Three Essential Tips for Shooting Great Behind-the-Scenes Content

Behind-the-scenes filmmaking isn’t about standing on the sidelines with a camera. Done well, it’s an exercise in awareness, restraint and instinct. You’re documenting a living process — a collaboration unfolding in real time — and your presence should serve that story, not interrupt it.

After years of working on sets of all shapes and sizes, these are the three principles I always come back to when shooting BTS content.

3. Stake Out the Right Spot

Great BTS footage comes from being close to the action — but never in the way.

That balance is everything.

It’s about finding a position where you can feel the energy of the scene without becoming part of it. Close enough to see the focus in the director’s eyes, the quiet communication between departments, the final moments before “action” — but far enough that the production can breathe.

Often that means staking out a spot early, committing to it, and letting the moment come to you rather than chasing it. The best behind-the-scenes shots usually happen when you’ve anticipated the flow of the set and placed yourself where the story is likely to unfold naturally.

2. Read the Room — and Know When to Walk Away

Not every moment needs to be filmed.

One of the most important skills in BTS filmmaking is reading the room and understanding when the camera should come down. Tension, fatigue, private conversations, emotional preparation — these moments aren’t always meant to be captured, and knowing that builds trust with cast and crew.

Sometimes the most professional decision you can make is to step back, give space, and let the production do what it needs to do. Ironically, that restraint often leads to better access later on. People relax around you. They stop performing. And when the camera comes back up, what you capture feels honest.

1. Remember What You’re Actually Shooting

You’re not shooting the film.

You’re shooting the making of the film.

It’s an easy trap to fall into — framing shots like the main unit, chasing cinematic recreations, trying to mirror the director of photography’s work. But that’s not your job. BTS exists to reveal the process, not replicate the end result.

The magic is in the gaps between takes. The adjustments. The conversations. The problem-solving. The human effort that turns an idea into an image.

When you focus on how something is being made rather than what is being made, your footage gains context, texture and meaning. That’s what audiences connect to — and what gives behind-the-scenes content its lasting value.

Great BTS doesn’t shout for attention. It listens, observes and waits for the story to surface.

That’s where the real film lives.