Grip Gear
- Gaff tape
- Safety cable for lights
- Extension cords
- Rope
- Wire
- C47s for clipping gels to barndoors
- Sandbags for weighing down lights
- Black wrap to prevent spill on lights
- Different types of clamps for rigging lights
Basic Cinematography - Lighting Day/Night
- Practical - light you can see inside the shot; headlight, lamp, streetlight etc.
- Walk into a location, turn on one light and build from there
- Motivation for the light - logical explanation for the light (although this is often broken)
- Night scenes - Kino-Flo light hitting window outside for moonlit effect
- Separate subject from background, longer focal distance for bokeh and no light spill
- Fill light added to ceiling to light the room, separate actor from background
- Added second practical to scene, separate from background and use fill light to boost
- Turn subject away to create different effects, more angled = less connection with character
- 'How much you add or take away fill light from a day scene will say something about the time of day or type of day it is'
- Low fill = gloomy, dawn/dusk - High fill = sunny day.
How to Light for Darkness
- First change - faster lens.
- Bouncing off the ceiling not appropriate - clearly toplit which is not motivated. Light would be spill from another room, under a door/window etc.
- Bounce off the wall at eye-level and adjust angle instead.
- Can add blue fill light as though moonlight from window.
- Bouncing light from different angles has completely different effects
- Can do it in post with more light, but more video look.
The Meaning Behind Camera Movement
- Tracking alongside characters - move to a tripod panning as they walk and could suggest being watched, or that 'their conversation holds something secret'
- Tracking hand-held has different effect - more intense or relaxed?
- 'An inappropriately chosen shot can mean death to your scene'
- Gib can be used to add verticality to shots, introduce locations or move from high to low angle on a character to create sense of power/vulnerability
- Action films - keep camera moving in each shot to infuse kinetic energy and maintain it throughout. Can also use it to create a pause in the tension/action for comedic effect.
- Easy fix for diffusing large light - bedsheet. Easy fix for eye-light - torch near the camera. Balances out even harsh contrasts
Camera Techniques
- Low angle - power. High angle - vulnerability
- Directly overhead - disconnects audience, omniscience, overview of scene.
- Canted angle - slightly off, disconcerts the audience.
- Distance from characters in dialogue scene creates connection with audience. Closer = more connected, wider = disconnected.
- Can use foreground objects to an extreme to suggest character hiding something or feeling trapped because of lack of visual space.
- Long shot = loneliness, abandoned.
- Longer lens = shorter DOF, more claustrophobic feel.
- Shorter lens = wider DOF, opens up world.
- Slow zoom for dramatic emphasis.
- DOF - force audience to focus on part of the scene.
F-stop, Shutter Speed and ISO
- Fast shutter speed = crisp motion. Slow shutter speed = smooth motion.
- ISO sweet spots for Canon 5D MkIII - 160, 320, 640, 1250 = least noise.
Shane Hurlbut on Cinematography
- Pick a camera and lighting emotion for each character.
- Working with a director - come in with a point of view. Show references, still photography etc. Understand the shooting style of the director, how they want to get coverage. Describe camera movement, lighting and colour for each scene beforehand, communicate with set designers. Get all the departments aligned to making the same film.
Breaking Up and Diffusing Light
- 'Booklight' technique - diffuse already softened light by placing diffusion after the bounce board.
- Negative fill to stop fill from walls - add contrast.
- Hard/soft cookies - shapes to shine light through. Hard = opaque object with area cut out. Soft = translucent object with cutout areas, diffused light.
- Move light up and down to simulate car movement?
- Add any objects in front of the light diffused enough, breaks up the light - useful for interviews.
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