What is Your POV???

Point of views are part of our life on a regular basis. We are bombarded by them. Every class we go to, the material is given from the point of view of the professor. Every piece of gossip shared with us is given from the perspective of the sharer. Every essay we write, is written from our point of view.

This same idea of point of view is applied to videos! Every video and/or image is presented to the audience from a point of view. As stated in Point Of View, "point of view is one of the most basic and interesting narrative devices available to the storyteller". One way that the point of view of the storyteller can be shown is from actual point of view shots. For example, if the narrator/storyteller for a narrative is an "outsider" point of view, the audience might get a shot of the two individuals in a scene talking or doing something together. From this scene in The Vow, the audience is seeing the scene unfold from the camera's point of view, not any of the characters in the story.

Point of view can also be very confusing to an audience if not handled with care and with tact. Think...have you ever seen a movie or video where the point of views were switching frequently or where you couldn't figure out who the narrator was? This can be frustrating to an audience member. Having point of views rotate between characters can be an effective way to tell a story, but the person dictating that must be mindful and careful with this switching.