Lights, Camera, ActionAustin Fraser

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Table of Contents

• Overview• Roles in Video• Storyboards• Types of Video Cameras and Formats• Common Video Formats• Camera Movements• Camera Shots• Audio• Lighting• Video Editing

Overview

• There are three stages to video production:

• Pre-Production- in pre-production you plan out your project because a video with no plan is going to suck. You do things such as a proposal to identify the content and target audience, a storyboard to outline the storyline and a script.

• Production- production is when you are actually shooting your scenes. Things to think about are framing and composition, lighting, audio, camera techniques, lead in and lead out.

• Post Production- post production is filled with editing. You add transitions, audio effects such as music, titles and credits and special effects. You then render your video and republish it.

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Roles in Video Production

• Screenwriter- this person writes the script for the movie or video that is being produced. They get paid just as well as the directors and producers.

• Director- the director is in charge of taking a script and turning those words and ideas into a masterpiece. He is involved with pretty much everything on the set and assists in the editing after the shooting is over.

• Producer- the producer is involved with the film from it’s initial script to when it is released to the public. He deals mainly with the budget and spends much time deciding how the money can be best spent to produce a great movie in the end.

• Actor- an actor has possibly the most important part in the entire film operation. He or she must take every single thought and idea that has gone into their role in the film, and bring it to life by putting themselves in the characters situation. Directors can do all they can to make a film superb but if the acting is bad, it will not matter.

• Editor- an editor takes all of the resulting footage and sifts through it with the director to find the best footage for the film. He cuts scenes, adds in special effects, and also inserts appropriate audio where necessary.

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Storyboards

• A storyboard is a series of drawings to visually tell the story of the script for animators. These drawings are often done in pen or pencil and are very simple. Usually all one panel of the storyboard includes is how the characters move and for how long do they do so. The use of many of these panels in a row makes it very easy for the animators to see the whole picture, so they know what to create and how they may want to do that.

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Types of Video Cameras and Formats

• Types• Analog and Digital• Recording Media• Consumer Market• Other Devices• Flip Video• Interchangeable lenses• Built in Projector• 3-D

•Formats•Analog

•Digital

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Common Video Formats

• Avi- (Audio Video Interleave) was created by Microsoft. Files are saved under the extension “.avi”

• Mpeg- (Moving Pictures Expert Group) is the most popular format on the internet and is supported by all of the most popular web browsers. Files are saved under the extension “.mpg” or “.mpeg”.

• MP4- The MP4 video format (MPEG-4 video format) is a moving picture compression standard which is used for Internet, broadcast, and on storage media.

• Windows Media Player- a digital media player and library application made by Microsoft.

• QuickTime- QuickTime is made by Apple and is a common format on the internet, but Windows computers require a free extra component.

• Real Video Format- this format was created for the Internet by Real Media. It allows for video streaming but because of the low band width, the quality is not high.

• Shockwave Flash Video- Shockwave Flash Video was developed by Macromedia. It requires an extra component that comes preinstalled with the latest versions of Internet Explorer and Netscape.

Camera Movements

• Trucking- when you move the camera with it’s tripod in and out.

• Dollying- when you move the camera with it’s tripod from side to side.

• Tilts- when you change the camera angle by tilting the camera up or down on the tripod.

• Pans- far more commonly used, pans are when you change the camera angle by swiveling the camera from side to side on the tripod.

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Camera Shots

• Establishing Shot- an establishing hot is a shot taken from a great distance that lets the viewer kno where the action is going to occur.

• Long Shot- a long shot is used to stress the environment or setting of a scene. It is not taken at as large of a distance as an establishing shot.

• Medium Shot- a medium shot captures an actor from about the waist up. It is used to show interaction between characters.

• Over-the-Shoulder Shot- an over-the-shoulder shot is taken over the shoulder of an actor egaged in a conversation with another actor, so that the audience only focuses on the actor who is speaking.

• Close up- a close up is extremely close to an actor or a prop, sometimes being mere inches away. It is used to show the expression of the actor or the significance of an object.

QuickTime™ and a decompressorare needed to see this picture.QuickTime™ and a decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and a decompressorare needed to see this picture.QuickTime™ and a decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and a decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Audio

• Handheld Microphones- Handheld mikes are held right in the users hand or in a stand right in front of them. They are commonly used in musical performances, and other performances or speeches. It is a good all-purpose mike.

• Shotgun Microphones- shotgun mikes are microphones that only pick up audio in on direction, and reject everything else. They are often mounted on a camera or a boom when it is hard to get close to the main attraction.

• Lavalier Microphones- lavalier mikes are little clip on microphones that are often used in studio interviews. They are good for when you want good sound, but do not want the microphone to be obvious.

• Pressure Zone Microphones- pressure zone mikes (PZM) often sit on a table or a wall so they can pick up many voices at once. They are the opposite of a shotgun mike.

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.QuickTime™ and a

decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Lighting

The purpose of lighting is so that the light in your video is even and balanced. The two forms of lighting used is natural sunlight and artificial lights.

• Sunlight- early morning or late afternoon is considered to be the best time to use actual sunlight due to the fact that the light is softer then. Try to have the sun behind you when you shoot, and if necessary, reflect the sunlight so that the light is more balanced on your subject.

• Artificial Lights- common artificial lights are 3 point lighting, fill lights, and coloured lights. With three point lighting you can set the subject off from the background because the light coming from the different angles makes the edges of the subject more apparent. The fill light is often near the camera and it makes the lighting more even and soft. Coloured lights can have a very cool effect when filming dances and other performances, but you need to adjust your exposure on the camera in order to make the shot look right.

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Video Editing

Video editing is changing your raw film, to your final project. This could include cutting scenes, adding music, adding special effects, adding credits or even

narration. This process can be difficult without the proper tools, especially if your are an at home movie maker. There are some video editing programs out, however, that should do the trick without any price tag as a bonus. These include:

• Windows Movie Maker- created by Microsoft, quite easy to use.

• iMovie- created by Apple, easy to use and has many add-ons but is only free to Mac users.

• AvidFreeDV- available to both PC and Mac users, slightly hard to use at first but can be very useful if you take the time to learn it.

• Wax- good for both pros and amateurs, a good program all around.

• Zwei-Stein- challenging to use but the potential is impressive, so it is definitely worth a try.

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.QuickTime™ and a

decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Sports Video

• Sports video is one of the harder things to master. In order for it to be great, you must have experience, as shaking cameras and other rookie mistakes are common. Also when filming a sporting event, many mistakes can be made if you cannot stick with the play or if you are lacking proper equipment. Some tips to producing the best video of a sporting event you can are:

• If you can, use a tripod. Nothing ruins a video more than camera shake.• If you can help it, don’t zoom in. Opportunities to do this successfully are rare, and don’t provide that much of an effect. Stick to the most

important moments such as a face-off or timeout for zooming.• Don’t be shy about wanting to film the game. Chance are, as long as you aren’t in somebody’s way, no one will care. Be mindful of

professionals however, as this is how they make their living.

•If you choose to add in commentary, make it interesting! Try not repeat yourself and always have something to say.

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.