Breaking Down the Basics of Video - MIPA 2013

Chapter 2 and some other need-to-know stuff

 What you see is different than what the
camera sees
 GIGO Principle
 Garbage In, Garbage Out

 Power to your camera
 Battery
 AC Adaptor
 Viewfinder vs. LCD
 InsertingTapes
 Be Gentle!!!

 Adjustments to the camera
 Viewfinder
 Strap(s)
 Recording
 2 Record buttons
 Record lamp
 Recording yourself
 Flip the screen!

 Amount of time you should leave for editing
so you don’t cut off front or back ends of
shot.
 Camera needs time after you hit RECORD before
it actually starts
 Pre Roll…count to 5 before the action truly
begins
 Post Roll…count to 5

 Professionals use tripods…be professional
 Leveling
 For smaller cameras—use monopods
 Don’t transport while attached

 Sometimes tripods just aren’t practical
 example: football game
 Don’t zoom
 Use your own body and/or surroundings
▪ Both hands
▪ Elbow in
 Uncoil your body as you pan

 Tells the camera what objects are white
 Very blue or very orange shots
 If light is changing (ex: sun setting) you HAVE
to reset white balance regularly

 If possible – manually white balance
 ZOOMALLTHEWAY IN on something white
 Follow instruction manual
 Don’t cover white balance sensor
 Be sure red from tall light isn’t reflecting off
your hand

 2 levers
 W=Wide,T=Tight/Telephoto
 Lightly for slow zoom, hard for fast zoom

 Optical zoom—lens/mechanism actually
moves to adjust
 Zoom factor of 1x to 15x
 Digital zoom—super magnification BUT
further you zoom, the harder it is to keep
focus and steady shot
 500x, 750x or more
 As magnification increases, quality decreases
 STAY AWAY FROM DIGITAL ZOOM

 Just like white-balancing, if you use
“automatic” setting, the camera has to guess
 You’re the only one who knows whatYOU
want to be focused, soYOU should use
manual if you can

 Follow instructions in manual
 Might be an “MF” button
 Done by rotating lens itself OR inside a menu

 Zoom all in the way in on your subject
 Focus
 Zoom back out and setup your shot
 If you’re shooting a person—zoom in & focus
on their eyes, because that’s where your
audience looks first

 Focus is an issue of distance between the
subject and camera
 If the distance between the two changes—the
image needs to be refocused

 Most objects need to be at least 5 feet away
to zoom/focus properly
 If within 5 feet, zoom all the way out and
move the CAMERA closer

 XCU…ExtremeClose-
up
 Tightest of all shots
 Ex: a puppy’s nose
 Often too tight forTV
news

 CU…Close-up
 Usually just a person’s head and the
top of their shoulders
 Common in newscasts & interviews

 MCU…MediumClose-up
 From the elbows to the top of the head
 Common in newscasts & interviews

 MS…Medium Shot
 Aka Mid Shot
 From the waist up
 Common in newscasts &
interviews

 MLS…Medium Long Shot
 Aka “3/4 Shot”
 Knees up
 Good for introducing character
 Not as common

 LS…Long Shot
 Head to toe (should nearly be
touching top & bottom)
 See in weathercasts
 Shows background

 XLS…Extreme Long
Shot
 Zoomed out the
furthest
 You may see the main
object, plus LOTS of
background

Breaking Down the Basics of Video - MIPA 2013

 Positioning subjects at pleasing distance

 If subject is looking to one side, feels
constricted on one side
 Shift subject away from the direction of the
look

 Viewers want to see where a moving
object/subject is going—not where it’s been

 Nothing distracting—like kids making funny
faces behind you
 Nothing boring—like hall walls
 Find settings that are relevant to your story

 Ex: if you’re doing a story about busses, go
outside and shoot your piece with busses in
the background
 If you’re doing a story about the school
store’s Slushee Machine, and you want to
interview students about their favorite
flavor, where could you set up the
shot/interviews?

Breaking Down the Basics of Video - MIPA 2013

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Breaking Down the Basics of Video - MIPA 2013