Task 5 - Initial video ideas

Here is a mind map of the initial ideas we had for creating our video, we based these ideas on our chosen song which was thrift shop, we then went through different ideas of what we would use and different scenes we would have.

Task 4 part 2 - camera movements

Short camera movement video.

 

Working in a group we made a video showing different camera movements and uploaded it to you tube, this included Panning shot, Zoom in, Track in, and Tilt. Here is a brief explanation of what each of these terms mean:

 

Panning

Panning is ultimately the action you do when you move your head from left to right or right to left. To create a panning movement you need to move the camera lens from left to right or right to left.

 

Zoom in/out

The process of zooming is ultimately altering the focal length of the lens on a camera and is widely and commonly used throughout video production, zooming in magnifies the subject making them appear closer in the frame ( or giving a closer view) and zooming out is the opposite altering the focal length to make the subject appear further away in the frame ( or giving a wider view).

 

 

Track in / out

Tracking is similar to zooming, however this movement does not involve altering the focal length on the camera lens but instead the camera operator physically moves the camera. Track in is when the camera person moves the camera towards the subject (this can be walking while holding the camera, or having the camera on a rail mechanism to provide a smoother movement). Track out is the same, but opposite. When the camera person moves the camera away from the subject (this can be walking while holding the camera, or having the camera on a rail mechanism to provide a smoother movement)

 

 

Tilt

Tilting is ultimately the action you do when nodding your head up and down. To create a camera tilt movement you need to move the camera lens up and down while keeping its horizontal axis the same.

 

Here is a video we made showing some of these movements:

 

 

Task 4 - camera shots

Task 4  camera shots.

There are several different shots used in video production, here are some examples of the camera shots and what they mean / do:

 

 

 

 

 

XLS/ELS – Extreme long shot.

In video production an extreme long shot can be taken as far away as ¼ of a mile. This shot is generally used as a scene setting shot, also called an establishing shot. As this image is used to give a general impression there will be very little detail in this shot, it often shows landscapes, outside of buildings, normally an exterior. This shot is often used in war or disaster movies in scenes of thrilling action.

 

 

 

 

 

 

LS – Long shot.

In video production a long shot (sometimes called full shot or wide shot) shows the entire object or head to toe human figure, this is intended to place the person / object in some relation to its surroundings. A long shot is also referred to as a wide shot as a wide angled lens is often required for this. When a long shot is used to set the location and its participants in a video it is called an establishing shot.

 

 

 

 

 

MS – mid / medium shot

In video production a mid /medium shot, is used to show the subjects facial expressions in context to their body language. A mid shot typically shows a person from the waist up to their head, unlike a long shot which shows the full human figure this gives the viewer a much better impression of the character.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CU – close up

Close ups show the character in more detail, often they show the characters face to enhance the emotion, or an intricate activity with their hands. Close ups show the viewer who the main characters are. By giving the character a close up when they are first introduced shows the importance of their role. Leading characters often have multiple close ups. Close ups are often used more in soap operas then in films to stop the audience becoming emotionally distant or detached from the story. As close up shots often show only the character in more detail such as head or hands if over used through out a production this can cause the audience to become uncertain about what they are seeing as it does not show the character in context to their surroundings.

 

 

 

 

 

XCU – extreme close up.

Extreme close up is normally a very tight shot of a character showing only a detail of the character, for example an extreme close up of the characters face shows only features, such as the characters eyes in far more detail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two shot

A two shot in video production is used when the director wants to show 2 people / characters in the frame, however this does not mean that the characters / subjects have to be facing each other during this shot. It may be that one character is in the background while the other in the foreground. Two shots is used when the film is about 2 people, but is also used to show emotional reactions between the two characters, examples of this being used can be seen throughout the movie stand by me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrRbJezTOR4

Task 3 - Narrative Structures

TASK 3 – Narrative Structure

I have researched into various types of narrative structures within video production, here are the types of structures, their definition and examples of where they have been used:

 

Linear (sequential) Narrative:

A linear narrative is where the video productions story basically goes in a straight line, step by step. The story runs smoothly from beginning, middle to end with no flash back, flash forwards or broken up in any way.

Examples of video productions that use linear (sequential) narrative are used in soap operas such as Eastenders and Coronation Street. However they do sometimes use a non-linear ( non-sequential narrative). This structure keeps the video production easy to follow, and add new story lines.

Examples of films that have used this narrative structure are:

 Toy Story,

 Of Mice and Men.

 

 

Non-linear (Non-sequential) Narrative

A non-linear narrative also known as a disrupted or disjointed narrative is where the video production does not follow the normal order of start – middle – end. It can use flash backs or flash forwards to fill in parts of the story. This technique can help keep the viewer engaged however it can also become quite confusing.

Examples of film productions which have used this narrative are:

Hangover

The grudge

Watchmen

 

 

Flashback

Flashbacks are scenes that have happened in the past, Flashbacks can be used to break up a linear narrative to make it a non-linear narrative, interjecting scenes to reveal hidden parts of the story. Flash backs can also be used to make sense of a non-linear narrative that starts at the end of the story and the flash backs are used to fill in the beginning and middle.

Examples of video productions that have used flashbacks are:

Friends

The Butterfly Effect

Silence Of The Lambs.

 

 

 

 

 

Realist Narrative

 

A realist narrative is a story based on believable / real life stories; this makes the viewer more able to relate to the characters. Soaps such as Eastenders and Emmerdale often use realist narrative to connect their production to the audience making them more popular.

 

Anti-Realist Narrative

An anti – realist narrative is a totally fiction based production, it would never happen in real life, and is out of the ordinary.

Video productions that have used anti-realist narrative are:

Jurassic park

Total recall (original version)

Star wars

 

 

 

Open Narrative

An open narrative is where there is no ending; the story is left wide open to keep the view guessing and wanting more. It is used in TV shows to create great cliff hangers making the viewer wanting to watch the next episode. It is also used in films and provides the opportunity for a sequel to be made.

Video productions that use open narrative are:

Eastenders

Holly oaks

Planet of the apes (1967)

Jurassic park

The walking dead

 

 

Closed Narrative

A closed narrative is pretty much the opposite of open. It leaves no questions at the end of the film; it has a beginning – middle – and a definitive end, leaving everything explained.

Examples of productions that used a closed narrative:

Of mice and men

Titanic

 

Task 1 - Single camera vs. Multi camera.

Single camera vs. multi camera.

 

In video production there are 2 types of camera techniques used to record a production, these are single and multi-camera techniques, here I will discuss what they both are, both negative and positive aspects of each set up, and why each set up is used for certain types of video recording.

Single camera techniques.

Single camera technique is a technique using only one camera. Each shot is taken with the same camera but moved and re set up to give different angles and different shots. This is done for every shot that you see cut back and forth. however that doesn’t mean to say that all the shots taken are in the order they will appear in on the finally video or even that they were taken on the same day, these shots are then later edited together to produce a video in sequence.

Single camera techniques are often used for movies, prime time dramas, advertisements, and music videos. This is due to the director being able to have more creative control over the video produced.

Here are examples of single camera techniques being used:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BlHY69ZsZ0

Here is a clip from step brothers, as you can see there are definite cuts between the scene, from the 2 brothers, to the parents, to the wide shot of all characters. These would have all been taken using a single camera. All the wide shot scenes would have been shot at the same time, the same for the close up of the brothers and the same for the parents, they then would have been edited together to produce the sequence that was finally used in the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIQToVqDMb8

Here is a music video as we can see there are clear obvious cuts in the scenes which show us that the single camera technique has been used here. Not only does the characters change some times but the whole location and scene changes, however there is an exception to this particular video as a multi camera technique has been used at 1:09 in the video to record an explosion scene as a single camera would not be able to capture the 2 shots in the time of one explosion, even though it is still classed as a single camera production.

 

Pros of using a single camera technique:

·         Director has more control over each shot.

·         More control over lighting

·         If one actor makes a mistake the whole scene is not ruined.

 

Cons of using a single camera technique.

·         More time consuming as equipment has to be moved and re set up.

·         More editing as each shot has to be edited together

·         More expensive

·         Difficult to capture action

Here is an example of a single camera set up:

 

Here the camera would typically film person A. once all the shots required are taken the camera would then switch position to focus on person B and capture the required shots finally these shots are edited to create a production.

Sourced:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-camera_setup

 

 

Multi camera technique

Multi camera technique is a technique using 2 or more cameras, however typically there are 4 used. These cameras will all be constantly videoing or recording the whole take at the same time, with no interruptions from start to finish. The cameras on set carry out instruction from a director who decides which camera will be used and when throughout a production. This is achieved by the director usually located in a room with each camera view shown on its own screen, there will then be a master screen to which the final production will be displayed in real time. The director will give orders to the camera operators of which he wants to display creating a seamless recording or live feed of the production/ event.

This technique is used to record many program formats such as soap operas, sport events, live TV, and talk shows. It is also sometimes used in movies or programs with big action scenes such as explosions, to provide multiple angled shots from one take.

 

Here are some examples of multi camera technique being used:

In these clips we can see it is clear that more than one camera has been used to create the production. There are numerous shots wide angle and close-ups of the same scene, and a live audience in both clips:

The big bang theory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXPH5j-KWFA

it would be impractical to use single camera techniques for this type of production, because it is filmed in front of a live audience the scenes would need to be acted out in sequence for the viewers to understand, and if a single camera technique was used it would take far too long to record even one episode with all the scene and angle changes.

 

Khan and Prescott fight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shUqYIkMXu0

Again it would be very impractical to use a single lens technique for this type of production as all the action in the fight or even the whole fight would be missed if you were to move the camera and set up to capture a different angle.

 

Pros of using a multi camera technique:

·         It’s quicker: as there is no need to re light or re set up scenes, there is no need to re set up camera to capture different angled shots.

·         Less editing to do as shots from the same scene do not have to be edited together

·         A lot easier to capture action as its being captured from multiple cameras and multiple angles.

·         It is consistent, keeps up the consistency of soaps/ live broadcast programs

·         Not as expensive as single camera techniques as there is a lot less editing to be done.

 

 

Cons of using a single camera technique.

·         Lighting issues as there will need to be compromise for all camera angles

·         Less flexibility, needing to keep equipment and other cameras out of the shots

·         A bigger production team is needed

·         If an actor makes a mistake it effects everyone in that scene.

 

Here is an example of a multi camera set up:

Sourced: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple-camera_setup

Here cameras 1 and 4 would be used to concentrate on the main characters of the set and also providing the close up shots. Cameras 2 and 3 would be used to capture the wide angled shots capturing all the action and establishing the scenes space.

Although this is not an exact replica of the layout used by all TV productions it is set out similar to receive the same results.

 

In conclusion both techniques have their pros and cons, but both are suited to their type of production, using a single camera technique where a multi camera technique is needed and vice versa is impractical and would cause complications throughout the productions.