CAMERA SHOTS

Today we were talking about film shots and a few people who are involved.

A sequence is a series of shots cut together to make it look like it is all happening at once. This is also known as continous motion. When filming a shot you should shoot the scene in a few ways. For example you should use a close up, a median shot and a wide shot to make the scene more interesting.

First of all you should zoom in on your subject or actor and focus the lens so that when you zoom in out the actor or subject does not go blurry.
film terminology-

Standby- this means everyone is ready to shoot. Each member of a film crew will shout this out to let the director know they are all set.

Turnover- this means they have started to record whats ever being shot.

Action- this means GO! It signals the actors and extras and begins a scene.

Cut- means stop filming. One trick is to never delete a shot even when it went wrong because it may come in handy. Also carry on filming right up till the end of the scene so you don't miss anything. 
For example a man may pick up a bag and walk off with it but at the end of the scene he will put it back from where he got so that it is there if they do the scene again. Later on in the day they may film that person walking down the street and they may forget he is carrying a bag. This will look strange in the movie because the person will pick up the bag and then walk away without it! BUT remember when they were shooting the man picking up the bag, they left the camera recording which picked up the man putting down the bag.
This means they can show the man picking up the bag then putting back the bag and then have the shot of him walking away WITHOUT the bag.   
     

Continuity- this is a job given to someone with a good eye. There job is to make sure all props and costumes are the same within the same scene. Lets say a party scene  is being filmed and in the scene a women is wearing a necklace. They may stop filming for lunch and then carry on with the party scene afterwards. The actress wearing the necklace in the scene may take it off for lunch and forget to put it back on. When they start filming again the lady won't have the necklace. This will look odd in the movie because one moment the character will be wearing a necklace and then the next she is not. It is up to continuity to make sure mistakes like that do not happen. 

In a scene actors have to move around and stop. Markers are put on the ground to show an actor where to stop. The marker is usually a blue cross.

180 degree rule (crossing the line)- You imagine there is a line between the two characters talking. The camera can shoot anywhere on that line but it can not cross the line otherwise it will look like the characters are facing the opposite way. If the camera does cross the line then this is referred to as crossing the line.

Rule of 3- if you split the camera shot into thirds this can help with placement of a character. The top right hand corner is the hot spot. Next it is the top left, then bottom right then bottom left. You should try and fill up the hot spots to make a shot look interesting, making sure you main actor or object is in the main hot spot.

first blog

Hi my name is Ned Wakeley and i am currently studying media at school and this is my first blog.

In media last week we were looking at the functions of a film camera. I have used a camera before for when i made a film trailer. The camera i used was a filp which was very easy to use.   

The red button on the camera lets you record and stop recording. There is a play button in the top left hand corner which lets you look at your videos and in the top right hand corner there is a picture of a bin which lets you delete your video. The arrows let you flip through your video library . The plus and negative signs control close ups and long shots. There is a built in USB stick which means you can upload your videos quickly to your computer.





                                                  

 In our lesson we were looking at a much more advanced camera.[Sony NX5 digital HD camera] One difference  between the filp and this camera was when going outside the light would change. with a flip this would not be a problem but with the sony NX5 it was. The sony NX5 is not able to register light change so you had to help with that. To get the right picture whilst changing light you need to hold out a white sheet of paper and zoom in on it so the paper took up the hole screen and press this tiny button on the side of the camera which adjusts to the whiteness. Once you have done this and the white  piece of paper looks a normal colour you know the camera has adjusted to the light and you can be sure to have accurate footage that is the right colour to match the room you are in.  

To zoom in on this camera you can use the lens. You turn the lens left or right which lets you zoom in or out. You can also use the analogue stick which is a set speed when zooming in or out. With the lens the faster you turn it the quicker you zoom in. We also were taught how to set up a tripod which lets you capture footage which is still. The tripods also let you tilt the camera and move the camera from left to right giving you a nice steady panning shot.

This is all in preparation for filming our openings to a thriller film which i am very excited about!