Camera Workshop 2

Camera Workshop at Jools Holland set

Yesterday we had the privilege of conducting a camera workshop within the 'Later with Jools Holland" set. For me, this was an eye opening experience because I got a real sense of what it would be like to work within a television studio. Theres no better way of learning than actually being within the environment. It was a very inspirational experience for me, even though the live production wasn't taking place,it was still very exciting to be in. We were taught a little more about the cameras and we were also given a short activity to complete.

What I learnt

Fergus elaborated on the camera functions that we were taught in the previous lesson. I learnt so many new little tricks that definitely helped in the little sequence I had to make. In my previous post I mentioned how it was hard for me to differentiate the focus points on a subject if they were a little far away and on a black background but after Fergus taught us about the 'Zebra' and 'peaking' function on the camera, I was much more confident and was able to produce better imagery for the video. I used the 'Peaking' method for almost every shot. The fact that it turns the sharpest points red really helped me see which parts where in focus.

After being given the brief of creating a short sequence using multiple shots with 'the chair', I didn't have an idea of what shots I'd do but eventually as I got into the flow of things it all pieced together.

I learnt the importance of using multiple shots. You can tell the same story but in an even more interesting way than just a typical long shot showing what happens. By having multiple shots you can even change the mood and theme of the action, creating the idea of suspense to a much lighter theme. It's also good to play around with the amount of shots you take, even if you think you won't use them because during post production you'll have so much more options and could create something even better than you originally thought. This is what happened to me; I had no idea of how I wanted the video to look, no linear storyline or much idea of what I wanted to do. So I began taking random shots until I was happy with the amount that I had. However, during post production I realised that I should've gone over a few shots because there was a shot I wanted to use but couldn't, simply because all of the subject was not in the shot. I wanted the full subject and chair in shot, not a poorly composed cropped shot. (pictured below)

This is when I realised that I should've treated all shots as if I were to use them. I didn't pay much attention to this shot because I didn't think I'd use it but when it came down to the editing and my theme finally pieced together, I was quite unhappy with the fact that I couldn't use this. Instead I had to finish my short clip with a shot that I believed wasn't as great but it was the only shot I had. In the end, after adding the relevant soundtrack I was pleased with my final video. (below)