Modes of Film and Video Production - Midterm

Depth of field

Distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image

3 ways to change the depth of field

Aperture, distance, focal length

F-stop

the value assigned to the size of the iris opening

The higher the f-stop

the less amount of light that comes through

The smaller the f-stop

more amount of light that comes through

What are the different ways you can change exposure?

ISO, F-stop, shutter speed

ISO

how much light the camera lets in (how light/dark the image will be)

Shutter speed

exposure depends on how long the camera’s shutter is open and how quickly it closes, affecting motion blur and overall brightness.

Telephoto lens

Longer focal length, over 50 mm

Normal lens

around 50 mm

Wide angle lens

Under 50 MM, shorter focal length

Shutter speed is slower…

more light

Shutter speed is faster…

less light

Diegetic

sound comes from within the film’s world

Non-diegetic

not a part of the film’s world (like a musical score)

3-Point Lighting includes

Key light, fill light, back light

Key light

bright light source casting primary shadows, gives a sense of directionality

Fill light

Fills in the shadows produced by the Key, soften than the Key, usually soft or bounced light

Back light

Separates the subject from the background: hair, rim, or edge light, creates highlights, often called a kicker

Hard light

lots of contrast

Soft light

low contrast, gentler

High key

Low contrast, sitcoms, comedies (soft light)

Low key

High contrast, more specific

High Key and Low Key lighting are dependent on

the ratio between the key light and the fill light.

Vsevolod Pudovkin’s Five Editing Techniques

Contrast, parallelism, symbolism, simultaneity, leitmotif

Contrast

contrasting images to create a juxtaposition

Parallelism

matching elements between shots and scenes to convey meaning (match cuts)

Symbolism

a cut that is meant to symbolize an emotional or thematic elements of the film

Simultaneity

cross cutting – shows us that scenes are happening at the same time

Leitmotif

in a musical sense, it refers to a recurring musical phrase that correlates with a certain person, place, or idea

Sergei Eisenstein

Juxtaposition of images put together to create new meaning; when you combine images in sequence, the total emotional affect is greater than the individual images themselves

Lev Kuleshov

The “Kulveshov Effect”: combination of images creates a new meaning

J-cuts

the next scene's audio plays before the image changes

L-cuts

the audio from the preceding scene carries over, and then the visuals shift

180 rule

uses an imaginary line (called “the line” or the axis of action) drawn between the interacting characters being photographed

Coverage

Master shot (covers both characters and the full action of the scene), 2 close ups, 2 over the shoulders

Elements of mis-en-scéne

Actors/blocking, camera placement + movement, composition, lighting, depth and space, location, set design/set decoration, props, costumes, hair and makeup

On-set safety

Don’t touch a light without gloves, be wary of loose wires, secure sandbags, always double check screws, knobs, and joints are tight and secure, make sure to announce “strike” when lighting something

Types of microphones

Dynamic, large/small diaphragm condenser, ribbon