Course Reflection

This class has been the most beneficial of my college career. Before this semester the only cameras I had ever touched were the JVC 100 and a Flip I bought one day when I was bored. Now I feel technically sound on a multitude of camera and have the knowledge to work my way around cameras I have never used before.

I did not know a thing about lighting before this class, and now I have the base to set up hard and soft lighting situations. I may not get it right on the first set up, but I know how to troubleshoot and get things to look the way I want once the initial set up has been made.

This class taught me some of the finer aspects of composition like eyelight and Hitchcock's rule. The filmmaker's eye was really helpful in this regard. I have become more snobby in which locations I will use to shoot something. Before I was only concerned about space, but now I'm also worried about what the space looks like. Setting up in a poor place is no excuse for bad composition.

I gained a handle on which lenses to use in what situation and was willing to try more combinations of lenses at certain apertures as opposed to 201.

The production meeting finally made all the previsualization hit home for me. Before that I would just keep it all in my head, but really the more previsualization techniques you use: shot list, shooting script, story boards, floor plans, the better your project turns out. It's much easier to show people as opposed to tell them.

And finally I think my style is starting to come into it's own. Enjoy shooting classic hollywood style shots, but I also like to change them up with dynamic 21st century shots.

DP REEL

Artist Statement

Although I am still relatively new to film, I feel my voice is taking shape nicely. I want to make films where every moment feels like it's big. Many times a movie will open and the audience with say, "Ah, this is so smooth, so sick, so intense. This movie is going to be great, then things level off. I want to sustain that feeling for a whole 90 minutes.

 I want to make comedies that go beyond the basic structure of shot, that are funny and tragically deep at the same time. Comedies that play with light and composition to accentuate the humor.
I want to make action movies with lots of guns and a plot that doesn't leave wives falling asleep. Action movies that have swooping crane shots and reveals.

I will accomplish this with a style that is dynamic. Cameras tilted. Either positioned like your on the fringe of the action, or right in the thick of it. There is no room to hang out in the dead space. I want to follow the grammar of shot so well that when I break it, everyone knows it was on purpose, even the untrained audience. Everything is calculated, everything is precise.

Learning #2

Since the last post about learning we have shot our scene assignments. Working with classmates was a great experience. Gripping and gaffing was a nice no pressure way to observe and learn things. It taught me that other people have creative ideas and solutions. Maybe before this class I thought that my way was the best way 100 percent of the time. Now it's probably the best way 95% of the time. The main thing I am focusing on now is selecting good areas to shoot and really paying attention to focus. My strengths include framing and I also feel that I have a better sense of how to light indoors better than most of my peers.

I hope to ultimately direct, but I would still be very happy with myself as a director of photography or even a cameraman as long as I was being a cameraman for something cool.

Best Camera

The guy from NOFILMSCHOOL aptly said the best camera is the one you have. In my case sense I don't have a camera at the moment, I will go with the camera I am most likely to get, which is a t2i. The biggest reason is price to quality ratio. The limitations include the really shallow depth of field, shakiness when not mounted on a tripod and overheating. The strengths include great picture quality, price and size. It's a lot easier to rock a t2i and people not get freaked as opposed to say an ex3.

DSLR cinematography

DSLR cameras are great because they are an inexpensive way to get really great looking video. You can plug so many different lenses on them, you have a lot of range in the way of style you want. The ISO reading gives you another way to control lighting.

To me the biggest limitation is depth of field. The crushed depth of field a DSLR gives you is great, but it's almost like you have to put together a series of talking portraits. The subjects can't move vertically and stay in focus. They also can't shoot for more than 10 minutes or so at a time which can be problematic for interviews. They are so small that they are sensitive to movement. Handheld isn't much of an option with DSLRs, I have had some success stabilizing them on my knee though.

The EX3 w/ the 35mm adapter would be the rig I would use to shoot an independent full feature at this moment. It can be mounted onto jibs and shoulder harnesses and with the adapter it has really good picture quality.

SCENE ASSIGNMENT

Word