Video Production Online Curriculum

Instructional module 8:  The Booth Director & Advanced Videography

Content:  No CIT for this module | Part 2 = Lesson | Part 3 = Project

Screen direction, transitions, movement

The Three C's Revisited - Clarity, Composition, Continuity

Clarity (Mod4-focus, white-balance), Composition (7 in Mod4, 1 more here), Continuity
3 C's Handout p165 Television Production for Elementary & Middle Schools

Blocking – planning movement of talent in each scene and practicing when and where to move; put people or objects close to each other, keep objects close to talent’s face, block toward and away from camera to create depth, block talent in L or V shape for interesting picture

Varying your camera shots can also be used to advance a storyline or make a story more meaningful.

Use Mod4 camera shots/angles handout to review; 4 new shots

Ø       POV Point-of-view – subject’s point of view, camera sees what subject sees

o        OS Over-the-shoulder – looking over the shoulder of the secondary subject toward the primary subject, for example, looking over an interviewer’s shoulder at the person being interviewed

o        RA Reverse angle – opposite angle of previous shot, implies return to opposite
(person looking at something, RA next shot what looking at, third shot reaction to what seen)

o        Reaction shot – medium or close-up of subject reacting to what just seen, felt, heard, as in reaction to a question

Eisenstein's Law
Imagine a scene with a boy looking longingly at something off camera, then the next scene is a close-up of a big, juicy hamburger.  The viewer gets the impression that the boy is very hungry for dinner.  Now instead, if the scene of the boy is followed by a scene of a shiny new sports car, the viewer gets an entirely different impression of what the boy is longing for!  This technique is known as Eisenstein's Law, conveying an idea without words.  An easier way to remember this is 1+1=3...that is, two sequential scenes can prompt a stronger viewer response than each scene individually--even with the actors saying nothing at all.

It's important to maintain the illusion of reality.  For example, don't have the talent walking out of the camera frame, except if they are seen to be walking out a door.  In real life people don't "walk off the screen."  Allowing talent to do that on camera breaks our illusion and takes the viewer attention away from the story you are trying to tell.

Shot List vs Shooting order

Shot list is the sequence of camera shots that tells the story. Shooting order allows you to set up the camera and lighting one time to get all the shots of of subjects in that particular spot, before moving your equipment to a different area. For example, if the story has people entering & leaving a restaurant at different times, you can video all the movement into and out of the restaurant doorway at one time and then edit the shots in their correct sequence.

Camera shot list – use storyboard as guide, tell camera person order and kind of shot to take ;

1        WS     of Flo in kitchen

2        MS      Flo goes to cupboard and takes out peanut butter (PAN-LEFT)

3        MS      Flo walks to refrigerator and gets loaf of bread (continue PAN)

4        CU      Flo opens drawer, takes knife (TILT)

5        CU      Flo takes banana from fruit basket (ZOOM-IN)

6        MS      Flo carries things back to counter (PAN-RIGHT)

7        MS      Flo sniffs bread (ZOOM-IN)

~10    WS     banana peel falls on floor (TILT-DOWN)

~13    WS     Flo slips on banana peel and falls down

14      CU      Flo’s face (TILT-DOWN)

More Camera movements:  (camera moves, operator remains still; imagine camera mounted on a tripod)

• Pedestal - physically moving the entire camera higher or lower to the ground; pedestal up to move camera higher, to get "eye-to-eye" with a tall person & pedestal down to move camera lower, as in an eye-level shot for a small child or to establish a high or low angle shot; use tripod to raise level of camera.
• Crane shot - similar to pedestal, but covers longer distance, for example, a very high shot of a city sidewalk above the crowd, then descending down to pedestrian eye-level; called a crane shot because that is normally the equipment used for such shots
• Swish pan - fast pan creating intentionally blurry image between scenes; end of shot A and beginning of shot B must both be swishing to edit shots together effectively

More camera angles: (operator moves while camera remains still against eye; imagine both moving together)

• Dolly – move toward or away from subject; can use any wheeled device such as a skateboard, cart, or wheelchair;
  Trick shot for tension/vertigo: combine dolly & zoom by zooming the camera lens into the subject at the same time as you dolly the camera away from the subject so the subject remains the same size but the background appears to move!
• Track – move parallel to subject; can use any wheeled device such as a skateboard, cart, or wheelchair; can also follow subject through twists & turns, through doors & around rooms; a floating stabilizer straps to the operator to follow along with the action (may have gyroscopes or counterweights to maintain steady camera shots).

More Transitions:  (camera & operator remain still; camera lens changes) used to visually take audience from one location or part of story to next

• Rack-focus – “rack” means to change; rack-focus changes the focus from a subject in the foreground to a subject in the background--one object goies out of focus while the other comes into focus; used to reveal the relationship between two objects. Focus first on one subject with background out of focus, then adjust focus to another subject so first subject becomes blurred; ex.: focus tightly on sign as subject walks into frame, change focus from sign to subject. Difficult shot to pull off: use a tripod or it will not work, and stage subjects at correct distance from eadh other and from the camera.
• Black-out – talent walks toward camera blocking out all light, next scene begins when talent walks away from camera into scene
• Jump Cut -  two similar shots of same subject/action but different positions; abrupt move avoided by placing different shots (RA or CU) between two

“Being transparent” – not allowing audience to be aware of camera or its movement.

Handheld shots – flex knees to act as shock absorbers ; lean against solid object or another person ; keep camcorder off shoulder to minimize bounce when walking.

more on audience orientation - use neutral shots – actors photographed coming toward camera or going away from it ; can be sandwiched between shots to rid discrepancy in screen direction. 

Digital Editing

Firewire - connects cameras and other equipment for digital feed to a computer

Review video production steps:

1.      preproduction (research, scripting/storyboarding, graphic/audio/video clips)

2.      production (camera, sound, talent, transitions, videotaping)

3.      postproduction (review, editing)

Lesson - Steps of video production:

Preproduction: 

1. Choose crew, brainstorm ideas, plan theme/sets/props/costumes
2. Do research, write script, create storyboard, create signage

Production: 

3. Direct, rehearse talent; arrange set, lights, sound
4. Action!  Broadcast/videotaping

Postproduction: 

5. Create camera log; obtain extra shots/dubs, graphics, sounds
6. Edit video.