Camera and meaning assessment (Draft)

A long shot is used to show that the man is isolated and on his own.

Depth of field is used to separate the character from the background. Making him stand out in the shot.

A point of view shot is used to create realism.

High angle is used to show that the character is vulnerable and insignificant.

A Report on Single Camera Techniques (Task B)

Single Camera and Multi-Camera

The Single Camera Set-Up is where it uses one camera to record a scene. A single camera in motion pictures of film and television shows is employed on a location of where the production is taking place but each shot is taken separately due to the fact that the director has the control of what does happens in that particular shot of the scene in a film or TV series and the location that is set at. This means that you can use the more detailed coverage shots like high angle, low angle, close-up, two-shot, establishing shot, point of view and crane shots to make the scene more interesting for the audience to carry on watching the Film or TV show because without these shots being used, then it would become boring and dull to watch. The reason why this technique is used due to the 180 Degree Rule where this shows the relationship and records two actors within the line of action plus if this was recorded the whole way round (360 degrees), then it will ruin the flow of continuity as each of the coverage shots in the particular scenes of a Film or TV series will need to be consistent with the continuity. The genres that does uses a single camera in the production is in dramas, comedies, sitcoms and soap operas like EastEnders, True Blood, The Office (UK), Skins, Utopia etc. The reason why this set-up is used in these genres is because the director of a certain TV show is able to make more detailed coverage shots in a sequence of scenes.

Example of a Single camera production:

The Multi-Camera set-up is when it has more cameras in a scene to record. The production team will have 4 more cameras than the single set-up because it being recorded in a studio set and in front of a live audience which means that a certain shot like you see in a single camera will not to be recorded again. They have different angles shown on different camera which means that there is a more open choices to what angle is needed to be use and a downside of this is when a camera uses a low angle and the other cameras will need to show the same shot but this makes the editing much easier as all of the shots is in order. Also this set-up is used for live audience in comedies, soaps and chat shows like The Big Bang Theory, EastEnders, X-Factor, BBC Glastonbury etc. The reason why this set-up is used because it is being broadcast live in front of a live audience and able to show the different shots much easier than single camera does.

An example of the Multi-Camera:

The advantages and disadvantages of both set-ups

The advantages of Single Camera set-up:

• It is cheaper to set-up to than the Multi-Camera which you have to pay a lot of the money for the equipment to be use
• A dramatic effect can be used in the Film and TV Series to make more interesting for the audience to watch it more
• The director has control over what happens in the shot for example: changing the lighting between different shots from the scene to make it look realistic as in real life
• By using the 180 Degree Rule, it can show the relationship between the two characters by the line of action with the two cameras.
• You can group up the shots due to not having to follow the film's storyboard

The Disadvantages of Single Camera set-up:

• It will longer to edit as you have to put the more footage in order which needs to sorted out (which shots does work or not)
• You may break the continuity as the cameraman who is using the single camera will be tempted to ruin it
• The camera's quality would not be realistic or clear
• It would be hard to retake the scenes which is much easier if you used the Multi-Camera set-up. 

Examples of a Single camera production

Utopia (Season 2, Episode 6):

Doctor Who (Season 9, Prologue):

The advantages of Multi-Camera set-up:

• While using the different shots in the Multi-Camera set-up, the audience who are watching it at home will be able to see other people's emotion and reactions
• It will be quicker to film as you will not have to re-do the scenes
• By using more cameras, it will cover the areas more than the single camera set-up does
• There will be less issues with continuity which means that the characters will not need to be different

The disadvantages of Multi-camera set-up:

• It will take longer to set-up the equipment
• The cost will be high as you have to pay for the equipment (cameras) and crews for the filming of TV shows  

Examples of a Multi Camera productions

BBC Glastonbury (Beyonce):

The Graham Norton Show (Lewis Hamilton on receiving an MBE):

Formats

Series is where it has continuing characters from the same TV Series but does a different story each episode. A example of this format is a The Big Bang Theory because it has a scenario in one episode which is shown on television and then in the next episode, it moves to a different scenario as the story has moved on as well.

Serial is when it tells one story through several episodes and a example of this is Breaking Bad where it is based on two main characters of Walter White and Jesse Pinkham who is helping to make and sell methamphetamine to secure Walter's family financial future before he dies.

Single-Drama is where it tells one story through one video which usually last for 60 minutes or 90 minutes. A perfect example of a single-drama is CSI: New York (Crime Scene Investigation) where a team look into murders by using physical evidence.

Narrative Structure

Linear or also known as the three act structure is when you have a story which starts with a beginning, middle and ending in a straight line. A example of this structure is Up where two characters (Carl and Ellie) meet at a young age and then they get married later on their life but after Ellie suffers an miscarriage and can not have any children, they realised their dream to go to Paradise Falls. Even though they try to save money for the trip it is used on needed things but on after Carl getting the tickets for the trip, Ellie becomes ill and dies which is up to Carl to go Paradise Falls for Ellie.

Non-Linear narrative is when it starts at the middle of the story and shows flashbacks of what has happened in the past. An example of a film of this narrative is Batman: The Dark Knight Rises where Miranda Tate stabs Batman and tells him that she is actually Talia Al Ghul (Father of Ra's Al Ghul) which it shows flashbacks of her escaping the prison which Bane aided her escape.

Episodic narrative is a story that is told by a series of episodes. A example is Friends where it has one setting but each episode has a new story behind it.

Open narrative is when it usually have many characters as possible but has no foreseeable ending. Like with EastEnders for example. Since the programme started in 1985, the audience has seen the characters changed through the years but still watch the show because it is multi-stranded as it looks at the other character's point of view.

Closed narrative is where a film comes to an ending. An example is in the middle of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen where Optimus Prime engages a battle with Megatron, Starscream and Grindor after the Autobots arrived just on time to save Sam. Easily outmatched, Optimus take on all of them by defeating Starscream and killing Grindor but while looking for Sam, he gets stabbed in the back and shot by Megatron. Then it cuts to a scene where The Fallen gets up and says "At last, Prime is dead" and just before he dies, he tells Sam to run.

Realist narrative is where a story is told from a real life situation which means that it is high possibility that some things will happen at some point in someone's lifetime like for example Rush.

Anti-Realist narrative is not based on real life situation as the things that you see in either tv programmes or movies is not real as the stories is made-up. 

Single stranded is when you have one main character in a story but has minor characters as well included in a film. A example is Hercules where it goes through the things that as happened in his life.
 

Multi-stranded is where it has different character's point of views. An example is Love Actually when it has 8 different character's point of view but stays within the story.

Blog Commentary (Task A)

Master Shot, High Angle, Low Angle and Tilt

Master Shot is where it shows all of the characters in one scene and takes of what happens in the film but also it captures the location of a particular. This is filmed first as the story needs to follows through with coverage shots like close-ups, Match On Action, High Angle, Low Angle, Caned Angle, Mid Shot, Over-the-shoulder, Rule Of Thirds etc. But without this, it could get confused for the audience as they need to know what is happening. There was a use of a master shot in our Webisode where one of the character was walking to woods to take a short-cut .

High Angle is when a single camera is pointing above the character in the film looking down at them which makes the other character feel weak or frightened of the situation they are in. There was a use of this techinque where the Police Detective was writing answers that the Victim's friend gave untill he gets a unknown call from someone.

Low Angle is where a single camera is pointing upwards which is behind the actor's eyes. This make the character feel and look dominant than the fearful actor. There a use of this in the Webisode.

Canted Angle is also known as Dutch Tilt is where the shot in a film changes to a slope so it looks like it had been transformed and the way this is done is change the horizonal and vertical lines to make the composition look better than it was before. The reason why we used this angle in our Webisode is because that it will create a dramatic effect for the audience watching this.

Building a sequence of shots, Blocking


In films, they always build a sequence of shots which does include a Master Shot as well. The definition of Building a sequence of shots is when you film a Master shot with the variety of different coverage shots and positions and then edit them together to make the production realistic. It also make the variety of coverage shots that is used to show the vital information like the character's facial expressions and their emotions etc.

Blocking is where the character's position is in a single shot which does give the audience a insight information into the actual characters in the film. We did not use this techinque in our Webisode.

180 Degree Rule, Rule of Thirds, Match On Action


180 Degree Rule is where you maintain the continuity in the shot by having a half of the 180 degree shot but the cutting the other half as you need to stay within the line of action because you will ruin the flow of continuity. In our Webisode, there was the use of the 180 degree rule in it but we did break the flow of continuity at times throughout it.
Match of Action is when a editor cuts from one shot to another which is the same as the first shot. There was a use of this techinque in the Webisode. Rule of thirds is used as a guideline to control the depth of field within the shot in a film but in nine sections of a imaginary frame. We consistently used this techinque in our Webisode to make sure that the depth of Field was in control.

                                    

Framing- Head Room, Lead Room

Head Room is where you create space for the characher's room which will also have composition on top of the frame but when filming a head room shot with a camera, you need to make sure that the actor and actresses’ head has freedom and not giving any at all. Lead Room is when you have dramatic energy is directing at something like a person reading a book for example. While the coverage shots of close-ups are used, this is known to be a ‘nose room’. As you use this type of shot, it is important to leave space of the character’s face because they are projecting the energy to a certain direction that they looking at but this can be cutted out as it is leaving more space behind the character rather than in front of them.

Shot types

Mid shot is a shot where the waist and the face is showed which this is commonly used in most films today. An extreme close-up is when show the relevance of the characher's facial expressions which can be vital for the characters in a sequence of a film. A Wide shot is used to show the background of the location and also associate the relationships of the characters in the film and in the shots. Close Up is when you see the character's emotions as they react to something happening. We did used close-ups in our webisode to show the character's facial expressions and emotions of what they were going through and when the victim was texting her mum but only used a few times. Over the Shoulder is when the single camera goes behind the actor's to what is happening in the scene for example: the characters having a conversation of about something hads just happenend like their favourite team lost an another game in the season. There was use of the Over of Shoulder in our Webisode Point of View is when the audience sees something from the character's perspective.

                                 

Movement

Pan is when a single camera is following a character of where they are going which can be used for dramatic effect when the audience is watching the films and this is commonly used in Thriller and Horror films. Zoom is when its arranging before filming a scene because it will look unprofessional to zoom while filming as it looks amateur. In our Webisode, we did use zoom in few of the scenes which does make it looks amateur. Tilt is used to show the detail of a character and the area that they in. There was use of a tilt in Our Webisode where the shot of the clock ticking was tilted.

Depth of Field

Depth Of Field is when you want a object to be focused by someone but this only last 3 seconds in a film and TV series. In the Depth Of Field, you have two types of focus that is used. Pull Focus is when you change a focus on the subject to another and shallow focus is when it revolves around an smaller depth of field.

 

Lighting

Lighting is the most important of filming as it tells a story and builds a scene. The most common of lighting that is used in films and TV Series is low key, high, single, 3-point and natural but there are other one which is used as well. Soft light is when it used as a defuser to break up the shadows. The Key light is one of the important ones as it is very bright which does create an another dimension and form. A High Key Lighting is where a multiple light filler is used to look like real life light. Low key lighting is when you use it to create different lighting of light and dark areas of a location. In our Webisode, we used low key lighting because it will look like that you see in a thriller film.  

Task 1 (A): The Discussion

Complete the discussion of how and why you used Single Camera Techniques with screenshots from your footage

1. We began filming with a Master Shot in order to set the scene of our Webisode Film and show all the characters and the location of where you are filming it. In Single Camera Production, this is important because you are able to continue with the story that you have planned out with your group of what is going to happen in the film.

 Master Shot

2. We followed the 180 degree rule in order to have the continuity continue to flow and by not breaking it. This is because in Single Camera Productions, you have a line of action where you have two cameras on the left and right between the actors or actresses but it means that you have to stay within the rule as it is possible that the person maybe tempted to break the flow of continuity to film a scene from a different shot angle. But in our film, we had continuity at times in our short film but we had broken it at the same time as we got tempted to film at different angles but we did not use the depth of field in our short film  .

3. Because we were shooting each shot individually, we grouped all the close-ups on the character's expressions and emotions through on different scenes of our short film and made sure that all of the camera shots were all together. Because we were shooting individually, we were able to compose the shots using the rule of thirds to have the main focus on the main characters in a single shot.

4. During the interview scene, we used shot reverse shot to show that the Police Detective and the victim's friend are having a conversation about the victim and by the use of our hands, it made it more effective due the flashbacks of the victim being killed by a unknown person.

5. We used a high angle on the scene where the Police Detective was writing notes from the answers that the victim's friend gave until he gets a phone call from a unknown person to show that the character (the detective) is vulnerable or weak to answer the phone call as he does not know who it is but since we were shooting with one camera, we had to set up these shots individually. This makes our webisode more interesting to watch than if we had used multiple cameras.

 High Angle

6. During the shot of a clock ticking, we used the movement of tilt (Dutch) to express that the shot has changed from a normal way into a slope which can make a better composition but does make a change in the horizonal and vertical lines within the shot. This is to make the audience feel more interested to continue to watch the short film because it creates of a more dramatic effect.

 (Dutch) Tilt

7. To involve the audience and create a sense of realism we used certain scenes from our short film to have the realism and have an audience to engage with it as well. In the scene of the girl getting kidnapped and killed by an unknown person which is realistic in real-life because there is cases like this happens a lot which will make the audience feel emotional and have sympathy for the character who just died.

Both of these screen captures shows realism of where the girl gets kidnapped and killed by an unknown person which is realistic.

8. We decided to use low key lighting to have a sharp conparsion between the light and dark areas on the screen of a film but also create dark shadows which is used in thrillers and horror films and show the character is in the dark areas of the shot. Also we added a color correction on Final Cut Pro to convey with the dark areas of the film but the lighting at first was very bright due to the camera that our group used had very high exposure to the light. 

9. We built our scene using a variety of coverage shots for example: close-ups, Match on Action, shot reverse shot and rule of thirds. This was in order to continue our story with the Master Shot that was  captured and filmed at first and by doing this, we had to then edit the sequence of the coverage shots together with our Master shot. We used cuts between shots to show the action in our short film  happening at different locations and to show flashbacks, we showed clips of the victim getting kidnapped and getting killed by a unknown person because we used a non-linear narrative to show what has happened in the middle of the story in our short film.  

Single Camera Techniques (Master Shot, High Angle, Low Angle and Tilt)

Task 1 (A): SCT Video Tutorial Guide

Webisode Production Report- Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages in Cinematography- Creativity and meaning (framing, depth of field, composition/rule of thirds:

The advantages of Cinematography within the creativity and meaning of it means that you can control the creativity of the shots that is and create of a more purposeful meaning of the story being told by the coverage shots. The framing in the cinematography is used to compose an shot which the cameraman will use Head room (where the shot creates space above the character's head by giving freedom at the same time), Lead room (the dramatic energy from the close-ups of the person by looking at something), Depth of Field (An guide of grid lines of controlling it which the shot being taken but it needed to have a main focus on the subject as the background is not relevant to a certain scene so it may burred out), Rule of Thirds (It allows have focus on the three characters in a single shot).

Advantage in maintaining an audience's interest with a larger variety of coverage shots:

In a different films that is being shown worldwide, there is a large variety of coverage shots being like Close-Up, Match on Action, Shot Reverse Shot etc. This is used to maintain the audience's interest because it will create different meanings which will keep the audience on to watching the film and also creates mystery and suspense (which is seen in Thriller Films) but without the use of coverage shots used, it will become boring and dull.

Advantages in creating drama and suspense in your suspense in your sequence (variety of coverage shots etc):

The advantages in creating drama and suspense in the sequences of my thriller film is to keep audience on the edge of their seats of wondering of what is going to happen next but by using a variety of coverage shots like medium close-ups, close-ups and extreme can make the audience see the character's real emotions of what has happened in a certain scene for example: In The Usual Suspects, a Police detective Dave Kujan was thinking about Roger Vint's story after interviewing him but while in his office he starts to recognise few names and concepts from the story that matches up with a lot of papers and other details scattered around on the board and also it makes him realise that Roger Vint was in fact to be Keyser Söze. There is a close-up of Kajan's face in shock which show his emotions after realising that he has released the wrong person.

Advantages in being on location with a small crew and minimal equipment (or getting either accidentally in shot):

The advantages in being on location with a small crew and minimal equipment is that you have able to retake shots if the takes is not that great so you can make it better and making sure that the lighting is suitable for a certain scene. When moving to different locations to film the next scene you are able to get local transport like a buses and trains to make it quicker to get to your next location that you have chosen to film your next scene in a particular place that you have looked at.

Advantages in controlling the lighting separately in each shot:

With the lighting in filming, you are able to control it by adjusting it to get the perfect shot because it can set the scene by which showing the exact tone it is for example: in horror films, the lighting is adjusted to a dark moody surrounding which will does create suspense and tension due to the atmosphere being so quiet which you expect that there is going to be jump scares for the audience watching a particular horror film.

Advantages in having multiples takes of the action:

This reasons why taking multiples takes of the action from your film is an advantage because is to get the perfect shot for a scene that is needed for your film but if there was any mistakes made while filming it like for example: the lighting maybe you wanted is not correct at all, actors and actresses who are posing as different characters in your film may forget the lines that they are meant to say etc. If anything like this had happened, then you can retake again until you have the perfect shot of the action.

Advantages of having a master shot in the beginning

In having a master shot in the beginning of your film, our audience will be able to see the location and characters in one scene but combed with the different coverage shots used as well. Also by recording a master shot first before you get removed from the premises, at least you can continue with your story because you got the main part of your film that you are making.

Disadvantages in accidentally breaking continuity (180 deg rule, action matches etc)

While filming your Webisode, you will tempted to break the continuity within your shot which does ruins the flow of it. In the 180 degree rule, you have a line of action which means that the person has two cameras on the left and right between the two actors or actresses meaning which having the space to film but the main disadvantage of this is that you have stay within the 180 degree rule and not come out of it as the flow of the rule will be ruined.

Disadvantages in time required on-locations to shoot multiple takes

The disadvantages of in the time required on-location to shoot multiple takes is the time will be limited because you will be kicked out of the premises as you may not got the permission from the local council so it is important to shoot multiple shots as quickly as possible but if you are editing it and have a lot of footage with you, it will become a problem as you may break the flow of continuity footage that you put into already.

Disadvantages in amount of footage to log and edit (action matches, continuity etc)

With the amount of footage that you have log onto Final Cut Pro to edit your Webisode, it could become harder to edit it as you have to go through the whole sequence that been put in order of how your short film goes (Non Linear Sequence) and fixing the continuity errors that you may have made due to breaking the flow of it.

Disadvantages in having to plan more carefully (storyboard the appropriate number of shots)

While planning carefully for your short film it can take away the time that you have to film because in the film industry if you do not meet the deadline to send your completed film, then you will get sued from your company so it is important that you plan of what is going to happen in your film and discuss with your group of how many shots types that is going to be used in each scene of the film which it could take longer to film the footage.            

The Youtube Video

Google Docs (Single Camera Techniques)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RlyD5RvqpVhqh10oL6w_43jaKa_pxHzWyzMd3sUKuaE/edit#heading=h.gjdgxs

Webserial Production Requirements Report

Pre-Production report by Daniel Storey

1) Type of production

The type of production that I am making for my short film will be a web-serial as this is part of my coursework for BTEC Media Level 3 at Christ the King (St Mary's) and after it has been completed, it will be uploaded onto YouTube where my target audience which are teenagers can watch my short film but it follows the character's story-lines through different episodes but does not conclude after a pilot episode. My short film will be a non-linear production because it will show flashbacks and flash-forwards which will give mystery and suspense for the audience while     

2) Finance

BFI or also known as the British Film Institute is where it supports to provide Lottery funding through a film's development, production and distribution activity in the United Kingdom which is the largest public film funding as well. Every year, they make exactly £26 million but the budget of that will increase £30 million by 2017. With the National Lottery Funding, the money is given to 12 independent organisations where each of them got a very good knowledge of different sectors that they work on but if the British Film Institute applys to get funding from the National Lottery, they would get between £10,000 to £30,000.

Equipment and its costs:

• Sony HXR-MC2500E Camcorder: £1,073.36
• PhotoSEL LS21E52 Softbox Studio Lighting Kit: £85.00
• RODE Boompole 3m: £80.19
• RODE Deadcat GO Microphone: £17.99
• Hama Star 61 Tripod: £16.85

The total cost is £1,273.39.

With our college, you not have pay for anything as the equipment can be used at any given time due to the fact that they pay for it. Transport will be free for us as we got Oyster Card Zip to use to get on the bus, train and underground tubes but using this means that you will be able to carry the equipment with me.

3) Time

In the film industry, you have to schedule the time of when you have plan what area of the Pre-Production, Production and Post-Production stages that people will be set to working on. When a deadline is set to finish making your film and if you do not meet a certain deadline, then you have to pay for insurance for not completing the film or carry on filming it until it is completed but in other colleges including CTK, the teacher will mark your work as unmarked. At CTK, we have a booking system where you can book a time to use a editing suite or use the equipment for filming like a camera, tripod etc. But you need to make sure to return to them but if it is lost or damaged, then you will have to pay for new one which will come out of your bank account.

4) Crew and Personnel

Before undertaking of starting making our film, we need to get a crew to work on my short film like Director, Cameraman, Sound engineer etc. This is because if you do not have a crew to help produce your film, then you will be struck to do anything but with your plan in ruins but the crew that I will pick needs to have certain skills and experience to be able that the job is being done correctly which in the film industry, they do the same thing by checking people's CV to see if they got the experience and skills to do an certain jobs in a film but also they make sure it is right decision to get that person.

5) Facilities

The Production equipment that I will need: Camera with a SD card, Tripod, Rode Microphone ,Rode Boom-pole 3m.

Post-Production equipment: Editing suite with a Mac computer that has Final Cut Pro X

An editing suite can be used at the college anytime but in the industry, you have to pay money to a company for you to use an editing suite.

6) Materials

Copyright free music is where a buyer pays for a music license but after that is done, they are able to use it for long as they want but with Royalty, if a person wants to use a copyrighted piece of music then it is possible for them to phone the people that hold the rights to the music and pay £500 in advance so they will not strike you with a copyright infringement.

7) Contributors

Before you start making your short film, it is very basic that you will need to get actor and actresses to be part of it as well because they will be playing different characters in it which will get him or her credited at the end of the film or web-episode but will earned the most money in the film industry.

8) Locations

I will have someone to scout for finding good locations as someone will may consider them if it good enough but I will need ask the local Council for a Kent film license because if a person goes and films in public without permission from the authority, then you will get in trouble and possibly get charged by them. Also, you need to check the weather everyday to make sure that you will go on the right day to film your short web-serial and I will need access to transport my crew and equipment to site which it needs to get permission.

9) Codes of practice and regulation

BBFC (British Broad Of Film Classification) is a non-governmental organisation where it gives a classifications of film and games like for example: U, PG, 12A/12, 15 and 18 ratings depending on how much strong language, violence, sex etc is in a single film by which they watch a film which is sent by a big film companies like Universal Pictures or Warner Bros. With my web-serial if I sent my film to them, they would watch it and give you back information of what rating they are giving it but since it is going on to YouTube, it will not need to be sent to them.