Deciding on a Camera Height and Camera Angle
Should you shoot down on your actor’s face or shoot up on it? Adjusting the height of the tripod can make a dramatic difference in the presentation to the audience. When they are looking up at an actor they get a sense the actor is powerful and in control. Looking down on the actor the audience may see more of the weaker side of the character.
The 180 Degree Rule of Film Making
To maintain continuity, draw a line between 2 actors and keep the camera on one side of that line. Only break the line when there is a very compelling reason to. This is one of the basic principals of filmmaking and it’s easily demonstrated during a football game. If Team A is on the left side of the screen and they are trying to score on the right side of the screen, switching to a shot where Team A is rushing into the end zone on the left side of the screen would confuse viewers. The audience would thing Team A just scored on their own end zone! There is another great writeup on the Mark Kennedy’s Site site.
The Over the Shoulder Shot – OTS
This is a fairly common shot in film making where the camera is placed above the shoulder of an actor or actress to give the movie viewer a look at what the actor sees. It creates a first person viewpoint. OTS is used a lot during interviews to help create a point – counter point exchange. Remember to keep one actor on the left side of the screen and the other actor on the other side of the screen to keep the audience from getting confused.
Poker Face Starring Carlo Fiorletta
From the archives… October 25, 2006
Silent movie shot on 16mm film by NYFA Director Nicholas
NYFA Short Film Apocalyptica « Farewell »
Shot on black and white film using an Arriflex 16S camera.
Continuity Film « Balloon »
Here is a 2007 film made at Harvard… continuity project for NYFA
NYFA Video Lonelygirl
Short from a 19 year old student in who moved to LA from New Zealand.
On Location Photo Gallery from BET.com Filming on 10-04-09
There were 550 still shots taken during the production at BET.com on 10-04-09 and 150 were selected for the first Digital Video Directors Gallery. They are in a VisualLightBox Gallery that runs an automatic slideshow once you click a thumbnail. Any of the NYFA crew or actors can email me at Mal@digitalVideoDirectors.com and I’ll send you originals at 4 MB each. Just send me thje number of the photos. Cheers. Click the photo to go to the GALLERY !!
Using the Monitor Remotely On Location
Some Directors prefer to use a monitor to setup and watch every shot. Imo Rice calls « Action » only when he’s satisfied with the way the scene looks on monitor. The monitor is directly cabled to his camera. He can run the connection directly to a PC, but he choose to use the monitor at this location.
Because of the size of the room and the logistics, Mr. Rice is monitoring from the room adjacent to the room where the filming is taking place. There are advantages and disadvantages to monitoring in the next room. On the negative side, he has to get up and walk into the filming room a lot as he’s making corrections to the scene setup or working with actors or his crew. On the plus side, he can review and discuss what he see’s on monitor with his Director of Photography in a private area where the actors can’t hear what is going on behind the scenes. It’s hard enough for the actors to get into role emotionally for a scene… sometimes it’s better when they can’t hear the Director discussing problems he’s trying to correct.
Shooting On Location at BET in Manhattan 10-04-09
On October 4th, 2009 the NYFA September Evening Digital Video crew worked a 12 hour shoot. Many thanks to the management at the BET.com offices on West 57th in NYC for allowing us to use their location for our continuity films. I have to admit it was a little distracting with tons of autographed eye candy on the walls along with platinum and gold albums everywhere. It must be a panic working there. There were about 550 stills taken during the shoot and that was thinned out to around 150 in this GALLERY. If you want any of the originals (and you’re in them) email me at mal@digitalvideodirectors.com with the picture number and I’ll get them out to you asap.
