# Camera angles might just be "where would I look if I was there"

[Reddit Discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/Filmmakers/comments/1nkxkp5/camera_angles_might_just_be_where_would_i_look_if/)

I noticed something while watching my brother's video edits and thinking about film camera work.

When someone takes a photo holding a tennis racket and you feel like that hand is YOUR hand - that's the same principle. The photo works because it passes the "if I was there" test.

In films, every camera angle seems to follow where a person standing in that scene would naturally look. Not where they SHOULD look, but where they WOULD look.

Same with video edits - when you're about to think "come on!" and the edit hits exactly with that timing. Or when silence feels uncomfortable in a video because that's when we'd naturally want to speak.

The viewer isn't watching the scene. The viewer IS in the scene. The camera is just their eyes.

Every "good" shot passes this test: Would I look there if I was standing in that room? Would I turn my head at that moment? Would I focus on that detail?
