Today’s Plan:
- Work List #1 Videos
- Schroeppel on Basic Composition
- Work List #2
- Homework
Quick Feedback on First Video
Let’s talk aspect ratios. How do adjust aspect ratio, file size. (If your video has the black edges on both sides). 4:3 vs 16.9.
Lot’s of camera jiggle. Do not try to move while shooting. You *need* a tripod.
Think about clearing re-arranging spaces.
Work List #1
Schroeppel on Basic Composition
I asked you to read Schroeppel’s chapter 2, “Basic Composition.” Here’s the sections of the camera:
- Use a Tripod (“camera jiggle… destroy[s] the illusion that they’re seeing the real thing”).
- Rule of Thirds
- Balance – Leading Looks (“head room”)
- Balance – Masses
- Balance – Colors (“the brighest area is also the area you want the viewers to look at first” pg 34)
- Angles (“To give the illusion of depth, we show things at an angle, so we can at least see two sides”)
- Shooting downward, makes things seem less important
- Shooting upward, makes things seem more important
- Frames within the Frame
- Leading lines (use “lines” in background to direct view attention to the main subject)
- Backgrounds (do not allow backgrounds to distract from subject
- Backgrounds that penetrate the subject
- Busy backgrounds
- Photo bombing (distracting motion in the background)
Generating a Rubric
Here’s the rubric we brainstormed last year:
- Is there camera jiggle?
- Are shots framed using the rule of thirds?
- Is there space in front of faces (head room)?
- Do shots consider:
- Weight?
- Contrast (brightness?)
- Angled / provide depth?
- Lines lead into subject?
- Potentially framed?
- Contain backgrounds free from distractions?
Our goal for the next few weeks is to think about becoming deliberate when lining up a shot. Think of lining up a shot like painting a landscape. When it comes to videography, a lot of the work is learning to think in shots, to aim the camera with thoughtful purpose. The list above covers some of the fundamental things you should be thinking about before you hit play.
Shooting video “on the scene” requires you think like a director. You will want to position yourself, or your subject, like a photographer would. Let’s try an exercise.
I want you to break into teams of two. Imagine that you have been hired to shot a short interview with a new UNC librarian. As prep, you need to determine how you will line up your camera for the interview. You know you want two shots: a wide (or establishing) shot and a medium or medium close up shot (we will deal with types of shots soon–for today, a quick glimpse should do it). The wide shot should establish that we are at a library (duh, we are interviewing a librarian).
Take turns playing the role of photographer and model, err, librarian. Please take two photographs: one wide and one medium. Since Canvas has been crappy with photographs, please rename them to yourlastname_wide and yourlastname_med and upload them to this Google Drive folder.
Work List #2
Our second worklist project will be due next Wednesday before class.
For the second project, I want you to practice shooting outside. Make a promotional video for a place. If you can work with a partner or a friend, someone who can act as the subject of your video, great! But it is okay if you can’t.
The place you select should be outside (and not just because of social distancing). Think about lighting, angles, etc. If, like me, you own a short tripod, then you will really have to be strategic about where you can set up your camera (do you have a stool you can bring with you? Are there places/tables/etc you can set up your camera?). Remember Stockman and Schroeppel’s advice to use your legs–turn the camera off, move it, reestablish your shot, etc.
- These videos should be 30-45 seconds long
- Shots should be 5 seconds or less
- Try to include title text for the video
- The video should have a short audio narration (maybe 40-50 words of writing can comfortably fit into 30 seconds?)
Homework
Three things:
- Work List #2 is due next Wednesday, September 9th
- Read Schroeppel, chapter 3, for next Wednesday. This week, I laid out the reading for you. Next week, I’ll ask you to do something, using Schroeppel as a guide.
- Friday’s Adobe Classroom in a Book lesson 5: Mastering the Essentials of Video Editing (estimated time 60 minutes). Take a screenshot after you complete Creating Subclips and again after the Insert Edit
