August 15-19th

8/15: We are going to review the 6 shots in the videographer’s repertoire, the rule of thirds,  and the 180 Degree Rule by watching video examples.   

We will discuss Sound – microphones and techniques and Lens – focal length & depth of field

8/16:  We will talk about  white balance, exposure, auto focus

8/17-8/18:  Lab days – shoot your original Vine video showing the magic of creative shooting and editing.  Incorporate 2-5 shots for the magic of editing. 

8/19:  Watching & critiquing projects

We will be having a test on 9/1 covering the items below:

Six shots in Videographer’s Repertoire - Long shot, bust shot/head & shoulders shot, extreme close-up, medium shot, close-up, over-the-shoulder 

Long shot – Also known as an establishing shot or wide shot it sets up the location of a video or film. 

Bust shot/head & shoulder shot – Camera shot of an actor/actress from waist up

Close up shot – The shot is tightly framed on the subject so they dominate most of the frame and we can’t really see what is going on in the background. 

Extreme close up – Shows small details of a subject that would not be noticed in a wider shot.  It could be an extreme close up of an eye crying or a wrinkled hand…

Medium shot – Shows most of the subject’s body either from the waist up or the knees up. 

Over-the-shoulder shot – Gives the character’s point of view, but includes character’s shoulder or part of their head.  Commonly used when two characters are having a discussion. 

High Angle Shot - is a cinematic technique where the camera looks down on the subject from a high angle and can make the subject seem vulnerable or small or submissive when applied with the correct mood, setting, and effects.

Low Angle Shot - a shot from a camera positioned low on the vertical axis, anywhere below the eye line, looking up. Sometimes, the low-angle shot can make the subject look strong and powerful.

Rule of Thirds - The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts. As follows.

As you’re taking an image you would have done this in your mind through your viewfinder or in the LCD display that you use to frame your shot.

With this grid in mind the ‘rule of thirds’ now identifies four important parts of the image that you should consider placing points of interest in as you frame your image.

Not only this – but it also gives you four ‘lines’ that are also useful positions for elements in your photo.

The theory is that if you place points of interest in the intersections or along the lines that your photo becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it more naturally.

180 Degree Rule - is a cinematography guideline that states that two characters in a scene should maintain the same left/right relationship to one another . When the camera passes over the invisible axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line and the shot becomes what is called a reverse angle