bizarre, off-kilter) Dutch angles is in stark contrast to the public images established by former Chicago resident Obama and former President Clinton.
The President's insistence that nearly every photograph at the White House be taken of him seated at his desk while everyone else is standing facilitates this in part. All those photos are unflattering, high/down angles with chaotic establishing shots.
They accomplish the exact opposite of what White House staff believe they do. They cast a sense of disorder, chaos, confusion, vulnerability, powerlessness, and on and on.
And the White House churns these out these disparaging images of the President like an assembly line.
What remains unclear to me is why nobody in the White House seems to understand any of this or show any interest.
Hollywood is very successful because they understand that every angle, distance, set, wardrobe and collection of props matter intensely in telling a story.
The White House staff has failed miserably at least 95% of the time.
There are some incredible visuals of the President but they are more often related to his campaign staff than his White House staff.
It is unsettling and disappointing that they just don't understand how important all these things are in establishing a sense of authority, power, stability, confidence and TRUST both domestically and internationally.
Epic blocking failures occur regularly too. Nothing seems to please the staff more than filling the Oval Office with 50 people for photos.
They treat it like cable access set.
It diminishes the value of the Oval Office and 100% of those photographs or video are from 12 feet in the air or higher, which denotes powerlessness and vulnerability. I scream at the TV or my laptop when I see these.
They recently began including the First Lady in Oval Office scenes but then have the President seated at his desk and the First Lady in some cheap chair next to him, all surrounded by chaotic motion and crowds.
This is an colossal visual failure.
If the President and First Lady are to be seated together in the Oval Office, they should be seated in the wing back chairs next to each other with a very limited number of individuals nearby - and never, ever behind them or standing.
I'll show a few examples here but I've nearly given up on how they manage this. My greatest fear is that White House staff and the White House Correspondents Association are doing this on purpose to undermine the President below the radar.
Read up if you care. These things matter immensely.
Moar up shots, medium shots, eye level shots and fewer down shots, dutch angles, chaos, confusion, bad blocking and empty sets.
https://www.polarprofilters.com/blogs/polarpro/filmmaking-101-types-of-camera-shots-and-angles
https://wolfcrow.com/how-filmmakers-manipulate-our-emotions-using-camera-angles-and-movement/
https://boords.com/blog/16-types-of-camera-shots-and-angles-with-gifs