Preproduction (planning stage)

PreProduction is planning. Before you start "SHOOTING" a video or animation, you must:

• Define your Concept, Identify your target audience

  • OBJECTIVE- What is the MESSAGE? What is the objective of your piece?

    • Prove a Thesis ie - America's eating food that's bad for them (SUPERSIZE Me)

    • Recreate the experience

    • Document the event - making of...

  • TARGET AUDIENCE- who is your piece intended to influence? How will it reach them?

    • Students

    • Organizers

    • Parents

    • Sponsors

    • In house audience vs External Audience

  • CLIENT - Who is "commissioning" your work? Who wants to see it succeed?

PreProduction work that you do can serve several purposes

• Describe the project and convince "Investors" that your production is worth committing to

• Coordinate the efforts of those involved in the production

Process

• BRAINSTORM the original story idea or “Concept”

• WRITE a script or outline for the story. LINE the script with visual imagery.

• STORYBOARD the script

• REVISE

It starts with a script

• Write a Script (Even the best movie idea can be a BAD film - look at Battlefield Earth) The basic script themes are:

  • Love — hate, sex, desire, etc

  • Death - permanent changes, etc

  • Justice — morality, rules, etc

  • Family - fatherhood, motherhood, childhood

  • Fear — escape, jeopardy, terror, etc.

>>>>>>>ACTIVITY: COME UP WITH 3 MOVIES IDEAS IN 3 MINUTES. <<<<<<<<

• Draw up a Storyboard identifying locations, special effects, titles, sound effects and voiceovers

Identify THIS SCRIPT: Script.rtf, What about this one?

SCRIPT IDEAS

Screenplays from movies you know

Then moves to a storyboard

The storyboard is

• A “Visual Script” for your production, looking very much like a comic strip version of the story.

• A production “Blueprint” for your crew to follow.

• A detailed list of the assets you need to create: graphics, video, dialogue, sound effects, text etc.

The storyboard is intended for

• The “studio” for approval before production is started

• The production crew, to assemble the assets

Purposes

• To work out and discuss your ideas, and to fix bad stories before they get made

• To visualize how your production will look, and get creative with shots and action

• To describe how your production is sequenced, and act as a step by step guide to making and shooting your film

• To plan where and what type of additional sound effects or dialogue will be included

Tips

• Put your shots and scenes of your storyboard in an order that tells your story clearly.

• Plan your story so that the visual images and the script can be clearly understood by reading your storyboard.

• Plan your production in the most interesting and appealing way possible for the audience.

• Plan not only what happens in each shot, but also how fast or how slow you want it to happen.

• Eliminate unnecessary or repetitive shots and add missing shots. Cut long boring shots and break them down into shorter more interesting shots.

• Ensure that there is a smooth, clear, logical flow from shot to shot and scene to scene.

A great example of a storyboard:

1.2.1 storyboard sample.PDF

Extra rationale for storyboarding:

1.2.2 storyboards.PDF

Storyboard Blanks - 1.2.3 blankstoryboard.pdf

Finally - if you get tired of drawing things manually - try StoryboardThat or more professionally StudioBinder both completely free storyboarding and production tool.

Aspect Ratio

CHOOSING A RATIO: Often the choice of aspect ratios determines the look and feel to a film. As discussed in grade 11, a wider aspect ratio (2.35:1) makes a more cinematic hollywood-style feel to a story whereas an old letterbox (4:3) give the look/feel of a mid 20th century production. There are extremes (for example Hateful Eight chooses 2.76:1 on 70mm film) that give a particular expansive feel to movies that might otherwise have felt differently being shot/shown in any other ratio.

Shot types / Camera motion

Shot types and angles

Taking pictures needs to have that same attention given to the angle and distance from your subject to clearly capture the detail and mood that you want your audience to experience.

The Angle From Which you Want to View the Main Subject

The angle from which you take your picture or video will have an impact on how your audience sees and reacts to it. This is very important in setting the mood in a shot.

• A low camera angle is created by placing the camera below the normal eye level. With the camera looking up at the subject, this angle gives the viewer a feeling of inferiority or even fear.

• For a high camera angle, the camera is placed well above the normal eye level. Viewers are looking down on the subject and feel as if they are in control.

• An eye level angle is obtained by shooting at eye level with the subject. This allows the viewer to feel like they are part of the action as this would be the way they would normally view things.

• Sometimes you want to create a dynamic view where there appears to be energy, drama or action. This can be achieved by turning the camera to a 45 degree angle creating a dutch tilt.

Extreme Wide Shot (EWS)

In the extreme wide shot, the view is so far from the subject that s/he isn't even visible. The point of this shot is to show the subject's surroundings.

The EWS is often used as an "establishing shot" - the first shot of a new scene, designed to show the audience where the action is taking place.

It is also useful in scenes where the action is very spread out. For example, in a war movie an extreme wide shot can show the scale of the action.

The EWS is also known as an extra long shot or extreme long shot (acronym XLS)

Wide Shot (WS)

In the wide shot, the subject takes up the full frame. In the above left, the girl has a heap of headroom and footroom between the edges of the frame. The difference between the VWS and the WS is that the WS has only a bit of headroom/footroom. 

With a WS, the subject doesn't take up the whole width and height of the frame, since this is as close as we can get without losing any part of him/her . The small amount of room above and below the subject can be thought of as safety room — you don't want to be cutting the top of the head off. It would also look uncomfortable if his feet and head were exactly at the top and bottom of frame.

As with many shot types, the wide shot means different things to different people. However the wide shot seems to suffer more from varying interpretations than other types. Many people take the WS to mean something much wider than our example, i.e. what we would call a very wide shot.

Mid Shot (MS)

The mid shot shows some part of the subject in more detail, whilst still showing enough for the audience to feel as if they were looking at the whole subject. In fact, this is an approximation of how you would see a person "in the flesh" if you were having a casual conversation. You wouldn't be paying any attention to their lower body, so that part of the picture is unnecessary.

The MS is appropriate when the subject is speaking without too much emotion or intense concentration. It also works well when the intent is to deliver information, which is why it is frequently used by television news presenters. You will often see a story begin with a MS of the reporter (providing information), followed by closer shots of interview subjects (providing reactions and emotion).

As well as being a comfortable, emotionally neutral shot, the mid shot allows room for hand gestures and a bit of movement.

Close Up (CU)

In the closeup shot, a certain feature or part of the subject takes up most of the frame. A close up of a person usually means a close up of their face (unless specified otherwise).

Close-ups are obviously useful for showing detail and can also be used as a cut-in.

A close-up of a person emphasizes their emotional state. Whereas a mid-shot or wide-shot is more appropriate for delivering facts and general information, a close-up exaggerates facial expressions which convey emotion. The viewer is drawn into the subject's personal space and shares their feelings.

A variation is the choker shot which is typically framed on the subject's face from above the eyebrows to below the mouth.

Extreme Close Up (ECU, XCU)

The ECU (also known as XCU) gets right in and shows extreme detail.

You would normally need a specific reason to get this close. It is too close to show general reactions or emotion except in very dramatic scenes.

Cutaway (CA)

A cutaway is a shot that's usually of something other than the current action. Cutaways can emphasize important details or add detail and meaning to a scene. 

The cutaway is used as a "buffer" between shots (to help the editing process), or to add interest/information. It helps to solve continuity problems by providing context to the next shot.

As seen in the shot sequence above, if you cut from a shot of a woman sitting to a shot of the same woman standing in the same spot, without showing exactly how she got to that standing position, you will produce a confusing jump in time. The cut will break the continuity of time. By cutting the clock into the middle you imply a passage of time.

Cut-In (CI)

Like a cutaway, but specifically refers to showing some part of the subject in detail.

Can be used purely as an edit point, or to emphasize emotion etc. For example, hand movements can show enthusiasm, agitation, nervousness, etc.

Two Shot

There are a few variations on this one, but the basic idea is to have a comfortable shot of two people. Often used in interviews, or when two presenters are hosting a show.

A "One-Shot" could be a mid-shot of either of these subjects. A "Three-Shot", unsurprisingly, contains three people.

Two-shots are good for establishing a relationship between subjects. If you see two sports presenters standing side by side facing the camera, you get the idea that these people are going to be the show's co-hosts. As they have equal prominence in the frame, the implication is that they will provide equal input. Of course this doesn't always apply, for example, there are many instances in which it's obvious one of the people is a presenter and the other is a guest. In any case, the two-shot is a natural way to introduce two people.

A two-shot could also involve movement or action. As seen in the shot of Vincent and Jules above, it is a good way to follow the interaction between two people without getting distracted by their surroundings.

Over the Shoulder Shot (OSS)

This shot is framed from behind a person who is looking at the subject. The person facing the subject should usually occupy about 1/3 of the frame.

This shot helps to establish the position of each person, and get the feel of looking at one person from the other's point of view.

It's common to cut between these shots during a conversation, alternating the view between the different speakers.

In older 4x3 framing, the person facing away from the camera would typically be cut off just behind the ear (see example on the right). In 16x9 and other widescreen framing, there is more width available and more of this person can be shown (as above).

This shot can be varied quite a bit to include the shoulder or back of the person facing the subject.

A weather shot doesn't have to show the sky. Other shots often used to illustrate weather include:

• Puddles, drain spouts or any example of rainwater flow.

• Trees or anything else blowing in the wind.

• People sunbathing.

• Snowmen, snowball fights, snow sledding, etc.

Also known as pathetic fallacy

Dutch Angle

Dutch tilt, Dutch angle, oblique angle, German angle, canted angle, or Batman Angle are terms used for a cinematic tactic often used to portray the psychological uneasiness or tension in the subject being filmed. A Dutch angle is achieved by tilting the camera off to the side so that the shot is composed with the horizon at an angle to the bottom of the frame.

Dolly (zoom)

A technique in which the camera moves closer or further from the subject smoothly. It helps to accentuate focus on a subject (or reveal context or surroundings if it's a dolly zoom out).

Follow

The camera physically follows the subject at a more or less constant distance.

Pan

Horizontal movement, swivels left and right. Reveals additional info in the scene, or follows movement.

Pedestal (Ped)

Moving the camera position vertically with respect to the subject. No tilting. Because it's slow it's often a way to build up tension.

Tilt

Vertical movement of the camera angle, i.e. pointing the camera up and down (as opposed to moving the whole camera up and down). Can follow action, or again, reveal information such as scale of something.

Track

Roughly synonymous with the dolly shot, but often defined more specifically as movement which stays a constant distance from the action, in a side-to-side movement. Keeps character in the frame typically as a character moves in their environment.

Truck

Another term for tracking or dollying.

Zoom

Technically this isn't a camera movement, but a change in the lens focal length with gives the illusion of moving the camera closer or further away. 

Crane

Movement up and down in the air. Reveals more of the environment and gives sense of scale.

Steadycams

The steadycam combines the stabilized steady footage of a conventional tripod mount with the fluid motion of a dolly shot and the flexibility of hand-held camera work. While not completely replacing the role of the dolly shot. While smoothly following the operator's broad movements, the Steadicam's armature absorbs jerks, bumps, and shakes and yields professional quality footage. Rather than a fixed position camera this allows the freedom to reveal a scene in a natural way.

Setting up the AllSteady balanced gimbal: Youtube Video

Using the AllSteady gimbal settings: Youtube Video