Camera skills, camera operating and filming.

Before filming, we had learnt about camera shot types and movement as well as framing and composition. Here is a short clip about camera shot types:

We also learnt about the rule of thirds which is one of the most popular 'rules' in photography. It works like this: Imaginary lines are drawn dividing the image into thirds both horizontally and vertically. You place important elements of your composition where these lines intersect. As well as using the intersections you can arrange areas into bands occupying a third or place things along the imaginary lines. Good places to put things: third of the way up, third of the way in from the left. Bad places to put things: right in the middle, right at the top, right at the bottom, away in the corner. Another rule in media is the 180 degree rule. This means that there is a sort of imaginary 180 degree line which you cannot cross, and must stay on either one side or the other. If you break the rule, and cross the line, the characters will look like they are facing the same direction. If you want to break the rule, you must show the camera movement.



We had learnt before hand about the timecode of the camera. This showed the hours and minutes it had been filming for but it also showed a number which was moving a lot of faster. We learnt that this was the number of frames per second, of which there are 25 frames.

Today in media, we were put in groups of 4 and asked to film a short story. This was a practice for our preliminary shoot. To start off, we had to set up the camera in the tripod like we had been tought and we then bubbled the tripod. The benefit of using a tripod is that the camera is not going to move out of the position you have it in, and so will look more realistic. However, if you are wanting an effect of someone holding the camera, or a shaky effect, then it is best to use the camera handheld. After that, we zoomed in on a white wall and set the white balance, and then focused the camera and got it to the right point so that you could see the whole of the actors bodies. We then filmed the whole thing in wide shot, then again in an over-the-shoulder shot, then again in a close up and over-the-shoulder shot and close up on the other side.We realised afterwards when we looked at the filming that we had forgotten to focus on one of the shots so when it came to the real thing, we made sure to focus all the time.



There was some terminology that we had to use when doing our preliminary task. The director would say 'stand by' and we would all have to reply 'standing by' to show that we are in position for the take. The director would then say 'roll' and the camera man would say 'rolling' once he had started recording. The director would then say 'action' to let the actors know that they should start acting now. After the take has finished, the director would say 'cut' and the camera man would wait 5 seconds before finishing recording.

I enjoyed the experience of using the video camera because it was the first time I had used a professional one like that and was very fun. However it was also quite stressful because we had so much to think about and not that much time.