Camera Workshop 2

  

Camera Workshop 2

Taking the camera out of its case!

180 degree rule

To start this workshop, we were taught the important 180 degree rule used to ensure that the scene runs consistently smoothly and makes spacial sense to the viewer.

Essentially, when filming a scene, a single imaginary line must be drawn through the set, and the camera has to stick to only one side of it/only filming 180 degrees of the scene.

The scene should not include a shot from the other side of the line (aside from a purely stylistic choice) as it could potentially seem like the characters have switched sides, which prevents the scene from running smoothly.

Rules of three/grids + interesting composition

Another rule we were taught is used for deciding on composition - a shot can be divided into a grid of nine squares, and the four points where the grid lines meet near the centre of the shot are called 'hotspots'. Rules of three refers to placing the subject in one hotspot, typically leaving the rest of the shot somewhat blank in order to draw the viewer's eye. The most used hotspot tends to be the first one (top left) as that's where most people have been conditioned to look from reading.

A good tip we were given to make a shot appear more interesting was to film subjects at the same level as them - this is because the camera looking down or up at an object mimics what you would see as a human, so it looks more 'normal' than if you were to actually shoot at the subjects level, which could seem more unfamiliar and visually engaging since it's not a typical sight. 

Rules for shooting

Once we were ready to start filming a sequence, we were told to shoot the wide shot first in order to showcase the entire set and fully ground the viewer into the setting before shooting progressively smaller details - mid shot second, close-up third.  

We were also taught about continuity - making sure that the details of a sequence are consistent in every shot, this includes hair, props, background, character positioning etc... in order for a scene to run consistently and maintain realism.

One way of ensuring continuity for character positioning was the use of marks, where you'd mark a spot on the floor that the character is supposed to walk to/from/stand in, typically with a piece of tape, so that their position in the shot stays the same every time.

Call outs

We were then walked through a series of phrases you have to call out before and after hitting the record button.

Stand by!   

-> Called out to announce to the crew to get ready to start filming, the specific phrase 'stand by' is used instead of 'get ready' for example as it can't be mistaken for any other meaning. It should be met with a collective 'Standing by!' by the crew.

Roll camera!           

-> Fairly self explanatory, called out to instruct the camera operator to hit record, to which they respond 'Camera Rolling!'.

Action! 

-> Called out to the actors for the scene to begin, it should be called after hitting record in order to capture the entire scene from start to finish, even if it's not the focus of the scene, as you never know if you might catch an interesting reaction that you could cut in with the main action.

Cut!                

-> Called to instruct the camera operator to stop recording, the camera should keep recording even after the scene has ended up until this phrase is announced for a similar reason as to why you record before 'Action!' - to capture the entire scene for any potential reactions/exits.

Final advice!

A final tip we were given was to never watch footage back on set - mainly due to timing and budget as sets tend to be very expensive to rent out and you wouldn't want to take up all of the time you have for shooting by reviewing the footage. However, even if you roll back a single take, you should never allow the actors in it watch themselves on screen as they might suddenly get self conscious and perhaps try to change how they look/move in the next take, which often ends up just looking awkward and only ends in the actors feeling insecure.