Video 101: The basic vocabulary and grammar of the language of images in time.

Process:

There is a basic language to film and video. There are not fixed rules, but there are certain conventions that make images in time readable and should only be violated intentionally.

Storyboarding: Unless you have a plan about what to shoot you should not touch a camera. You might get lucky and capture something useful but most of what you shoot will be useless and your time wasted. Storyboarding is a way of outlining the video. It gives the filmmaker a chance to think about the necessary shot selection and sequencing in order to tell their story. Storyboards can be created in a variety of ways with varying degrees of detail. What is essential is that the plan for what to capture is there.

Camera Shots (The Vocabulary) and Editing (The Grammar):

There are hundreds of camera shots and camera movements in usage today. It is the variety that keeps our attention, helps us understand a story, and creates the suspense and drama that makes us want to watch. We have been exposed to this vocabulary though TV and film our whole lives. Working within that established language is a good starting point.

Basic Shots:

Establishing Shot: Sets the scene

Wide Shot: Isolates where the action will happen.

Medium Shot: Isolates characters or actions.

Close Up: Focuses on specific character’s actions.

Extreme Close Up: Isolates a specific detail or action for dramatic effect.

Over the Shoulder Shot: Helps communicate the relationship between characters in a scene.

Shooting Dos and Don’ts:

There is often nothing that can be done to correct for poorly shot footage. There is no substitute for well-composed and exposed images.

As powerful a tool a video camera can be, it is missing a brain. It does not know what to pay attention to when a scene is being shot. The human brain makes choices about what to focus on in a scene and what sounds to listen to. The videographer must be in control of some basic aspects of videography in order to shoot usable images with a camera that does not have that ability to choose. 

Lighting:  Most video cameras will average out the lighting in a scene. It does not know what is most important. Subjects should be lit primarily from the front.

Avoid backlit situations that produce a silhouetted subject. Do not shoot with your figure against a window or bright sky.

Sample Video http://youtu.be/HpR8FZ_4YOU

Subject /Background: You know what is important in a scene, your viewer does not, and you must direct their attention. The viewer can see everything in the frame of video you shoot, therefore everything in the frame should be there for a reason. If there isn’t a reason for something to be there, remove it or find a better location to shoot. Avoid distracting backgrounds.

Sample Video http://youtu.be/J7cPSnQoQrc

Stability:  In our daily lives our brain filters out some of the movement in our field of vision, a video camera cannot nor can a viewer of video.  Unless the movement is intentional and controlled, use a tripod or other support to avoid distracting movements in the shot. Make sure the camera is level.

Sample Video http://youtu.be/lmtr373hOWI

Sound: Shoot close enough to the subject for the camera microphone to pick up the sound. Camera microphones work best from 8 feet away or closer. Avoid shooting from a distance and zooming in to get close. Avoid situations where there are distracting background noises.

Sample Video http://youtu.be/6XIfLvge9U8

Leader: Push the record button and silently count to three before the action starts, count to three after the action stops before pushing the stop button. That little bit of extra footage is often needed and can always be cut out, but there’s no way to add it in if it was never shot.

B-Roll: It is not a bad idea to shoot aspects of your scenes from a few different camera shots than planned for in the storyboard; just in case you change your mind once you begin editing. It’s much easier to leave out a shot than it is to try to reshoot something.

Editing:

When you are compressing time and jumping between views it is easy to confuse a viewer who’s own experience of time is (apparently) more regular and whose views change smoothly. Your goal, usually, in your editing of a variety of shots, is to make the viewer understand what you are saying.

The most common and easy to understand sequence of shots used in film and television is:

·      Establishing Shot – so the viewer knows where they are,

·      then a Wide Shot to see what or who to pay attention to,

·      then a Medium Shot or a “Two Shot” to further focus the viewer’s attention on the specific action or interaction of the subjects.  

·      Then Close Ups of individual characters actions.

·      Extreme Close Up Shots are used to draw attention to a specific detail within the scene.

·      Over the Shoulder Shots are often used when there is dialog or action between two characters interspersed between close ups.

·      When the scene changes you start all over again with a new establishing shot.

http://youtu.be/4Hp6ol3GKms

Check out Matt Frock’s website for his video class: http://mjfdesign.net/ths/kinetic.html