#cameraa

^ some pics I took on my phone while waiting for the bus one morning!

1a. Why is important to have a great story or screen play before you begin filming?

It is nearly impossible to envision a film without a script, as the script is the base for what appears onscreen. Beautiful lighting, creative camerawork and smooth editing are pointless if the story isn't compelling. Moreover, it is almost impossible to envision a good film with a bad screenplay. Indeed, it is possible to have a good script with poor production value and subsequently a poor film, but challenging to see the other way around.  

1b.  What is the three act structure?

Structure is the key to a successful screenplay. The three act structure has 3 parts: 

Act 1 is Set-up, confrontation, resolution: movies that capture our hearts tend to have this structure. The major turning points, or plot points, occur at the end of acts 1 and 2. 

Act 2 is the middle or the midpoint. The midpoint is an important reversal approximately half way through the second act: it has the very important job of preventing the second act from feeling too long and slow. 

Act 3 is in the end. It is the resolution. 

2. Why is film lighting important?

The way you light your film significantly affects how your audience perceives it. Imaginative and tonally appropriate lighting is crucial to successful film making. Film lighting has three main purposes: 

The first is clarity of image. It is important for viewers to be able to discern all the important elements in the frame. These might range from facial expressions and physical gestures to the presence of significant props. 

Lighting's second purpose is a quest for greater realism. The use of "effects lighting," paved the way for the third purpose. 

The third purpose: the creation of atmosphere or emotional effect. The development of lighting technique as a significant element of “mise-en-scène” became an important tool for manipulating audience responses to characters and narrative events. 

2b.  Why is it important to have “good camera” work?

Good framing techniques will work wonders for your film. Imaginative camerawork will increase the connection between the audience and your story. There is  a lot camerawork around that you may as well see on the side of unusual angles. The camera choices are motivated by the characters and the scene. 

3. Why is the rule of thirds only a guideline in film making?

One popular camera technique is the Rule of thirds. The rule of thirds prescribes the placement of significant vertical and horizontal elements along the horizontal and vertical thirds. It must be emphasized that the rule of thirds is only a guideline, and following it indiscriminately may result in an unbalanced and ugly composition.

4a. How do you shoot good close ups?

Over-the-shoulder shots are considerably more laborious to frame correctly than other shots because it is not enough to frame the subject correctly – the other subject’s shoulder in the foreground must also be framed in a pleasing way. Also the most balanced and visually pleasing close-up cuts the top of the head somewhere between the eyebrows and the hairline, with the bottom frame edge below or above the shoulders. An ambitious filmmaker would be well advised to master not only the visual elements that go into a pleasing over-that-shoulder shot, but also how to communicate with the cast and crew to achieve the correct framing.   

4b. What are some common framing mistakes with close ups?

Part of what makes this composition so satisfying is the fact that the top third horizontal line is aligned with the actor’s eyes, and the bottom third horizontal line is approximately aligned with the actor’s chin. This makes the composition balanced and pleasing. There are a few common mistakes that we should NOT make when framing close-up. If you are framing an extreme close-up, these considerations apply: the space above the eyes should approximately balance the space below the chin, unless the close-up is so tight that no space can be left below the chin.

5. What are the author’s preferred framing styles for the four classic shot sizes?

Medium Shot (MS): Some empty space above the head. No cutting off the top under any circumstances. 

Medium Close Up (MCU): Small amount of empty space above the head. Top frame edge-chin distance is approximately equal to chin-bottom frame edge distance.

Close-Up (CU): Cutting off at the top now looks good. Eyes-top frame distance is approximately equal to chin-bottom frame edge distance.

Extreme Close-Up (ECU): Eyes-top frame edge distance approximately equal to mouth-bottom frame edge distance.   

6. Where should you focus your camera in a shot?

Always focus on your subject’s eyes, unless you specifically want something else to be in focus. You may not notice it in the viewfinder, but if the eyes are soft and the background is sharp it will be obvious on a TV screen and your audience will hate it. In order to be in focus, use this technique: zoom in all the way on the subject, pull focus and zoom back to get the framing you want. This way your subject will be pin-sharp. The reason for zooming in before focusing is that the longest focal length has the smallest depth of field. If something is in focus at the longest end of the zoom, it will be in focus at every other focal length too.

7. How can you insure your subject is “pin sharp” in the frame?

In order to be in focus, use this technique: zoom in all the way on the subject, pull focus and zoom back to get the framing you want. This way your subject will be pin-sharp.

8. Why use foreground objects in your shots?

Foreground objects add texture and increase the illusion of depth. Foreground objects, which can be anything from an actor’s shoulder to a tree branch, are known as dingle in the film business. It is imperative that the foreground element should be out of focus; if it is sharp, it will distract from the main subject and will lose its textural effect. 

9. When should you use camera movement? What should your motivation be?

This is related to the camerawork and is a part of it. As with imaginative camera angles, camera movement should be used to draw the audience into the story. This means that camera movement should be motivated by the action and by the characters, not simply by whether the actors are moving or not. Camera movement is one of the aspects that distinguishes movie making from still photography. In camera movement the feeling of motion is generated by the fact that objects that are close to the camera appear to move more quickly in the frame than objects that are more distant. This is what creates the illusion of three-dimensional motion on a two-dimensional screen. When the camera moves towards an object, its size grows faster in the frame than that of objects behind it. When the camera moves sideways, objects that are closer to the camera appear to move faster across the frame than objects that are more distant. This effect is known as parallax.

10. What are the types of camera movement? 

Tracking sideways: In this camera movement the camera moves in a direction that is approximately perpendicular to its visual axis. In other words, it moves sideways. Sideways tracking is one of the most common camera movements.

Camera moving towards an object: the track-in shot: In a track-in shot the camera moves towards an object, more or less head-on. The direction of camera movement is the same as the camera’s visual axis.