NMED 2030

Feb. 24th 2009

NMED 2030

Today’s Class…Video Basics

Audio Assignments

Production Day

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• 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.

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• The Static Shot– Choose and compose a specific POV (point-of-view)

• 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

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• The Static Shot– Your camera has limitations in what it can process.

• 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:

– 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.

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• 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.

• Courtesy of GNU Free Documentation License

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• 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

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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.

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• Composition Basics

– The Rule of “Thirds”– You bring greater attention to a

character’s face or an important object by placing it slightly off-center. 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.Image courtesy of Creative Commons

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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.

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• New Due Date • March 5th at the end of

class.• These productions will be

critiqued