AS MEDIA STUDIES

Foundation Portfolio - Shots

What is interesting about this sequence?

Preparing Minds

Learning Intentions

To learn basic terminology of shots

To plan shoot covering range of different shots

To organise shooting to take place over weekend

Success Criteria

All students will note down information about different kinds of shot and will plan a simple shoot

Most students will create a simple storyboard/ shooting schedule

Some students will devise a detailed storyboard/ shooting schedule

Types of shot

Extreme Long Shot (ELS)

Long Shot (LS)

Medium Shot (MS)

Two Shot

Close Up (CU)

Extreme Close Up (ECU)

High Angle

Low Angle

Nike - Invitation

Extreme Long Shot

Extreme Close Up

Two Shot

Long Shot

Name the Shot

Task

3 minutes to correctly identify the shots

Label shots on left using titles from right(abbreviate where appropriate)

Mise En Scene

What appears in the shot (denotation)

Costume

Props

Make-up

Framing

Setting

Purpose and effect

Intended connotation

Explain the Mise En Scene

A guide to shots

Task

Work in groups of 1/2

Given a number of shots to compose

Given camera/ tripod to use for next three days

Select appropriate locations

Follow instructions on sheet and complete shoot

Upload footage onto computer by end of lesson on Friday

Editing begins Monday 14th September

Final submission Friday 18th September

Maintain blog throughout process

An example

CAMERA BASICS

Classic “Don'ts”

Don’t...

forget to charge battery or load media

leave lens cover on

leave camera on when not shooting

have irrelevant people or things in shot

catch camera reflected in window/ mirror

get thumb or shadow in shot

talk over shot

edit shots “in camera”

Shooting Tips

Use a tripod –shots will look much better

Run through the action before shooting

Make sure you’re covering everything, particularly if you have complicated movement

Start recording about 5s before the action starts

You can edit this out later

Record at least 2 takes for each shot

Record a “master” shot for each scene

Resolution

Cameras default to 1080/ 60 (HD resolution/ frame-rate)

Better set at 720/ 30

Whenever you turn on the camera Check the bottom left corner of the screen

If number is 1080, press “menu” button, select “resolution” and select “720”

You will always need to reset the frame rate to 30.

In the menu, click down to the second page

Select “Stabilizer”

Make sure the green tick is selected

Click menu button

The number at the bottom left should now read “720P30”

Charging it Up

Make sure battery and charger with camera

Different cameras have different adapters

Battery should beconnected to the base unitin order to charge it

Camcorder Media

Mini-DV Tape|

Mini-DVD Disc

SD Card

Turning it on

Press the “on/off” button once

Check the “mode” – you won’t be able to record if the video camera icon is not selected

If you can’t see anything, make sure you’ve taken the lens cover off

Lens Covers

Some cameras have internal lens covers

The Powershots have the lens cover attached to the camera

Aspect Ratio

Some cameras default to an aspect ratio of 4:3(old TV standard)

Make sure you set your camcorder to 16:9 (or “widescreen”). You will usually do this via the camera menu

Zoom

To “zoom” (i.e. make the image bigger or smaller) , use the “W/T” slider (usually found on the “shoulder” of the camera

The slider is “touch sensitive” – the zoom will speed up or slow down depending on pressure

Advised not to zoom when recording; this will generally make your footage look amateurish

However, if you practice azoom a few times, it canlook quite effective

Focus

Most domestic camcorders use “auto-focus”

You can alter this, although you will need to experiment

You will find itdifficult tomaintain thefocus if yoursubject moves much

You are advised to only experiment with focus at your own risk

Light

Camcorders work best in reasonable light

If you shoot at night or in low light, image quality will degrade

Ideally, shoot during the day and then tint the image to create “day for night”

Otherwise, make sure you have enough light

Effects

Many cameras come with “effects” buttons

You are advised not to use these when you are shooting

You can create more powerful effects using the editing software, with the advantage that you can undo them if you don’t like them