Building a rig

Spent some time today building a slider rig, after watching a video of how somebody made their own at a fraction of what I would cost to buy a professional one using nothing more then some bits of wood, screws and a drawer runner I attempted to build one myself. I dug out some old scraps of wood we had as well as bits of MDF and cut them down into various sizes to act as a stand and balance for the rig as well as acting a platform for my camera I also managed to find a quarter inch screw that just about fits in my camera but doesn't thread right in. The next thing was to get a drawer runner so after a quick trip to the screw fix round the corner I got the longest drawer runner they sold and proceeded to attach it all together as you can see in the picture. The rig isn't completed yet, as i discovered that the original place I mounted the panel for the camera results in some instabilities. So taking that into consideration I need to mount it on the opposite side that will take some more screws and boots which I will be purchasing tomorrow. Hopefully it will come together nicely as just by playing around with it already I can tell it should work nicely as the runner is very smooth and with a little lubricant will only make it a smoother slide. I also purchased two 500w work lights with a stand today that will be coming on Monday and the good thing is it comes with a stand. I'm hoping it will serve as a light source for when I finish Uni and have know means of getting lighting without buying it. Some of the reviews say the bulbs go quick but I have been looking at for replacing them with professional bulbs if they are available and will work with it. Tomorrow shall tell whether the slider works anyway and I shall post pictures and what not with it in action.

hard and soft lighting and incident light meter readings

http://www.sekonic.com/Whatisyourspecialty/Photographer/Articles/Incident-and-Reflected-Light.aspx

The above link has been a great source of inspiration of late. It has really help me get to grips with the understanding of light and the different types of light in terms of soft and hard and how those lights become either soft or hard and also the different types of light readings and how to apply them.

The great thing about this article is how simple the explanations are yet incredibly informative and have really helped my understanding of how to use my light meter to get the correct exposure levels. Starting with the point of the difference between hard and soft light, the article explains how the size of the light and closeness of the subject effects whether the light is hard or soft. One thing I didn’t think was that I could use one light and set it too far back and it becomes a hard light instead of positioning it close and it becoming a softer light of course its finding the balance between putting a bright light too close to a subject and have to stop it down too far one thing I am starting to consider more and more with reading articles like this is to consider the look you are trying to achieve in a piece, for example if you want to shoot on a shallow depth of field I realise have the lighting too strong would hamper the ability to do so as I it would be too washed out so its understanding how to use the light to compliment the look you want to go for and not just read the light and instantly use the corresponding aperture as the depth of field that may be attained by using that aperture may be undesirable for the look you are trying to attain. I now realise that the only way to learn and understand this is with practising with different lights, different lenses and different exposure levels as it one might want be underexposing or slightly overexposing an image. I think the more I read and the more I practise then I can only get better at judging the light not just for the correct exposure but also for its artistic measure, so finding the common ground between understanding lights, lenses, light measurement, and all the rest of the technical side is difficult and complicated but no cinematographer is complete without knowing how to use them all to create a look wanted that is the true factor in successful cinematography. The next important element that the article covers is also how to use light meters to get the correct exposures using incident light metering. This is something that I have been wanting to learn for a great deal of time now and this article has been very useful as well as other articles on the site. I felt it was important as, as I have mentioned in previous posts I now, after working with my light meter with Hugh Gordon I finally understood how to set it yet and was not confident in using it to get correct exposure levels but after reading this article and working with it on the filming of the eurosport advert I now feel I can start to use to get good light meter levels. After working with it and reading articles like this I then read the instructions that came with my light meter and they made far more sense now it explained how to record the incident light with high and low light and how to set it with this in mind as well as how to set and hold differently when taking a reflective reading. This has now lead me down the road of trying to get a better understanding of how to read reflected light. Something which from earlier readings seems far more complex in terms of getting the correct levels in terms of greys and blacks but there is also another 2 articles on this same site that covers reflected light that I have also briefly read over but intend to view it more depth to try and get a better handle on how to do it correctly.   

10 tips for shooting photgraphy

http://www.exposureguide.com/top-10-digital-photography-tips.htm

I know it may seem like I’m doing this all on one day as if I have only researched this today or something I assure I’m merely typing research work built up from nearly 2 months of work. I started to realise yesterday how had made some notes and links to websites I had read and not typed anything up for them, I realised that before getting too far behind on work I have been looking at I best do some typing it up.

This link is basically 10 interesting tips for taking good photos. Instead of covering all 10 features I thought it best to cover what I had taken from the page itself. One of the more interesting things I took from the page was about using a polarizing filter to lessen glare from metal, lights, water, reflections and such. I think looking at the differences between the two images the filter works so well for bringing out colours and lessening the burned out affects the sun can I have. The other thing was composing shots in thirds, this is something I hadn’t really considered until getting my DSLR which has multiple grids you can chose I never really understood the full use of it, I mainly considered it for positioning the subjects rather then also using it add depth of field and chose a point of focus rather than focusing the image in the centre. In terms of understanding how to avoid camera shake this is something I had already read about in terms of using a shutter speed no smaller than the focal length of the lens used. A               really good point made was the sunny 16 rule which I had never read about before until I read the article and I think it’s interesting rule to start with when shooting in the sun. Shooting on f16 with a 100 ISO and on 1/100^th of a second is a good place to start with in terms of shooting in the sun. I think applying this rule and then adjusting the settings using my light meter and own eye to create an interesting shot is the best way to start shooting day photography.  Also a good feature in the article is using a long depth of field and a wide angle lens for shooting landscape photography on. As well as some other like not using  flash indoors learning the best ISO to attain bright and less grainy photos as well as panning with action shots which I found particularly interesting instead of worrying about action shots being blurred this is an interesting way to look at action photos. 

Auto settings for DSLR's

http://www.exposureguide.com/camera-modes.htm

This is a link to a page about how the different settings on DSLR cameras work and the effects they have. Although it’s always my intention to shoot on manual settings I still think it’s a good thing to learn all the settings on my camera and how they work I think in general the better understanding I have in how my camera works the better images I can capture not just for photography and for filming. A good thing about reading this page is knowing I can set the camera to certain settings to get a good photo if I was struggling to capture in on manual settings another good thing is I can capture images on the different auto settings and then see what the camera is reading the settings as to get a better understanding of how the camera captures certain images. For example I have in the past had problems shooting fast moving images on manual settings although I am getting better the more I practise I think it will always prove useful to set the mode to sport mode which sets the camera to shoot sport and quick action photography and see what the camera says the best settings are. Then after doing that I can set the settings on manual to get the images I personally feel work better for me using my light meter and also my previous understanding of settings as well as the understanding  I have learned from setting the camera setting to sport mode. This is only an example of how I could use the auto settings to help me capture better shots on manual settings but the more I use both the less I would have to rely on the auto settings but as mentioned earlier it’s a useful sight that has helped me realise some settings I wasn’t aware the camera was capable of.

lighting black on black backgrounds

http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-shoot-black-objects-on-black-backgrounds

This has been a very useful link that really inspired my work on the lighting for the eurosport advert and although I didn't use different coloured gels like in this link but rather inspired some of my thinking in terms of how to use rim lighting on the subject we are focusing on, the line on the page which says how lighting is just as much about what not to light as it is, what to light. This really got me thinking about how to apply lighting to the correct areas. When lighting the bike I wanted to cast the light from the back just on the wheels so that the lighting looked like it was coming from the front and casting a circular light like the tires behind the bike, this then the lit backside of the lower section of the bike and for higher shots of the bike I just moved the lights further up the frame of the bike but without trying to cast the light into the lens of the camera, instead using the natural shape of the bike with the light bouncing up it slightly. The link also proved useful for understanding how to light photos on black backgrounds when the subject is also useful although I wasn’t aware the subject would be black until it came to the day of the shoot, although from what I read on this page proved helpful when it came to the day of the shoot. It also help to think about not trying to light everything at once but rather turn lights off and on to get the main and fill and rim lights correct. It has also gave me some great thinking for the raven project I am working on in terms of casting some lighting strips to just light important areas like the eyes and face while the rest is in shadow.

Effects the sun plays for creating different lighting

http://www.lightstalking.com/capturing-the-beauty-of-natural-light-at-any-time-of-day

The above link is just a short look at how the lighting at different points in the day has different effects on the shots taken and how the light of the sun can make for different and interesting shots. The link covers the golden hour and the great the rising and setting sun has on the subjects we are shooting the golden colours work great especially this would complement autumn photography with the gold’s and browns of the falling leaves. The article also covers how a cloudy day can act as a perfect diffuser and I think the main thing about it got me thinking of how we should treat the sun just as another light as if we are shooting in a studio, although we can’t control its intensity or the weather that effects its brightness we can compensate for its brightness or lack of it with clever tools and techniques so as back lighting and reflectors. This means that in effect we can get a great shot in really any type of weather but we need the understanding of the tools and techniques needed to make them work and this is something I feel I am starting to gather a greater understanding of all the time, the more I work and research. 

ND Filters

http://www.lightstalking.com/strong-nd-filters

The above link is to an interesting article about how to use various ND filters and the different uses they have for long exposure photography . This is something I have been looking into in terms of the different uses of filters and how I could potentially use them in filmmaking. However this article is more based on how to use a B&W ND110 which is a 10 stop ND filter meaning the filter adds 10 stops of darkness to the image, what this effectively means that one can do long exposure photography in bright daylight because of the amount of light it stops entering the sensor. As you can see In the link it makes from great looking photography. One of the main aspects of my interest in this is how one can shoot water for long exposures and the effect on the image is making the water like wispy and dreamlike which is very interesting. However this effect can’t be attained with using a 10 stop filter for film but the theoretical use for such a filter could be the artistic ability to shoot in bright daylight and make it look it dark although I haven’t tested this theory as almost all of the use for such a filter is for photography but another interesting feature of this article is how 2 and 3 stop filters work, this could definitely be used for filming, for simple things like darkening a bright image and taking some of the glare of washed-out effects the sun has on a more open aperture. I hope to be buying some filters as I want to understand how they work in a hands on way rather than just reading about it. However they can be very expensive and most don’t fit to lenses I currently own so I would need an adapter for to add to them. Unfortunately the good filters are very expensive on their own to add additional costs to that, at the moment seem a little unnecessary considering the amount of equipment I would like to own and would be more practical for the use I need them for. But adding to that I do hope to get into photography more as one of the things I've considered is learning wedding photography as  a way of not only making money but also to make some more money after university as I spend time studying , researching, writing and improving my ability and understanding of cinematography. As one of the things I have been looking into is spending some time in Hawaii where my cousin lives doing some wedding photography as I will already have a way of getting set up there as he will hopefully be able to get me in contact with some people over there. A massively adventurous dream would be using his contacts with NASA that he works for and the recent filmmaking and documentaries he has been doing for American TV about his understanding of his specialist subject as a way of getting involved in TV over there. As mentioned this a wild and adventurous dream, but then again what are without dreams and aspirations. 

Silhouette photography

http://www.petapixel.com/2012/11/19/tips-for-shooting-killer-silhouette-photos/
This is a really interesting article about how to shoot some really interesting silhouette photos. There is some really good images in this article and I feel very inspired by some of the use of dark and shadows and the use of the setting sun are great. I  would love to recreate something like this in a shoot I'm planning on doing based on the silent movie era. The story itself will be a modern story told using silent film techniques and most of the story plays out on a flight of stairs under a street lamp. I would love to be able to recreate some of the shots like this. One shot I was thinking about was under the street lamp as in one scene they male and female characters are slow dancing together. I think a shot in which they are both dancing slowly shadowed and silhouetted like some of these shots like be great. I am looking into doing some tests lighting and shots soon for it so will hopefully a bit of practise and I will be able to start recreating such a look which of course I will post about on here.

Long exposure photography

http://www.exposureguide.com/long-exposure-photography-tips.htm

This was a really good guide to different ways of using long exposure photography and the different styles and effects you can get from different exposures and shooting different objects to make really interesting shots. I think the more I read things like this the greater appreciation I have for photography and also the links between photography and and film and the roles of cinematographers In that. I think the main things I have been learning from looking more into photography as well as film is the effect of lighting, lenses and shot compositions! I think this is a great way to expand my knowledge and ability in filmmaking and cinematography and hopefully pay off further down the line. 

The human and eye vs the lens

http://www.petapixel.com/2012/11/17/the-camera-versus-the-human-eye/
Not too much to say on this apart from i found it a really interesting to see the science and the relationship between the human eye and the relevant lens sizes equal to how we see things with our own eyes.

star trails guide

http://www.lightstalking.com/how-to-photograph-star-trails

The above link is a guide to shooting light trails again although not directly linked to film it is linked to ligting and cinematography and is something i have become interested in of late not just star trails but also long exposure photography to get a better abilty and understanding lighting its also a good way of learning time lapse photography which of course can be very useful and interesting for film

some lighting set ups for portrait photography

http://digital-photography-school.com/one-light-portraits-part-2-the-diagramsthe

The above link is to some ways of shooting portrait photography using lighting examples. One of the main things I found interesting in these examples is the numerous ways you can position a light and then direct the light back onto the subject by bouncing lights of things and using reflectors. Another thing I found very interesting was how you can use an ordinary household light and a sheet to create soft looking light. This is just one example of set ups I’ve been looking at of late and it’s been inspiring several ideas not just for film but also ideas for photography especially seeing as we have been looking at doing some portrait photography to raise money for the degree show.

eurosport advert

Its been a while and I promise I’ve been busy studying all sorts so much so that I have started to lose track of all the things I have been studying to catalogue it through this blog, so I will start from last week.

Last week we shot scenes for our Eurosport advert for the Tour de France. I think the last thing I spoke about the advert was how we had gone into the bike shop to ask them about shooting. Well we have moved on a fair bit since then. We shot in the bike shop and it went relatively well as seems to be too often the case, for my liking anyway we shot a lot of it on the fly that seemingly would be the way it’s done with students well at least the students on this course anyway. It makes for some interesting moments at least meaning I had to quickly react with lighting set ups and camera settings while we quickly shot a wide variety of shots most of the shots were long tracking shots on the handmade wooden rig the people I have been working with had made its good definitely for something handmade however it could stick a little meaning not all the shots were as smooth as I would have liked. The main issue we faced was the lack of lighting available to us. As mentioned earlier they had requested we didn’t drag big lights in with wires as they were concerned with customers tripping over wires or the wires getting in the way. This meant had to think very much on my feet and reposition some of the overhead lights they had available which were pointed at the walls, I repositioned them to light the front of the bike and cast one of the lights behind to cast on the wall just to add a little light to the back of the bike and on the wall to add a bit of definition to between it and the wall and opted to keep the light on the background as low as possible as we didn’t have a black background to cover the back up like we wanted to instead chose to keep it darkly lit and keep it shot on a low depth of field to keep the eye on the bike and background out of focus. We also had Kyles small LED light to bring a bit more colour and light out of the bike. The main thing I used it for was adding more shine of the metal and the paint to make the bike glow a little and to also just light it a little more due to the lack of light we had available. To be honest I think it worked rather well as I feel we lit the scene well. The main issues we had with it was that we had with shooting it was the lack of planned shots we had which meant there was some awkwardness in trying to achieve certain shots with the lighting which resulted in one shot hanging the slider rig with my camera upside down on our shoulders and then then we had issued with getting a shot the guys wanted which meant we had to change lenses to Andy’s wider lens which unfortunately only shoots at 2.8 aperture where ‘as the lens we was shooting on before that was 1.8 so not only had the focal length changed so had the lighting which meant the lighting became dark  with no real way of correcting with very little lighting available which also resulted in the background coming into focus more. This was a slight annoyance of mine as if the need for this shot would have explained to me before the shoot I could have at  least planned for something to improve this slightly however this didn’t prove a huge problem and I am still very happy with some of the shots we got.

                We then followed this shoot on with work in the studio the main shots we wanted to get was of somebody dressed in biking gear with a bike in shot. This job fell to Kyle’s brother who came in, in some wet suit gear which didn’t have the full effect of biking gear especially for people who know biking clothes. Then we had the issue of the bike being a mountain bike instead of a racing bike. This was something I wasn’t aware of until the day of the shoot as sometimes found it hard to find out what’s going on with the shoot I have written my own treatment originally for an idea for it which was rejected by the group for a studio looking shoot this is something that didn’t bother me as I felt the studio shoot would be simpler and more controlled however I had told the them how I had discussed the possibility of shooting with a group of amateur bike group I know who practise and race on a weekend who were more than willing to allow us to shoot with them. This is I felt we could have got some good shots with but after telling the group they asked if they could come to the studio to shoot and after telling them how they lived too far away and worked in the week it would only be feasible and fair to meet them where they practise and race to shoot them. This idea was rejected again in favour for the studio shoot which I had very little information on in terms of what they are trying to achieve in terms of style, look or concept. However they were both very confident in what they wanted to achieve and trusting in their knowledge and ability I was happy to go with it as they will gave a good idea of what they wanted for it. When we went into the studio I could see that they had plans for what they wanted for it. So the day before myself and Kyle set up the lights and dolly for the following days shoot as best we could without having the bike and actor in. The good thing was, by doing this meant that I could set up the right lighting for the actor and bike reasonably quickly the only issue was how tall the actor was but this wasn’t too much of a problem. I felt rather happy with the look of the lighting I achieved for the scene. I used a big 650w light with a bit of diffuser on it to take a little harshness of the shadows, and then the second light was also a 650w with heavier diffusion on it  and blue gels on it to try and take away some of the orange of light to make it whiter and cleaner to juxtapose against the black background and black bike which I was also not aware of. However I think the lighting and the shots we achieved with the crane and two tracks a curved track which we used to track around the bike and actor and then the straight track to move across the various points of the bike. I think the shots we achieved by using these we very professional looking  in my opinion. Again another problem I had was the changing of lenses from the 1.8 to 2.8 which meant lighting had to be changed for it again without my knowledge this wasn’t too much of a problem as I had enough available already to get some light from the less we had available due to the change in aperture. The main frustration really was the moving of the bike and actor to often without my consultation for the sake of trying to get a certain shot which meant that the lighting effects on the bike may have changed without my control as I was often have to reposition lights as the bike had been moved or lights knocked. However I felt from looking back on the footage that we got some very good shots that are very well lit and stylized.

The following is an early cut from the footage we got from the studio I have explained that I feel we need to tell the audience that the guy is not meant to represent an actual racer and rather somebody who aspires to be a racer but still loves the sport as I feel the current cut looks like it’s meant to say that the person in shot is meant to be a racer as this wouldn’t work due to the fact that it’s a mountain bike and he wasn’t in actual bike racing gear. This is something I hope will be achieved later through the rest of the edit. But as I don’t know entirely what they are trying to achieve with the final piece still this is something I can’t guarantee as I sometimes feel that my opinion is not being listened to as much as it was not my original idea, even though the original idea seems to have changed a lot in my eyes from its original inception.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V9KilHXOCU

A night if studying light readings

Spent the night searching the internet for different books and sources to help understand how to read incident light meter readings. After purchasing an old western master 5 light meter I have up to know failed to completely understand how to use it. After spending some time with Hugh Gordon who had previously used owned and used them he was kind enough to spend some time showing me how it works and how to set it. Which was a great help as had not known how to correctly set and use it. However I was unsure as to how to use it to get the right settings for my camera I had spent some time in the studio today and felt happy with my lighting set ups which I will do another post describing the days events later, however just briefly explaining the lights in relevance to the studies i have been doing tonight. I was overall happy with the set ups today there was some issues but the main thing was using my light meter to get the settings correct the main thing I was doing was reading the light intensity from the original lights but without the understanding of to chose the correct aperture when considering all the individual lights something which I'm currently trying to research and understand this was today's issue I was unsure how to get a correct reading. But after reading this section of a book I found which can be seen in the picture I now understand greater that I can light then scene and then put the light meter with the dome on and place it where the object we are shooting will be, facing the direction of the camera rather than the light and then setting the camera with the relevant settings taken from the light meter. I did some testing after reading this and discovered that not all of my ISO settings are present on my light meter as of its age but still covers most and works well still. I tested the readings from my light meter against the inbuilt light meter in my camera and found that the read very close which is good to know that my light meter is still reading light well something which Hugh gordon also supported by checking his new expensive reader against mine and finding that they area very close in its readings. Taking it forward I want to work more lighting set ups and work with my light meter to getter better and better results which I do feel will happen the more I do it and with experience as I feel my work has already started to improve with the more and recent research I have been doing.

Understanding the relationship between, shutter speed, aperture, ISO,and focal length

I have been spending some time looking at the relationship between shutter speed, aperture and focal length. After watching a video by digital Rev on how to shoot photography in the early morning with little light I decided to explore more about how to get the best shots with different lenses, one of the main things I discovered was the best relationship between the focal length of the lens and the best setting to shoot with on the shutter speed for example of shooting on a 50mm lens its best to shoot at a shutter speed above 50 for example 1/60th and if shooting on a 200mm lens above 1/250th to avoid camera shake. The website explains that if shooting on a 50mm lens it’s important not to shoot below 1/60th to avoid camera shake. Another good thing to website explained was how moving the shutter speed up or down effectively doubles or half’s the amount of light let as does the aperture so a good tool to use is if increasing the speed of the shutter speed to also increase the aperture by one stop also to compensate for it in lighting. Or alternatively increase the ISO the following is taken from the website as examples to consider

For example if you speed up your shutter speed one stop (for example from 1/125th to 1/250th) you’re effectively letting half as much light into your camera. To compensate for this you’ll probably need to increase your aperture one stop (for example from f16 to f11). The other alternative would be to choose a faster ISO rating (you might want to move from ISO 100 to ISO 400 for example).

 Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/shutter-speed#ixzz2I3pXFCXS

 I’ve found this very useful and although not directly linked to filmmaking I know and feel that the greater knowledge of how cameras work in a general sense the greater understanding i can take into filming a piece. Also as a general point i also want to understand how to be a competent photographer as well as filmmaker as this is another interest and passion of mine and also think it will prove a greater help in becoming a more accomplished cinematographer by having a greater understanding of lenses, light, shutter speed, aperture,ISO and relationship between them all.

Tour de France advert

Went into the Freetown bike shop today to ask about shooting in their shop. It's a real interesting set up and obviously full of expensive and interesting looking racing bikes we could use. All the staff were incredibly helpful and welcoming and said we can almost shoot whatever we want as long as we weren't getting in the way of customers or dragging cables through the store that people could trip over. This means we can almost get all the shots we want as the store has some really interesting places none more so then this set up that we put together that you can see in this picture. The wooden platform sits right at the back of the store and has several top lights above it that can he rotated to face the platform. After asking whether we could use the bike that you can see in shot we placed the bike on the platform just to get an idea for space that we could work in which works very well as there is great space around it which a means we will be able to cover almost all angles. The main reason behind requesting that bike is I felt it mirrors the colours of British euro sport rather well certainly out of the bikes they had available. For me it looks very professional like a bike that could easily be used for races like the Tour de France. But after studying a bit about the company we are making the advert for I think the colours represent their colours very well also so I hope to use a strong light on it to give the bike a shine and bring the brightness of the whites and blues out to represent how we want to show how Eurosport is love in HD so therefore the colours would be bright and bold which I hope to create with simple lights we can use without dragging a load to the building and then rigging wires across the shop as explained earlier they requested we didn't have wires running across the store so hopefully the above built in lights as well as the portable LED light we have available will be enough to bring the colours and the shimmer of the metal and alloy of the bike.

Potential shot and lighting for the raven early consideration

While taking some measurements in the studio and looking at some light placements I took this shot of an old table and lamp that I think would look very good for the raven. By simply replacing this chair with a chair more Victorian feel I think this is a shot that could work very well for the raven. I would potentially like to create a smaller more closed area to represent his dissent into madness and how he is closed of and trapped in his madness. I also want to take shots on more jaunty angles to add a more psychological sense to the shots alright this is purely a quick set up and taken ok on a phone it represents quite well the darkness I want to shoot the piece in again it's only an early attempt but ole which is giving me great consideration for similar shots and lighting. I think the greatest thing to consider with this photo is how somebody would look placed in that chair. We can almost picture how the the lamp will light a strip of the face while keeping the rest in darkness meaning we can focus the light on an area we want the audience to see like the eyes or the side f the face which I think would look really interesting and is something I'm trying to strive for, to only light smaller areas to draw the audiences eye to what we want them to see rather than the entire set.

Contemplating studio layouts

Spent a fair bit of time early this morning before cinematography sessions started in the studio just measuring areas of the studio and considering some light placements for the raven piece. Mainly did some measurements for a fake corridor to place outside the door that would allow me to use a strip of lighting that would create a long shadow and glaring light that would disorientate the character due to its brightness. The following are the measurements I took earlier;

61" from door to green screen
140" from inside of door to wall
29" width of door
78" height of door frame
90.5" height if set

61" length x 90.5" height x 30" width
For fake corridor painted black.

Hugh Gordon cinematography lectures

Spent some time last week with Hugh Gordon rigging some studio lights. As simplistic as it may be the joy of getting up ladders and moving around the studio lights for lighting the green screen as a simple but wonderful joy to me it seems as close to me now as I could imagine a real studio being. Although being far from it I find it wonderful getting to work in some aspect with such a knowledgable man and his understanding of his craft is something I greatly aspire to. Something as simple as climbing a rickety old ladder to adjust lights for me is a joy that allows my mind to wander to thoughts of replicating this for a proper feature film. Even something so simple would bring great happiness that I guess stems from a general love of film. And sometimes I become incredibly frustrated when witnessing people chuckling at some of the things he may say as I have nothing but admiration for the man something that the rest of the students on this course I feel should realise rather then sometimes jest about, when I myself long to have such a great knowledge of lighting as a discipline I find myself very much hanging on his words In hope of taking on board as much I can of his understanding of cinematography. And the great thing I find about him is the time he has for people, in explaining and teaching what he knows which luckily for me resulted in him helping me learn about the light meter I had bought. After recently buying a western master 5 light meter I had a lot of trepidation about its accuracy and also how it worked yet he spent some great time with me explaining it and also testing it against his modern far more expensive digital light meter. And the result was that my light meter read only slightly under his, something which he himself said is very good especially considering its age. And now I have a greater understanding of how it works and how to use it for later projects something I hope to elaborate on and gain a greater knowledge of the different types of measurements and how to apply it to the camera settings.

Cinematography book and the raven

After purchasing what I was assured was one of the best cinematography books I've started from the beginning and started to realise that to a greater extent the complexity of it. Although even in this early stage I feel it will prove useful as I've already read some stuff that has given me a greater idea of lenses and focal length which is the section I'm currently reading after reading the film camera section which included how to look after a Camera in between loading films. Although this isn't massively necessary seeing as I will be filming on digital however it was still useful to know.
On top of that I also downloaded a film called the raven based on the poem as I felt it could be helpful for inspiring sole more ideas for the version of the raven in working on. I will post my thoughts on it after I've watched it.

Tomorrows plans

Tomorrow we have an opportunity to discuss idea for our third year projects in cinematography tutorials and I have several things I would like to get a greater idea about these include how better to use the light meter I have and how to apply its findings to get the corrects settings for my camera.
I also want to figure out how to use the grey card I purchases properly for the raven project.
I also want to learn how to create long shadows with lighting and how to Crete the look of candle lighting. Hopefully tomorrows sessions will prove useful in this.

Some interesting images taken around hull

I find myself taking more pictures for inspiration and just general appreciation of the effects of lighting. The following are some images taken around hull today. Most of them were taken during the golden hour during which the sun is starting to set and the way light starts to play on things buildings streets etc become far more interesting in this period of time and allows to see things we look may look at often in a different way. For example some of these shots could easily look very ordinary but under the glow of purples, reds and oranges of the setting sun add a far greater effect. It's something that I've started to consider far more frequently of late and although not relevant of any recent projects i do look at it in positive ways to consider it for a later project.

Film meeting

We have a meeting planned for later on today to discuss the progress of "The Raven" hopefully will be getting a better sense of structure of the work space I will be working in from the set designer and see what vision she has for the piece hopefully it will in some way compliment my vision for lighting and shot composition. My hope was that the set would remain fairly cluster frees to allow a greater work space and a colder feel that would work with my idea of it dark and slightly candle lit and grainy. I also hope it will work well with the twisted look I want to give to the shots to illustrate his decent into madness. I also hope to discuss with the director his thoughts on my concept as discuss how he wants to work within the space as well as demonstrate some visuals regarding my thinking. Hopefully all will go and get a sense of progress ok to a point in which we can start some photographing a storyboard out to give a greater sense of framing and movements within the work space

Best silent films of all time

http://listverse.com/2010/01/27/top-15-greatest-silent-films/

The above link is from Litverse and gives a top 15 of the greatest silent films although I imagine this will be debated and contested my main interest in it was to use it as a way of ensuring I see what are considered the greats of the silent film era. This was useful as its something I've been looking at of late and will use this information to acquire and watch the films I haven't seen in this list to improve my general knowledge of this era of films plus it will also hopefully help with my study of cinematography as I've become particularly interested the lighting of this era of films and want to make a short piece telling a modern story using silent film techniques.

Looking for cinematography courses

I've been doing some research into potential cinematography courses after finishing university, after considering it may prove very useful to continue my learning in a more specific environment. The course is only 2 days long and from reading reviews seems like a good course I hope it will improve my general knowledge and make me more competent and more comfortable in my ability and hopefully help pave the way for more potential job opportunities.

Late night post

A little late night pondering and I've decided that I shall make a trip in my car to staples and unlike the several hundred times I have made this journey since becoming able to drive it shan't be to peruse the prostitutes that for some reason frequent there but rather to purchase a large metallic white board for my work area. The main reason for wanting to do this is so I can write notes and ideas, thoughts and considerations as well as stick pictures and such up to help inspire my work and thinking. I will also try hard to resist the desire to draw phallus's on it. I also will be buying sketch books for some more portable ideas crafting as well as more note books and another pocket size one which I aim to carry with me at all times.

Two images that have been inspiring me of late.

The third man has always been a film I great inspiration to me. It's one of the films I watch most regularly to inspire and remind me of my passions for cinematography. For me it's one of the most complete films in terms of use of shots and lighting out of every black and white film I've seen it's one that I feel perfectly encompasses the forward thinking and passion for progression of film and film techniques. I love the use of twisted and angled shots the perfectly mirror the gnarled and crumbled scenery of the films setting of post war Vienna. On top of the performance and stunning in screen presence of orson wells and the soundtrack i feel regularly inspired by the film. And more recently it's been inspiring my thinking for a third year project I'm working on, the film as I have mentioned in other posts is based on the raven by Edgar Alan Poe. And after discussing shot ideas with the director in which I'm acting as the cinematographer and cameraman! One of the shots we are trying achievements is of the lead a hatchet opening a door and being blinded by light! One of the ideas I had for it was of a low angled shot beneath him looking up with a long shadow passing toward the camera and the character and actor blocking and radiating slightly under the light by remaining dark and shadowed allowing the brightness of the light almost dominate the image as If we are combining the two images below hence why the film the third man is a great inspiration. I love how in the two images the cinematographer used the light of a long tunnel to add such drama I the image as well as the use of light to create the long shadows which perfectly compliment the use of twisted angles in which the film is shot! It's something I would like to replicate. I think using off and odd camera angles as well as potentially combining the shots with a bent and twisted studio design would work very well in complementing the psychological factors of the story.

Another image of interest

Just quickly to say how a friend took this photo on a night out and when looking back at it I thought it was particularly interesting as I think the fact the background is a dark maple wood and the subject is in a black jumper it allows to focus to be drawn just to the face. The reason I find it interesting is how the white of the shirt as well as his face is what we a drawn to due to the black of the jumper blending in with the background. I think this is something that although is an accident is a nevertheless a happy accident as it has given me something to think about in terms of how to set a subject against a background in an interesting way.

Interesting lighting that caught my eye

I reckon I will do this quite regularly. By this I mean I will take photos of lighting and such that catches my eye. I find myself often looking at at light in a different way these days. I find myself seeing things differently and looking at how something or someone is lit whether that's in a film, art or witnessing something myself.
The reason I found this interesting is in currently working on a film for my 3rd year Uni work which is based on the story of the raven by Edgar Alan Poe. One of the shots I wanted to do was a long shadow if somebody in a door way hence why this scene caught my eye. The light was coming from a parked car outside the which was passing down the alleyway to my garden and through the back of a bin which just lit a small perfect line through the garden and created an interesting lighting effect on the Christmas tree planted in the back garden. Unfortunately due to it being dark and only being able to quickly capture it on my phone the full effect of the lighting can't be seen but I still think it's an interesting image. It made me think how I could light the set with even a small single light from far away and pass it trough onto the scene and it still have a great effect like it has here and give me something to considering when approaching this project.

Super creative video.

I came across this amazing music video

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga0ohgZFVqc

The video is by a band names ramona falls and although its an animation, so therefore not hugely relevant to my skillet i still find it incredibly well done and not like anything I've seen before. I love the use of the red lights when action takes place and I think this is something that could be used in filmmaking. It made me consider using flashing strobe reds, odd and constantly moving cameras and quick edits to add a sense of action or fear it is definitely very frenetic and I think It could have many uses in filmmaking. But referring back to the video It was all hand drawn and the animation is great. I've watched it with several of my friends who study illustration and they feel the same way about it as I do, in fact one of them studied it and did a series if drawings from it he was so interested by it.