workshop 2 - filming with the camera

the second camera workshop we did with the group was filming psychical material on the camera in prep for our opening title sequence shoot day.

we set up the camera the same way we learnt in the first workshop we did along with the tripod.

we learnt that you should film the full sequence multiple times in different angles, this makes cutting the footage a lot easier than making tiny shots to put all next to each other, it also gives you room to make accidental mistakes and be able to get away with it. 

we started with filming a simple sequence of someone walking up to somebody else saying hi and then shaking their hand. the character would then walk past the other person out of the camera shot.

180 Degrees Rule:

The 180 degrees rule is a film-making technique used to help keep the audience aware of where the characters (or objects of interest) are in the scene. For example, if you are shooting a scene of a conversation between two people you would create a mental line directly between the two and make sure to keep your camera the same side of that line at all times whilst composing shots. This means that for the audience one character will always remain on the left hand side of the screen and the other character always on the right.

rule of thirds:

The rule of thirds is a rule of thumb for film-making which generally leads to shots that are a lot more organised, aesthetically pleasing and easy to read for an audience. This technique splits the frame of a shot into an imaginary three by three grid the points where the lines cross being the main points of interest for the viewer, reading from top left (most important) to bottom right (least important) (this is because we read images the same way we read books, going from left to right, top to bottom). A film-maker utilizes this information  by placing the focuses of the scene around these points. 

Master Coverage:

Master coverage is a method of shooting where the film-makers take a wide shot of the whole scene first thing on the shooting day so that they have footage of all that happens for them to refer back to and use in the final edit in an emergency. This is a good habit to get into as a filmmaker, because it not only makes continuity errors on your scenes less likely but it also means that if problems occur at some point in the shoot which means they have to cut it short they have something to use and the scene will will be workable.