Cinematography - Week 4

07/03/2019

Class notes

• Myra - It's software that allows you to explore camera movement in a 3D environment
• Camera reports is like a shot list, but is more technical and records the exposure, lens, camera etc that were used in each shot, take, angle, and scene
• There are location release forms on the resources folder of the Y drive.

 
Examples of risk in filming outdoors at Queenspark

• Exposure to the elements - outdoors (warm clothing, water, sunscreen) HIGH level of risk 
• Members of the public - MODERATE level of risk (hi-vis, securing area, public liaison)
• Uneven surfaces - (use the footpaths) MODERATE level of risk (appropriate footwear, awareness of surroundings, and sandbags)

Class notes

• We have to have risk assessment plans and other forms included in our pre-production and production assessments
• Action plan details the further actions from the risk assessment plans e.g. hi-vis vests, appropriate footwear.
• In my view, it looked like a lot of gear listed on the equipment form, but apparently it isn't.

Today, we ran through some paperwork stuff for the outdoor filming (location release form, risk management plan). We then got all the equipment we needed and took it all down to the SIT station wagon outside. I tried to guess the weight of the sandbags by lifting them into the station wagon; I reckoned they individually weighed 5kgs, but actually it turns out that they individually weigh 9kgs.

Once we got to Queenspark for filming, we decided because of the gloomy weather and chance of rain, to film all the stuff we were going to do today in at the park's rotunda. We had a discussion with someone from the City Council, who signed the paperwork for us to allow the filming. I learned some new things about filming in Invercargil

• Invercargill City Council is strict about filming
• There are fees, but there are no fees for us because we are students. If we would be filming for commercial purposes, then it would a different story.
• If we were to film at the rotunda in the weekend and needed to drive into the park to get the equipment there, we would be charged for the key
• No matter where you film in a public space, whether it is on a footpath on a random street or Queenspark, you are required to get permission to film from the local City Council. This is a rule that surprised me since it's not as strict in Timaru or Christchurch.
• I also learned in the meeting with the person from the City Council that UAV means a drone. Drones are another the City Council are strict about.

Once we got to the rotunda, we unloaded the station wagon of all the equipment and put on our hi-vis vests that we are required to wear for filming in public. I was assigned to sort out the Sony X200 camera and help with putting together the reflector. 
I have realised that I'm getting comfortable the cameras, especially the X200 because it doesn't need to change lenses. 
I took out my visual diary out of my bag, so I could use its paper to set the camera's white balance, but in the end, I just used the white piece of card that is used for that kind of thing.

My first impression of the reflector was that I thought it was a massive lightbox/softbox for filming. It reminded me of one that is used by motion design students in Christchurch.
I helped the best I could in putting together the reflector's frame, but at one point I couldn't help because I would have to tie knots and I can't do that with my dyspraxia. Surprisingly, when helping with C-stands for the reflector, I didn't feel any anxiety, worry or uncomfortable.

 












At one point, the weather was getting windy and the camera reports were starting to blow, so I resolved that by putting them in my visual diary that I used for note taking. 
Whenever I wasn't doing anything, I noted down stuff on my phone while it was still fresh in my mind. It was surprising to me that it took roughly two hours to get all the lighting ready for the outdoor filming.

At one point, we filmed with varieties of exposure to test out for later in post-production and I operated the X200 camera. It was nice learning different ways to adjust the exposure through the Neutral Density filter, aperture ring, and gain. I kept the shutter angle at 180 degrees because Patrick said in the 101 Filmmaking class that it is the mathematically correct shutter angle for filming, in terms of exposure and frame rate.

Outdoor filming notes

• I learnt the importance of lenses. It allows your shot to be not flat, it allows your moving image to be more 3D. The X200 doesn't need lenses, so it can look good at a close up or extreme close up.
• The black side of a reflector helps get rid of exposure you don't want in the shot. You strive to only have exposure you need for a shot.
• There are two types of flat. One being depth of field and another involving colour profile
• Having muted colours makes your colour grading more effective
• Stops = aperture
• We did some takes with different types of exposure 2 stops underexposed 2 stops overexposured, which we would experiment colour grading with later
• Lenses in some way or another affect exposure
• It's crucial to have consistency in the exposure, especially when you have more than one camera for filming in a scene.

After the outdoor filming was completed, we had the equipment back into the station wagon and had it unloaded back at the Downtown campus. I helped by driving the dolly trolley back to the TV studio near the SIT Productions office. Steering and driving the dolly trolley back was fun, interesting, but challenging. I only needed to take it somewhere in a short distance. 
Once I was in class, I ingested the footage onto a computer in The Clinic. I learned from Ash that I had not only copy video files with their accompanying metadata, but every file that was on the camera's SD card. I copied it all over to Y drive, D drive, and my own hard drive. I had to make sure I wasn't copying the files to D drive at the same time as someone else in my class, otherwise it was going to be a slow process.

I was allowed to try using a big camera rig. It was weighing on my shoulder at 13kg and it was fun and interesting to try out.

13/03/2019

Here's some related notes from doing research for the research paper. It's some information information I found while reading that has something to do with exposure, lighting, and cinematography.


Bazin, A. (2005). What is cinema?: volume 1. Los Angeles, CA: University of California      
              Press.

Page 167 - Cinematographers that have managed to combine a work of art in film;

• Luciano Emmer
• Henri Storck
• Alain Resnais
• Pierre Kast

Page 73 - Black and white cinema made great progress up until 1938, in developing many technical aspects and techniques in lighting, sound, and cinematography. Black and white cinema managed to develop the effectiveness in camera angles like the close-up, montage, and reframing. These developments gave the film medium purpose as an art form.

Page 31 - There were one of possibly many examples of methods in film editing in 1936 that affected cinematography at the time; a full shot that shows both the actor and a table, the shot moved into a close-up to show the actor's emotion more clearly, montage of close-ups on food, pulling back to a full shot while the actor walks towards the shot, the shot slowly pulling back to a three-quarter shot to focus on the actor holding a prop or object.

Page 34 - The relationship between the director and the cinematographer comes down to them collaborating in an analytical way of planning shots, in which it practically converts their moving images into a dramatic checkerboard, in their mind.

 

Harper, G., & Rayner, J. (Ed.). (2010). Cinema and landscape. Bristol, England:           Intellect.

Page 35 - In achieving picturesque landscapes in film, colour becomes a tool to support perspective and framing.