Blocking

Blocking is the director's pre-planned map of where subjects will be positioned and how they'll move through a scene. The term comes from theatre, where directors use small blocks to represent actors on a miniature stage while planning out movement patterns before rehearsal. In film and video, blocking determines where each person stands, when they move, what they look at, and how those positions relate to camera angles. A well-blocked scene flows naturally because the camera always has a clean sightline to the action, subjects aren't overlapping awkwardly, and movements feel motivated rather than mechanical.

For interview and talking-head video — the staple of B2B content — blocking is relatively straightforward: decide where the subject sits or stands, how they're angled relative to the camera, and whether they look directly into the lens or at an off-screen interviewer. But for more complex productions involving multiple speakers, product walkthroughs, or scenes with physical movement, blocking becomes a critical planning step. A poorly blocked scene forces the camera to work around awkward spatial problems in post, or results in jump cuts that could have been avoided with better pre-planning.

Good blocking considers both camera perspective and talent comfort. A presenter who feels awkward standing in a particular position will look awkward on screen, regardless of how technically correct the framing is. Effective directors block for naturalism first — where would a person naturally stand to explain this? — then adjust for camera coverage. For product demos and walkthrough videos, blocking includes planning the relationship between presenter and screen, ensuring neither obscures the other and both remain clearly visible to the viewer.