Back in the 1700’s I a man named Lord Kelvin found
out that objects vibrate at different colour temperatures.
Now for a moment forget the phrase “colour temperature”
and just think of the word colour.

What Kelvin found out that relates to film and video is
this…When the sun is rising it is a different colour than when
It is high in the sky. He gave a rating to this change in
colour that we call Kelvin degrees.

This applies very much to film and video in that the
colour of a shot you take at 8 a.m. will be different to the
colour of a shot you take at 1 p.m.

Here’s an example. The colour of direct sunlight at 8 a.m.
Is around 2000 degrees Kelvin, (very amber looking). The
colour of the light when the sun is high and we have a lot
of blue sky is around 6000 degrees Kelvin, (much bluer).

Your video camera does an auto white balance based on
the composition of what colours make up white light at a
given time. So if you’re shooting outside and white balance
in the early morning and don’t re white balance at 1 p.m.
then you will notice that when putting these two shots
together in editing there Is a major colour difference…
get it??

Always remember to re-white balance your camera around every
hour or so. This will help your colour a lot if you’re shooting all day long.

This is only part of what we have to deal with in the real
world of shooting film and video. There is a host of other
lighting sources that we also have to deal with including:
mercury vapour, sodium vapour, warm white fluorescents,
cool white fluorescents and other discharge lighting
instruments. We’ll save those for another time

The difference between “Quality” and “Quality”

The word quality get kicked around a lot in the video business, but what do we mean by the word quality?

Well today anyone can buy a reasonably good video camera that delivers what we might call quality images.

With the consumer hi-definition cameras on the market, anyone can say “look at the quality”. They are speaking here about the resolution of the image, more scanning lines means a sharper image. But it takes more than a camera to deliver what I call a quality image.

Good lighting, an understanding of exposure (especially with videos lower dynamic range than film) and an understanding of composition is what quality is all about, not scanning lines.

It blows me away how many amateur video makers still sweat about the picture quality and yet give no thought to learning how to shoot. Anyone can turn on a good video camera and get a good image.

Learning about the frame and and to compose elements in the frame is vital to the “quality” of the image. While we are on the subject. Remember that is is best to include not more than 6 elements in the frame if you want to keep strong composition.
(By elements I am talking here about major objects in the frame)

You can learn a lot about composition by simply renting some of the great films of the past. Citizen Kane is a good place to start. Any of John Ford’s Westerns would be other good films to study. One of my favourites for strong compostion is Sergio Leon’s Once Upon a Time in the West. This film has stunning images with great use of depth of field.

With a title like this you are probably wondering who cares?

Here is a simple explanation.
The hyper-focal distance is the near part of the depth of field (area of acceptable sharp focus) while your lens is focused at infinity. This means turning the focus ring on you cameras past 30 or 50 feet or whatever is the last mark on the focus ring of your particular camera.

Please note that depth of field does not drop of like the side of a cliff but rather tapers off.

With your lens stopped down to say an aperture of 11 or 16, as you look through the viewfinder you will get an idea of the area that is in focus.

Most Professional camera people have a chart with them that tells them that with a given aperture and a given distance from the subject and a given lens, (either a wide angle or telephoto) what the length of the depth of field is.

By pre-measuring the focus points as an actor moves around the set, the first A.C (assistant camera) person can keep the actor in focus.

Here is something you can use in your shooting.
For example lets say you set your zoom lens at the 50 millimeter setting on your video camera. I will assume that it has a target size similar to a 16mm film camera

Using an aperture of 5.6 with the camera lens focused at infinity. Let’s say the depth of field will be 40 feet 6 inches to infinity (now this is just for reference and I am not using actual values here)

The near part of this depth of field is called the “hyper-focal distance”. This is the 40 feet 6 inches mark. Now if you want to increase the depth of field all you need to do is change the focus from infinity to 40 feet 6 inches, (that’s right, reset the focus for this
point) and your depth of field will Increase by half as much again.

In other words the depth of field will now be 20 feet 3 inches to infinity. Trust me it works.

*A simple idea than most camcorder users don’t use”

It amazes me when I see friends who come back from a
vacation with numerous tapes of their trips and now have
to start figuring out what’s on each tape. Most of the time
It’s one big job trying to remember which church steeple that
was or in which city was the interesting grave yard etc. etc.
This is a very common problem that can be solved very
simply.

Go to your nearest plastic store and get a piece of rigid
plastic about 10” wide by 8 “high. You may be able to find
a piece around your house. Now take some thin black tape
and put it on the plastic so that you have 9 different areas.
You might divide the surface of the plastic by having
two vertical strips and two horizontal strips.

This will give you the 9 areas that you can write in with a dry erasable
marker. You could have less than 9 and you can make up your own designations on the plastic but you may want to have headings like: date, City, the tape number (important if you have lots of tape) time of day, and any other designations that will help you.

What you do now is keep this piece with you in your bag
whenever you are going to shoot something. You simply
make sure the camera lens is on the wide angle setting.
then just mark your plastic with the info and hold it out in
front of your camera for a few seconds before you shoot
anything.

All your tapes will be numbered and you will have a great
Identification of all the material you shot. Pretty simple
stuff but you will appreciate your efforts when you come
to look at the tapes later.

If you want to be a good camera operator, bury your head in the viewfinder. Don’t stand back looking at the side flip out viewfinder on your camera. You need to be totally absorbed in the frame with no distractions to do your best work.

Remember this: “The fewer elements in the shot - the more power the
shot will have”. Try to compose your frame with no more than six main items in the frame.

Always check the end of your tripod legs after shooting out doors or in farmer’s field. You don’t want to set up on Aunt Fanny’s new carpet after working around cows.

Composition has a lot to do with balance in the frame. You want to also have some object as your point of emphasis. Smaller objects can balance large objects.

Lets say you are on the beach shooting out toward the ocean. You have both sky and sea in the shot. Don’t place your horizon line directly in the middle of the frame. When you do this you’re inviting the audience to make a choice on which is more important in the shot, the sky or the sea? Better to give two thirds of your frame to either of these to make a stronger shot.

Remember also that in our world with buildings, telephone polls, lamp standards etc., we know that these objects are straight, so they should line up with the edges of your frame. The same applies to horizontal lines. If in your shots the lines are not straight, then you as the camera op. are not paying attention to composition.

Now there is in the film business a term known as “Dutch Angle”. This simply refers to tilting the camera by at least 20 degrees to throw off vertical and horizonal lines to give the audience a feeling of unease. You would see this kind of thing horror films or when people are under the influence.

To really understand great composition take a look a the great painters of a few centuries ago. They were masters of composition. You could also just study photographs in a magazine such as National Geographic or Life Magazine.

It is second nature to any seasoned cinematographer to always have a well composed shot. This person is totally concerned with keeping the picture pleasing to the eye.

Cheers, Barry

You can pay a lot of money for camera filters these days, with the biggest problem being what filters do you really need?

In the professional world you can purchase low contrast filters, soft contrast filters, ultra contrast filters, fog filters, double fog filters, enhancing filters, diffusion filters, net filters, star filters, sephia filters, coral filters, polarizing filters, neutral density filters to name a few.

To make things even more complicated, many of these filters come in grades ranging from one eighth to a number five. Each increasing grade has a little more density in the filter.

In the professional world we often try to make video look like film by using filters. (I might point out here that it is rare that we try to make film look like video) The idea behind this is to take out the overly sharp look of video and soften the look. Often a double fog or black promist filters are used for this effect.

Rather than going out and spending a lot of money on filters you can actually create your own filters that will do a similar job. Of course if you want to spend the money you will find that filters can run you well over $100 each. The 3 X3 filters that fit onto the mat box
(the hooded black unit on the end of lens) for my Betacam camera can run anywhere from $130 to $200 each.

Try putting a nylon stocking over your lens. Secure it with an elastic band and pull the stocking so that t is smooth across the front of the lens. You can use a white stocking or even a brown or black stocking. Make sure you check the look on your monitor or TV
set to really see the difference in the look. This stocking idea was created in the early days of filmmaking and is still used today by some directors of photography.

You could even try using a splatter screen from you frying pan or anything that will let most of the light through but still soften the image.

Try shooting a candle in a dark room with the stocking on the front and notice what happens to the glow of the candle?? Kinda cool looking isn’t it.

Give this idea a whirl and let me know what you think.

CINEMATOGRAPHY. This is the word that turned my crank a number of years. Today’s
Cinematographer often works in both video and film. Not only does the professional have to know the technical aspects of film and video cameras but also the art of “painting with light”. I think that’s where most of us get our jollies. Being able to light a scene and set a mood but make it look like I didn’t do anything gives me a real kick.

I remember reading an article on the the television series “Law and Order”. A compliment from a fellow cinematographer was passed on to the DOP (Director of Photography) of that show that went like this “What I really like about your work is that you don’t light it”.

The DOP whom I believe was Constantine Makris, works very hard with all his lights to achieve the natural look and I am sure he appreciated that comment.

THE MASTERS
You can learn a lot about composition and light by studying the great painters. Look at the cinematography work of James Wong How and you will see how great black and white can look. Look at anything by Connie Hall ASC or Allan Daviau ASC or (The Prince of Darkness) Gordon Willis ASC, and you can get an idea of how great the art form can be.

Remember, many of the films these people shot did not have monitors on set. They were paid hansom salaries because of their ability to see with there eyes. This is something I am afraid is being lost to knew filmmakers. Often the monitor becomes god on the set, slows things down (cause we all have to look) and can cost the production company more money.

LIGHT METERS FOR VIDEO:
Not all videographers use light meters when shooting video. If you can afford to pack around a monitor along with a waveform monitor and possibly a Vectorscope you can certainly get quality images.

Figuring out the ASA or ISO sensitivity of your video camera compared to a film camera
and using your light meter as you would in film can deliver excellent results with less equipment to pack.. This is the method I have used for years. The principle is one of many I like to turn students onto in our program.

Recommended readings:
“Matters of Light and Depth” by Ross Lowell
Broad Street Books, Philadelphia
P.O. Box 4107 Philadelphia PA 19127
ISBN 1-879174-03-0

“Cinematography” by Kris Malkiewicz (second edition)
a fireside book published by Simon & Schuster
ISBN 0-671-76220-6

“Lighting for Location Motion Pictures” by Alan J. Ritsko
Published b Van Nostrand Reinhold Company Inc.
ISBN O-442-26957-9

“Set Lighting Techniques” by Harry C. Box
published by Focal Press /Butterworth-Heinemann
a division of Reed Publishing U.S.A.

Words of wisdom:
One of the exercises I sometimes had students do is to spend time in various locations such as a supermarket, a restaurant, library, etc. and study the light. You can learn a lot from this exercise in terms of how you would create a similar look if you were asked to as the Cinematographer on a shoot.

You have heard the term “The world is your oyster”, well in our case the world is our set. One final thing, remember, “There’s lots of room at the top, it’s the bottom that’s crowded!

The lens on the front of your camera is often an expensive piece of
glass. You need to take care of it as repairs can be very expensive.

Inside a zoom lens there are many of elements that are aligned very
precisely giving you a focused and sharp image.

A severe jolt can knock these elements out of alignment and you
wind up with soft focus (not very sharp) images.

Some years ago while studying film in LA this happened to me so
I took my Angenieux lens to the Angenieux factory for servicing.

I was amazed how these guys in there white coats put my lens into a
piece of equipment that magnified a chart showing how my lens was
working. The huge circular image pattern projected on the wall
clearly showed that at certain points the focus was off due to the
elements (pieces of glass in the lens) being out of aligment.

It wasn’t cheap to repair this problem. What I learned from this was
don’t bump the lens.

If you haven’t already done it, get a skylight or UV filter for the front
of your camera lens. These two filters don’t have any filter factor
which means they won’t absorb any light as they are mostly clear.

What they will do is protect the front element of your lens from any
damage. If someone hits the front of your lens with an object that
could scratch or break the glass, the worst that can happen is the
filter will take the punch. It’s cheaper to replace a filter than the
front element of your lens.

Here’s to good shooting.

Cheers, Barry