Rack Focus

Rack focus is where the focus is changed from one subject to another during a shot.

Rack Focus from Jakob Morrison on Vimeo.

Process

The final shot produced is fairly effective in showing rack focus. I struggled with this to start with as I was using a camera with a deep depth of field, and I am an amateur when it comes to camera settings.

Problem Solving

The main problem I faced with this task was the fact the camera had such a deep depth of field but after experimenting with the aperture I managed to get the right shot. Increasing the aperture lead to a shallow depth of field which allowed me to use rack focusing efficiently.

Justification of Decisions

At the start of this shot the sign on the door in the background is in focus, the focus then shifts to the hand in the foreground before shifting focus back to the sign in the background. The sign on the door was readily available and then placing the hand close to the lens meant I could easily shift the focus between the two to show rack focus efficiently.

Recommendations

To improve this video, I would use a higher aperture so that I had a shallower depth of field. I would also use different subjects because I feel like two people, one in the foreground and one in the background, would allow me to show the technique of rack focusing more efficiently.

ISO Tests

The purpose of this task was try out different ISO settings and make sure the shot was still exposed correctly. I used both ISO 100 and 1600, shot both at night and during the day.

Day

ISO 100

ISO 100 Over-exposed from Jakob Morrison on Vimeo.

For this first shot, I used ISO 100 but my aperture was too high causing the shot to be over exposed.

ISO 100 (1) from Jakob Morrison on Vimeo.

This was shot in ISO 100, I had to make sure my subject was exposed correctly which was difficult because he was standing in front of the light source, the sun.

ISO 100 (2) from Jakob Morrison on Vimeo.

This shot also used ISO 100, but the whole shot is exposed well, because this time my subject isn't blocking out my light source.

ISO 1600

ISO 1600 from Jakob Morrison on Vimeo.

This shot was done inside and I used ISO 1600, this can be seen by the quality of the footage compared to the three shots with ISO 100, the image appears quite grainy.

Night

ISO 100

ISO 100 Night from Jakob Morrison on Vimeo.

This shot was done at night, clearly, and I used ISO 100, this meant that the shot was barely visible but it is better quality than the ISO 1600 shot

ISO 1600

ISO 1600 Night (2) from Jakob Morrison on Vimeo.

This shot was done at night, clearly, and I used ISO 1600, I have repeated the same shot I used ISO 100 for, to show the clear difference in exposure.

ISO 1600 Night (1) from Jakob Morrison on Vimeo.

This shot was done at night, clearly, and I used ISO 1600, this meant that the shot was actually visible but again the image appears a little grainy.

Process

The numerous shots produced are effective in showing the difference between differing ISO settings at both daytime and nighttime. I struggled with this at first and wasn't entirely sure how to make sure a shot was exposed correctly.

Problem Solving

When filming outdoors during the day, I found my shot was over exposed because I hadn't adjusted the aperture correctly, when I realised this I re-shot the shot, I increased the f-number which allowed less light to reach the lens.

Justification of Decisions

See below each video

Recommendations

If I was to reshoot the shots at night I would use another source of light especially the ones where ISO 100 was used because the subject can barely be seen, I would have also tried to do more of an aesthetic shot, with complete darkness and one source of light directly next to the subject as they move.

Basic Shot Types Video Essay

Basic Shot Types from Jakob Morrison on Vimeo.

Process

The final video produced is fairly effective in showing and explaining different shot types. I struggled with this to start with because I was unsure on how to go about the task but once I had an idea of what I wanted my final video to be like I hit the road and didn't look back.

Problem Solving

Working within a group to record our original footage was probably the hardest part of the task mainly because we weren't a very organised team, to combat our team's lack of organisation I filmed a few shot in my own time.

Justification of Decisions

This video was produced to show the basic shot types with a brief explanation for each shot. I have provided my own example as well as a cinematic example to show why such a shot type might be used when.

Recommendations

I would definitely re-shoot the high angle shot, the tracking shot and the dreaded reverse zoom dolly, the example given was terrible and as such I provided the best cinematic example I could think of, the classic Jaws zolly shot. I would also cut down my cinematic example of the extreme close-up because it is slightly too long, although i feel this makes my audience uncomfortable just as the extreme close-up was intended to do.

Cinematic Examples:

Anchorman

Jurrasic World

Iron Man

Jaws

La Haine

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man

Blair Witch Project

Iron Man 2

Fish Tank

Microphone Tests

We tested out different microphones to see their recording ability

Built-in Camera Microphone from Jakob Morrison on Vimeo.

The first microphone we used was the built in microphone on the Canon, as you can hear this a very grainy sound and isn't very clear, this is why the built in microphone should never really be used, especially with the other choices of microphone available. This kind of microphone also has an omnidirectional polar pattern meaning that it picks up sound from all directions.

Shotgun Microphone from Jakob Morrison on Vimeo.

Another microphone we used was the shotgun microphone, attached to a boom pole, this provided us with the best sound quality, and due to the microphone being cardioid sound is only picked up from the front of the mic.

Zoom H1 Microphone from Jakob Morrison on Vimeo.

The final microphone we tested was the Zoom H1 microphone, this was good quality and had also detected sound in stereo, this is why the subject is moving from left to right, the difference in sound cannot really be picked up in this video but would be more prominent in footage where the moved slowly from side to side.

Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO

Aperture

The aperture stop of a photographic lens can be adjusted to control the amount of light reaching the film or image sensor. The aperture size regulate the film or image sensor's exposure to light. Lens aperture is usually specified as an f-number, this diagram demonstrates what the f-number actually is, as the f-number increases the diameter of the entrance pupil decreases and as such less light reaches the lens. The size of the aperture stop also affects depth of field, larger f-numbers produce a longer depth of field, allowing objects at a wide range of distance to all be in focus at the same time. [1]

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is the length of time a camera's shutter is open when taking a photograph, shutter speed in combination with aperture regulates the film or image sensor's exposure to light. [2] To freeze fast moving objects such as a fast flowing river a very short shutter speed would be used, whereas a very long shutter speed could be used to intentionally blur a moving subject for artistic effect. [3]

The photograph on the right was taken with a slower shutter speed than that of the left, this creates a motion blur effect with longer streaks of light from vehicle headlights. 

ISO

The ISO setting refers to the camera's sensitivity to light, the higher the ISO, the more sensitive it is. ISO is actually measure according to international standards so ISO100 on one camera will be the same as another. ISO increases by doubling the previous ISO, this will also double the camera's sensitivity to light.

This image perfectly shows the ISO scale and when ISO might need to be adjusted. [5]

[1] Gibson, H. Lou. 1975. Close-Up Photography and Photomacrography. 2nd ed. Kodak Publication.

[2] Sidney F. Ray. 2000. Manual of Photography: A Textbook of photographic and Digital Imaging. 9th ed. Focal Press.

[3] Frost, Lee. 2000. The Complete Guide to Night and Low-Light Photography. Amphoto Books.

[4] Stansfield, Andy. 2011. Understanding Exposure The Expanded Guide. Ammonite. 

[5] www.digitalcameraworld.com 

Cinematic Examples

Shot Reverse Shot

Shot reverse shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other. [1]

180 Degree Rule

In film making, the 180 degree rule refers to the idea that there is a line that connects the characters and the camera must never cross this line. [2]

30 Degree Rule

The 30 degree rule is rule used in filmmaking with the purpose of creating continuity between different shots. When moving your camera between shots the camera should be moved a minimum of 25 to 30 degrees to avoid jarring transitions more simply known as jump cuts. Transitions like this help hide small continuity differences which is great for shooting with only 1 camera. [3]

Cut In

A cut in refers to a shot that cuts away from the main action to show some part of the subject in greater detail.

Crosscutting/ Parallel

Crosscutting is a technique where the camera will cute away from one piece of action to another usually to indicate that they are happening simultaneously.

Match On Action

Match on action is refers to editing techniques where the editor cuts from one shot to another shot but the action matches the first shot. [1]

Establishing Shot

An establishing shot sets up and establishes context for a scene by giving us a location or relationship between important figures and objects. [1]

Kuleshov Effect

The Kuleshov Effect is a mental phenomenon by which viewers gain more meaning from the interaction of two sequential shots than from a single shot in isolation. [4]

Temporal Overlap

A temporal overlap is where a piece of action is shot, directly followed by the same action but from a different viewpoint.

Eisenstein Montage

Metric Montage

This is where the editing follows a specific number of frames, based purely on time, and then cutting to the next shot no matter what is happening within the image. [5]

Rhythmic Montage

Cutting is based on visual continuity from start to end, the content of the shot is a dominant element of the shot length. [5]

Tonal Montage

This kind of montage uses the emotional meaning of shots, rather than manipulating it's length or rhythm. This is done to gain an audience reaction more complex than that gained from a rhythmic or metric montage. [5]

Overtonal/Associational Montage

This kind of montage combines the techniques of a tonal, metric and rhythmic montage to combine the effect had on the audience for an even more abstract effect.

Intellectual Montage

This kind of montage combines shots to gain an intellectual meaning. The aim is to use few images but use images that are rich in cultural, symbolic and political history. Juxtaposing these images creates a much deeper intellectual meaning. [6]

[1] Editing Guide. Yale University. http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/htmfiles/editing.htm#43199

[2] Proferes, Nicholas T. 2005. Film Directing Fundamentals. 2nd ed. Amsterdam. Focal Press.

[3] Light Film School http://lightsfilmschool.com/blog/the-30-degree-rule/128/

[4] Rusell, Michael, 2005. The Kuleshov Effect and the Death of the Auteurism http://www.forumjournal.org/article/view/547

[5] Eisenstein, Sergei. Taylor, Richard. 1999. The Eisenstein Reader. British Film Institute.

[6] Pudovkin, Vsevolod Illarionovich. 1949. Film Technique and Film Acting, The Cinema Writings of V. I. Pudovkin. New York. Bonanza Books

Induction Task Two

In this clip, I have decreased the aperture to allow more light to reach the lens, the glare from the bulb is due to the aperture being incredibly low, it looks dreadful because I have no idea what I'm doing with a camera.

This diagram demonstrates what the f number actually is, as the f-number increases the diameter of the entrance pupil decreases and as such less light reaches the lens.

I have changed the kelvin white balance in this shot, ranging from 1500K to 15000K, this has increased the warmth of the image, and at the very end of the clip, it reverts back to the original white balance I started with, this is a much colder shot, again I wasn't entirely sure of what I was doing and as such the video looks dreadful.



In this clip, I have changed the ISO, which changes the lens' sensitivity to light, this can clearly be seen but I feel like again I don't particularly have a clue what i'm actually doing.

Induction Task

Lighting can affect the image produced to a large extent, this can be due to the strength and direction, among many other things. One such way lighting can affect an image is that of the exposure, exposure simply put is the amount of light that reaches a photographic film or image sensor. This can be determined by shutter speed, which is simply the length of time a camera's shutter is open when taking a photograph. (Ray, 2000) Slower shutter speeds are often selected to suggest movement in a still photograph of a moving subject. Excessively fast shutter speeds can cause a moving subject to appear unnaturally frozen. 

Lens aperture also affects exposure, the aperture is the ratio of the lens's focal length to the diameter of the entrance pupil. (Smith, 2007) Depth of field increases as aperture decreases, image sharpness is related to aperture through aberration, due to imperfect lens design, and diffraction which is due to the wave nature of light. (Langford, 2000)

One use of lighting within moving image is to manipulate the shape and direction of shadows. Strong direct light produces dark, well-defined shadows whilst directionless diffused light produces weak, soft shadows. Lighting coming from behind the camera is called front lighting but the image produced will lack detail or provide an impression of depth. To give an impression of form, depth and texture to the subject, the light should be coming from a different angle. (NAVPERS, 1951)

Changing the direction of your lighting results in in the shadows changing position too, for images in which rendering texture is important, side lighting is ideal. It produces harsh shadows and high contrast, which can be adjusted using reflectors or fill-in flash. Another light positioning commonly used is that of back lighting, this produce will have a silhouette effect on the subject but reflectors or fill-in flash to brighten up dark shadows and improve subject detail. (NAVPERS, 1951)

Lighting can be used in a manner of different ways to produce different effects, the above are only example in a large range of techniques that can be used to produce the perfect image needed. I have not fully explored lighting because I did not manage my time well but I feel the research done helped me produce the videos in the end.

Sidney F. Ray, 2000. "Camera Features". In Ralph Eric Jacobson et al. Manual of Photography: A Textbook of Photographic and Digital Imaging. 9th Ed. Focal Press.
Smith, Warren, 2007. Modern Optical Engineering. 4th Ed. McGraw-Hill Professional
Michael John Langford, 2000. Basic Photography. Focal Press.
NAVPERS, 1951. Photography Navy Training Courses Vol 1. Bureau of Navel Personnel