Camera Workshop 2

 Today we returned to the studio and filmed a few shots in order to practice filming vocabulary and gain experience "on set". We practiced shooting a wide, Mid-close then Close-up shot of one of the students picking up a wine glass. WE filed on that order specifically to ensure that we had the wide shot first, this is because the wide shot is used as a "master shot" that can always be used as a base, and if something goes wrong it's best to have a wide shot established. 

The People on set:

• 
  Actors
• Director
• Camera operator

Here are the callouts we learned:

• “Standby” camera operator stands by the camera
• “Roll camera” when the camera operator pressed the recording button
• “We’re rolling” the camera operator lets the director know that the camera is rolling
• “Action” the actors begin the sequence
• “Cut” the camera operator stops recording

These are important as they ensure the filming goes smoothly and quickly because, on a real set, everything is extremely time-sensitive. These callouts help eliminate and margin for error or easily avoided mistakes.

In order to ensure continuity, actors will have a mark that they stand on which would be the same for every shot, this ensures when editing later on, all the shots look coherent and don't create continuity errors when the audience can tell that something has a changed due to a small error in costume, food, or timeline.

It is better not to watch the footage back on set because of two reasons, for one, it takes double the time to shoot and re-watch everything you shoot, and on a set, this creates a slow in the filming process, but actors will also begin to self criticize and change their acting style while shooting the same scene.

In order to shoot correctly, cameras are set on a 180-degree axis from the actors in order to ensure that the composition of the camera doesn't seem distorted and strange. This is also the reason we stick to the "rule of thirds" keeping actors within the lines of an approximate 3x3 grid on-screen that allows them to look more natural and spatially coherent within the screen.