PRACTICAL DV FILMMAKING

Practical DV FilmMaking

• Overview
• Inside video
• Films and how they work
• Pre-production
• Production tools
• Production aesthetics
• Post-production tools
• Post-production aesthetics
• Careers and distribution
• Mapping the industry
• Glossary of film and video terms

Operating the camcorder

Every model of camcorder is different, but there are certain ways of handling camcorders that make the best of what you've got. From the point of view of the filmmaker, as opposed to the tourist or home movie maker, some features need to be looked at a little closer.

Camera support

Digital cameras are so lightweight that the problem of camera shake is more pronounced than with pre­vious models and the need to support the camera in some way is crucial. Even hand-held work is going to be vastly different for digital cameras than for film, so whatever your preference in films you will need to make some plans for reducing camera shake. Check that your camera has a universal tripod fit­ting on its base. Many tripods offer a quick release plate that locks the camera onto the tripod without having to screw the camera onto the tripod each time.

Zoom control

Using zoom on a subject does not always produce good results; zoom controls tend to move at a con­stant rate and this can look quite unnatural. It is considered to be a slightly redundant way of record­ing, except in non-fiction work, unless used as a self-conscious device. Use zoom only when a tracking shot towards the subject is not an option.

Focusing

Automatic focusing is useful for tourist movies, but in productions where artistic considerations are high, this is going to stop you from getting good compositions. Be prepared to use the manual override option to use your own focus on certain shots. In automatic mode, the camera senses the distance between itself and the nearest object, through the use of infrared beams bounced off its target. The problem with this is that it can't focus on everything within the frame, so it chooses only that which is in the middle of the viewfinder. This renders any slightly adventurous compositions out of focus. When interviewing a subject, for example, it may look more interesting to place the head to one side of the screen, improving depth. You will need to focus manually if you are to avoid getting the wall next to the figure in focus and the head blurred. To do this, use automatic focus on the subject but place it in the middle of the screen, let the auto focus find its optimum point after a few seconds and then switch to manual mode, freezing the focus at this. Then pan the camera to the right composition. Moving the camera closer or nearer to the subject will again render it out of focus and you must go through the process again