Camera Workshop

Today, Matt talked us through how to frame some typical shots that are commonly in music videos. He also talked us through how to use different lenses as well as which lenses are used for different shots.

First, he introduced us to prime lenses: lenses which come in different sizes and are designed for particular shots --> 20mm, 24mm, 28mm, 40mm, 50mm, and 85mm. Matt explained to us that the smaller the mm, the wider the shot. We will use these lenses for our music video shot so it was important that we understood what they were used for. Because each separate lens focuses on one frame in particular, the shots are therefore of a higher quality. 

Because there is no zoom tool on these lenses, Matt showed us how to focus a picture correctly by using a measuring tape and then applying the distance to the camera to make the shot clear:

We were then able to work as a group to try and frame some visually appealing shots of a pretend band. We played around with focal points, foreground and background to create depth: 

We were also taught about the shutter angle and frame rate on a camera. Using a higher frame rate (e.g. 50 fps) will make the image in a slower motion and then a lower frame rate (usually 25 fps) for a normal video shot. Shutter angles play a crucial part in music videos as they help to set the tone. An average shutter angle equates to 180 degrees. If the shutter angle is higher than this, the motion appears more smeared and blurred whereas if you use a lower shutter angle, the image will be much clearer and fragmented. Depending on the genre, using different shutter angles will help to set the mood (i.e. if you're creating a slower, soul music video, a lower shutter angle may be affective).