Health & Safety and Equipment Manoeuvring

Equipment Introduced:

• JVC GY – HM100E Camcorder

-Built in Microphone with an attachment microphone in order to capture clear sound. With out this, recording from distance has no sound.

-Switching Camera Off and On

1.  Turn circle dial while holding blue button on the side
2. To turn on put the circle dial facing ‘ON/STANDBY’
3. To turn off put the circle dial facing ‘OFF’
4. IF THE CAMCORDER IS NOT IN USE FOR 5MINUTES+, THE CAMCORDER WILL AUTOMATICALLY SWITCH OFF.

-Battery

1. To connect battery just slide in to place from right to left , you should hear a clear click.
2. To eject the battery out of the camcorder just push the button above the battery and simultaneously pull the battery out.

-Record button is with a red line

1.  Push once to Record , we should then see the R on the screen.
2. Push again after recording footage. This would pause the recording and save what has just been recorder as a separate file on the Memory Card it does not record over files.

• -Lens Cover Switch (next to focus ring)
  -Auto / Manual shooting mode button ‘AF/MF’.
   
• *MF – Manual Focusing (Focusing Ring would be used for this.) I will not be using this because I will be filming my film opening with auto focus because it would be easier for me to use because the focusing is automatically done.
   
• *AF – Auto Focusing (Focusing Ring will not be used for this)

(To make sure I know what type of focusing I am using I can check the viewfinder to see a green ‘F’ to know I am using full auto focus.)

-ND Filter

            *If on it means the lighting will be reduced and should on be used on sunny days when filming is done outside. Other wise I should not be using it because it will make my footage dark.

-Zoom Control

1. ‘W’ Wide – Zooms out
2. ‘T’ – Zooms In

 

-CAM/MEDIA Button

            *this button allows me to switch between recording and doing playback.

(The toggle switch on the left allows me to navigate and select)

• Video Drive

The video drive is where I save the footage I have taken from the camcorder that has been saved on the SD Card to the drive on the computer so my footage does not go missing.

• Tripod

-Connecting Camcorder

1.    To connect camcorder to tripod push red button on the side of the tripod

2.    slot the front of the camcorder in to the tripod for the back of the tripod (while holding red button)

3.    Then tighten the dial at the opposites side of the tripod from the red button to make sure the camera is tighten in to place and does not wobble while filming footage.

-Changing height of Tripod

1. Unclip the clips seen on the tripod
2. Pull legs down or up
3. The clip the clips again when happy with the height

(To know if the tripod is all at the same level look at the sprit level green liquid seen on tripod behind the camcorder and if the bubble is outside the circle the tripod is not all at the same level and if the bubble is inside the circle the tripod is all at the same level)

-Tilt Adjustment

To adjust the tilt unlock the dial on the side of the tripod and move it to the poison of the tilt you want and the lock the dial by spinning it the other way you did to unlock it till it is tight so it doesn’t move poison while filming

-Pan Adjustment

To do panning and adjust it move a clip under the camcorder to the other side and the move the camcorder by moving handle on the side of the tripod.

• Memory Card (SDHC Card)

Memory card is inserted at the button of the camcorder (there is 2 slots for 2 different memory cards)

1. To insert memory card push card into slot (look at image on the camcorder for help) till click sound is herd.
2. To take out push the memory card inside again and it should come out by it self.

WHAT SHOULD NOT BE DONE BY EITHER ME OR YOU, ATTENTION!

 

• Menu setting must not be changed.
   
• Take great care of equipment, think of it has your own. Do not take camera out if it raining really heavily, however if it is just drizzling go to media apartment and they will give you an umbrella.
   
• check equipment before leaving the class to do filming, for example make sure battery is full etc.
   
• bring back equipment back on time!!
   
•   Do not leave liquids or drink next to camera
   

Collateral - Original Video & Stills from Video

Here is the clip that we have done a remake of from Collateral.

Here are stills from the original clip of Collateral that we have used to help with our remake of Collateral.

Collateral - Shot by Shot Remake Comparison of Original and Own Production

Here I will be comparing stills from the finished product of the remake from the original scene between the characters for Tom Cruise and Jason Stratham in Collateral. I will be showing the similarities and differences between the two clips as well as why they are similar and different and what me and my group should do next time so that the mistakes don’t happen again.

SIMILAR:

Both actors are walking in the same direction towards the camera

Both actors are wearing glasses

Both actors are holding newspaper under same arm.

DIFFERENT:

In our production the actor is walking towards the camera straight but the background is slanted to the side so it is not straight. This could be because the floor could have been uneven or the legs of the tripod were not extended properly. For this not to happen again we’ll look at the sprit level to see if the bubble is inside the circle.

The lighting in our production is very dark compared to the original. Next time before we film we will look for a better place with lighting to do filming or maybe we can set up artificial lights next time to give out the right amount of light we need.

The place we went to do filming wasn’t packed of people walking by as we hoped so we didn’t get people walking around the actor like in the original clip. So next time we would go to a busier destination for example a market or outside a train station.

The shot type is different to the original. In the original the actor is in a medium close up shot where as in our production the actor is in a medium shot. Maybe when we were filming we forgot about the camera shot or maybe the way the actor was walking didn’t allow us to get the right camera shot. So next time we will take in consideration on the type of camera shot.

SIMILAR:

Direction Walking

Glasses

DIFFERENCES:

The lighting in our production is darker than the lighting that is in the original clip.

The faces of the actors are facing the different ways

The camera shot in our production is not the same in the original. The original has a extreme close up to a medium close up but our production is a medium close up shot to a close up shot. This could be because camera people in the group didn’t position the camera well or maybe we forgot to consider the camera shots in the filming.



We think as a group that our shot by shot remake of the scene from Collateral was done really well but we did have some problems that we will take in consideration for example like lighting, camera shots, camera angles. But we did follow the rule of third which we are happy about.

'Watching' Documentary on Film Openings

When Thomas Sutcliffe says “Films need to seduce their audience into long term commitment. While there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible” he means that the instant the film starts it has to grab the audience ‘seduce them’ because it will be ‘the start of the ride’ and they need to want to say for the ride in this case the duration of the film. So the first impression means everything. He is basically saying that with any film to work, within the first 5 minutes the audience needs to be grabbed in ‘seduced’ or they won’t like it like because the film will no longer appeal to them. But if the opening of the film is good no one can deny it because it would be visible for people to see and make people want to stay for the rest of the ride/film and see how it plays out ‘it would be almost irresistible’.

According to Director Jean Jacques Beineix the risks of ‘instant arousal’ is that the audience come into watching the film expecting something to happen and if it doesn’t happen within the next 20 minutes they’re gone. He says people have to accept to wait and let the story/film grow and then something will happen. So he lets the film/story build up because he says that after a strong start people ask questions “what will happen next?”, and then the director and crew have to answer the questions, but they take a risk never to answer the question.

“A good film beginning must make the audience feel that it doesn’t know nearly enough yet, and at the same time make sure that it doesn’t know too little” This is because it is like the rules of engagement to make sure the audience is giving their full attention. So this wakes the audience and instructs them on how they should be watching the film and how’ll they be while watching the film. Making sure they get their moneys worth. This is done by making the being crucial, so the film is established and they have an early adjustment to the genre of the film and establishing many things at once.

Critic Stanley Kauffmann describes the classic opening as it starting of with an establishing shot (seen from the east), a close up of a building, the camera going up a building to a window, then the camera goes into the window, then goes past the receptionist just to a private office and there would be a person. The classic opening worked because it showed were the thing is taking place, what the occupation the person is in and most importantly the organization of the world.

Kyle Cooper’s title sequence to the film Seven is so effective because the sequence tuned the viewers because it set the genre of the film and settled the viewers into their seats because it was part of the transition and it gets them right on the head, waking them up so they could get ready for what was going to happen next. So the sequence became a scene of the film and introduced the obsessive story of the main character.

Orson Welles wanted to achieve having the audience plunged into the story of the film with out giving them time to prepare them selves so he deiced the opening of the film would been seen with out credits and with out title music in the opening to the film ‘A Touch of Evil?’ because an opening of a film should lead the audience into the film/story, letting the know slowly. Telling the audience the nature and the kind of story the film is by introducing some important characters or characters that will become important. But the studio wanted it there so they put a score, source and credits underneath the opening. So the effect that Welles wanted to achieve was lost.

“a favorite trick of Film Noir” is a thing directors like to do in a film were the beginning of the film starts with the ending of the story. This is a trick because it should be the other way round. So the beginning of the film feels like a destination point, unlike a departure point looking ahead of what to come and anything that the audience doesn’t see the first time they will see once they see it again.

The opening of the film The Shining creates suspense because the way camera techniques and the music are used during the opening. First you can see an easy up lift of a helicopter shot and the second viewing you can see the camera pursuing the car like a predator high up and from behind but at the same time see the surrounding/setting. Letting the audience just guess them selves that the people are travelling in the wrong direction.

Collateral - Shot by Shot Remake On Shoot / Filming Process Photos

Here are still from the filming process of our remake of Collateral from are filming location of us working together as a group for filming and acting. We all had fun and was able to take the shots we wanted to that we planned in the storyboard.

Here are photographs of the boys helping set up the tripod and connecting the camera to the tripod.

Susan and Jobedha filming.

Photographs of filming and acting.

Collateral - Shot by Shot Remake Editing Process Stills

Overall as a group we did find it difficult using the new software Final Cut Pro for editing in the Mac because it was the first time anyone in the group has used the software or done editing also some members of the group were still getting use to used the Mas's. I think as a group we did well during the editing process with working with the timeline and cutting the clips that we filmed as well as doing effects such as slow motion and fast motion using tools from the editing software.

We are very happy with our remake of the clip from Collateral and here are some screen shot of the editing process below.

Timeline

Footage We Filmed Outside of the Collage

We changed / editied the speed of motion at someparts of the film to make it around the same speed the actors moved in the original clip from Collateral