Breaking Down the Basics of Video - MIPA 2013

Breaking Down the Basics

Chapter 2 and some other need-to-know stuff

Why spend so much time on the “little things”?

What you see is different than what the camera sees

GIGO Principle Garbage In, Garbage Out

Using the Camcorder

Power to your camera Battery AC Adaptor

Viewfinder vs. LCD

Inserting Tapes Be Gentle!!!

Camcorder Basics

Adjustments to the camera Viewfinder Strap(s)

Recording 2 Record buttons Record lamp

Recording yourself Flip the screen!

Pre & Post Roll

Amount of time you should leave for editing so you don’t cut off front or back ends of shot. Camera needs time after you hit

RECORD before it actually starts

Pre Roll…count to 5 before the action truly begins

Post Roll…count to 5

Tripods

Professionals use tripods…be professional

Leveling

For smaller cameras—use monopods

Don’t transport while attached

Tripod Use

Pan

Tilt

Exceptions…

Sometimes tripods just aren’t practical example: football game Don’t zoom Use your own body and/or surroundings▪ Both hands▪ Elbow in

Uncoil your body as you pan

White Balancing

Tells the camera what objects are white

Very blue or very orange shots

If light is changing (ex: sun setting) you HAVE to reset white balance regularly

Manually White Balance

If possible – manually white balance

ZOOM ALL THE WAY IN on something white

Follow instruction manual

Don’t cover white balance sensor

Be sure red from tall light isn’t reflecting off your hand

Zoom Zoom

2 levers

W=Wide, T=Tight/Telephoto

Lightly for slow zoom, hard for fast zoom

Optical Zoom vs. Digital Zoom Optical zoom—lens/mechanism

actually moves to adjust Zoom factor of 1x to 15x

Digital zoom—super magnification BUT further you zoom, the harder it is to keep focus and steady shot 500x, 750x or more As magnification increases, quality

decreases STAY AWAY FROM DIGITAL ZOOM

Be FOCUSED

Just like white-balancing, if you use “automatic” setting, the camera has to guess

You’re the only one who knows what YOU want to be focused, so YOU should use manual if you can

Turn on MANUAL focus

Follow instructions in manual Might be an “MF” button Done by rotating lens itself OR inside

a menu

FOCUSING on an object/person

Zoom all in the way in on your subject

Focus Zoom back out and setup your shot

If you’re shooting a person—zoom in & focus on their eyes, because that’s where your audience looks first

Keep in mind…

Focus is an issue of distance between the subject and camera

If the distance between the two changes—the image needs to be refocused

Keep in mind…

Most objects need to be at least 5 feet away to zoom/focus properly

If within 5 feet, zoom all the way out and move the CAMERA closer

Basic Camera Shots

XCU…Extreme Close-up Tightest of all shots Ex: a puppy’s nose Often too tight for

TV news

Basic Camera Shots

CU…Close-up Usually just a person’s head

and the top of their shoulders Common in newscasts &

interviews

Basic Camera Shots

MCU…Medium Close-up From the elbows to the top of the head Common in newscasts & interviews

Basic Camera Shots

MS…Medium Shot Aka Mid Shot From the waist up Common in

newscasts & interviews

Basic Camera Shots

MLS…Medium Long Shot Aka “3/4 Shot” Knees up Good for introducing character Not as common

Basic Camera Shots

LS…Long Shot Head to toe (should nearly

be touching top & bottom) See in weathercasts Shows background

Basic Camera Shots

XLS…Extreme Long Shot Zoomed out the

furthest You may see the

main object, plus LOTS of background

Basic Camera Shots

Composition

Rule of Thirds

Head Room

Positioning subjects at pleasing distance

Nose/Look Room

If subject is looking to one side, feels constricted on one side

Shift subject away from the direction of the look

Lead Room

Viewers want to see where a moving object/subject is going—not where it’s been

Backgrounds of Shots

Nothing distracting—like kids making funny faces behind you

Nothing boring—like hall walls Find settings that are relevant to

your story

Backgrounds of Shots

Ex: if you’re doing a story about busses, go outside and shoot your piece with busses in the background

If you’re doing a story about the school store’s Slushee Machine, and you want to interview students about their favorite flavor, where could you set up the shot/interviews?

That’s all! For now : )