Camera Workshop 2

 Camera Workshop 2

Today our media class participated in a second camera shop where were shown some key tips and tricks to making a dynamic scene as well as some important rules that need to be followed at all times in every situation.

The most important rule we learned today was the 180 degree rule, this is where when in each shot you have 180 degrees in which you can film from. This is followed in order to makes sure the viewer knows where each character is positioned in the scene since they only have the viewpoint of the camera shot, not the full 360 degrees the actors perform in the 'real world'. In film we use different camera shots to build a world for the viewer so we have to work with them in a sense. To help further build the world for the viewer we can use the rule of thirds to further increase the dynamism and intrigue of the shot, the rule of thirds is where you split up the camera frame into nine equal squares so you can position things within the frame where they will be most useful; for example you could place someone's face in the upper left sector of the screen and have the background towards the right this would be due to the person's face being the subject and is seen first by the viewer since humans by default read things from left to right.

When filming your scene you must start by capturing it in a wide shot first so if you run out of time when working out more specific shots you can always revert back to the wide shot if necessary to fill in any gaps. The specific order of shots is wide, mid and then finally close up. In addition, when filming you must keep an eye out on the set, costume and any notable details to make sure no continuity errors occur in the film itself because it may confuse the viewer and make the film see more amateurish.

To help the actors when filming marks are often used, these can usually be seen on the floor so the actor knows where to stand so they can perform their scene the exact same way each time so it is easier for editors to eventually cut and combine all the footage together. To help everyone there are a set of call outs, these are to confirm everyone and everything is ready to film, the call outs are; stand by (director), standing by (each sector of the production team), roll camera (camera person), camera rolling (camera person - once the camera is recording), action (director - this begins the scene) and cut (director - this ends the scene). The reason for why the camera would still be rolling before the director says action and right up till they say till they say cut is to see if any extra things happen with the actors which may want to be included into the final edit of the film.

Finally, we were made aware that you shouldn't watch the film footage on set because it can consume a vast amount of valuable time that may not be particularly long in this first place and may most definitely be expensive due to all the production sectors and actors. You must most certainly not shown any of the actors footage of them because they may react and be over cautious and aware of how they appear on camera and thus could give off a strange performance that may not translate well to the audience at all.