~UNIT 20: CAMERA~ ~TECHNIQUES~

~Learning Aim A : RESEARCH~

A single camera production is a technique/method where movies and television programs are filmed. The benefits of a single camera production is the adaptability of the director having more control of each shot and a more cinematic, filmic, visual and detailed resulting videos, financially it is cheaper to use a single camera. The limitations of using a single camera production is that it may take more time to shoot and the lack of continuation may occur.

A multi-camera production is procedure when more than one camera is used to film/record a footage.The benefits of a multi-camera production is that more than one angle can be recorded and also the flexibility to craft a more enjoyable story. The limitations of using a multi-camera production is that people may interrupt that shoot due to being in the camera's shot.

In my opinion, I think that music videos use a single camera production because the director of the music video has more freedom to move around with the camera, also the people in the music video are not going into different shoots because of multiple cameras being used.

I think that multi-camera production is used in soap operas because they are shot in different areas and have to do multiple scenes with multiple subjects at the same time.

I think that sport events use a multi-camera production to film multiple events happening around the same time. For example in pole volt the use of long shot is provided. This means that more than one camera is used and can catch different angles of the event.

Advertisement uses a single camera production because they usually make 30 second videos and the products advertised are usually small.

I think documentaries use a multi camera production because they might have to film in multiple angles and show different events happening around the same time.

TV dramas would use a multi camera production so that many scenes can be filmed at once rather than using a single as it would take longer to edit and film.

I think that vlogs use a single camera production as there is usually one subject in focus and its easier to edit videos.

~FRAMING~

:Extreme long shot:

Extreme long shot is the camera's focus on the location, there is no subject or the subject is far away. This can emphasise a scene that something is far away.

:Long shot:

Long shot is the camera's on the subjects whole body with the subject framed head to toe. For example this can make a subject look inferior as the appear smaller on camera.

Medium long shot is the focus on the subjects body with the subject framed from the knees up. For example, medium long shot could show how someone look superior.

:Medium long shot:

Mid shot is the camera's focus on the subjects whole torso with the subject framed head to waist. This means that characters are only seen from the waist and up.

:Mid shot:

:Medium close up:

A medium close up is the cameras focus is on the subjects upper torso with the subject framed head to chest. This can show the NVCs facial expressions of the characters.

:Close up:

Close up is when the cameras focus is on the subjects profile with the best subject framed head to shoulders. For example, in 'The Shining' Stanley Kubrick is made to look intimidating.

:Big close up:

Big close up is when the cameras focus is on the subjects facial expressions with the subjects framed eyes to mouth.

Extreme close up is when the cameras focus is on the subjects facial elements. This can show an intense moment in a scene.

:Extreme close up:

~MOVEMENTS~

Tracking is when the camera is moving in or out, left or right, following a subjects movements also known as dollying.

:Tracking:

Zooming is when the camera moves in or out of a subject. The lens move but the camera is stationary. Zooming can show the emphasis of a character's reaction to something.

:Zooming:

Tilting is when the camera moves up and down only, the camera remains stationary in position.

:Tilting:

Panning is when the camera moves left or right only , the camera position remains in a stationary position. For example, in the two GIFs its clearly shows the camera's moving in the direction of the subjects.

:Panning:

Steadicam is when the camera follows a subjects movements while physically attached to a camera operator.

:Steadicam:

Hand-held is when the camera is not mounted and therefore has a jerky action creating a scene of realisim.

:Hand-held:

~ANGLES/SHOTS~

:Birds eye view:

Birds eye view is a shot taken from directly above looking down on to the action or a point of interest.

:Worms eye view:

Worms eye view is a shot taken from directly below, looking up to the action or a point of interest. For example, this can show that the characters are looking at something miniature.

High/low angles is a shot taken from diagonally above/below the action or point of interest, looking down/up. For example in the image on the left it shows a level of importance.

:High/low angle:

A canted angle is an unbalanced shot, where the physical camera its self is placed at an odd angle. This can foreshadow something in a scene.

:Canted angle:

A wide angle is a shot taken from a distance in order to frame more than two subjects at the same time.

:Wide angle:

A two shot is a shot taken at eye level, that frames two subjects in the same place at the same time. This means that we can see the character's facial expressions through the use of nvc.

:Two shot:

Over the shoulder is when a shot is taken from behind a subjects shoulder. For example, the image on the right shows the audience on who to focus on.

:Over the shoulder:

:Point of view:

Point of view is a shot taken from a subjects line of sight, allowing the audience to see what the subject sees. This can mean that the audience can experience what the character is experiences.

Establishing shot is a shot taken from an extreme distance, start of a scene. For example, this can show the location of the scene and where its happening.

:Establishing shot:

~SETTINGS~

: APERTURE~PHOTOS+VIDEO:

f/1.8

f/3.5

f/7.1

f/14

f/2.2

f/4.5

f/9.0

f/18

f/2.8

f/5.6

f/11

f/22

Aperture is a section of a camera which can be adjusted and allows how much light gets let in. Aperture also can affect dept of field. In my photos, I can see that each time I adjust the aperture the plant pot in the back gets more detailed and clear. In my video I can see the aperture switches between my subjects.

: FOCUS~PHOTOS+VIDEO:

Extreme close up

Big close up

Close up

Medium close up

Mid shot

Long shot

Focus is the process of making adjustments to the lens of your camera making your chosen objects/subjects look sharp, detailed and clear. In my photos, I can see that focus is present and the images are clear. For example, in my extreme close up and big close up photo you can clearly see the facial features and facial expressions made due to the focus of the camera. In my video is used the manual setting to see if I could focus my classmates while they were walking.

18mm

80mm

: FOCAL LENGTH~PHOTOS:

28mm

35mm

50mm

135mm

200mm

300mm

Focal length is how much of a picture is captured and is commonly used to zoom in on objects/subjects that are far away. In my photos, I can see that at each setting the background is coming more closer/compressed, even though my classmate has stayed in the same place. In the picture '18mm' I can see part of the building and trees in the back but in the picture '300mm' only green land can be seen due to focal length.

: SHUTTER SPEED~PHOTOS:

1/4

1/2

1/30

1/60

1/8

1/125

1/15

1/250

Shutter speed is the length of time taken at which the shutter of the camera closes and the amount of light the camera can capture it is also measured in fractions of a second. In my photos, I can see that in the photo '1/2' there is a streak of light due to the amount of light taken in and in the photo '1/250' there is only a small amount of light captured.

~Leaning aim a~

:core assessment:

SOAP OPERA:EastEnders

In soap operas multi camera productions are very popular. This is because it makes it easier for the actors to ensemble the actors presenting a single performance before a live audience may be recorded from various perspectives, it gives a cinematic feel and provides dramatic effects.

This scene from EastEnders starts off with a medium long shot between the two characters Tina Carter and Gray Atkins walking towards the living room and packing clothes into a bag. The medium long shot is enlighten the audience that the two main characters of that scene are interacting and moving. The low key lighting shows that something is suspicious and something distressing is going to happen. The low key lighting gives an unsettling and discomposure effect on the audience as they may be used to the high key lighting in the other scenes, this is perfect to for an uncertainty feeling in its audience.

Shortly after, an 'Over the shoulder' is used to show the interaction between the two characters. This camera technique also gives the audience a different perspective of the conversion and this can also make the audience feel more involved within the conversation of the two characters. To keep everything in focus, the director would have needed an aperture of 1.8 to show that we are mainly focusing on the male chracter.

At 00:25-00:28 shows the camera movement 'zooming' on Tina to intimidate Gray now that she has found out that he is a murderer. This informs the audience that a sudden moment has happened between the two characters and an awful event is going to happen. The zooming of the camera also allows a mini mid shot to draw the audiences attention to Tina as her surroundings are blurred meaning that they only focus on her and her facial expressions of her being right about her suspicions of Gray.

Thanks to this long shot we are able to see the female character's costume indicating that she is elegant, stylish, modish and decorous. For the audience they may think that Linda is an aspirer because she cares about her appearance and is very affiliative. A straight cut is used from 00:42-00:50 to show the other conversation of Linda and Mick Carter at the same time as Gray and Tina, during their conversation the director uses quick cuts to show the two different perspectives of the two characters in that scene.

Here we can see a perfect example of a close up. Telling from his facial expression we can see that he has heard something unpleasant or distressing. The low key lighting helps to set a dark mood of this scene and where the lighting is placed also creates more shadows on his face to tell the audience that there is now tension and apprehension between the two characters. Due to depth of field the audience is given a layered quality and can see all the details on Gray's face illustrating that he is serious.

From 1:05-1:09 shows the camera movement steadicam. The camera tracks slowly around the surroundings of the two characters, this produces a peculiar and mysterious effect on the audience to show something unfortunate may be foreshadowed. This camera technique is a superlative example to apply in thriller to establish the scene and make an unsettling effect on its audience. To keep majority of the characters and objects in focus the director uses an aperture of 5.6 to illustrate to the audience of what they should focus on. In that small amount of time.

Music video: Dumebi

The music video starts off with an establishing shot and a birds eye view. This illustrates to the audience the location and setting of the music video showing the surroundings of a caravan, a road path and some greenery. At 00:12 there is a straight cut imported to show a different shot taken place and birds eye view is used. There is a high shutter speed of around 1/250 as the video is very detailed and an ISO of 100 as it's already set in daylight so not that much light is needed or else it will end up having a high exposure making it look bleached.

From 00:28-00:30 the camera movement tracking is used to follow the main character Rema as he walks around the caravan. A close up is used at the same time as the tracking to show Rema's facial expressions being made, this tells the audience that the music video is mainly about good vibes. Thanks to the aperture 2.2 used between 00:28-00:30 its shows the audience who we need to focus on, on the specific shot.

In this screen shot the focal length of 35mm is imported to show that the background looks a bit compressed and closer to the subject in focus. Thanks to the wide angle provided the audience can see that there are five subjects in one shot. It is clear that an aperture of 1.8 is used to create an effect of daydream and 'lost in thought' as the background is blurred and the four other subjects are not seen clearly.

The camera movement zooming is seen at 0:40 where there are two girls standing/posing. There is an aperture of 2.2 to show the audience the subjects focused of how crisp and detailed they look. The zooming is used to emphasise the two subjects body language to show that they are confident, positive and assertive. In addition a mid shot is used to when the director of the music video added zooming. The costumes of the two girls show that they are young adults due to the bright colours and also their makeup.

Specifically at 0:38-0:39 shows a type of VHS effect of four friends having fun and enjoying themselves as this can imitate an old video tape which can symbolise a nostalgic moment for them. This could make the viewers feel sentimental as this specific shot may bring back memories.

At 0:37-0:38 a mid shot is used to see the movement of the girl in that shot, her movement tells the audience that she is dancing/moving her body. Elliptical editing is used in that same shot to show the slow motion of the girl and from 1:57 until the end of the music video. This reveals to the viewers that some parts of the video is not in real time and the duration of day in the music video is shortened rather than them filming the duration in real time this reveals to the viewers that they have been having an eventful day and compressed the video to give it the elliptical effect. A mini focus pull is spotted between 2:03-2:04. This mini focus pull helps the audience to focus on one subject at a time as one of the girls are going out of focus then the other one going in focus directly after showing an aperture of 2.2 .

Single camera production was noticeable in this music video as there was various elements found in each shot of the music video especially in the beginning and middle of the music video. There is also a lot of editing in this video so that is why I think that in this specific music video they used a single camera, but there is a possibility that this music video used a multi camera production as there was many shots taken and different set ups in the same setting.

Documentary:

Stacey dooley tries

living as a nun

At the beginning of this documentary an over the shoulder shot is to show that Stacey Dooley and Nun Linda are conversing. To keep everything nice and detailed an aperture of 1.8 was used to show the viewers a layered quality of Stacey Dooley's face and a blurred background. Showing by her facial expression she looks curious and intrigued.

Thanks to this camera movement panning from 0:17-0:20 to show Stacey's movement around the kitchen area where we can see her and Nun Linda wiping the pots with a cloth. As the camera moves around we get an ISO of 100 as its daylight and we can tell from the highlights on Stacey's face that there is high key lighting being used creating a positive mood. The reverse shot editing technique was also included in this shot as the camera shows us the same two female subjects interacting while the camera moves in a 180 degree circle.

This is another perfect example of a big close up as we can clearly see Nun Linda's face up close. This produces a neutral effect on the audience as they may not think nothing much of her facial expression. The director of this documentary would have needed an aperture of 1.8 to keep only her face in focus as the background is extremely blurred making sure that the audience has their interest only on Nun Linda only.

From 2:12-2:16 there is a small amount of dollying (tracking) used to show one of the nuns walking and a miniature focus pull as well as a low angle was imported as well. The low angle may have an effect on the audience to not make the nun look old and fragile and it can also show how superior she may look to some of the audience seeing that she looks bigger. In the focus pull I can identify that I could only focus on the doorway as that was the only ting in focus but after the nun became in focus, a depth of field may be also present as there was a given layered quality to the audience.

Here in this screenshot we can see a good example of a medium close up of Nun Linda. Telling from her facial expression the viewers can tell that Nun Linda looks calm and neutral as none of her facial features are exaggerated. The costume of the female subject may suggest that Nun Linda is an older person by the neutral/ grey colours that she is wearing. Looking closely at the photo we can establish that an aperture of 2.8 is used as the audience can still make out the cleaning products in the background but also gives the audience on who to focus on.

The use of a score tells us what type of tone the documentary is meant to be in. This positions the audience to think that the score helps us to understand what is happening between the interaction of Stacey and Nun Linda. The use of steadicam helps with use of non-diegetic sound as only the audience can hear the music used. In addition the steadicam used from 1:54-1:56 helps to guide the viewers with what the two female subjects are saying through the use of dialogue.

In this specific documentary the use of a single camera production was evident as there wasn't many shots taken in different settings and it was easier to edit as there was not a lot of subjects involved in this clip meaning that it probably took a shorter time to do all the editing.