Friday 15 October 2010

Research: Back Light

The back light is sometimes called hair or shoulder light, because when lighting an actor or an actress, backlighting will cause the edges of his or her hair to glow if he or she has fuzzy hair. This gives an angelic halo type effect around the head. This is often used in order to show that the actor or actress so lit is "good" or "pure". In television this effect is often used in soap operas and has become something of a cliché of the genre. It is also sometimes called the kicker or rim light.

Backlighting helps to provide separation between the subject and its background. In the theatre it is often used to give a more three-dimensional appearance to actors or set elements, when front lighting alone would give a two-dimensional look. In chiaroscuro effects in painting, such as the candlelit paintings by Joseph Wright of Derby (illustration, left), backlighting helps separate subjects in the foreground and emphasizes depth.

Research: Key Light

The key light is the first and usually most important light that a photographer, cinematographer, or other scene composer will use in a lighting setup. The purpose of the key light is to highlight the form and dimension of the subject. The key light is not a rigid requirement; omitting the key light can result in a silhouette effect. Many key lights may be placed in a scene to illuminate a moving subject.

The key light can be "hard" (focused) or "soft" (diffused), and depending on the desired setup can be placed at different angles relative to the subject. When part of the most common setup—three-point lighting—the key light is placed at a 30–60° angle (with the camera marking 0 degrees). In addition to the horizontal angle, the key light can be placed high or low producing different effects. The most common vertical position for the key light is at a 30° degree angle (i.e. slightly above the eye line; the nose should not cast a shadow on the lips).

Thursday 14 October 2010

Research: Lighting

Today we were taught how different types of lighting are used when filming. We had a guy called scott come in with two lights and defusers. He demenstrated different types of filming and who it effects the way the audience looks at what is on screan.

the different types of lighting that are used by industries are:

Key Light
Back Light
Filler Light
Low Key Lighting

Thursday 7 October 2010

Change in group

After talking with my group we all decided to split I am now in a group with

Luis Mendes
Zygimantas Pukas
Luke Sheridan

Friday 1 October 2010

Research: Camera Shots - Tilt Shot

the Tilt shot also known as the Dutch tilt, Dutch angle, oblique angle, German angle, canted angle, or Batman Angle are terms used for a cinematic tactic often used to portray the psychological tension in the subject being filmed. A tilt shot is achieved by tilting the camera off to the side so that the shot is composed with the horizon at an angle to the bottom of the frame. Many Dutch angles are static shots at an obscure angle, but in a moving tilt shot the camera can pivot, pan or track along the director established diagonal axis for the shot.

Research: Camera Shots - Close Shot

In film medium a close-up tightly frames a person or an object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium shots and long shots. Close-ups display the most detail, but they do not include the broader scene. Moving in to a close-up or away from a close-up is a common type of zooming.

Close-ups are used in many ways, for many reasons. Close-ups are often used as cutaways from a more distant shot to show detail, such as characters' emotions, or some intricate activity with their hands. Close cuts to characters' faces are used far more often in television than in movies; they are especially common in soap operas. For a director to deliberately avoid close-ups may create in the audience an emotional distance from the subject matter.

Close-ups are used for showing who the main characters are. Major characters are often given a close-up when they are introduced as a way of indicating their importance

Research: Camera Shots - Medium Shot

In film, a medium shot is a camera shot from a medium distance. The dividing line between "long shot" and "medium shot" is fuzzy, as is the line between "medium shot" and "close-up". In some standard texts and professional references, a full-length view of a human subject is called a medium shot; in this terminology, a shot of the person from the knees up or the waist up is a close-up shot. In other texts, these partial views are called medium shots. (For example, in Europe a medium shot is framed from the waist up). It is mainly used for a scene when you can see what kind of expressions they are using.

Medium Shots are great for showing some expression of characters and detial in the character. Alot more than the detailshown in a Long shot

Research: Camera Shots - Long Shot/ Extreme Shot

In film and video, a long shot (sometimes referred to as a full shot or a wide shot) typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings. It has been suggested that long-shot ranges usually correspond to approximately what would be the distance between the front row of the audience and the stage in live theatre. It is now common to refer to a long shot as a "wide shot" because it often requires the use of a wide-angle lens. When a long shot is used to set up a location and its participants in film and video, it is called an establishing shot.

A related notion is that of an extreme long shot. This can be taken from as much as a quarter of a mile away, and is generally used as a scene-setting, establishing shot. It normally shows an exterior, eg the outside of a building, or a landscape, and is often used to show scenes of thrilling action eg in a war film or disaster movie. There will be very little detail visible in the shot, as it is meant to give a general impression rather than specific information.

Research: Camera Shots - Establishing shot

An establishing shot in film and television sets up, or establishes the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long- or extreme-long shot at the beginning of a scene indicating where, and sometimes when, the remainder of the scene takes place.

Establishing shots may use famous landmarks to indicate the city where the action is taking place or has moved to, such as Big Ben to identify London, Sydney Opera House to identify Sydney, the Eiffel Tower to identify Paris or the Las Vegas Strip to identify Las Vegas
.

Sometimes the viewer is guided in his understanding of the action. For example, an exterior shot of a building at night followed by an interior shot of people talking implies that the conversation is taking place at night inside that building - the conversation may in fact have been filmed on a studio set far from the apparent location, because of budget, permits or time limitations.

An establishing shot may also establish a concept, rather than a location. For example, opening with a martial arts drill visually establishes the theme of martial arts. A shot of rain falling could be an establishing shot, followed by more and more detailed look at the rain, culminating with individual raindrops falling. A film maker is colluding with his audience to provide a short hand learned through a common cinematic cultural background.

An establishing shot should be two or three seconds - long enough for viewers to appreciate the scene.

Research: Camera shots

There are many different shots that I need to know about to produce a good final producition, I will have to find a definition of each shot and why they are used.

The shots i need to research are
Establishing shot
Long shot
Medium Shot
Close Shot
Extreme Close shot
Tilt Shot