VIDEO PRODUCTION 101
To use a Tripod,
or not to use a Tripod? That is the question.
And the answer depends on what you
are trying to do. If you're following a person while they are giving
a tour of a building you probably won't use a tripod because you
need to be moving.
Basically, if you want a stable, smooth
shot, use a tripod whenever possible. If you do not have a tripod,
invent one. Your body is a natural tripod. You can also lean up
against a tree or wall or sit on a chair for stability.
Proper set up
- Use a wide footprint (the legs of
the tripod should be as far apart as possible for the height you
want it set at).
- Extend the legs of the tripod out
the distance needed to reach the appropriate height.
- Attach quick release platform to
the bottom of the camera.
- Turn the crank until the camera
lens is level or even with the subjects eye level.
Tripod Motion
The tripod allows you to move the camera
in two ways - pan (side to side) or tilt (up or down).
- If not already done, place the camera
on the tripod.
- Insert battery or plug in AC adapter.
- Turn the camera on.
- Press "Eject" and insert
VHS tape with the window facing out. Then "Push Here"
gently.
- Remove lens cap.
- Make sure camera is set to "Camera"
not "VCR".
- Compose your shot.
- When ready to record press the red
button.
The following are standard or basic
features on any camera. We will be working with Panasonic VHS video
camera.
- Battery Pack - power source.
Make certain you charge them!
- AC Adapter - power source.
Use this power source over the battery pack whenever possible.
- View Finder - A small eyepiece
or screen on the camera that allows you to see the image you're
recording. (The camera also acts as a VCR, so you can play back
and watch what you have already recorded through the view finder).
- Zoom — This feature
allows you to gradually zoom in for close ups and zoom out for
wide angle shots by pressing the "T" or "W".
This camera has a special two speed power zoom. By pressing
the "T" or "W" lightly this will allow you
to zoom in and out slowly. For quicker zooms press normally.
- Focus - There are two
positions for focus - auto and manual. When you focus in "manual",
you control the focus with the focus wheel. To make sure your
shots are in focus, zoom in and focus up close first, then zoom
back. This insures that what you are shooting is focused to
the greatest extent possible. Manual focus is good to use when
there is a lot of movement of dominant figures. When the camera
is in "auto focus" it will automatically focus on the dominant
figure in the center of the view finder. Because it focuses
automatically on the dominant figure, it will adjust to whatever
becomes dominant. For example, if you are focused on a person
several feet away, and someone walks in between the camera and
the other person, the camera will adjust to focus on the new
dominant figure - the person who walked in front of the camera.
- Fade - a gradual increase
or decrease of the image and sound. You can fade an image to
black, or do the reverse.
- Frame - a single, complete
video image that lasts 1/30th of a second. There are 30 frames
in a second. If your camera or editing system can measure frames,
you can use this as a counter to log your video tape.
- Date/Clock - generally
much easier than setting your VCR! This will show the date and
time - sometimes the date and time will not only appear through
the view finder, but also on the video (which you may not want).
- Backlight — Use this
feature if the main subject is darker then the surrounding scene.
- Tally Light — This
is a recording indicator light. When lit it will let anyone
in front of the camera see that it is recording.
There are four basic camera shots
- Wide shot This
shows the whole scene. Frequently, you'll see video pieces begin
with a wide shot. This shot is also good if there's a lot of
movement. This would show a person from head to toe.
- Medium Shot This
shot shows less of a scene than the wide shot. For example,
if you were interviewing someone, this shot would show him or
her from about the waist up in a medium shot.
- Close Up Shot This
shot shows an even smaller part of the subject or scene. Great
for showing detail, like a person's emotional face or individual
leaves on a tree. If you were interviewing someone, this shot
would show the person from the top of the chest or shoulders
up.
- Extreme Close Up Shot
is even closer than a Close Up. For example, it is just of the
person's eyes, or of a bug gnawing on a leaf.
* Composition - There are
many ways to compose a shot, depending on your goals. You want
to be aware of what is in the shot and what isn't. Can you clearly
see what you intend for the viewer to see?
* Rule of Thirds - this
classic rule suggests that the center of the camera's attention
is one-third of the way down from the top of the shot.
* Headroom - A term used
with shots of people. This refers to the space above the subject's
head. You'll see different amounts of headroom, depending on
the intent of the creator of the video. In general, if you're
standing right in front of someone, you'll see that they have
space all around them - they aren't cut off by a frame. By leaving
headroom, or space beside them, you are imitating what you see
in real life.
* Talking/Walking Room -
If you are interviewing someone or have video of someone talking,
you generally do not want them looking directly at the camera
(again, it depends on your goals - certain situations may call
for that). Generally, you want the person to be looking off
to the left or right of the camera a bit. When you do this,
frame your shot so that there is some talking room. That is,
you want to leave some extra space in front of their face as
if you were going to draw a dialogue box in for them. This space
is "talking room." If the person is talking to another person,
this shows space between them. Walking room, if the person in
motion, gives them space to walk to. Talking/Walking Room leaves
space in the shot for the action, whether it be words or movement.
Your shot angle is the level from which
you look at your subject.
* Eye-level angle - One
of the most commonly used shots is the eye-level shot. Why?
Because it's the perspective most familiar to us - we usually
see things from our own eye-level. This angle also causes the
least discomfort because we're used to it. If you're shooting
a person, make sure you shoot at their eye-level, not yours.
* Low Angle - In this shot,
the camera looks up at the subject, making it seem important,
powerful, or perhaps larger than it is to the viewer. For example,
you might be sitting on the ground looking up at someone who
is standing.
* High Angle - In this shot,
the camera looks down on the subject, decreasing its importance.
The subject looks smaller. It often gives the audience a sense
of power, or the subject a sense of helplessness. In this case,
you'd be higher than the other person (maybe they're sitting,
or maybe you're standing on a desk) looking down on that person.
* Pan - A shot taken moving
on a horizontal plane (from left to right, right to left). If
you want to show a frisbee flying across a field, you might
use this shot to follow the Frisbee from one person to another.
* Tilt - Camera movement
in a vertical plane. (up or down) If you want to show a tall
building but you can't get it all in your shot, you might start
at the bottom of the building and go up to the top.
* Zoom - This shot brings
you closer to the subject. For example, from a Wide Shot to
a Medium Shot or Close Shot. If you are looking at the Golden
Gate Bridge, and you want to see individual people walking across
it, you might zoom in. >
* Reverse Zoom - This shot
moves you farther away from the subject. For example, from a
Close Shot to Medium Shot or a Wide Shot. If you have a Close
Up shot of a flower, and want to see the entire field that the
flower is in, you can reverse zoom.
There are several types of microphones
that can be used to gather sound depending on your purposes. We
will describe three different types of microphones.
- Camera Mic - This mic s
built on the camera. This small microphone is "omni-directional,"
meaning it will pick up sounds from all directions. This is
good to use to capture general audio from an event, but nothing
very specific. Since the microphone is closer to you than to
your subject, be careful - if you're talking, your voice will
dominate.
- Wireless Lavaliere Mic -
This is a small microphone, about one inch tall, that can be
clipped onto a piece of clothing about six to eight inches below
the speaker's chin. A thin cord attaches the microphone to a
battery pack that the speaker can put in their pocket or clip
onto their clothing. Because it is not directly attached to
the camera, it is called a "wireless" microphone. This is good
to use to capture the sound of the speaker.
- Pressure Zone Microphones
- Usually referred to as a PZM mic. This is a general
purpose microphone for amplifying a large source of sound, like
a group of people or a board meeting. The PZM is typically placed
on a table or flat surface. The PZM mic is not very discerning
on what it picks up so if people are close enough to the table
to touch or bump it it may cause clicking or scraping noises
that are not noticeable in the meeting but very audible on the
tape. To prevent this from happening you may want to put a small
piece of foam or towel underneath the PZM to protect it from
picking up odd sounds. The PZM microphones are also known as
Boundary Microphones or Phase-Coherent Cardioids
.
- Insert a 9volt battery in both the
transmitter and the receiver.
- Screw on the antenna to the receiver
and attach to camera.
- Plug in the audio signal cable from
the "ext mic" outlet on the camera to the "mic
out" outlet on the receiver.
- Plug in the earphones to the "Phone
out" on the receiver.
- Plug in the lavaliere mic into the
"Mike Input" on the transmitter.
- Make sure the "Freq" switch
is set to the same letter on both the receiver and transmitter.
- Switch the "Power" button
over to "On" on both the receiver and transmitter.
- You should now be able to test the
mic and listen with the ear phone.
Place the camera on a tripod generally
between 1/3 and 1/2 of the way back from the front of the class.
The physical arrangement of classrooms and the activities that take
place within them vary greatly. It is helpful to plan when and where
the action will take place. The camera should be placed so that
it can easily tape the front of the room keeping in mind that you
may want the main chalkboard or audiovisual device, and some of
the students in the shot. If there is a camera operator, the position
should also allow for easy panning to other areas of the classroom.
The camera should be set up on the
side of the classroom with the largest set of windows, thus keeping
the major light source at the camera back. This orientation will
minimize overexposure due to backlighting. If the classroom has
windows on both sides of the room, choose the side that looks best
overall. Also, keep in mind that it often is possible to pull window
shades if you feel positioning the camera opposite the windows would
be a better alternative. In fact, often you will need to pull the
blinds even if the windows are behind you so as to avoid reflection
on the board or other equipment.
| Other
Issues to Consider in Placing the Cameras |
Top
of Page |
Overhead projectors, slides, multiple
AV presentations.
You should take into account the audiovisual
materials that will be used so as to position yourself at a vantage
point from which you can best capture see them.
Direction in which students are facing.
Try to position the teacher camera
so that you can see the faces of at least some of the children (if
not the majority). This will reduce the chance that you have to
remove the camera from the tripod.
Clear view.
You want to avoid having students sitting
directly in front of the camera because they will block your view.
If you find a very good position, but a student is in your way,
ask the student to move.
Some Common Situations, and Where to
Place the Cameras
In this section we will illustrate
where to place cameras in a variety of classroom settings with different
instructional activities. In any event, you should always keep in
mind in making your decisions of where to place cameras.
Situation 1: Window Opposite
from the Door, Chalkboard at the Front, Movable Student-Desks Facing
the Front
This situation is probably the most
common classroom setting. You can place the teacher camera by the
window, 1/3 of the way from the front, and the student camera near
you, leaving it aimed at the students behind the camera. Keep the
teacher camera on the tripod as long as you can document what the
teacher and students are doing.
Situation 2: Chalkboard at the
Front, Window On the One Side, Student Desks Arranged in a U-Shape
You should place the teacher camera
where you have a good view of the teacher and the chalkboard, and
students are not blocking your view. Place the student camera in
the front corner where the camera is not in the view of the teacher
camera.
• Make sure that you set up the
student camera as high as possible to avoid students’ heads
blocking its view.
Situation 3: Students Sit in
Groups, Windows on Two Sides of the Room In this situation 1/3 view
may apply. The 1/3 view is placing the subject towards the upper
third of the screen. If you place the head of your subject in the
middle of your screen you will create empty space at the top.
Again place the teacher camera so that
you have a good view of the teacher. Try to avoid backlighting situation.
If possible, close the blind of the window that is in your view.
Situation 4: Large Science Lab,
Student-Desks Not Movable
Often science labs are much larger
than normal classrooms, and student-desks are built-in so that you
cannot move them. Because the room is large, often there are enough
rooms for students to sit even if you occupy few seat spaces (see
the diagram below). However, make sure you ask the teacher if it
does not cause any problem. When group experiment starts, you may
need to lower the angle of the student camera slightly so that it
captures the group in front of the camera while documenting other
groups’ activities as well.
When beginning to videotape it is very
helpful to record a few minutes of test video. This will provide
you with a sample of what your picture will look and sound like.
If the frame of your shot is too wide or too close-up then you have
a chance to adjust it before the real shoot. Listen very closely
to the sound quality to determine if the microphone is (first) working
and (second) placed in an area that will be giving you the optimal
quality of sound.
If being on camera is new to you, it
may be an uncomfortable experience. It is important to remember
that the camera is recording everything you say and do. If you want
to whisper something to someone and don’t want it on the tape
remember to turn the mike off. When you review yourself on videotape,
you will become aware of habits in your speech and body language
that you never noticed before. The more often you review yourself
on tape, the easier it will be for you.
Caution
When leaving the camera unattended
for a long period of time you may want to remove it from the tripod
until ready to record.
Most devices continue to draw power
even when turned off. Be sure to remove batteries when the camera
is not in use. If you will not be using the camera for more
then an hour or so you may want to remove all batteries from the
camera and microphones.
Check List - Part of planning
your video shoot is making sure you have everything you're going
to need (cables, lights, microphone, video tape, tripod, camera,
etc.). Test all equipment ahead of time. Better to replace a dead
battery before you leave for a shoot, than have to cancel the shoot
when you get there.
Download PDF version 
Video Production
101(28K)
| The freely available Adobe Acrobat
Reader is required to view and print PDF files, click on the
icon at the right to download Acrobat Reader today. |
 |
Top of
Page
