PRELIMINARY EXERCISES

On the Set

In this exercise we were organised into small groups of 4 to assure everyone had a chance to practice their skills. The learning objective was for everyone in the class to achieve a firm understanding of how to set up the Canon cameras provided, adjust the particular features on the cameras, subject specific language frequently used in the film industry and editing.

Once acquiring the battery from the charger and SD card given to me by the teacher it meant that I was ready to set up the camera. On the bottom of the camera is a small hatch which houses the battery. Once placing the battery in the designated housing, making sure the battery was the right way around and correctly in, I then close the hatch to ensure the battery doesn’t fall our when filming. As the camera needs somewhere to store all the photos and video footage, I then proceed to put in the SD card. To do this I located the hatch on the side of the camera which houses the SD card. Once I opened the hatch and placed the SD card in the housing slot correctly, I can then close the hatch. After both of these tasks are complete, I can then move onto the attachment and setting up of the Manfrotto tripods provided by my teacher. To attach the tripod to the camera I press down on the button located on the tripod to lift up one of the attachments barriers. Once this barrier is lifted, I can then fit the camera to the tripod, I do this by fitting in the camera attachment to the tripod. The camera attachment and tripod attachment are both complimentary to each other meaning they fit into one another. When filming it is of vital importance the camera angle is level with the ground. In coordination with the bubble located on the top of the tripod I extend and shorten the legs until the bubble is level with the circle.

Now the camera and tripod are both fully set up. Advancing to the next stage of the exercise I now begin to do particular adjustments to the Camera. White balance (WB) is the process of removing unrealistic colour casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in the photo. Proper camera white balance has to take into account the "colour temperature" of a light source, which refers to the relative warmth or coolness of white light. You adjust it by selecting the ‘WB’ on the camera, it will then come up with little pictures representing difference colour tones that are used in different lights which will give a more realistic effect. 180-degree rule. We learned about the 180 degree rule. The 180-degree rule is a cinematography guideline that states that two characters in a scene should maintain the same left/right relationship to one another. When the camera passes over the invisible axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line and the shot becomes what is called a reverse angle. On set We then learnt the terminology used in the film industry on set. The director shouts 'Standby' before filming to ensure that everyone is ready and when they are, they reply 'Standing by.' When the director shouts ‘rolling’, everyone on set must be quiet, then he /she shouts ‘action’ which tell the actors to start. After the shoot, the director has said the last ‘cut’, he / she will say ‘strike the kit’ which is the film crew's cue to pack away, put the batteries on charge and ensure that the footage is uploaded

To edit videos, I will use Final Cut Pro X on my laptop. When editing pictures, I will use both Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop. 

This is an example of my photoshop work. The task I had to do in this photoshopped image was to advertise the Design Museum

This is an example of me editing my continuity exercise on Final Cut Pro X

CONTINUITY EXERCISE 

 

For this Continuity Exercise I worked with Finn Hanley, Ben Richardson and Sam De Bruin. My role in this exercise was coming up with the idea, being the main character and editing the clips. Finn Hanley was the cameraman, he ensured that we had followed a suitable structure for this exercise. To do this Finn shot many different angles including; Two Shot, Reaction Shot, Point of View shot, Close up, Over the Shoulder, Tracking Shot, Three Shot, Low to High and Panning Shot. Sam De Bruin and Ben Richardson were both actors and illustrated the storyboard.

Editing

One of my roles was editing. To edit I used the program Final Cut Pro X and for filming Finn Hanley used an iPhone 11. The first thing I did was detach all the audio from the clips. This was because it was very windy and there were also no diegetic noises involved either. Once all the audio was detached from the clips, I then started to cut all the clips to get rid of any surplus shots that were not needed. Once I had organised all the footage, I then started piecing together the video to align with the storyboard that we set out to create. Instead of using any transitions I used hard cuts. This is because the nature of our story is based on a tense football event. Therefore, I felt using transitions wouldn’t replicate what people would see if they were to actually watch the football on Tv. I decided to then find on the internet clips of football commentators that I thought would complement our footage the best. Once I had downloaded these clips, I then had to cut them and make sure they were in sync with our footage. Once the audio matched what was on the screen the video was done.

Self-Assessment

I think the final result of our video was very good. We included a range of different camera angles and shots which emphasised our confidence in our practical ability. I think we had a good idea and executed it will. I think I fulfilled my job in editing well by using a combination of raw footage and non-diegetic sounds.

If I was to improve this exercise, I would maybe change the Miss on Scene. By this I mean I would change the location to a football pitch, and I would also change the clothing of the actors, to make it more realistic. In terms of equipment I would maybe attach a gimble to the camera. This will ensure we get a stable video with no shaking.

CAMERA EXERCISE

Camera techniques from MatthewNothing

MONTAGE / TABLETOP SEQUENCE

Our brief was to create a title sequence using only a table top and props with a small part of live action at the end of it, using a given soundtrack. 

For research, in class we watched Delicatessen and To Kill a Mockingbird which both use table top sequences. The camera gets placed in a birds-eye-view shot and pans over a cluster of overlapping props to suggest a certain narrative.  To film our whole opening sequence we split up our filming into two sessions. My role in creating this opening sequence was the cameraman and editor. 

Session 1

In this session we filmed the tabletop segment of our opening sequence. To do this we used props provided by our teacher and arranged them on a black clothe that covered the table. The props we used was a pistol, briefcase, newspapers, counterfeit money and a counterfeit passport. However, to ensure we had a clear narrative we printed off medals and drew on the newspapers where we saw fitting. This meant that all our props were ready. Then using an Iphone 11 I filmed all the props from a birds eye view. From this birds eye view I moved the camera along the props and then I entered the briefcase. After filming the props in the briefcase this meant that the first session was complete. It took a few takes because as a team me and my piers decided there were many different orders in which each prop should be filmed. However, after 4 takes we decided we had finally got the result we desired.

Session 2

In this session we filmed the action segment of our opening sequence. This was a short but important part to the narrative of our opening sequence. As our narrative was inspired by Neville Chamberlain in WW2 we decided to film Ben Richardson wearing a suit carrying the briefcase we had used in session one. I then filmed Ben walking up these grand stone stairs that over looked a large green hill which emphasised Neville Chamberlain's importance in WW2. When filming we got Ben to sit down on a handcrafted bench on the top of the stairs that overlooked the land beneath. My job was to film a tracking shot of Ben walking up the stairs, I then panned round Ben to get a shot of the view.

Editing

To edit this opening sequence I used Final Cut Pro X. When editing this piece I had to incorporate the footage from both session one and session two. I then started to cut the surplus footage to make sure we only showed what we wanted to. As our narrative surrounded around the involvement of Neville Chamberlain in WW2 I decided to put a voice overlay Chamberlain declaring war. This made it clear to the audience that the time was set in WW2. I adjusted the speed of which the footage were played at making them slower or faster. This is because when filming it was more important to make sure I filmed everything I needed because I knew I could then after edit the pace of which the footage went at. I then put the titles that you would expect to see on an opening sequence. These included the rest of the crew and me. Once I combined the filming of session two to the edited session one footage I decided to then include a sound overlay of bombing sirens. This further emphasised the time in which our work was set which encouraged our narrative further. To finish off the editing I added the title of our work "Chamberlain".