Week of 1/25/11

This Youtube video is an interview of Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg. Although it was only added to Youtube in August of 2009, this video was filmed over 5 years ago, before the exploitive The Social Network movie was made. In this clip, Mark briefly describes the creation of Facebook and the beginnings of this universal networking site.

Overall, this piece is very well edited. It has a variety of camera shots and angles. Additionally, they did not cross the line and made a cohesive film. They followed the rule of thirds and had correct camera shots in terms of spacing in the frame. They had a good shot durations and zoom.

I think that the piece worked very well. It was very easy to understand and kept the viewer interested throughout the entire clip. What worked especially well was the continuous editing between interview, photograph, landscape, etc. It kept everything interesting.

For me, what did not work as well was that sometimes the camera seemed to be shaky. Often it was clear that it was not on a tripod or flat surface and it took the attention away from the film when the camera moved. To solve this problem, they could have used a tripod and moved the camera closer to the subject so the zoom did not have to be used as often. Another thing that could have been different was the volume of the music. Sometimes it was so loud in comparison to the speakers that it was distracting.

I would try to use a better camera and would lower the music volume. Also, I would try to get more people to interview to increase the depth of the topic. Those resources may not always be available, so I was satisfied with the piece. For the most part, I thought that the film was very well done. I did not have many suggestions for improvement.

Week of 1/11/11

Reading - Pages 1-43

Rule of Thirds - p. 23

The Rule of Thirds is a basic photography guideline where the cameraperson imagines the frame cut into thirds both horizontally and vertically. It is then best to line area of focus in the picture to the points crossed by the imaginary lines. This technique naturally draws the viewer to the image. This video is a good explanation of this technique:

Depth of Field - p. 17

When focusing a camera there is a certain depth that will be in focus and the rest of the image will be out of focus; the "in focus" area is referred to as the Depth of Field. Ideally, a skilled cameraperson would be able to recognize where the focus will be and adjust the camera accordingly. This concept is similar to the abilities of the eye. The eye can focus on a subject and the remainder area will be considered out of focus. This image is a good display of Depth of Field:

Notes on Exposure Lock

Exposure lock is a button on the camera that sets the exposure and "locks" it into place. Seeming self-explanatory, it means that the exposure can't be adjusted until the exposure lock is removed. Using exposure lock can be very helpful in some scenarios. First, if you are taking a portrait of someone and want to adjust the background or move the camera while the background is changing, the main object of focus still has the same exposure. Further, if you are taking several continuous pictures of the same object, and the background lighting is being altered, the exposure can be affected; when exposure lock is set, the exposure remains a constant, regardless of the background. Another situation where the exposure lock is beneficial is when the video camera is moving but the cameraperson wants to continue the same continuous shot with the exposure remaining constant.

In these situations, the exposure lock is a useful tool that can make a video or set of pictures seem fluid and continually well-exposed.