Perspectives Workshop

What We Did:

During this workshop we looked at how to create different perspectives and how to move the camera around. Firstly we looked at shot types and angles and what the purpose is of them:

-Interior shots- These make the viewer feel as if they are part of the scene, from the POV of a character.

-Exterior shots- This is when the camera is placed outside of the action, for example an over the shoulder shot creates the sense that the audience is 'looking in' on the action..

-High and low angles- These either help to create power or diminish it.

-Lens angles- This is when the camera zooms in or out, and also with wide angles; also known as fisheyes.

We then went on to discuss moving the camera, and that we only move it for a purpose; it creates and enhances movement and therefore can change the perspective and tone to a scene. It also guides the audiences reading of a scene and the way that they view it, therefore it is important to only move the camera when necessary. If it is moved when it is unneeded then it can diffuse and destroy a scenes dramatic conflict. 

We then were allowed to use the different types of camera equipment:

-The  shoulder rig- This was really good for helping to hold the camera for a hand held shot. It takes part of the weight of the camera and therefore stabilises it a little.

-The crane- This was really exciting to be able to use however it was much harder than I anticipated. We connected it to a monitor so we could watch what was being filmed through there however I found the controls hard to use to first as I kept moving it in the wrong direction. I had  few tries and soon got the hang of it and it's great for adding a completely different perspective to a scene. 

-The tripod with wheels- This was really good for adding movement to a scene. It was very light and easy to move around and create different shots and using it on the studio floor made it really smooth. However whenever there was a small bump in the floor the tripod wheel would go over it and this would make the camera slightly go up then down. This would look a little unprofessional therefore it can only be used if on a really flat smooth surface or if the bumpy effect is wanted. 

-The track- The track was really fun to use as we could create many different effects, from moving closer or moving out and also crabbing. We practiced a few different shots and it was harder than I thought as I had to move in at the same pace whilst keeping the shot in focus and not missing the action. We also did try to recreate the famous trombone shot from "Jaws" (1975) yet this was very difficult due to having to pull the zoom and love at the same time. I would definitely use the track in my future projects.

We then created a short scene called "Dan and Alice" and I filmed the scene in one shot using the shoulder rig. It took many takes as I wanted to try and change the perspective every time the characters touched or passed each other something. The end result did turn out quite bury, it was filmed on a DSLR and it is in focus to start with but then it becomes soft as the video goes on as I found it hard to film with the rig and pull the focus. There was a lever attached to the zoom to help with zooming, but Ferg told us this could also be attached to the focus so I would probably try that next time and see if I can fix the issue. 

What Went Wrong?

Because I was using new equipment to what I had ever used before it was a struggle to get my head aloud it. For example when using the crane i found the controls really tricky because it's completely different to any moving equipment so I tried a few different shots out but got better with practice. I also struggled with using the gimble, this was a similar struggle to the crane as it had controls that I found hard to use at first so I had a few goes with it and then started to feel more confident. It was also hard in general to add more movement to filming because I have only really done static filming before so to add movement to it was definitely a challenge. The shots did come out a bit shaky and I lost track on actors at some points but I'm sure that with more practice it will become easier for me and I will get more used to it.

What Was Successful?

Something that was really successful was using the track. It was tricky however we did get some really good shots out of it. We also tried to recreated the famous "Jaws" trombone shot which seemed impossible but with a few takes we achieved something similar, this was a challenge however it was successful as we got there in the end and created a really interesting looking shot. It was also successful using the should rig. this was because it helped to get rid of the shakiness of some shots when using hand held and made the camera a little comfier so for me this was very successful.

Conclusion:

In conclusion this is my favourite workshop so far as it was the best experience to be able to test many different types of camera equipment and have a play with it to create different experimental shots. I did face some problems with struggling to control them however with time I will get better and it has inspire me to play around with movement more rather than remaining static all the time.


The video is below: