In today’s class we learned basic shooting techniques, were issued Canon HV20 video cameras, and shot our first in-class assignment! Yay! This class was a lot of fun. Mindy started the class by helping us understand how we should think as videographers. We learned not to think so passively with the cameras, or we would end up just shooting everything from one angle, much like your mom or dad’s home videos that followed the action. Instead, we are supposed to think of the cameras as a way to express ourselves. Mindy also went over the basic functions of the cameras.
Here are some of the most important tips I want to remember from class:
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Zooming- doesn’t work well when video is compressed on the web, so cut out the zooming when you edit
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Moving the camera- 99% of the time you won’t, but if you do , edit it out and let things move in the world (this will help you avoid the horror movie effect that can make the viewers feel dizzy)
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Variety-of shots, angles, and sometimes subjects
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Timing-most shots average between 4 and 5 seconds
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Framing-should be done perfectly(by walking closer or farther away) before pressing the record button
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Explore- the surroundings before trying to capture the essence of a place or experience
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Shooting-only what you need!
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Storytelling-better to have a great story and okay video than weak story but excellent shooting techniques
Mindy taught us Michael Rosenblum’s ”Five Step Method” of shooting, which we used to do our first in-class shooting assignment. We found one person doing an activity, like eating or drawing, to shoot five close shots where the subject filled the frame. We got each shot from a different angle and focused on framing our shots before we turned on the camera. We also recorded each shot for about 1o seconds so that we could make that a habit for easy editing in the future. Then we all watched the videos together in the multimedia lab. For the most part, we understood about framing and holding the camera steady, but there were a couple of wild-moving shots with a lot of sweeping motions that made us laugh (but I think the student forgot the camera was on!)
These first couple weeks of class we have also been looking at several online news videos from newspapers to take note of techniques they used to tell stories.
