Camera moves correspond with adding, detracting, or emphasizing an emotion
The camera shot names and associated emotions
Crane shot – camera shot moving down, bringing viewer into the subject matter or character’s world
Rising up – camera rises making character feel smaller and making obstacle feel bigger to overcome
High shot to low shot – makes character feel bigger, or feel of authority and confidence
Handheld camera (moving behind object or character)- can stir a feeling of uneasiness or danger (shaky, unsettling)
Quick pan – surprise or new change of the story, new context or element
Quick push in – feeling of surprise or shock (view on subject’s reaction)
Slow Dolly – moving camera in, causing tension or to share emotion with character
Slow Dolly Out – showcases feeling of loss or abandonment
Dolly Cross – reveals something that changes the emotion, changes perspective and mood
Handheld (in comparison with glide cam) – more edgy than glide cam, pushes emotion in your face
Glide cam – clean 360 reveal, but can build tension and temptation for something that’s about to happen
Zolly – zooming dolly, background gets larger or smaller, character size stays the same, (move camera closer and change the lens simultaneously), creates great emotional build up
In Pre-Production, I took several test shots which acted like a storyboard for our video. The shots included different focal lengths and camera placements so I could get a feel for how to take them and what feeling they would add to the scene. I also took shots with different lighting to see what it looked like and how it affected the scene and shot.
During Production, I as the Cinematographer, filmed all of the shots in the video. We already had my test shots from Pre-production and those acted like storyboards so filming was pretty simple. However we did make some changes like how the Camera “stealing” scene in the CNS classroom rather than the equipment closet because of the traffic.
While in Post-Production, I worked with the Editor so that the cinematic elements in the film would be preserved. I suggested some visual effects like a fade to black and a fade in from black to help the “flow” and general quality of the film.
Terms, Concepts, Notes
Ambient Light – the natural light in a scene
Aperture Priority – a camera setting that allows the user to control the aperture, leaving the shutter speed to be automatically determined
Bokeh – the appearance or “feel” of out-of-focus areas
Bulb “B” Setting – a camera setting where the shutter will remain open as long as the release button is depressed
Butterfly Lighting – lighting where the main light is placed high, in front of the face, aimed at the center of the nose
Complimentary Color – pair of primary/secondary colors opposed to each other on the color wheel
Depth of Field – range of distance in a scene which appears focused
DSLR – acronym for “digital single lens reflex,” a type of camera
EXIF – acronym for “exchangeable image file format,” which is data attached to each image that tells the type of camera, date/time, image format, and camera settings when the picture was taken
F-Stop – number representing the aperture of the camera
FPS – acronym for “frames per second,” the number of pictures a camera is able to take in one second
Golden Hour – time an hour or less before the sun goes down, when the light is more complimentary to skin tones
Graininess – when clumps of individual grains are large and irregularly spaced out in the negative or digital image, making the picture appear “grainy”
Gray Card – card used to help color correct/balance a camera before taking an image
High Key – image mainly made up of evenly lit light tones
Hyperfocal Point/Distance – the nearest point to the camera considered acceptably sharp when the lens is focused on infinity
ISO – film or digital chip speed/sensitivity designated by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
JPEG (JPG) – acronym for “joint photographic experts group,” an image file format standard where the size of the file is reduced by compressing it
Kelvin – a temperature scale, here used to measure color temperature of the visible light spectrum
Lens Hood – accessory that attaches as a collar to the front of a lens to prevent stray light from striking the surface of the lens, causing flare
Lossless – describes file formats which do not result in a loss of data – example: raw file format
Lossy – form of image compression when saving image that discards data from it – example: .jpg
Low Key – image that is mostly dark, higher contrasted light between the dark and the light
Macro Lens – type of lens that can focus extremely closely
Megabyte (MB, Mb, Mbyte) – a million bytes
Megapixel – a million pixels, used to describe the number of pixels that a digital device’s image sensor has
Model Release – contract where a model consents to the use of his/her images by the photographer/a third party
Monochrome – image of a single color in differing shades
(Electronic) Noise – grainy look in a digital image, usually occurring in shadowy/low-light areas
Normal Lens – lens with a focal length approximately equal to the diagonal of the film format or of a digital camera’s image sensor
Painting with Light – when a photographer incrementally lights an otherwise darkened scene using a handheld flashlight or other small light source while the shutter remains open during a time exposure
Panning – technique involving taking a picture while moving the camera at a relatively slow shutter speed
PSD – image type in Adobe PhotoShop for a “work-in-progress,” must be converted to another file type before use
Raw Image – digital image format that contains the most info possible from a camera sensor (uncompressed)
Reciprocal Rule – rule that states your shutter speed should not be slower than the reciprocal of your effective focal length to avoid blur
Reflector – any device used to reflect light on a subject
Rembrandt Lighting – portrait lighting technique which casts a triangle shaped shadow on the less illuminated side of the face
Resampling – when an image editing program is used to change the image size
RGB – acronym for “red, green, blue,” the primary colors of light
Rule of Thirds – composition rule that divides the screen into thirds horizontally and vertically to determine placement of important objects in a shot
Through-the-Lens (TTL) – refers to both exposure metering of the light passing through the lens/viewing a scene through the same lens that allows light to reach the sensor or the film
UV Filter – a clear, neutral filter that absorbs ultraviolet radiation, with no effect on visible colors
Vignetting – a fall-off in brightness at the edges of an image, slide, or print
White Balance – when the camera adjusts the colors in an image to make the image look more natural based on the objects/areas that are pure white
Zoom Lens – a lens in which focal length is variable
Notes
Don’t leave on automatic – so that you have flavor
Wide Shot – “All the action”
Mid – Waist up
Close – Head and shoulders
Have shots include more information than the last
Storyboard – rough sketch of the film
Can use photos for storyboard instead of drawing
Timeline
Day 1 – Start Pre-Production
Day 2 – Finish Pre-Production
Day 3 – Start Production
Day 4 – Finish Production / Start Post-Production
Day 5 – Finish Post-Production
Pre-Production
I took various test shots using the Camera in Pre-Production to act as a storyboard for our group. I did this so that I could show my group what shots I had in mind and if the group liked the shots I took.
Production
During Production I took another test shot when everything set up so that we could see what the shot would look like when it would be filmed. This is so that if the lighting (for example) looked bad from this Camera angle we would see it here rather than during Post-Production when everything is already shot.
Post-Production
While in Post-Production, I suggested to the editor to do a fade to black and then a black fade at 0:54 – 0:58 in so that those 2 shots had better “flow” and it just looked better than a normal cut.
Film
What I Learned
Through this Project, I learned how to operate and correctly use the Camera (Canon T3i) by shooting the video and also from our information video. I also learned how various shot angles and techniques contribute to the mood film. One thing we problem solved was that the default settings on the Camera are not very good for filming. So I watched, Cinematography Learn from a Master and that helped me set some settings that drastically improved the film’s quality.
Using the same groups from the Dialogue Project, we planned and storyboarded the recorded Dialogue from the previous Project using our transcript. After that we filmed a team with two cameras and another group filmed our Group’s Dialogue shortly after. Then, we begun editing independently using the multi-cam feature in Premiere Pro. Our finished product was a video of our dialogue using multi-cam. Finally, we worked on our blog posts.
Terms and Concepts
Blocking –
Positioning of Characters to tell the Story visually
5 Stages
Block
Light
Rehearse
Adjustments
Shoot
Movement and Physical Behavior –
Strong vs. Weak behavior
Strong – Rising from a chair, Walking forward
Weak – Sitting down, Walking backwards
Strong, Winning Attitudes –
Confident
Direct
Active
Assertive
Weak Struggling or Failing Attitudes –
Hesitant
Reactionary
Unsure
Stage Orientations and Emphasis –
6 Sections of a Stage
Movement from 6 Sections are Weak and Strong behaviors
Body Positions
Full Front – Strongest Body Position
Full Back – Used for brief dramatic effect
One-quarter Front – Slightly left or right
Three-quarter Front – Common and Strong Position
Profile Position – Half, 2 Actors “sharing” a scene
Three-quarter Back Position – Weakest, Body Nearly full back
Timeline
Day 1 : Storyboarding / Planning
Day 2 : Film a team / Be Filmed
Day 3 : Filmed by another team / Film a team
Day 4 : Begin Editing
Day 5 : Finish Editing
Day 6 : Finish and Publish Blog Post
Project Skills Evidence
I used various skills in Premiere Pro and Blocking to create this video. I used the multi-cam feature to edit in a timely manner. I also had the adjust the scale for one of our cameras since it was in 360p. For Blocking Skills we used to 5 Stages of Blocking: Blocking, Light, Rehearse, Adjustments, Shoot. Also we utilized various strong and weak movements as well as other positions like 1/4 and 3/4.
What I Learned
In this Project, I learned the various techniques and skills associated with Blocking. Such as the five stages of Blocking: Blocking, Light, Rehearse, Adjustments, and Shoot. I also learned about the variety of different body movements and positions that demonstrate strength or weakness. While working on the multi-cam in Premiere Pro, I encountered an issue with one of our cameras. One of our Cameras was in 360p and the other 1080p so the Camera in 360p was very tiny in the frame. To fix this, I did the multi-cam and selected all of the places it was the 360p camera and scaled it up to 300% so it covered the entire frame.
To practice writing screenplays and using Celtx, we assembled into groups of 3 and discussed our various skills to decide who would be each role. After that we recorded 5 minutes of Dialogue and I used Audacity to edit it so we only have 1 minute of final dialogue. We then transcribed our Dialogue into Celtx.
I learned the basic ins and outs of using Celtx to write a screenplay. Also, I learned various techniques and strategies in order to make Dialogues that sound natural in a Screenplay. One problem that I solved was that we had 3 minutes of dialogue in Soundcloud but we only wanted and needed 1. So I went into Audacity and edited out the extra 2 minutes of Dialogue and re-uploaded it to Soundcloud.
