dvb camera basics v2

7/28/2019 DVB Camera Basics v2

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Panasonic DVX 100B Digital Camcorder

Well be using the Panasonic DVX 100B, a Mini-DV

camera with many advanced features that were

not so long ago only available on high-end

cameras. These features include true 24P, a spot

meter, cine gamma, scene le controls, a smooth

servo zoom, etc.

This camera is a good learning tool, since it hasmany settings and capabilities in common with

higher end cameras like the Panasonic HVX200,

HPX170, which are High Denition follow-ups to

the DVX with very similar operation, so much of

what you learn using this camera is applicable to

other cameras as well.

The DVX is special among prosumer camcorders

in that it was the rst to support true 24 frame per

second progressive video and can be congured

to produce a look that resembles the soft, creamylook oflm. Even though its not a high denition

camera, the DVX holds its own as one of the best

standard denition cameras ever made. Many

lmmakers have used the DVX100 to give their

lms a lm look on a video budget. Some

examples include:Acoustics: The Modernism of

Julius Shulman (2008); Beyond Belief(2007);A

Scanner Darkly(2006, processed through

Rotoshop); The Road to Guantanamo (2006); Iraq

in Fragments (2006); Murderball (2005);Al Otro

Lado (2005); and Four Eyed Monsters (2005).Whats in the camera bag?

When you check out a DVX 100B from MassArt

Audio Visual Services, you get a complete kit: the

camera, a manual, a charger/power adapter (for

charging the battery or powering the camera

using a wall outlet), A/C cable for the charger/

power adapter, a cable that connects from the

charger/power adapter to the camera, a short

shogun microphone, a foam windscreen,

headphones, and two batteries.

Using the camera for the rst time

1. The rst thing you want to do is take the

camera out of the bag and check it to make sure

there is nothing obviously wrong with it. Note:

That clacking noise you hear when you move the

camera around when its turned offis a

component of the the image stabilization system,

theres nothing wrong with the camera. Turn it on

and the clicking goes away.

2. Next you will want to insert the battery (you

push it into place and then slide down to lock)and turn the camera on. Push the white button

while sliding the on/offswitch to turn on the

camera.

3. Insert Tape. To do this press the blue eject

button located on the camera. Dont forget to

label your tape.

MassArt Professional and Continuing Education

Documentary Video Boot Camp

Video Camera BasicsThrown together by David Tams, [email protected]

from various sources (see acknowledgement section)


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4. Push the Auto button to switch to auto

recording mode. The Camera controls the

following settings when in auto mode: Focus; Iris;Gain; and White Balance.

5. Make sure that the inputs are on the rightsettings depending if you are using an external

microphone or other source or using the internal

microphones. Set Mic/Line switch on the front

when using external audio source. When using

external microphones that require phantom

power, set the MIC POWER switches to ON.

Set routing of Ch1 and Ch2 audio on the side of

the camera (you can choose INT mic or EXT input

to be fed into Ch1 and Ch2. If you are starting out

using the camera mic, then make sure that that

Ch. 1 audio is set to INT(L) and Ch. 2 audio is set to

INT(R), otherwise, you will typically set this to

route Input 1 to Ch. 1 ( Left ) and Input 2 to Ch. 2(Right).

6. Check and adjust your audio levels. One or two

red squares once in a while is OK. Several most of

the time, too loud. But at the same time you want

to see lots of white lines for a strong enough

signal, otherwise your audio will be lost in the

noise oor. When you see six (like Ch1 above)

youve hit the digital brick wall. The DVX has a

Limiter instead of Automatic Gain Control, so

even on automatic you have to set the audiolevels. This results in better sound, so its worth

the effort. You will not hear the pumping or

breathing you hear with the Automatic Gain

Control common on other cameras. Make sure

that the limiter is not disabled in the menu (see

manual).

Documentary Video Boot Camp Camera Basics v.2 Page 2 /22


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7. Monitor audio with

headphones. These plug into

the back of the camera.

Monitor volume control is

above the microphone

switches on the sidepanel.

8. Begin shooting by

pressing the red record

button. The red REC

indicator on the LCD will conrm youre actually

recording. Stop shooting by

pressing the red button again.

Additional tips

1. To zoom in and out use the

toggle located near where thetape is loaded. If this does not

affect the zoom, check the the

Manual / Servo switch located on the front of

the camera. Never move the zoom ring manually

when the switch is set to Servo as it may

damage the internal gears.

2. Never point the camera directly into the sun.

3. Use the ND Filter when lming outside on

bright sunny days. You want to avoid shooting at

small apertures like 11 or 16, so the ND comes inhandy.

4. Consider using outlet power when available,

unless youre mobile and need to use the battery.

5. Use a tripod, or another camera stabilization

device when possible to stabilize your shooting.

If shooting hand-held, use the Optical Image

Stabilization (OIS), the button for turing this on

and offis on the side panel of the camera. When

using a tripod, turn the OIS off.

6. Avoid time code breaks: make sure to overlapwith the previous video clip a little bit. If the time

code number has gone back to zero, you can use

the Rec Check button to go back and play a little

bit of the previous shot which will then stop on

the last frame of recorded video. If Rec Check

does not work, you might have to go into play

mode (on the back of the camera theres a

Camera / VCR button that toggles between

Camera mode and VCR mode) and back up a little

bit and play and then stop before the end of the

clip to make sure its overlapping a little bit. The

camera picks up the time code from the video

recorded on the last frame of the previous shot.

Adjustments OverviewThe things we are mostly concerned with when

were adjusting things on the camera are:

Focus adjustment

Focal Length adjustment

Iris adjustment

Gain Setting

ND Setting

White Balance Setting

Set the Frame rate option (60i, 30P, 24P, 24PA)

Set the Aspect Ratio option (4x3 or 16x9)

Shutter speed setting (slow shutter, fastshutter)

Choose the Scene Settings (gamma, matrix,master pedestal, etc.) for a particular look.

Primary Camera Functions

White Balance

A-B-PRESET: When switched into the A position,

the camera stores the last setting in this storage

bank as is the same for the B switch when in

position. This unique feature allows for two

custom stored settings in the event of a multiple

lighted shooting conditions. For instance: You

may want to set and store and outdoor setting in

A and then set and store an indoor setting in B in

the event of needing to switch from indoor to

outdoor during a shoot. The Preset switch is used



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in conjunction with the AWB Button. When the

white balance switch is on PRST you can push the

AWB Button to switch between two presets:

3200K incandescent light, indoor.

5200K typical daylight, outdoors.

AWB Button

Sets the white balance. The AWB button is in front

of the camera. When this button is pushed while

the white balance switch is in the A or B position,

the white balance is automatically adjusted. The

white balance value is then stored in the memory.

When the AWB is pressed while the white balanceswitch is in the Preset position, the current white

balance value is displayed. It

also allows you to toggle

between the Daylight and

Tungsten settings while in

Preset.

ND Filter

This can be considered sunglasses for the camera.

The ND lter is used outside when its sunny or

even when its cloudy there are two settings: 1/8

& 1/64.

Focus Switch and Button

Auto, Manual, Push: Use Push in the manual

position to quickly establish the focus setting and

still maintain manual control. Be

aware that the auto focus is slow,

so youll want to hold this in for

several seconds as the camera

seeks to the new focus setting.

Focus Ring

Manually controls the focus. The

distance is displayed in the

viewnder as a number. To translate this curious

number only an engineer can appreciate to feet

and inches preferred by most humans, use the

conversion chart on this page.

Zoom Control

Servo control of the zoom is provided by this

rocker switch on the camera above the tape

compartment. Notice you can press it a little for a

slow zoom and press it further for a faster zoom.

The Zoom Servo/Manual switch on the front of


DVX100 Focus conversion chart (compiled by Eric Petersen)

50% 3' 10" 59% 4' 10" 68% 6' 6" 77% 10' 86% 22' 9"

51% 3' 11" 60% 4' 11.5" 69% 6' 9" 78% 10' 8" 87% 26' 6"

52% 4' 61% 5' 70% 7' 79% 11' 6" 88% 31' 10"

53% 4' 1" 62% 5' 2" 71% 7' 4" 80% 12' 4" 89% 39' 9"

54% 4' 2.5" 63% 5' 4" 72% 7' 8" 81% 13' 4" 90% 52' 11"

55% 4' 4" 64% 5' 6" 73% 8' 82% 14' 7" 91% 79' 5"

56% 4' 5" 65% 5' 9.5" 74% 8' 6" 83% 16' 92% 160' 8"

57% 4' 6.5" 66% 6' 75% 9' 84% 17' 9" 93% inf

58% 4' 8" 67% 6' 3" 76% 9' 6" 85% 19' 11"


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the camera needs to be set to Servo for this

rocker switch to work.

Zoom Ring

Switch the camera to MANUAL before doing

manual zoom by hand. See Zoom Servo/Manual

below.

Iris Button

When the Iris button is

pressed, it toggles

between the auto iris and

manual iris modes.

Iris Dial

This is used to adjust the lens iris. It can be used in

both the manual and auto setting. (See Iris Dial

item in the menu under SW mode)

Secondary Camera Functions

Handle Zoom 1 2 3

These are the speed

settings for the handle

zoom. This zoom is

different from the other

zoom because it is not

pressure sensitive. In the

menu of the camera the

speed can be set to Low-

Medium-High or Low-Off-

High.

Zoom Servo/Manual

Use to choose auto zoom

(controlled by the zoom buttons) or manual zoom

(controlled manually by the zoom ring). Make

sure to set the MANUAL/AUTO switch at the front

of the camera to MANUAL before manually

adjusting zoom.

EVF DTN End Search Button

This button can be set to search for blank tape or

the last shot in the playback mode

Counter - Reset Buttons

This button is used to reset the counter value on

the counter display and memory counter value to

zero, not time code

Mode CHK Button

Use this button to check the current status of the

camera in the Viewnder or LCD monitor.

OIS

The Optical Image Stabilization is used to set the

camera shake compensation to on or off. In other

terms this make the picture steadier when you are

lming hand held. Avoid this setting when usinga tripod.

Zebra

When turned on this can tell you when you are

overexposing your shot, a zebra-like pattern will

appear over the overexposed area. This button

can be set for Zebra 1 = 80%, Zebra 2=100% (See

Set Up mode in Menu to change the value of the

Zebra). Pushing on the Zebra button takes you

through the settings, Zebra 1, Zebra 2, Marker On,Marker Off.

Shutter & Speed Sel Button

Press the shutter button to change the speed

then press the Speed-Sel button to set the speed.



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Record Check

Is used to view 2 seconds

of the last recording,

from with in the shooting

pause mode. The

recorder will reposition atthe pause point of that

most recent recording.

User Buttons

User 1,2, and 3: The setting options for the user

buttons are in the menu under SW Mode. There

are eleven functions that can be allotted to the

user buttons for special shooting conditions or

effects.

VCR/Record

ButtonWhen these two

buttons are pressed

at the same time in

the VCR mode the

camera can be used

as a VTR.

Audio Functions

Audio Mon/Var ButtonsUse these buttons to adjust the volume of the

built in monitor or headphones connected to the

camera.

Audio Control Dials

These dials control the audio recording level.

Refer to the level readout (discussed later) and

listen with headphones for the best results.

Other Goodies

Cold Shoe (a.k.a. accessory shoe)

Used to mount a light, microphone, wireless

receiver, or other gear.

Tally Lamp

A light that alerts you when you are recording or

in some cases when the battery is running low.

There is a lamp in the front and rear of the

camera. These lights can also be turned offfrom

the Menu Other Functions Rec. Lamp.

Tripod Socket

The camera has a standard 1/4-20 (1/4" diameter,

20 threads per inch) socket for attachment to a

tripod. This can also be used for attaching the

camera to custom made mounts. You can ndcompatible bolts at most any hardware store.

Make sure that any bolt you get is not too long,

you dont want the bolt to bottom out in the

threaded socket and risk damaging the socket or

camera.

Lens and Lens Shade

Always keep the lens clean. If you need to clean

the lens, apply a drop of lens uid and then clean

gently with a crumpled piece of lens tissue. Never

press on the lens while cleaning, as a small grainof dirt could easily scratch the lens. If youre not

condent with lens cleaning, ask someone with

experience to show you how to do it.



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The lens shade is removable (loosen the screw on

the side an then turn gently, the lens shade

attaches via a bayonet mount).

Menu FunctionsThe only reason to go into the menu is for

changes in the functionality of the camera. There

is no need to use the menu for basic shooting if

you are happy with the camera defaults or how it

was set up before you started using it. However, if

someone was in the menus messing around, they

have have set things you dont want. This is the

joy of a prosumer cameras, so many settings to

mess you up (or give you creative options).

If the camera is ever functioning in a manner

inconsistent with this handout, its possible that

theres a menu setting that has been changed.

Consult the users manual for specic details on

adjusting the various menu settings.

Menu

The VCR controls double as menu controls

depending on the mode. Push the pause button

and left/right arrows for menu setting changes.

Menu Options

Camera Mode

1. Scene File (changes with scene le dial on back

of camera)

2. Camera Setup

3. SW Mode

4. Auto SW

5. Record Setup

6. Display Setup

7. Other Functions

VCR mode

1. Playback Functions

2. Recording Setup

3. AV In/Out Setup

4. Display Setup

5. Other Functions

Scene File Settings

Scene le dial

This dial has setting designed for various shooting

conditions. When shooting the needed le can be

quickly loaded using this dial. (see the menu forScene le mode options.)

Scene File Dial Settings

F1. Scene: Standard Settings (start with this one)

F2. Scene Flou: Indoor shooting under uorescent

lights

F3. Scene Spark: Events increase color and detail

F4. Scene B-STR: Enhanced gradation in dark

areas of sunset shots

F5. Scene 24p: 24p mode + Cine-Like gamma (use

this one for a more lm-like look, be aware youll

have 3-2 pulldown embedded in your video, if

youre not sure what this means, start with F1).

F6. Scene Advance: Advanced 24p mode (only

used 24pA if you know why you want to use it

and are aware of the post-production issues

associated with it, so start offusing F1 or F5 until

you have a specic need for 24pA.) Dont use this

scene le setting if youre editing with Final Cut

Express or another editing system that does notsupport 24p advanced (24pA).

Recommended SettingsFor starting out, simply use one of the preset

Scene File Settings mentioned above. However, if

you want a nice creamy lm-look or your own

custom look, you can adjust the camera settings



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to your liking. These are the settings I like using

with the DVX100:

Vertical Detail Frequency: Thin [See Note 1]

Vertical Detail: 0

Detail: -3 [See Note 2]

Detail Coring: 0 [See Note 3]

Skin Detail: Off

Chroma: 0

Phase: +3

Gamma: Cine Gamma

Matrix: Cine Look

Master Pedestal: -3 to -6

Format: 4:3 or 16:9 LETTERBOX [See Note 4]

Time Code: Record Run

First Record: Preset (set Tape #) Shutter Speed: 1/48 [See Note 5]

Exposure: Use spot meter (Marker) incamera, highlights with some textural detailat 90%, middle grey ay 45-55%, dark areaswith textural detail at 10-15%

Mode/Frame Rate: 24P (or 24P Advanced ifyou are using it with a good reason to beusing it) [See Note 6]

Start by resetting all camera settings to their

default values, then set your scene settings and

then name and save them into one of the camera

scene les. Double check settings each time you

insert a new tape or power-up the camera. These

settings are a starting point, you should do your

own testing and establish the look appropriate for

your project. Refer to your DVX-100 User Manual

and Barry Greens most excellent DVX Book and

DVD (links below) for more details.

Notes on these settings

1: Vertical Detail Frequency. If you are intending

to do a video to lm transfer, up-convert to HD, or

plan to project at festivals and other venues thatare using 720P projectors, use the Thin setting.

This provides the full 480 lines of vertical

resolution the DVX is capable of and yields a

better image when the SD video is up-converted

(start with the sharpest and best image you can).

The problem is that most television monitors are

interlaced and thus cant handle the high

resolution, so you see whats called line twitter (as

a result of interlacing), but if youre using a

progressive display, projector, going out to lm,

or able to do post-processing in post production,

its the way to go. The Mid setting brings the

vertical detail down to about 400 lines reducingthe twitter artifacts on an interlaced display. The

Thick setting offers about 360 lines without any

artifacts and ideal for material intended for SD

broadcast. You will notice the twitter effects of

the Thin setting when looking at a scene with lots

ofne detail on an interlaced display. Another

alternative is to shoot with the Thin setting and

process the video in post to lower the resolution if

you need material for both up-conversion to HD

an SD.

2: Detail. Detail enhances edges, too much andthe image starts to look electronic and articial,

like oh too many bad wedding videos. Leave off

unless you have a specic need for it. A slightly

softer image is part of the lm look. Exaggerated

edge detail is part of the video look.

3: Detail Coring. When you enhance detail, you

add noise, especially in the shadows. Detail

Coring reduces the added noise.

4: Aspect Ratio. Shooting 4:3 of 16:9 letterboxed

within the 4:3 frame assures it plays on every TV, ifyou choose squeeze, you limit your screening to

televisions and projectors capable of 16:9, which

is not yet universal, also, some experts suggest

even if you want squeeze, the scalers you can use

in post will do a better job than the scaler built

into the camera for creating a squeezed 16:9

version. Shoot 4:3 with vertical detail set to thin

and you will get the best up-convert to 16:9 HD or

lm out possible. And while its more work to do

the squeeze in post, the creative advantage is you

can correct framing slightly up or down in post,so you might even consider shooting 4:3 even if

your nal destination is a 16:9 video.

5: Strobing. When shooting 24P, because you are

exposing 24 frames per second (rather than 60

elds per second as with video) you will notice

strobing when you do a fast pan. This can be



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reduced by panning slowly. The rule of thumb is it

should take seven seconds for an object to cross

the screen as you pan. Another approach is to

move with the subject and distract the viewers

attention from the strobing background. Another

way to deal with strobing is to use a lower shutterspeed, the default for the DVX is 1/48 when

shooting 24P, you can lower it to 1/24, for

example. This will increase motion blur (not

always a bad thing, its kind of cool and another

element of the lm look). At the 1/24 shutter

speed there is less strobing that at 1/48, however,

more motion blur. Shooting at 30p exhibits less

strobing, however, this format does not convert

gracefully to other formats like lm (24fps) or PAL

(25fps).

6: Frame Rate and Scan Mode: For the standardvideo look, shoot 60i. For the lm look, shoot 24P

Standard or 24P Advanced. Unless you

understand clearly why you want to shoot 24P

Advanced, Shoot 24P Standard and capture your

project at 60i in Final Cut Pro or Final Cut Express.

24P standard will provide you with the lm look

and the ease of editing a standard video project

at 29.97fps. Final Cut Express does not support

capture of 24P Advanced material. If you chose to

shoot 24P Advanced, make sure you capture the

project in Final Cut Pro as 23.97. 24P advanced

has advantages if you want a 24fps master, which

is what I personally prefer. Its easy to derive 60i

from 24P. Getting 24P from 60i involved reverse

telecine and some loss of quality. For web video

24p is a good choice. For DVD 24P is a good

choice. True 24P (shooting Advanced w/ the

camera) is a universal standard easily converted

to other standards. 24P advanced uses a 2:3:3:2

candence to encode 24p onto 60i video and then

the editing system reconstitutes the 24fps video

from the 60i. Your editing system needs to know

how to handle this. Some argue that its easier to

simply shoot 24P standard which uses the

standard video to lm cadence of 2:3 and edit

standard 29.97 (60i) video in your editing system.

If you are OK staying in 60i, then its OK to shoot

24p standard. I prefer a true 24p master and I

think the extra trouble in capture is worth it.

However, it does require the use of Final Cut Pro

or another non-linear editor that supports 24P

Advanced and a lot of additional care and

attention. Whatever you do, test your workow

before you leap. One nice thing of tape going

away is the digital card formats make it possibleto shoot and ingest 24p material without any of

these hassles.

LCD DisplayThe LCD display screen can seem like its literally

swarming with information. In the following

section Im going to try and sort out what the

most commons symbols and ashing light mean.

Red ashing box in the upper left corner:This

means you do not have a tape in the camera.

TC with a bunch of numbers: The Time Code is a

digital code or number inserted into videotape,

unseen on the nal product, for editing purposes.

The time code identies every frame of the

videotape and displays hours, minutes, seconds

and frames (HH:MM:SS:FF). When editing, Time

Code allows each video frame to be addressed

individually.

Hand with lines: No youre not hallucinating.

Thats the image stabilization symbol, if you can

see it, it is on. But, if youre not as steady as youused to be, youll want this to be on. When the

camera is mounted on a tripod you will want it to

be off.

Battery icon in bottom right corner:This is the

power level of the current battery that you have



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in the camera. Watch out if its ashing your

battery is about to go kaput.

Lines that move:The audio meters. Be sure to

keep them out of the red, but at the same time

you want to see lots of white lines for a strong

enough signal.

SP in the upper left corner:That stands for

standard play and is the setting you want to

record in. If you dont record in SP the footage

from your tape wont work in some decks .

There is a lot more to the display screen, but

that should give you a general overview of the

things you need to know to successfully operate

the camera.

If you dont see timecode numbers as shown

here, press the Counter button on the side panel

of the camera (you may have to do this several

times) to display time code on the LCD.

Shooting BasicsTo ensure you can capture everything you shoot,

start offeach tape with either black or bars for

about 15 seconds at the start of tape.

Properly white balance the camera whenever

light changes.

Shoot to edit - allow for at least ve-second pre-

roll time. Take into consideration with all shots in

relation to how they may look in an editing

situation.

Make sure that there is enough room in the shot

to add titles, graphics, lower thirds, or other

possible adjustments in the editing process..

Pre-production check-list

Program outline

Shot list

Interview questions

Subject releases

Location releases

Location agreements (if needed)

Shooting permits (if needed)

Shooting in the Field

Stable body position - leg spacing, kneeling arm

support, hold viewnder up to your eye for the

steadiest hand-held shot (you head is very

steady), or use a tripod if its more appropriate for

what youre shooting.Use your environment to your advantage:

For support use a wall, step, chair or whatever you

can nd. A monopod provides an interesting

alternative to a tripod, and when used hand-held

offthe ground, helps to lower the camera center-

of-gravity, which makes for a more stable shot.

Find a unique angle, the more variety and mix of

shots you have the more interesting your nal

piece will be. Not everything should he shot at

eye level. Documentary is an expressive medium.

Focusing: different types: setting focus, depth of

eld, deep focus.

Zooming

Telephoto: perspective at, narrow eld, lacksdepth

Wide angle: emphasize space and depth,distortion

Manual vs. servo zoom

Framing and shot composition Rule of thirds

Head room / Lead room

Cropping - crop at joints, allow for over-scanning (still important to consider)

Foreground / background

Move with subjects / subject pushes frame

Shot selection

Types: XLS, LS, MS, MCU, CU, XCU

Motivation

Light

CompositionRemember to shoot to edit with these basic

principles. It may be necessary to experiment

with several clips in Final Cut in order to learn

how best to apply these principles in a shoot to



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edit situation. Well discuss the concept of

coverage.

Audio

Handheld - Omnidirectional

Lavaliere

Shotgun

Mic Cables

Boom Pole

Pistol Grip or other mount

Microphone Stands

Wireless system (avoid if you can, but oh soconvenient, interference can be a problem)

Mixer (optional)

Lighting

Reector (ex-ll)

Light Kit (soft/open/fresnel)

Gels

Diffusion material

Reective umbrellas to use w/ Tota lights

Light Stands

Clothes pins, groves, gaffer tape

Stingers

Things to avoid

Pointing camcorders at a bright light source willcause a vertical smear on the video, usually

undesirable. Do not use the camcorder in

situations under 32F or over 100F. Do not store

camcorder in car trunk or in a closed van; it may

be exposed to harmful conditions or theft. Do not

expose camcorder to rain or moisture.

Location Pre-Production Check List

Permissions

Obtain permission to shoot location or event

if needed.

Obtain release forms from subjects.

Shot List, think about transitions and covershots, you want to express your idea visually,not just with people talking

Location

Scout location prior to shoot if possible

Check for power outlets, lighting and audioissues.

Verify set-up time with location and crew.

Ask about a convenient unloading/loadingarea if you have more gear than you can easilycarry in one trip

Inform any security or PR staffof yourschedule if shooting in an institutional setting

Have any release or location release formsthat may be needed, especially when workingin a school or institution that may haveparticular concerns with cameras in theirspace, and usually youll need to getpermission to use the location in advance.

Things to Have on the Shoot

Camera

Tripod Tapes

Batteries

Extension cords, extra audio gear, gels, trick-line, gloves, tools, gaffer (not duct) tape

Forms, subject and location releases, parkingpermits, admittance waivers, etc.

Garbage bags

First aid kit

Lighting

Where will the sun and shadow be during theshoot?

If shooting indoors, are there windows in thebackground?

Where will the lighting go?

Is there enough power? Watts = Voltage xAmps

Will others be drawing power from the samecircuits?

Fluorescent office lights, even warm ones arenot attering on faces, use lighting for formal

interviews when you can.

Audio

Is there a lot of background noise? Can youget mics close enough to subject? Lavaliereswork well in noisy environments as long asthey are placed close to the subject speaking.

Do you need more than one microphone?



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If using a wireless, try it out rst. There may beinterference from electrical sources orcompeting transmitters.

More Information

This handout is not a substitute for looking overthe camera manual, so if its not clear how to

make a particular adjustment, take a gander at

the users manual. Point your browser to ftp://

ftp.panasonic.com/pub/Panasonic/Drivers/PBTS/

manuals/OM_AG-DVX100B.pdfto download the

manual. The DVX Bookby Barry Green is the

perfect companion to this camera. It explains

many of the things that are described but not

explained in the owners manual. The book is

available from: http://www.dvxuser.com/articles/

dvxbook/

Glossary of Video and Camera

Terminology360-degree pan. A panning shot which turns

around a full circle.

24p, 24pA, 30p,. See Progressive Scan.

3:2 Pulldown. A technique used to convert 24

frames per second lm to 30 frames per second

video. Every other lm frame is converted to 3

video elds resulting in a sequence of 3 elds, 2

elds, 3 elds, 2 elds, etc. See also ProgressiveScan.

4x3. The aspect ratio of standard television, as

opposed to the 16x9 of high denition television.

Also known as 1.33: 1.

16x9. The aspect ratio of wide screen television

(may be either standard or high denition) as

opposed to the 4x3 of standard television.

Sometimes referred to as 1.77: 1 or 1.78:1.

60i. See Interlace Scan.

Aerial shot. An overhead shot, usually taken from

a helicopter or airplane or some clever

contraption involving wires. Can also refer to any

high angle view of a subject taken from a crane or

any high stationary position.Aliasing. Defects in the picture caused by too low

of a sampling frequency or poor ltering. Usually

seen as jaggies or stair steps in diagonal lines.

Aliasing also can occur in the temporal domain,

for example, as wagon wheels moving backward

or slower than the wagon is moving, due to the

frame rate of the camera vs. the speed of the

wheel. Any undesirable distortion of image or

sound that is a result of less than perfect digital

encoding can be considered aliasing.

Analog. A signal that varies continuously in

relation to some reference. In contrast, a digital

signal varies in discreet steps.

Anamorphic lens. A lens that allows a wide image

to be photographed on a standard-sized frame.

For example, anamorphic lenses are available for

the Panasonic DVX100 (and several other video

cameras) which allows the use of the full 4x3

video frame when shooting 16x9 video. The

anamorphic lens essential takes a 16x9 image and

squeezes it into a 4x3 frame. In video terms this isoften called squeeze or anamorphic video.

Angle. See Camera angle.

Angle of view. The angle of acceptance of a lens

which depends on the focal length of the lens

and the camera aperture (related to the size of

the imaging device or lm frame). Wide angle

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lenses have a wide angle of view, telephoto lenses

have a narrow angle of view.

Anti-aliasing. The process of removing aliasing

artifacts. For example, adding vertical blur to an

interlaced video image, which assures that any

ne detail straddle more than one line, preventsline jitter on an interlaced display.

Aperture. An adjustable opening (iris) in a camera

lens that controls the amount of light passing

through a lens, often expressed as an f-number (a

ratio of the opening and the focal length of the

lens). The aperture has an effect on depth ofeld.

Wide openings (e.g. f/2.8) result in shallow depth

ofeld, smaller openings (e.g. f/11) result in

greater depth ofeld. Thus the aperture affects

both the exposure and the depth of

eld.Apple box. A sturdy rectangular box commonly

used in media production made of wood used to

support equipment, people, props, etc.

Sometimes called a man maker since they are

used to stand on to appear taller. Available in

various sizes: Full, Half, Quarter, and Pancake

(eight of a Full). Also works well on its side as a

temporary place to sit on the set.

Artifact. A visual effect caused by an error or

limitation in the system.

Aspect ratio. The ratio of the horizontal

dimension to the vertical dimension of a picture.

35mm lms are typically shot with an aspect ratio

of 1.85: 1 or 2.35:1, widescreen video is 1.78:1

(a.k.a. 16x9), and standard video and 16mm lm is

1.33:1 (4x3).

ATV. Advanced Television. An acronym for the

new digital television standards. See HDTV.

ATSC. Advanced Television Systems Committee.

The standards organization that recommendedthe new digital television standards to the FCC.

Automatic white balance. A circuit in a video

camera that attempts to adjust the white balance

automatically. See White Balance.

B-roll. Shots in a documentary that are used to

illustrate what an interviewee is talking about or

to cover breaks in an interview. Often used to

refer to the footage that is shot for the purpose of

using later as cut-away shots. See Cut-away shot.

Balanced signal. An audio circuit with 3 wires,

two carry the signal, and the third provides the

ground. Compared to unbalanced circuit using asingle signal wire and a ground, balanced signals

are much less susceptible to picking up

interference. Therefore, professional sound

recording equipment is usually designed to work

with balanced wiring. While XLRs are the most

widely used connectors with balanced wiring, a

particular connector does not guarantee the

existence of balanced wiring. Better camcorders

provided balanced XLR connectors for audio

input.

Bandwidth. The amount of information that can

be passed through a system at a given time.

Typically, the greater the bandwidth the better

the image or audio quality, however, the

compression techniques (if any) used also

inuence this, since some compression formats

allow for a reduction of bandwidth while

maintaining very similar image quality, for

example, H.264 vs. MPEG-2.

Bird's eye view. See Overhead shot.

Bit. 1. A single element (1 or 0) of digital

representation of information. 2. A minor role in

which an actor may speak only a few lines of

dialog. Also known as a bit part.

Bit rate. The amount of data transported in a

given amount of time, usually dened in Mega

(Million) bits per second (Mbps). Bit rate is one

way to dene the amount of compression used

on a video signal. Uncompressed standard

denition video has a bit rate of 270 Mbps. The

DV and HDV video standards have a bit rate to 25Mbps. These video standards reduce the bit rate t

Broadcast quality. An nebulous term used by

marketing people to describe video products.

Camera angle. The position of the camera in

relation to the subject during lming. It may be

straight (eye-level shot), tilted up at the subject



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(low-angle shot), tilted down at the subject (high-

angle shot), or tilted offthe vertical axis to either

side (Dutch-angle shot).

Camera movement. Any movement of the

camera during a shot, such as panning, tilting,

dollying, tracking, etc.

Camera log. A sheet used to keep track of

information about scenes or shots on a particular

tape or memory card.

Camera speed. The rate at which lm is run

through a motion picture camera in frames per

second (fps). The normal speed for sound lm

recording is 24 fps. Video cameras that simulate

lm shooting at 24 fps use the same terms as lm

cameras to describe the camera speed. See also

Overcrank and Undercrank.

Canted frame. See Dutch angle.

Chrominance. The color component of a video

signal. See Luminance.

Cinma vrit. In French, literally, cinema truth.

A style of documentary lmmaking in which the

lmmaker captures real people in real situations

with spontaneous use of hand-held camera,

naturalistic sound recording, and with

participation on the part of the lmmaker, for

example, Chronicle of a Summer(1961, Jean Rouch

& Edgar Morin, French title: Chronique d'un t).

Also called direct cinema, however, direct cinema

sometimes refers to a different style that was

dominant in the United States in the 1960s and

differs in terms much less lmmaker involvement,

for example, Salesman (1968, Albert & David

Maysles).

Cinematographer. The person responsible for the

camera work and lighting in a lm. Sometimes

the term is used even though the medium in useis video. Also called a lighting cameraman or

director of photography.

Clipping. When an input signal exceeds the

capability the equipment to reproduce the signal,

clipping occurs. In an analog recording system

the results are audible distortion, however, in a

digital system you end up with incomprehensible

noise.

Close-up (CU). A close view of a person or object

which features details isolated from their

surroundings. A close-up of a person typically

only shows their head.

Component video. A video signal in which the

Luminance and Chrominance signals are kept

separate. This requires a higher bandwidth, but

yields a higher quality picture.

Composite video. The luminance and

chrominance signals are combined in an encoder

to create the common NTSC, PAL or SECAM video

signals. Typically the format that comes out of a

consumer VCR or camera (connector RCA

connector color-coded with yellow). Essentially aform of analog video compression to allow the

economical broadcasting of video.

Compression. The process of reducing the

amount of digital information required to

represent an image. This is usually accomplished

by throwing out redundant information, or doing

sophisticated calculations to represent portions

of the image in a manner that they can be

reconstructed with minimal amounts of data.

Compression techniques using DCT techniques

simply throw out redundant information, other

techniques like MPEG-2 and H.264 use more

sophisticated analysis, modeling, and

reconstruction techniques.

Compression ratio. The ratio of the amount of

data in the original video compared to the

amount of data in the compressed video. The

higher the ratio the greater the compression.

Coverage. Additional and more detailed shots

which are intended to be intercut with a master

shot or scene. Typically involves shots and their

respective reverse-shots in a dialog scene, along

with inserts and possibly a two-shot, and any

additional shots that will help the editor construct

the scene.

Crane shot. A shot taken from a crane or large

mechanical arm that moves the camera and its



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operator smoothly and noiselessly in any

direction. See also Jib arm.

CRT. Cathode Ray Tube. The technical name for a

glass video picture tube. LCD at panel displays

have all but replaced them, and most

manufacturers have stopped making them forenvironmental and cost reasons, but some

colorists and cinematographers still prefer to

evaluate images on glass monitors (e.g. Sony

BVM-A20F1U 20" BVMA14F5U 14" HD monitors)

with SMPTE-C/EBU phosphors, providing the

most accurate color, tonal range, and solid black.

In spite of their image quality, their time is slowly

coming to an end as LCD monitors improve and

offer a weight, cost, and environmental

advantage over CRTs.

Curtain. Placing a conventional 4:3 video image

within a wide screen image (typically 16x9) in a

frame by placing black bands at the left and right

of the screen.

Cutaway. A shot of an image or action in a lm

which is not part of the main action, sometimes

used to cover breaks in a scene's continuity. In

documentary often called B-roll.

Dailies. In lm production the rst positive prints

or video transfer made by the laboratory from the

negative shot on the previous day. Also known as

rushes. It can also mean on a video production

the video shot the same day when its watched at

the end of the day.

Deep-focus cinematography. A cinematographic

technique which keeps objects in a shot clearly

focused from close-up range to innity. Involves

the use of wide lenses and small apertures.

Citizen Kane contains some wonderful examples

of deep focus cinematography.

Depth ofeld. The range in front of the camera

lens within which objects appear in sharp focus.

Diagonal. A shot where the camera pivots both

horizontally and vertically, a combination of

DCT. Discrete Cosine Transform. A widely used

method of video compression. The technique is

employed in formats like DV and DVPRO HD. DCT

requires more space than formats like MPEG-2,

however, it exhibits signicantly fewer artifacts.

Digital. A representation format in which data is

translated into a series of ones and zeros.

Numerical data (base 10) is translated into binary

numbers (base 2). Symbolic data is translatedaccording to codes (for example, the ASCII code

system assigns binary numbers to characters so

they can be encoded digitally). Audio and images

are sampled. See also sample, sampling rate.

Digital recording. A method of recording video

(or audio) in which samples of the original analog

signal are encoded on tape or a le as binary

information for storage and retrieval. Unlike

analog recordings, digital video (or audio) can be

copied repeatedly without degradation.Digitizing. The act of taking analog video and

converting it to digital form. The term is often

used synonymously with ingest or capture, which

is the process of transferring a digital video

format into a non-linear editing system (its

already digital, so you are simply capturing or

ingesting, youre not actually digitizing).

Direct cinema. See Cinma vrit.

Distortion. The addition of artifacts to the original

audio signal appearing in the output which wasnot present in the input.

Documentary. A non-ction lm, usually

photographed using actual people in real

locations rather than with actors and a scripted

stories. Dened by John Grierson as the creative

treatment of actuality, a denition that allows for

a wide range oflms to fall under the denition,

which has always been a source of debate among

lmmakers, viewers, and theoreticians.

Dogme 95. An avant-garde lmmakingmovement started in 1995 by directors Lars von

Trier and Thomas Vinterberg with the signing of

the Dogme 95 Manifesto and the "Vow of

Chastity". The goal of the Dogme collective was to

purify lmmaking by refusing expensive and

spectacular special effects, postproduction

modications and other gimmicks. More



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information may be found on the official Dogme

95 web site at: http://www.dogme95.dk/

Dolly shot. See Tracking shot.

Doorway dolly. A versatile plywood dolly with

four soft tires which is narrow enough to t

through a doorway. On big features it is used to

transport equipment and cables, on smaller

productions it is used as a camera dolly with the

camera placed on a tripod which in turn sits on

the plywood platform. The four soft tires can be

replaced with track wheels allowing the doorway

dolly to operate on standard track. Panther has

developed a version of the doorway dolly called

the briefcase dolly that folds up into a smaller unit

for easier transport.

Double exposure. The superimposition of two ormore images. Also called multiple exposure. With

lm it is achieved with multiple exposures.

Double-system sound. The technique of

recording sound and image using separate

recording devices. In lm production this is the

normal methodology since lm camera cant

record sound, however, it is sometimes used in

video as well when mobility is required by the

sound recordist who may want to avoid running

wires to feed the video camera with the audio

signal.

Drop Frame (DF). A system of time code

generation that adjusts the generated data every

minute by skipping frames as it counts up (not

dropping video frames) in order to compensate

for the spread of the NTSC television system

running at 29.97 frames per second. Otherwise,

the running time code would not match real time.

Drop out. Loss of a portion of an audio or video

signal, usually caused by an imperfection in the

tapes coating or dirt covering a portion of the

tape. HDV, due to its long GOP format is

particularly susceptible to drop outs because an

drop out is likely to affect multiple frames. Hi8

was a format notorious for drop outs.

DTV. Digital Television. Another acronym for the

new digital television standards. See HDTV.

Dutch-angle. A tilted camera angle obliquely

slanted to the frame's vertical axis so that the

horizontal frame line is not parallel to the horizon.

Also called an oblique angle shot or a canted

frame.

DV (Digital Video). A digital video formatdeveloped by Sony, Panasonic, and JVC using a

small tape that has become a widely used

standard among consumers and professionals

video production and well suited for

documentary video using small camcorders. The

DV specication (IEC 61834) denes both the

codec and tape format. The intraframe DCT codec

with a bit rate of 25 Mbit/sec provides good

image quality and simplied editing. DV cameras

are easy to connect to non-linear editing systems

via a FireWire (IEEE 1394) interface. Unlike Hi8,which was notorious for video dropouts, DV

provided excellent image and audio quality

acceptable for video documentaries intended for

broadcast and theatrical distribution. Sony also

introduced DVCAM which uses a wider track pitch

for increased reliability. See also HDV.

Dynamic range. The difference in decibels

between the loudest and quietest portions of

audio that a system is capable of processing.

Establishing shot. A camera shot, usually a longshot, which identies, or establishes, the location

of a scene.

Ethnographic lm. An anthropological lm that

records and perhaps comments on a group of

people and their culture of which the lmmaker is

not a part of.

Exposure index (E.I.). A lm's sensitivity denoted

as a number, for example, EI 100 is relatively slow

lm, EI 800 is relatively fast lm. often used to

express sensitivity of a video camera.

Extreme close-up (XCU). A very close view of a

person or object which features specic details.

An extreme close-up of a person typically shows

only their eyes or mouth.

Extreme long shot (XLS). A panoramic view of a

scene, photographed from a great distance.

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Eye line match. Editing shots that are aligned, or

matched to suggest that two characters in

separate shots are looking at each other.

Fast motion. Shots photographed slower than

the standard speed of 24 fps so that the action on

the screen appears faster than normal whenprojected at standard speed. See Slow motion,

Under-cranked, Over-cranked.

Field. One half of a complete video image (frame),

containing all the odd or even scanning lines of

the image. See also Interlace, Frame.

Filter. A piece of glass tted in front of a camera

lens to control the color or quality of light

entering the camera.

First-person shot. See point-of-view shot.

Fisheye lens. An extreme wide-angle lens that

distorts the image so that straight lines appear

rounded at the edges of the frame.

Flicker. The alternation of light and dark which

can be visually perceived.

Focus pull. The process of refocusing a lens

during a shot in order to keep a subject in focus

or to change the subject of attention.

Focal length. The distance from the center of the

lens to the point on the lm plane where light

rays meet in sharp focus. A wide-angle lens has a

short focal length; a telephoto lens has a long

focal length.

Focus. The sharpness or denition of a lm image.

Following shot. A shot in which the camera pans

or travels to keep a moving gure or object within

the frame.

Footage. 1. Exposed lm stock. 2. Recorded video

tape.Format. The video codec, resolution, and frame

rate used for a production. For example, DVCPRO

HD 720/24p (1280 x 720 progressive scan at 24

frames per second using the DVCPRO HD video

codec).

Frame. 1. An individual photograph recorded on

motion picture lm. The outside edges of a lm

image on the screen. 2. One complete video

image, or two video elds. There are 30 frames in

one second of NTSC video. Also a single video or

lm image. See also Interlace, Field.

Framing. The visual composition of a shot within

the frame.

Frequency. The number of times a signal vibrates

per second. Expressed in Hertz (Hz), which is the

number of cycles per second.

Full shot. A long shot that includes the human

body "in full" within the frame.

Gain. The ratio, expressed in decibels (dB), of the

signal level at the output of an audio device to

the signal level at its input.

Gaffers tape. A strong cloth-based tape with a

special adhesive that does not leave behind any

residue when carefully peeled offsurfaces. Not

to be confused with duct tape which leaves a

sticky mess behind.

Gigabyte. 1 Billion bytes.

Hand-held camera. A shot where a camera

operator, rather than a tripod or a mechanical

device, supports and moves the camera duringlming.

HDTV. High Denition Television. A television

format with a wide screen (16x9 as opposed to

the classic 4x3) and higher resolution. Rather than

a single HDTV standard the FCC approved several

different standards, allowing broadcasters to

choose which to use. This means that HDTV

television have to support all of them. All of the

systems are broadcast as component digital. The

New HDTV/SDTV standards include: HDTV 1920 x

1080@ 30i or 30p or 24p frame rate with a 16 x 9

aspect ratio; HDTV 1280 x 720 @ 60p, 30p, 24p

frame rate with a 16 x 9 aspect ratio; SDTV 720 x

483 @ 60p, 30p, 24p frame rate with a 16 x 9

aspect ratio; SDTV 640 x 480 @ 30i with a 4 x 3

aspect ratio (i = interlaced, p = progressive, scan).



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HDV. A consumer-oriented high-denition video

format using MiniDV tapes which differs from DV

in that it uses MPEG-2 inter-frame compression in

order to encode the higher resolution needed for

HD at the same bit rate as DV using the same

tape. The use of a MPEG-2 long GOP inter-framecompression can sometimes produce motion

artifacts. HDV also complicates the editing

process since inter-frame compression requires

signicantly more processing power than DV

since editing systems have to reconstruct

intermediate frames computationally. HDV has

been widely adopted by both consumer and

professional users who need to work with a small

and portable camera but want to produce shows

that are compatible with the newer high

denition video standard. HDV does notimplement full-resolution high denition, instead

it records at 1440 lines (full HD is 1920 lines). See

also AVCHD, XDCAM EX, and DVCPRO HD.

Hertz (Hz). A unit for specifying the frequency of a

signal, formerly called cycles per second (cps).

High-angle shot (H/A). A shot where the camera

is tilted down at the subject.

In-camera editing. Editing done within the

camera itself by selectively starting and stopping

the camera for each shot.

Independentlm. Any motion picture produced

outside of a commercial lm studio. The term

applies generally to avant-garde, experimental, or

underground, narrative, and documentary lms

made outside of the Hollywood establishment.

Often the term implies independent vision as well

as independent nancing.

Interlace. A process in which the picture is split

into two elds by sending all the odd numbered

lines to eld one and all the even numbered linesto eld two. Field one is then displayed rst,

followed by eld 2. This process was necessary in

the early days of television broadcast when there

was not enough bandwidth within a single

television channel to send a complete frame fast

enough to create a non-ickering image. See also

Field, Frame.

JPEG. Joint Photographic Experts Group. A lossy

standard for compressing still images. JPEG-2000

provides lossless compression.

Jump cut. An abrupt transition between shots

which disrupts (often deliberately) the continuity

of time or space within a scene. When cuts aremade between shots that dont have at least a 30

angle change, they appear more as jumps rather

than seamless cuts. Jean-Luc Godards Breathless

introduced a whole new way of thinking about

the jump-cut.

Kilobyte. One thousand bytes. Actually 1,024

bytes because computer storage is measured

using base 2 (binary) number system with each

digits value based on a power of 2 (1, 2, 4, 8, 16,

32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1,024) rather than base 10based on powers of 10 (1, 10, 100, 1,000) which is

our everyday number system.

LCD. A solid state technology used for image

display. See CRT.

Lens. An assembly of several pieces of precision

ground glass through which light rays are focused

to create an image on lm or imaging device. See

normal lens, telephoto lens, wide-angle lens,

zoom lens.

Lens aperture. See aperture.

Long shot (LS). A shot that shows a fairly wide

view of a subject within its setting. A long shot of

a person typically includes his entire body and

much of his surroundings.

Long take. A take (shot) of lengthy duration.

Low-angle shot (L/A). A shot in which the camera

is tilted up at the subject.

Letterbox. Placing a wide screen image (typically

16x9) on a conventional 4:3 video frame byplacing black bands at the top and bottom of the

screen.

Masking. Blocking out part of an image, usually

at the edges of the frame, thus altering the size or

the shape of the frame projected on the screen.

See Curtains, Letterbox.



19/22

Master shot. A single shot, usually a long shot or

a full shot, which provides an overview of the

action in a scene.

Megabyte. 1 million bytes.

Medium shot (MS). A relatively close shot that

shows part of a person or object in some detail. A

medium shot of a person typically shows their bo

MPEG. Moving Picture Experts Group. A standard

for compressing moving pictures. MPEG-1 uses a

data rate of 1.2 Mbps (Mega Bits per Second), the

speed of CD-ROM. MPEG-2 supports much higher

quality with a data rate (a.k.a. bit rate) from 2 to

10 Mpbs. MPEG-2 is the format specied in the

DVD standard and is also used in broadcast.

MPEG-4 is a lower data rate version used for web

video and mobile devices. For web video, the H.264 codec within a MPEG-4 wrapper is widely

used.

NTSC. National Television Standards Committee.

The analog broadcast television and video

standard in use in the United States. NTSC

broadcast is scheduled to be turned offin 2009.

Consists of 525 horizontal lines at a eld rate of 60

elds per second. (Twoelds equals one

complete Frame). Only 487 of these lines are used

for picture. The rest are used for sync or extra

information such as VITC and Closed Captioning.

Normal lens. A camera lens that shows a subject

without signicantly exaggerating or reducing

depth ofeld in a shot. Neither wide nor

telephoto, typically has a 45 degree or so angle of

view.

Oblique angle. See Dutch angle.

Off-screen space. Space beyond the camera's

eld of view which nevertheless the audience is

aware of.

On location. Also called shooting on location. See

location shooting.

Out-take. Any footage deleted from a lm during

editing; more specically, a shot or scene that is

removed from a lm before the nal cut.

Overcrank. To run lm stock through the camera

faster than the standard speed of 24 fps,

producing slow motion on the screen when the

lm is projected at standard speed. Also used to

describe the analogous effect in a video camera.

See Undercrank.Overhead shot. A shot photographed from

directly overhead, a.k.a. bird's eye view.

PAL. Phase Alternating Line. The standard

denition television and video standard in most

of Europe. Consists of 625 horizontal lines at a

eld rate of 50 elds per second. (Twoelds

equals one complete Frame). Only 576 of these

lines are used for picture. The rest are used for

sync or extra information such as VITC and Closed

Captioning.Pan. Short for "panorama." A shot where the

camera pivots horizontally, turning from left to

right or from right to left. Also called panning

shot.

Petabyte. 1,000 Terabytes, or 1 million Gigabytes.

Today Terabyte drives are common, someday...

Pixel. Picture Element. The basic unit from which

a digital image is made. Essentially a dot with a

given color and brightness value. High Denition

video images are 1920 x 1080 pixels.

Point-of-view shot (POV). A shot taken from the

vantage point of a character in a lm. Also called a

rst-person shot or subjective camera.

Pull focus. To change the focus of a lens during a

shot in order to follow a specic object or person.

See rack focus.



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21/22

Because SDTV is component and digital it is of

higher quality than NTSC.

Selective focus. See rack focus.

Set-up. The positioning of the camera and lights

for a specic shot.

Shift focus. See rack focus.

Shooting ratio. The amount of video footage shot

compared to the length of the lm's nal cut.

Shot. A single, continuous run of the camera. The

images recorded by the camera from the time the

camera starts until the time it stops.

Shutter. 1. The mechanical device on a motion

picture camera that shields the lm from light at

the aperture during lming. Some shutters have a

variable angle adjustment allowing the camera

operator to vary the exposure time. The smaller

the shutter angle, the crisper the image and the

more strobe like its appearance. Used to good

effect in Saving Private Ryan. Lowering the frame

rate of a lm camera and step printing provides

an effect very similar to show shutter on a video

camera, in which the image update happens less

often than 24 times per second and each frame

exhibits motion blur. 2. On a video camera an

electronic device that varies the effective shutter

speed of the camera. Fast shutter provides crisp

frames and the more strobe like its appearance.

Slow shutter increases motion blur providing an

effect very similar to lowering the frame rate and

step printing, in other words, a single image is

translated to multiple frames, with the

appearance of motion blur when the camera

moves. You have to experiment with the slow

shutter of your video camera and see the effect

for yourself.

Slow motion. Shots photographed faster than thestandard recording speed so that the action on

the screen appears to move slower than normal

when shown at standard speed. See fast motion.

Smash zoom. A fast jarring zoom into specic

detail or object in a scene.

Soft focus. Blurring the sharpness of a lm image

with a special lens or a gauze over the lens in

order to diffuse or "soften" hard edges; used

especially for close-ups to make the human face

look more sensual or glamorous.

Special effects (FX). Shots which areunobtainable by straightforward lming

techniques and may require special models,

compositing, computer modeling, etc. The term

also applies to most pyrotechnic and ballistic

effects in a lm.

Stop-motion photography. Filming real objects

or live action by starting and stopping the

camera, rather than by running the camera

continuously, in order to create pixilation, trick-

lm e

ffects, or time-lapse photography. Alsocalled stop-action photography.

Subjective camera. See point-of-view shot.

Swish pan. A shot in which the camera pans

rapidly causing motion blur. Also called a whip

pan or zip pan.

Take. A shot resulting from one continuous run

of the camera. A lmmaker generally lms several

"takes" of the same scene and then selects the

best one. Rarely done in documentary.

Telephoto lens, a.k.a. long lens. A camera lens

with a long focal length that magnies the size of

distant objects.

Terabyte. One trillion bytes. A two hour high-

denition movie at a resolution of 1920 x 1280

would take about one terabyte to store in an

uncompressed format. Acquisition formats like

DVCPRO HD, XDCAM HD, and HDV involve

signicant levels of compression in order to

reduce the data required to store video.

Three-shot. A medium shot with three actors or

subjects.

Tilt. A shot in which the camera pivots vertically,

from top to bottom or from bottom to top.

Time Code. A time reference recorded on video

tape or video le to identify each frame.



22/22

Time-lapse. A type of cinematography or

photography in which the camera photographs at

time intervals the same scene over an extended

period of time in order to speed up on the screen

a lengthy process or action, for example, the

growth of a

eld of corn, traffi

c on the GoldenGate Bridge, the construction of a building, etc.

Tracking shot. A shot in which the camera,

mounted on a vehicle, dolly, or other moving

support device, moves while lming. Some

people differentiate tracking shots as those

following a subject as they move. Thus the

method of support and characteristic of the

movement determines the actual term used, for

example, we call it a dolly shot when a dolly is

used, we call it a tracking shot when tracks are

laid down for a dolly to roll on, though not alwaystrue, for the most part, dolly, tracking, traveling,

and trucking shots are synonymous.

Trucking shot. See Tracking shot.

Two shot. A medium shot featuring two actors or

subjects.

Undercrank. To run lm stock through the camera

slower than the standard speed of 24 fps,

producing fast motion on the screen when the

lm is projected at standard speed. Also used to

describe the analogous effect in a video camera.

See Overcrank.

VBR. Variable Bit Rate. A video compression

method in which the amount of compression is

varied to allow for minimum degradation of

image quality in scenes that are more difficult to

compress. For example, the MPEG-2 video

compression used for making DVDs is typically

done using VBR.

Whip pan. See Swish pan.

Wide-angle lens. A short focal length lens that

enables the camera to photograph a wider area

than a normal lens. For 35mm lms a wide-angle

lens is 30mm or less. Also called a short lens.

XLR. One of several varieties of sound connectors

having three or more conductors plus an outer

shell which shields the connectors and locks the

connectors into place.

Zoom shot. A shot made with a zoom lens, which

makes the image appear closer (zoom in) or

farther away (zoom out) by varying the focal

length of the lens. Offers a very different qualitythan a tracking shot. See Tracking Shot.

Zip pan. See Swish pan.

AcknowledgmentsThis document is based, in part, on Introduction to

Digital Camcorder by Suburban Community Channels,

White Bear Lake, MN, www.scctv.org. Some materials

have been derived from notes and sources too

numerous to properly document. A special thanks go

out to everyone who has so generously shared their

knowledge on the web. Special thanks to Eric Petersen

for the DVX focus chart. 3:2 Pulldown illustration

courtesy of Adam Wilt.

Copyright 2009 by David Tams, Some rights reserved. This

document is provided to you under the terms of a

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share

Alike 3.0 License, a copy of which may be found at:

creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/This

means you can use these materials and share them as

long as you provide attribution in the form of a link

back to kino-eye.com/dvb/ with something along the

lines of based in part on and share what you create

with the same license. Any trademarks mentioned in

this document belong to their respective owners. All

DVX100 images by the author. 3:2 and 24pA

illustrations by Adam Wilt, used with permission for

educational purposes. Other images not credited

belong to the respective product manufacturers (forwhich they may retain copyright) and are used under

guidelines of fair use.

DisclaimerMention of specic products, vendors, books, web

sites, or techniques does not constitute an

endorsement nor professional recommendation.
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