Saturday, December 29, 2012

Basic Camera Movements

Pan 
    Move the camera horizontally left or right. In making a film, you do pan in order to follow a subject or show the distance between two objects. For smooth effects, use a tripod.

Tilt
   Move the camera up or down without raising its position. The movement is just like panning, but the different is the position where it is moving, showing the up and down of the subject.

Pedestal
   Physically moving the height of the camera up or down, and it is usually done on a tripod. You pedestal the camera up or down to get the proper height you prefer. You pedestal up, shooting a large object and pedestal down if shooting a small object.

Dolly
   When dollying, the camera is set on wheels and moved towards or back from a subject. Usually when filming, videographers use wheelchairs or some tracks in order to do a dolly shot.

Crane

    Crane works and looks is similar to a construction crane. Usually used for high sweeping shots or to follow the action of your subject. This shoots from the bird's eye view. The camera is swooping down from above. Directors use this for street scenes like from above the crowd, or above a herd and then move down to eye level.

Zoom
   Zoom is just zooming in and out. You press a lever to do it. The lever controls the lens mechanism inside the camera. A zoom lens gives you the option of having both telephoto and wide-angle lens in one camera. Zooming is to bring objects at a distance closer to the lens or to show size and perspective. Film makers don't do continuous zooming in and out because it is annoying to audiences or viewers. Usually the zooming in and out is done smoothly.

Arc
   The movement of the camera covers a semi-circle around a subject. The camera does a semi-circle of the subject and in the process is able to reveal new details about the background that the subject is standing in front of.









Language of the Lenses

When buying a new DSLR camera, we would also like to consider the lenses.
So there are five types of lenses, they are: 

                                                   1. Standard Zoom
                                                   2. Zoom or Super Zoom
                                                   3. Wide Angle
                                                   4. Close-up or Macro
                                                   5. Prime

                      So let's define each type.

                                Standard Zoom




The standard zoom lens is the most common lens of all.
The focal length is 18mm-55mm.
This lens is typically used by beginner and amateur photographers. 
This type of lens gives you a variety of options for compositions. The quality of the
lens is still good enough for a starter to learn how to use DSLR cameras and lenses.


                               Zoom or Super Zoom
   
                              
The difference between a standard zoom lens and a super zoom lens is that
a super zoom lens has greater focal length. This is usually used for long-range 
photography. It can be used in shooting places in the wildlife, 
sports, and also music.
Popular length lens of this type are 
5mm-250mm, 70mm-300mm and 75mm-300mm.
            
                              Wide Angle


Wide angle lenses are used for capturing large subject areas. It could be 
landscapes, outdoor scenes, large groups and nature. Lenses having focal length
smaller than 50mm is wide angle lens. Its purpose is to capture larger views in tight
spaces having a great wide angle view photo. 

                              Close up / Macro



This type of lens is used to shoot close-up images. Macro lenses
are created to focus at much shorter distances capturing detailed photos and textures. 
Mostly used in nature photography shooting small objects such as insects flowers 
and captures immense detail and clarity. These lenses are also applied
 in scientific photography and product photography.

                          Prime


Lastly, prime lens have fixed focal lengths, this means that you can't 
adjust the zoom of the lens. What you need to do is to move closer, or move further 
away in order to capture what you needed. The good part of this lens is that it gives
the highest quality and sharpest photos. And for the worst part, this is too expensive. 
Focal lengths of prime lengths are 14mm, 35mm, 50mm, 80mm and 100mm.



Before buying lenses, consider what you really want, high quality photos, close ups, wide angles, and etc.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Animated Short Film

"Heavenly Appeals" a short film by David Lisbe

Just one funny 3d film. Since the story of the animation is set in heaven therefore
the setting should also be heaven-like. Clouds, angels, gate, etc. should be present depending 
on what the story is about. Lighting should be fresh.
But then you can still distinguish the colors and mood.
Perspective has also given acknowledge.
 Camera movements has been changed through out.
Some of us would feel bored if the duration of the movie is focused 
just on the same spot. To add some spice up or should I say to
make it not look boring, different angles should be shown depending
on who gives the message to the audience or making the act.

The image duration between the clips was just about
2-5 seconds. 

Live Action Short Film

Watch this Live Action Short Film by Dan Trachtenberg titled
Portal: No Escape.

This is one fantastic short film! Very futuristic indeed! 
What I love about the movie the most, is that they have used
all the proper elements of cinematography. 
My favorite of all would be the lighting and also the staging 
and composition. I am amazed on how they used cool colors 
for the lighting to make it more futuristic. The props are so awesome!
The perspective is also very obvious since it's not a 2d film. 
Great camera movements. I love the timing and change of angles 
because it makes it more lively and thrilling.

My favorite shot!
Excellent staging and composition for this.