Stand-Out Shorts
Page 7
Sound recording Meanwhile, the sounds accompanying your images get recorded. The open-board mic picks up sound all around it, so it’s not great for filmmaking.
You should have an external mic socket on your camcorder, a small 3.5 mm pin.
Tip:
Record two sources at once. Buy a small mic splitter that lets you connect two mics to it, feeding into the single one mic socket on your camera.
In-camera features At this point the camera can alter the images a lot to compensate for camera shake, or for night conditions, or alter color or tone.
Compression Before all this information is sent to be stored on your tape or flash drive or SD card, it needs to be reduced in size, or “compressed.” This compression takes place on almost all camcorders except high-end professional models, and is essential to make it viable to store the massive data video images create.
Timecode Each frame gets given a unique 8-digit number, known as timecode, so it can be retrieved easily when editing.
Storage The now reduced data gets stored on your camcorder or direct to its internal flash drive memory.
Tip:
Make sure your SD cards are fast enough for video. It’s crucial that your camcorder send data to flash or SD card fast enough. Speeds on Standard cards tend to be around 6 MB per second, which sounds fast but this can limit how many frames per second you can record. Even fast cards such as Panasonic’s Gold SD run at 10–20 MB per second, but this looks like the slow lane when compared to the massive SDXC card with speeds of up to 300 MBps, capable of holding 2 TB of video data.
Experts’ Tips
Walter Murch, filmmaker, editor, Apocalypse Now!, The Godfather, Cold Mountain.
“You need:
1. Familiarity with your equipment, knowing a few of the buttons and what they do.
2. Planning out what you’re going to do.
3. Being open to chance and spontaneity and how you can make that work in a story. You’ll see something that wasn’t planned but can use it a creative way, like you find a stray dog on top of a hill.
4. Be professional and steady, like using a tripod.
5. Teamwork and spontaneity. Some people are open to new ideas coming in and you have to adopt those.”
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FIGURE 12.1 Hand-held shooting is great for documentary and news but also for creating a more dramatic effect in other movies. (Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, © WilliamSherman, Image# 8254976)
FIGURE 12.2 Fast-moving objects blur when shutter speed is low (around 1/50) and become sharper at higher settings (1/1000 and above), but the image becomes darker the higher the speed. (Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, © Nikada, Image# 8387135)
Chapter | Thirteen
Shooting
OVERVIEW
It’s not your actors, it’s not your story, it’s not the price tag on your camera – what really affects your film is the way you use the camera.
IF YOU ONLY READ ONE PIECE OF THiS CHAPTER, GO FOR THIS ONE
What you shoot and the way you show it.
The way you point the camera is crucial – and it’s not about just describing the action so we keep up with the plot. You need to do two things at once: you’ve got to show what is happening in the scene, but also give it some feeling or mood.
The difference between just showing the action and actually giving it some mood is huge. It’s like the difference between a statistics chart of a football game (who scored and when) and a high-octane commentary of the same game, with all the emotional highs and lows that the chart can’t show. One describes what happened but the other actually puts you in the game. So, show what you have to show, but do it with feeling.
DIAGNOSE YOUR FRAMING
Take a look at what your movies are like so far. Discover your good traits and figure out which ones you have to lose. Get a bunch of your previous movies or footage, lock the door, get a pen and paper, and start:
1. Do you have a color palette? Speed-play your last movie and as the images go streaming before you try to notice what overall colors you see. A limited color range of three or four colors that complement each other means you’re doing OK with design; if all you see is a murky mess then you need to rein in your color range.
2. Freeze on random frames and take a long hard look at the image. Divide up the screen into nine equal rectangles and see whether each of them has a purpose. Each of these has to either make a contribution to what the shot is for – either by having something we need to see, or by staying empty and clear, to direct our eyes to the important stuff.
3. Fast-forward play and check whether you have a variety of camera angles. Is all the action roughly the same distance from the camera, or do you have a range of close-ups, mid-shots and so on?
4. Finally, freeze on random frames and figure out how much is broadly shadow and how much light. Many cinematographers suggest that if you push about two-thirds of the screen into darker tones it creates a better look. Are you overlighting your frame?
WHAT TO DO WHEN SETTING UP A SHOT
Good camerawork is about bringing together the tools you have developed so far. It means juggling these different things in your mind to give us story and mood.
Use these tools:
Lighting
Where you place objects and people in the frame
Color, and white balance
Shapes
Symbols
How much is in focus
Aperture – or how much light the camera lets in through the iris
These starting points apply just as much to still photography, but in filmmaking, we can add in two more:
The movement of the camera in and around the action
The movement of the objects or people in the frame
When you put all these things together it can feel like a huge 3D puzzle where all the elements interact. It can be pretty daunting to have to juggle these in your head while trying to handle the realities of shooting like bad weather, late nights or unhappy actors. But it all gets easier if you focus on just two questions for every scene you set up:
1. What’s happening for the story in this scene?
2. What is the atmosphere? What’s it supposed to feel like?
You can go a little deeper into these questions – the first is about what is explicitly seen, is obvious, and is a fact. But the second is where it gets interesting, because that’s the bit that is implicit, or under the surface, hinted at.
Try an example:
1. A man picks up a gun and walks into a store: that’s the story, the facts. That’s the explicit bit.
2. But the atmosphere is suggested, it’s implicit: shown by the lighting, the way the camera is used, sound and so on.
You need a balance between the explicit (the plot) and implicit (the mood). If you go too far one way or the other, too often it all goes wrong. If you go too far away from the plot you get into a big weird, experimental mess of a movie. No one knows what is going on so people switch off. But if you stick too much with just showing the plot, with no mood, you end up with a dead movie that looks like a corporate how-to video.
Table 13.1 How images use hidden meanings
This is what’s in the script:
Explicit A man picks up a gun and walks into a store
Implied Menace
If we pick apart this image, this is how it works:
Tool How It’s Used
Lighting Shadows in the room suggest menace, by casting a lot of the man’s face and body in shadow, perhaps lit partly from behind so he throws a long shadow across the room.
Camera angle Camera tilt suggests that the heist is about to go wrong, or he’s nervous.
Framing A wide shot from low down, zoomed out with the man in the center to show that he is alone, and dangerous.
Movement of camera Erratic, shifting, nervous, hand-held camera.
Cutaways Quick shots of the man’s hand on the gun; the faces of the customers; the clock ticking on the wall.
Color No strong colors, instead mostly muted and dark tones including blue and black. Icy blue colors where there’s strong light. White balance settings remove warm tones and add more blue to the image.
Aperture The iris is closed down a little to add to the gloom, and increase the darkness of the shadows.
Depth Lots of depth so we see people all around, the doors at the back of the store, and the goods he wants to take. This increases the impact and drama of the shot.
In this scene, we have to be able to see that the man has a gun, and we have to be able to see where he is going, to see that it is a store. But we need to have the mood spelled out for us too, using lighting, color and the angle of the camera.
Next, go a little further by creating a second and more subtle meaning in the shot. In the one above, the guy robbing the store, perhaps we could add in that he is nervous, reckless or unsure. That could increase the sense that bad stuff could happen at any moment. It makes him less like a comic-book robber and more real.
Try some movie stills:
FIGURE 13.1 Scene: A beach party at sunset. Mood: Warmth, harmony. But also with an added layer of meaning: mystery. (Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, ©ranplett, Image# 9308322)
Table 13.2 Beach party at sunset (Figure 13.1): how this image works
Tool How It’s Used
Lighting No artificial light. The camera is placed so that the setting sun is behind the silhouetted actors. Implies: mystery.
Camera angle Level, at head height, to give us a point of view as one of the group. You can’t see much detail, each person looks similar. Implies: harmony.
Framing Balanced composition. Implies: harmony and warmth.
Movement of camera Moving slightly in and around the group. Implies: a point of view as if we are part of the group. The viewer is in harmony with the group.
Cutaways Show close-ups of faces, feet dancing, waves. Implies: good party.
Color White balance is set to enhance warm tones, allowing yellow/orange to dominate. Implies: warmth.
Aperture Closed slightly to increase silhouetting of figures and reduce detail of the figures. Implies: mystery and harmony.
Depth The group is close to the camera. There’s no depth, except for the distant sun, or glimpses of the beach. Implies: closeness and harmony.
FIGURE 13.2 Scene: Man descends staircase in horror film. Mood: tense, anticipating something bad. second layer of meaning: the man is powerful. (Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, ©sandocir, Image# 54695)
Table 13.3 Man descends staircase in horror film (Figure 13.2): how this image works
Tool How It’s Used
Lighting Dark, with a few strong pools of light, while the reflections help to make it more interesting. The light also keeps us looking at the man. Implies: the silhouette creates a tense mood.
Camera angle Man in center shows he is important, but also alone. Looking up at him implies he is powerful.
Framing All the elements in the frame point toward the man. The wide angle means that the sides of the frame show a lot of detail, and the windows look more elongated. Also, he’s in the center of the frame, making him look perhaps less warm, less human. Implies: all eyes are on him, he’s powerful.
Movement of camera Backs away slowly as he descends. Implies: we should move away from him, he’s powerful.
Cutaways Looking at his feet as he descends, he’s powerful so we need to create a sense of mystery about him, like we don’t know what he is capable of. Implies: power, tension
Color Black, blue, brown. Implies: gloom, horror.
Aperture The light areas are over-bright while the shadows stay dark, creating a high-contrast image. Implies: tension.
Depth The extreme depth makes the picture unnerving and strange, like a dream or nightmare. Implies: horror
FIGURE 13.3 Scene: Girl in room looks forward to a better life away from her city apartment. Mood: she is hopeful and determined, but also trapped right now. (Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, ©DOConnell, Image# 8458845)
Table 13.4 Girl in city apartment (Figure 13.3): how this image works
Tool How It’s Used
Lighting Just a small pool of light shines on the girl, from above. Implies: the thing she hopes for is positive, and is almost within reach. She’ll get there.
Camera angle Slightly below the girl. Implies: that she is going to succeed, she has some determination to help herself. Placing the camera close to the girl increases the emotion in the shot.
Framing Close to the girl with dark areas surrounding her. Implies: she is trapped and hemmed in on all sides.
Movement of camera The camera is mostly still, but gradually and slowly moves down and angled up so she is higher in the frame and we almost see what she sees above her. Implies: she is moving closer to the thing she hopes for.
Cutaways None, we don’t want to detract from the drama or diffuse it.
Color Cold colors in the room, but the warmer tones on her face from the source of her hope tell us she is hopeful.
Aperture Darker, with a slightly closed iris, to increase the darkness surrounding the girl. Implies: she is trapped.
Depth Very little depth, so the girl’s hand and the background is out of focus, leaving us to look at just her face. It makes her look even more trapped.
SETTING UP A SHOT STEP BY STEP
If you use a script, look at it the night before you shoot. From it you need a single word that sums up the atmosphere for that scene. Get this word and write it on a sticky note on the camera. Tell everyone that word is the aim of this scene.
Take time to set up the shot, but don’t use a tripod as you move freely around trying to see which shot will look best. When you have found it, then use a tripod or stabilizer.
Set up lighting. Again ask yourself what the script needs in terms of mood, plus how to make sure we see what’s essential. Simplify the lighting so there are fewer but larger shadows, making larger shapes in the frame.
Don’t over light. Many films have too much light, especially given the enhanced ability of video to see in low-light conditions. Even worse, avoid an even spread of mid-level light. Instead, use strong lamps (300 W) to create strong shadows. Use these shadows to create big, simple compositions.
Walk around with the camera checking out various ways you could shoot it, thinking all the time about how to get across your key word for that scene. Go with your instincts on this.
Do a brief run-through. When the action starts move around with the camera, checking how it looks from the different angles you have planned.
When you shoot, make editing easier by starting to roll the camera at least five seconds before the action, and cut five seconds after it ends.
Get extra footage, also known as “pick-up shots.” Although you might have set up the perfect shot your film might look a little “over-cooked” if every shot is too planned out. Allow rougher, off-the-cuff shots to get included now and then. In Michael Mann’s Collateral, there are a lot of rough, almost documentary-style shots sitting next to the glossy, neat ones. It gives the film more vigor and life.
Watch it through, checking sound on your headphones.
FIGURE 13.4 Close-up shots increase the emotional impact in a scene, as in this film by Armen Antranikian.
Experts’ Tips
Ben Winter, film student, USA
“Don’t be afraid to get in close with the camera. people are excellent observers. We’re trained to interpret the most elusive facial and body movements. But it does no good for an actor to emote at that level of subtlety if you can’t see it properly on screen. and when you do, don’t back the camera away and zoom in just to get that shallow depth of field so many filmmakers crave, because your talent will just overact for a camera that’s on the other side of the room. Invade their space.”
Ashvin Kumar, Best Live Action Short Oscar nominee, The Little Terrorist, Delhi, India
“I compensated for the lack of lighting with costumes and sets knowing th
at the lighting would be quite even, and trying to obtain as much contrast as was possible with reflectors and scrims; and shooting the beauty shots at hours that give us contrast naturally (early morning or just before sundown). the dramatic scenes were therefore shot during the harsh time of the day in the semi-interiors and when the film calls for mid-shots and close-ups. We tried to avoid shooting the sky in those scenes which was not too much of a problem since the scenes were dramatic.”
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SECOND OPINION
Just skip these rules and follow your heart. Why shoot like this and end up with a film that looks just like everyone else’s? Sure, it’s a useful shortcut and your movie will look like you mean business, but where’s the unique you in all of this? Where’s your totally unique view of the world? Don’t they just think up these rules to keep movies like a select club? – you can’t join because you didn’t go to film school and learn all this stuff. Wasn’t it like that once with music – you had to know what key you were in and had to have the right gear? That’s why garage bands and hip hop started.
If you want to try a different method, try Dogme 95, a bunch of Danish directors who overturned just about every rule in the book to get back to raw, emotional storytelling. They didn’t mind about how it looked as long as it had heart and soul, and could move you to laughter, tears, hell and cloud 9. No effects, no tripod, no music, no lamps, just real, authentic, here and now.