NMED 2030
Feb. 24th 2009
NMED 2030
Today’s Class…
Video Basics
Audio Assignments
Production Day
NMED 2030
• Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window
(1954)
• It is the camera/protagonist that is static and the world that
moves.
• POV is established and narrative is moved forward through a
series of pans and tilts.
NMED 2030
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The Static Shot
– Choose and compose a specific POV (point-of-view)
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Informational straight eyeline on a tripod (steady pans and tilts)
Audience POV also steady tripod
1st person straight eyeline - hand held (subtle movement)
Child’s eye view - low angle
Sitting ?
– Driving
– On a bus
– Loitering
• Standing ?
– Working
• Hiding ?
• The list goes on…
– Never assume the camera’s position is neutral
NMED 2030
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The Static Shot
– Your camera has limitations in what it can
process.
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Depth of field is limited
Lens filters are limited
Lighting options are limited
Perspective is limited
– Choose the location of your static shot well.
• Go for bold mise-en-scene
• Go for colour
• Go for helpful available light
– Choreograph your actions
• Every action that appears in your frame should be of your choosing
• This includes what people are wearing (head to toe)
– This is not a documentary
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The Cut Aways
– This is where you must apply lighting technique.
• Create a mood
• Compose a portrait using moving images
– Demonstrate a grasp of continuity details because
you are creating match cuts. I.e:
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Is a character using the right or left hand
Are sleeves rolled up or down?
Is the scarf inside or outside the coat?
Is the time on the clock same?
Is the door open or closed?
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The Cut Aways
The 180° Rule
– A basic film editing guideline that states that two
characters (or other elements) in the same scene
should always have the same left/right relationship
to each other.
– If the camera passes over the imaginary axis
connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing
the line.
– The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as
a reverse angle.
NMED 2030
• This schematic shows
the axis between two
characters and the
180° arc on which
cameras may be
positioned (green).
• When cutting from the
green arc to the red arc,
the characters switch
places on the screen.
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Courtesy of GNU Free Documentation License
NMED 2030
• Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope (1948)
• The film is Hitchcock’s most experimental, abandoning many
standard film techniques to allow for the long unbroken scenes.
Each shot ran continuously for up to ten minutes without
interruption. It was shot on a single set, aside from the opening
establishing shot street scene. Camera moves were planned in
advance and there was almost no editing.
• Hitchcock filmed each scene in segments lasting up to ten
minutes (the length of a reel of film at the time), each segment
continuously panning from character to character in real time.
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The Continuous Shot
– Use expensive dolly tracking technique
• A dolly shot (or tracking shot) is a segment in
which the camera is mounted on a wheeled
platform that is pushed on rails while the picture
is being taken.
– By using a little ingenuity, low-budget or
no-budget production can achieve the
smooth aesthetic of the dolly shot.
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The Dolly Shot
– DIY (do-it-yourself) Techniques
– Always require two or more people
» One to hold the camera steady.
» One or more to push the wheeled mechanism holding
the camera person.
• Loading dock dollies
• Tripod and stool on a large low riding wagon or cart or
trolley
• Wheelchairs
• Bicycles with baskets on the front or bike racks on the
back. THE CAMERA MUST BE SECURE!!!!!!
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White Balance
– The camera will have a white balance button
which you must press down so that you can
calibrate the white balance, then you must focus
the camera on a white area where you will be
shooting you footage.
– The easiest way is to focus in on a piece of white
paper were you will be filming, then adjust the
white balance dials until correct balance is met
and set.
– This must be done each time you change light
conditions.
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Composition
Basics
– Extreme Long Shot
& Long Shot
• The extreme long
shot and long shot
are often used as
establishing shots.
• An establishing shot is
the shot that gives the
audience its sense of
orientation in a scene.
Image courtesy of Creative Commons
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Composition Basics
– Medium Shot
• The medium shot it one
of the most common
shots, as it allows a
great deal of flexibility
while eliminating much
of the useless parts of
image, such as a
characters lower half,
which typically has little
to do with the scene.
Image courtesy of Creative Commons
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Composition Basics
– Close-up & Extreme
Close-up
• The close-up is used to
create a sense of
intimacy between the
character and the
audience.
• It is also used and to
highlight important
thoughts or emotions in
a character.
– The is even more so
with the extreme
close-up.
Image courtesy of Creative Commons
NMED 2030
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Composition Basics
– Camera Angles
• Camera angles are also extremely important. The two
main angles being high angle and low angle.
• A high angle shot means that the camera looks up at the
subject, often endowing the subject with a sense of
power.
• A low angle looks down on the subject, reversing the
effect of the high angle and making it look small or weak.
For excellent illustrations of the effects of camera angles
study Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane.
• A straight eyeline tends to be more informational.
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Composition Basics
– The Rule of “Thirds”
• According to this rule, if
you divide a shot into nine
equal parts (i.e. two vertical
lines and two horizontal
lines), the resulting corners
of the inner most box are
the points to which the
human eye is naturally
drawn to.
NMED 2030
•
Image courtesy of Creative Commons
Composition Basics
– The Rule of “Thirds”
– You bring greater attention to a
character’s face or an important
object by placing it slightly offcenter. An image that is
centered of the frame is very
stable, yet visually it is very
inactive.
– You want your audience to
actively watch and scan the
image. By placing the images at
or along the intersections
encourages visual activity.
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Basic 3-Point Lighting
– Lighting can be used to add mood and drama to a
shot, but it's overriding function is to describe 3D
objects onto a 2D area.
• a computer monitor
• a cinema screen.
– The light is used to "model" the objects so that on
a flat surface we can tell what shape they are, and
how one object relates to another.
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Basic 3-Point Lighting
– When considering what makes good
lighting we need to balance the aesthetic
requirements of the shot against the need
to be able to see what is going on in order
that the narrative may be advanced.
• Lightness/darkness
• Colour
• Background/foreground
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Basic 3-Point Lighting
– The KEY LIGHT
• Main source of light on the subject.
• It is most important light as its placement influences all others.
– THE FILL LIGHT
• Its job is to illuminate those areas of the image which are in shadow
when the key light is placed.
• The fill light is placed after and in relation to the key light.
• The job of the fill is only to allow us to see a little more detail it should
not be as intense as the key light.
– THE BACK LIGHT (or Rim Light or Kick Light)
• The rim light is principally used to ensure that a dark object does not
blend in with a dark background.
• The intensity of this light is often quite high, often brighter than the key.
• Due to its intensity and placement it creates a line of bright light around
the object and in doing so lifts the object away from the background.
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Source: Private Sketchbook
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Basic 3-Point Lighting
– This is the solution for interior images captured in
one place.
• Relevant for portraiture
– Interviews
– Composed cutaways
• Not as applicable for direct cinema documentary
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Basic 3-Point Lighting
– Experiment with light placement as long as
you remember to place the key light first
and let the other lights take their cue from
it.
NMED 2030
• New Due Date
• March 5th at the end of
class.
• These productions will be
critiqued