Audio is important, audio not only conveys information but adds aesthetic energy and structure to video.
How do microphones hear?
Microphones convert sound waves into electrical audio signals.
Microphones are categorized in three different ways, how well they hear, how they are made and how they are used.
Picture from https://www.boxcast.com
Microphones hear sound in different ways.
Pickup Pattern – the zone within which a microphone can hear well.
Most microphones used in video production are either omnidirectional or unidirectional.
Omnidirectional – Mic hears well from all directions.
Unidirectional – Hears well from one direction, the front.
The most common unidirectional pattern is a cardioid microphone pattern. Cardioid pattern mics capture sound in the shape of a small heart-shaped circle in front of the mic.
There are two additional types of cardioid pickup patterns that are common in video production: supercardioid and hypercardioid. These polar patterns are commonly used in shotgun mics.
Microphones are made in different ways.
A Dynamic Mic – Rugged, can withstand rough handling.
A Condenser Mic – More sensitive, needs power/phantom power.
Ribbon – high quality, very sensitive, not used in film production that much.
How mics are used.
Lavalier microphones: Usually omnidirectional, small, rugged, high quality sound, and usually clipped to clothing.
Hand microphones: Unidirectional, handled by talent/performers.
Boom microphone( shotgun mic) : Kept out of the picture. Because it’s further away from talent, usually a hypercardioid or supercardioid mic is used.
Audio Tools
An audio mixer – Amplifies weak signals, and mix two or more sources.
XLR- Cable for professional microphones and camcorders.
A change in frame or perspective is produced by the camera moving. Directors and cinematographers can change the audience’s point of view without cutting by using camera movement. The audience might be psychologically and emotionally affected by particular camera movements. A movie can use these effects to become more compelling and immersive.
Pan
The camera pan directs a camera horizontally left or right. The pan camera movement is typically achieved with a tripod head, but can also be done handheld or with a stabilizer.
Pans are often motivated by a character’s actions. They can also be used to reveal new information to the audience.
Tilt
Camera tilts are just like pans, only vertical. Tilt camera movements direct a camera upward or downward. Camera tilts can be used to give a character dominance in a shot or to reveal new information to the audience. Tilts enable filmmakers to capture the verticality of a film in moments of awe and spectacle.
Dolly In / Out
A dolly-in moves the camera closer to a subject typically with a dolly camera movement or Steadicam. Push-ins can draw the audience’s attention toward a specific detail. Filmmakers also push-in toward characters to try and infer what is occurring internally. This can be a reaction, thought process, or internal conflict.
The camera dolly out is the exact opposite of the dolly in. A dolly out is a smooth camera movement that moves the camera further away from a subject. This movement causes the subject to grow smaller while simultaneously revealing their surroundings.
Dolly outs can be used to reveal setting and characters. Emotionally, dolly outs can highlight a character’s isolation or loneliness.
Zoom
Although zooms are technically not a camera movement they do create movement within the image. Zooms change the focal length of a camera lens to either zoom in (magnify) or zoom out (de-magnify) the size of a subject in the frame.
Zooms are unique because there is no equivalent to it in the experience of the human eye. Zooms can feel artificial or even unnatural. For these reasons, zooms are one of the best camera movements to use in horrors and thrillers.
Tracking shot
A tracking shot is any shot that physically moves the camera through the scene for an extended amount of time. Tracking camera movement often follows a traveling subject, though they can be used to simply show off the scene.
Descriptions from https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/different-types-of-camera-movements-in-film/
Trucking shot
Similar to tracking or dollying, trucking is essentially the same. It may have slightly varied meanings to various people, but in general, it denotes side-to-side camera movement in relation to the action.
Pedestal
Pedestal means to raise or lower the camera on a tripod or studio pedestal’s central column.
Crane
Crane shots are used with a camera mounted on an upward-and-downward-moving jib. A crane shot often hovers around in the air. The crane shot enables the viewer to depart from a conventional point of view and creates a fresh viewpoint that is naturally cinematic.
The expression “shot size” describes the relationship of the frame’s size to its content. The shot size basically establishes how much of your subject or environment is seen in each given shot. The scene’s rhythm and visual language are influenced by the combination of various shot sizes.
Image from www.cadrage.app
Elements of Image Composition
FRAMING A SHOT The most fundamental concerns regarding framing a shot are how much area you include in the frame, the proximity the subject seems to the viewer, where to set the object relative to the screen boundaries, and how to make viewers perceive the entire thing. These elements are known as image composition.
RULE OF THIRDS
The Rule of Thirds is a visual composition method involving utilizing two horizontal and two vertical lines to divide an image into thirds. With four crossing points, this hypothetical grid produces nine segments. Theoretically, you could achieve a far more interesting-looking composition by placing the most crucial components of it at these intersections.
Some of the most basic compositional factors involve subject placement; head room, and lead room; and the horizon line.
HEAD ROOM
When framing your subject, you should also take head room into account. The head room is the distance between a person’s head and the top of the frame. If you give them too much room, the person will look to be drowning in quicksand. On the other hand, if you don’t give them enough space, the person will appear at risk of hitting their head at the top of the frame. Providing proper head room for a subject balances the shot composition. You will provide suitable head room if you place the subject’s eyes on the imagined top third line.
LEAD ROOM
Lead room or look-room is the blank space between the subject and the frame’s edge. To put it another way, it’s about framing what isn’t in the frame, which is crucial when filming people. It is our natural impulse to follow someone’s gaze to find out what they are looking at, whether in the street or on a large screen. Therefore, it is unsettling for the viewers when a character is placed at the edge of a frame and looking off the edges of the screen.
The signals are continuous waves. They can represent natural phenomena like sound or light.
Never skip any part of the original signal.
Ex, somebody singing into a microphone.
What is Digital
Digital is a series of 1’s and 0’s.
A digital signal is discontinuous.
Digital signals can be compressed, and analog signals cannot.
Codecs
Codecs are compressions and decompressions systems.
For example:
Quicktime has its own codecs for sending files over the internet.
Apple has its own codecs.
Why Digital?
Unlimited copies with the last one looking just as good as the original.
You can compress signals to save storage space.
Allows you to manipulate pictures and sound in a controlled way.
Downloading and Streaming
Downloading means files are sent as data packets that are often out of order.
Streaming means you can open the file and listen while the data delivery is still in progress.
The Pros & Cons Of Film Vs Digital
Hollywood utilized analog cameras for a very long period because the filmmakers loved the aesthetic appeal of chemical film, and the image quality was unmatched for a very long time.
What is film stock?
Film stock is a physical analog medium used for recording images made from celluloid and coated with light-sensitive gelatin emulsion. Light is used to capture an image onto the film; it is later developed under a specific chemical process and produces the images. Film stock comes in different sizes and styles; they are also differentiated by their chemical make-up, size of film grain, and color retention.
Photo by Frederic Rolland
Pros of film
More control over camera settings. Film gives you complete control over exposure (amount of light that reaches the film), shutter speed, and the development process.
High dynamic range. Film is better at capturing subtle details and color contrasts, especially between black and white.
Film grain. One of the most characteristic qualities of film is the film grain that some film stocks have. Many directors love the quality of film grain within a picture. This is, of course, a stylistic preference.
Lower initial costs. Traditional film cameras are generally cheaper than digital cameras.
More purposeful shooting. Film rolls have a limited number of film. Shooting with film makes you really think about every single frame that you’re capturing. “You must be mindful instead of shooting in rapid fire.”
Cons of film
Time-consuming development process. Unlike digital where we can instantly see the footage after it is taken, cinematographers have to wait until the film is developed to see if their footage turned out well.
More consistent costs over time. Continuously buying rolls of film will add up over the years. While many believe the extra cost is worth the benefits, some cinematographers may find purchasing a memory card (for their digital cameras) much more economical.
Pros of digital
https://fixthephoto.com/
Digital filmmaking is accessible. Relatively low cost and user friendly, digital recording equipment is the personal computer of the film industry. While this could be seen as a threat to the establishment, these new voices in film can also inspire others and bring new energy to the film industry.
Editing is simple. Like digital recording equipment, editing equipment for digital film is affordable and also easy to master. Postproduction can be less cumbersome in the digital world. If someone with no training in digital film editing can do a reasonable job on their Mac, imagine what someone with digital filmmaking career training could do.
Digital distribution reaches a wide audience. You no longer need a big marketing budget to reach a wide audience. Today, your movie could take off on YouTube. Digitally formatted films aren’t bound to traditional distribution methods.A little success could open big doors for your film career.
Digital projection saves money. The cost to make and ship a 35mm print is approximately $1,500 while the cost to make a hard drive containing a digital movie is $150. A digital print won’t break or scratch and the format presents the ability for theaters to show alternate programming, such as live theater and opera.
See the image you are shooting in real time. For some cinematographers, one of the best advantages to digital cinematography is the ability to playback or see the image you are shooting in real time. Adjustments can be made immediately and there is no need to wait for the image to develop to see if you got the shot you envisioned.
Cons of digital photography
Higher sensitivity. Digital cameras tend to be more sensitive to changes in temperature and moisture, which means they may be less suited to certain shoots and situations like those in snow, rain, or humidity.
Requires battery power. While you can take many more photos with a digital camera compared to a film camera, the amount of time you spend getting the perfect photo may be limited by your camera’s battery life.
More distraction during photo shoots. “Digital photography can be more distracting in the moment because, as a human, I can’t resist the urge to look at what I’ve just shot,” says Rubin.
Time-consuming review process. When you have hundreds or even thousands of takes after a video shoot, you may spend a significant amount of time editing.
Early on 1800’s there were only stills/pictures. Eastman Kodak developed the first celluloid film. However, there were no motion film or movies.
In the 1870’s Eadweard Muybridge experimented with moving images / motion (horse legs in motion).
Persistence Of Vision
Persistence of vision is the optical phenomenon where the illusion of motion is created because the brain interprets multiple still images as one. When multiple images appear in fast enough succession, the brain blends them into a single, persistent, moving image.
Thomas Edison and William Kennedy Dickson invented the first early motion picture camera.
How do cameras work?
Video cameras transduce (translate) the optical image that the lens sees into a video picture. Essentially, the camera converts the optical image into electrical signals that’s read by a television receiver.
How does this occur?
Light that bounces off an object passes through the lens, that light is turned into an electrical charge that hits the camera’s video sensor. This results in the camera’s video image.
How are video images formed?
The basic video image is composed of many tiny dots called pixels (picture elements). They are arranged in a stack of vertical and horizontal lines.
To produce the image the pixels have a mixture of primary colors called RGB (red, green, blue).
Pixels are scanned when they receive an electrical charge. The scanning cycle is either “progressive or interlaced.”
Progressive scanning: Pixels are scanned from left to right from the top to the bottom completing a video image.
Interlaced scanning: Pixels are scanned by every other line (skips a line), reading only the odd numbers. The next scan reads the even numbers and a complete picture is produced.
SD VS HD
In video or digital photography, the resolution is the ability of a video or digital camera to record details, such as the number of pixels and their size.
At the start of a project, they are responsible for reviewing and interpreting scripts, establishing the film’s tone, and choosing their assistant directors. Directors then begin working with other department heads on set, including those involved with casting, design, and camera work.
Director of Photography (DP) / Cinematographer
The director of photography (also known as DP or cinematographer) works with the director to design each shot and makes decisions on what lens, filter, and lighting to use to achieve the desired look of the project. They are responsible for both the artistic and technical details involved when filming. The DP is often the second most senior member of a production crew behind the director and oversees the camera and lighting crews.
Camera Operator
While filming, the camera operator is the person who physically controls and moves the camera. They work with the director of photography to ensure each shot meets the director’s vision. Stand-Ins work closely with the director of photography, camera operator, and assistant cameras. If you’re booked as a Stand-In, it’s a good idea to get to know the camera crew on set.
First Assistant Camera
First assistant cameras (1st AC or focus puller) are responsible for maintaining and pulling focus while filming a scene. They also put together the camera at the beginning of the day and take it apart when filming has finished.
Second Assistant Camera
The second assistant camera (2nd AC) labels and operates the clapper/slate for every take. When shooting on film, it’s their job to load and unload the film in the camera. They also maintain the records and paperwork of the camera crew.
Grips
A grip is a technician on a production crew who is responsible for building and maintaining camera and lighting set-ups. They assemble and build the dollies, tracks, cranes, and other equipment needed to film a shot. There are different kinds of grips, including the key grip who is the head of set operations and dolly grips who operate camera dollies and cranes.
Gaffer
The gaffer is the lead technician of a production crew and is responsible for all the lighting set-ups for filming. While the director of photography is in charge of creating the project’s overall aesthetic, the gaffer finds a way to make their vision a reality.
Boom Operator
As part of the sound department, the main responsibility of the boom operator is to hold the boom mic (a long pole with a microphone attached) near the actors, but out of view of the camera. When needed, they also place microphones on the actors or around the set.
Production Designer
The production designer’s job is to create the overall visual aesthetic of a TV show or movie, including the set designs and costumes. They work with the director and DP to visualized the desired look of the production.
Script Supervisor
It’s the script supervisor’s job to maintain the continuity of the production. They take notes on every shot, keeping track of blocking, props used, and other details to make sure everything is the same from shot to shot. If there are inconsistencies, the script supervisor will tell the director so they can reshoot the scenes.
Knowing the on-set production crew members will help you be successful when you’re booked by Central Casting. Want to know what else you can do to be a pro on set? Know these common production terms and find out what dress codes really mean so you can show up with the perfect wardrobe.
