Shot types:

This video presents the different types camera shot, including: establishing shot, mid shot and extreme close up. Using different shot types accompanied with aperture can create a range of different emotions for the audience to decode - such as long shot with a shallow depth of field can allow the audience to gain the reading that the subject/character in the scene feels isolated where as an extreme close up with a low aperture could show that the character is scared. 

There are a few shot types that I missed out due to loosing some of the footage (establishing shot and extreme close up), however, the clips that I do have in the view are very good in the way that they are examples of the shot types. The high angle shot is a very nice example of the type of composition that can be used along with the shot type (as well as being a good example of the technique). 

New wave film - Rough cut:

This is my first draft/rough cut of my new wave short film, including no narrative or sound. I chose to make this so that I could work out the clips that I wanted to use in my film and the different types of editing techniques I will use (mainly the jump cuts).

Shutter Speed practice:

To investigate and practice using shutter speed, I chose to shoot three videos at different shutter speeds (1/30, 1/50 and 1/60). When it came to shooting the videos, however, I decided that it would be more effective to show a  very high shutter speed as it would be a clearer exploration of the effect of shutter speed on the quality and visuals of the video. This video is shot at shutter speed 1/30, meaning that there is a slight motion blur and the aperture I used had o be very low so as to not over expose it. 

To achieve this effect, I chose to use the following camera settings: ISO 200, shutter speed 1/30, 25fps, and aperture 5.8ff. When shooting at such a slow shutter speed, I found that it was difficult to make out the detail of the water and the over look of the video was quite dull. 

This scene shot highlights what I mean and shows that the slow shutter speed increases the amount of motion blur and makes the water appear as though it is a smooth continuous stream. I do feel that my choice to shoot a garden hose/water was good though as it means that the full effect of shutter speed on film is evident. 

For this video, I shot at shutter speed 1/50 so that the visual appearance of the water would be closer to that which humans see with there naked eye. The shutter speed should always be double the number of the frame rate, for example: if you're shooting at a frame rate of 25fps you should shoot with a shutter speed of 1/50. This means that although the appearance of the water is still smooth, it is what people see with their natural eye - this is also the type of frame rate to shutter speed ratio that most directors and film makers use.

To achieve this effect, I used the following settings: ISO 200, shutter speed 1/50, 25fps, and aperture 7. Because I was shooting at a higher shutter speed, I had to change the aperture to allow less light into the camera and prevent it getting over exposed, however, this meant that I had to refocus the camera.

This scene shot shows that the higher the shutter speed, the less motion blur there is. It also shows the trouble I had when it came to refocusing the camera, however, that could also just be a little amount of motion blur from the garden hose moving as it was hand held.








This final video shows the effect of the shutter speed on the footage at both 1/100 and 1/400. The stream of water presented at this shutter speed shows that there is no visible continuous stream and instead the individual droplets of water and details are clearer. 

To achieve these effects, I first set my camera to: ISO 200, shutter speed 1/100, 25fps, and aperture 10; and then to: ISO 200, shutter speed 1/400, 25fps, and aperture 10. As these two shutter speed are quite high, the details are very clear but the exposure also made the lighting a great deal crisper, meaning that it looks more like a photograph or unreal that the other two videos do. Because of this unnatural looking appearance that shooting at such a high shutter speed gives, directors and film makers usually elect not to use it.

These two screen shots show how much detail is visible at high shutter speeds - because there is such a high shutter speed there is very little motion blur. I found that it was a great deal more difficult to focus the camera when using these high shutter speeds because I had to focus on the individual droplets rather than on a constant stream like with the slower shutter speeds.

Aperture practice:

I shot these three videos to investigate the use of aperture in filming and to experiment with the effect it has. This first video shows my experimentation at shooting with an aperture of 2.8ff. The use of shallow focus draws the viewers attention to the object/person that is in focus, meaning that it is a good device for narrative story telling in films and other moving image texts. To gain this low aperture, I chose to use the following camera settings: ISO 200, shutter speed 1/60, 25fps, and aperture 2.8ff. This video was also shot on a 50mm lens  meaning that the aperture was able to go lower than most normal/wide angle lenses. To make sure that I got the correct exposure, I decided to change the ISO so that the aperture and shutter speed could remain the same and the overall quality of the video was not affected. 

When shooting this video at aperture 2.8, I found that it was difficult to find an area/place that would allow me to explore the full use of such a shallow depth of field. I do feel as though my choice to shoot the clips using an old plant pot on the corner meant that the desired effect of a low aperture was shown clearly. 


In this video, I shot at an aperture of 8ff meaning that there was a larger field of focus than there was at 2.8. This type of aperture is usually used when there is more to focus on in a scene, but it isn't necessary to be aware of the background. To achieve this depth of field, I used the settings: ISO 400, shutter speed 1/60, 25fps, and aperture 8ff. This video was shot on a standard/wide angle lens, meaning that the aperture could go down as far. Like the previous video, to try and gain the correct exposure for this clip I chose to alter the ISO and leave the aperture and shutter speed as they were.

Although the video is clear, in post-shoot editing I realised that the exposure is incorrect/the ISO was too high and has resulted in the footage being slightly over-exposed. This means that the overall quality of the clip isn't as good as the top video and appears to be foggy and possibly focused wrong. In the future I am going to make sure I check the footage before finishing a shoot so that I don't end up with videos that are over exposed again.


This final video, I shot at aperture 16ff meaning that there was a wider depth of field and a greater amount of the footage was in focus. This aperture is often used when the director of a text has encoded a variety of subjects in the mise-en-scene that the audience should take notice of or there is no particular object that the viewer needs to focus on. To achieve this effect, I chose to use the following camera settings: ISO 400, shutter speed 1/60, 25fps, and aperture 16ff. I shot this video on a standard camera lens, meaning that the aperture couldn't go as high and I had to shoot at an aperture of 16. 

The exposure of this video, much like that of the video above, is not correct/too bright meaning that the appearance of the footage isn't clear and appears almost foggy. If I had to reshoot this video I would make sure that I reviewed the quality of the footage before finishing the shoot, this would mean that the exposure could have been corrected before it came to editing and that the visual quality and appeal of the video would have been better.

ISO practice:

These are two short videos showing my exploration of ISO and its affect on the footage/footage quality. For these videos, I chose to use ISO 100 to shoot outside and ISO 1600 to shoot inside. The difference in quality that ISO makes is very evident in these videos, the first video (ISO 100) being a very smooth image although a little dark, and the second video (ISO 1600) is a great deal grainier although the footage is brighter. I feel as though these videos are really effective when it comes to showing the effect that ISO can have on the quality of footage. 

To investigate the effect of ISO on video quality, I chose to set my camera to 24fps, shutter speed 1/50, and an aperture of 5.6ff. As I wanted to explore the full effect of ISO, I decided to keep the exposure as it came out. While shooting this I had some trouble as it was raining and the camera lens kept getting clouded by water landing on it. 

Pull Focus practice:

This is a short video I made to practice the technique of 'pull focus', this is when the focal point of the frame is changed by pulling the focus from one part of the image to another. Pull focus can be used to great effect when conveying to the audience a different point of interest in the scene or where they should focus. 

To achieve this effect, I used to following camera settings: 24fps, 1/50 shutter speed, 5.6ff aperture. As I wanted to maintain some quality in the video capture, I had to keep changing the ISO to try to gain the correct exposure.

Although I managed to try out and practice this technique, I experienced a great deal of problems due to my hands shaking and there not being a tripod for me to use - this lead to there being some footage that I was unable to use. In addition, I had some instances of footage where the exposure is wrong and the clips have come out too dark/under exposed (this is shown in the coat hangers clip included in the video). 

Lighting Equipment and Set-up for Certain Scenarios:

A small documentary where portability is paramount:

1 - LED torch. This is a lighting method for better lighting and the ability to shoot footage during the night if so desired. It is also easily portable as LED lights/lighting rigs can come in a variety of sizes.

2 - Reflector. This will allow the director to bring more light onto subjects close to the frame if necessary. Reflectors are also fairly cheap and fold down to make them very easily portable.
The pros and cons of this type of lighting set-up are that the subject/subject matter of the image will be well lit, however, the amount of light may be too much and the footage could end up being over exposed.

‘Talking Head’ style interview:

1 - Soft box. The use of a soft box creates a more natural lighting of the face and allows the subject to be see clearly (it can also give the footage a softer appearance).

2 - Reflector. This will allow more light to be bought into the image without over exposing the footage.

The pros and cons of this type of lighting set-up are that the director will be able to use a shallow depth of field for the footage, however, the use of natural lighting for the interview could be more effective.

A ‘night time’ shoot:

1 - Spot light/LED torch. This will provide the lighting for the image (if no other natural or environmental source is on hand) as well as being used to highlight certain parts of the scene.
2 - Additional light source. The use of an additional light source could be necessary to create desired effects.
The pros and cons of this lighting set-up are that there will be a good/large amount of light going into the image, however, it could create an unwanted amount of contrast/shadow in the footage or image.

How and Why Lighting affects Camera Techniques:

Lighting is a very important technique when it comes to shooting photography and moving image as it can effect both the quality and atmosphere of the scene. The three main components to consider when using a camera are the ISO, aperture and shutter speed. To gain the best quality and correct exposure, each of these settings must be in balance – if not the image/footage will be under exposed (too dark) or over exposed (too bright). In addition, using creative lighting set ups can give an image more dimension and a different appeal all together.

Under Exposed | Correctly Exposed | Over Exposed

There are a variety of different lighting styles to consider when planning a shoot, for example: using low-key lighting style adds more contrast and a darker appearance to an image, whereas using high-key lighting means there is less contrast but a brighter appearance to the image. In addition to this there are the choices to use hard light or soft light, which give the image a sharper look (hard light) or a softer look (soft light). In moving image texts, the villainous character is usually lit with a hard light – occasionally with low-key lighting as well, however it is more common for these two to be combined to light horror films. Low-key lighting and hard lighting can be achieved/created by using a smaller, dimmer light source and a darker room or area, soft lighting and high-key lighting being created in the opposite way (a larger, brighter light source in a more well lit room/area. Where lighting is usually used for visibility and to show the scene to the audience, it can also be used a more stylistic way which tends to be different for each person.

The manipulation and construction of a lighting set-up can vastly alter the look of an image/scene, and allows a person to create and encode meaning and emotion into their product. It also means that the colours, saturation and legibility of the text can be altered – creating a warmer appearance with more orangey hues or a colder and under saturated look.

Bibliography:
Earnest, A (2013) 'Lighting for Production Photography'. Buffalo: Amherst Media.

Lawrence, J (2012) 'Photographing Shadow and Lights'. Amphoto Books.

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