Making movies
car stereo. Then back to a wider shot of the car pulling off the drive. You’ve just filmed your first scene. It’s always a good idea to get as many angles of the action as possible, from various viewpoints and using different focal lengths on your zoom. Try having a high-angle shot from an upstairs room looking down on top of the car as it is loaded. Or maybe put the camera in the boot, and let the kids open the boot and put the kit inside. Perhaps a low-angle shot of the car pulling away and driving into the distance. Having a range of shots gives you lots of choice in the edit and makes your film look even more professional. Write down a list of shots you need to take in each scene to ensure the story makes sense. Most films are made up of lots of small clips like this usually only a few seconds long; yet when they are assembled together, it tells a tale. But what about settings? Many cameras offer fully auto video settings. However just like in stills, it is far better to take control and set things manually. That way, the “You might want to write down a list of shots you need to take in each scene, to ensure the story makes sense”
BASIC CAMERA SET-UP Recapping from last issue’s feature on camera settings, first you need to set your video resolution and format. You don’t really need 4K as the file sizes will be big. Full HD 1080p produces films good enough for most TVs and computers.
But you will have no options to crop in post-production. Manual white-balance is great, but auto white-balance provides a workable result.
In terms of formats, cameras most often use MOV or MP4. MOV is better for editing and MP4 for straight out of camera. Some offer video Raw, but this adds complication beginners don’t need. You may get a choice of video compression settings. All-Intra is better quality and takes up more space, while Long GOP (Group of Pictures) is lower quality. For newbies, if you are editing in HD, just film in HD.
FAST COMPANY A setting of 120p is a rapid frame rate – ideal for slow motion
exposure won’t suddenly change in the middle of the shot. Adjusting shutter speed, aperture and ISO affects exposure, just as in stills. When recording video, though, don’t change your shutter speed to vary exposure. Shutter speed is set as close as possible to twice the frame rate you are shooting at. In the UK, video is watched at 25fps, so set the frame rate and stick to 1/50sec shutter speed as it gives an impression of movement. You then change the ISO or aperture, or use ND filters – if you have them – to get the exposure right. If your camera offers faster frame rates than this – for example, 50fps or 100fps typically – then you set the shutter speed at 1/100sec or 1/200sec respectively as it’s double the frame rate. Then in post-processing, you can slow this footage down to half or quarter speed for some cool slow- motion effects. For focus, old-school filmmakers swear by manual focus only, aided by the ‘peaking’ feature in the viewfinder or screen. This shows a brightly coloured outline of anything that’s in focus. Manual focus works as the camera doesn’t hunt for focus during the shot, but it is tricky to do –
In post-processing, you can go some way to solving audio problems, but these are advanced techniques. If you have very little usable audio, consider adding an audio track of some cool music to your film. Lots are available for free online, so choose one that matches the look and feel of what you’ve produced. With a title, lots of shots to tell the story and some audio or music, you have all the ingredients to assemble your first film. PN
has a pan and tilt head to help you move with the action. If you don’t have a tripod, try to rest the camera on something solid when you can; a beanbag can work wonders. Sound me out Nothing ruins a film more than bad sound. If you don’t have an external mic, you can use your camera’s own internal mic. However it is small, not very powerful and will pick up any noise from touching your camera to change settings, so it needs to be used with care. In the settings menu, you can usually dial in some wind noise reduction in case it’s breezy. You can set a manual audio level which is shown as a series of small blocks that light up in sequence to show the noise level. Try to set the level so these are usually around two-thirds of the way along in each scene, and don’t go into the red zone as there will be nasty interference.
especially with your conventional AF zoom or prime lenses. If it’s your first video, it can be a good idea to leave your camera to autofocus on the scene using continuous AF. If it has subject detection settings, face detection, hybrid phase and contrast detect autofocus, as many of the latest mirrorless cameras do, it can be one less thing to worry about. It’s often best to slow the AF transition speed down, as a slow focus pull is usually more visually pleasing. Some cameras do offer touch- to-focus on the rear touchscreen. This is a bonus for filming and doing creative focus pulls between two objects, but for someone walking towards the camera, use tracking AF. Always watch the footage back to see if it stayed sharp, as you might need to reshoot otherwise. Another thing that can ruin a shot is wobbly footage. If you have a tripod or monopod, use it – especially if it
HOLIDAY MODE Like in stills, you can set shutter or aperture priority, manual and program modes – manual is best
42 Photography News | Issue 104
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