Your Video Sequence

 

Assignment:

Shoot and edit together a series of sequences to tell an interesting, entertaining one minute or less. Your story should move a person from one place to another or show someone doing an interesting or humorous task WITHOUT JUMP CUTS OR VIOLATING THE 180 RULE. You can get extra points if you surprise me or make me laugh.

What you already know

A strong background in still photography is an excellent background for video. You already know more than you think you do. Good composition is good composition regardless of the medium. One important difference is that your video will be shown on a TV and that means you need to hold the camera horizontally because TVs are either 16:9 or 4:3

Somewhere in every video shot will be a good still picture composition - rule of thumb, compose your image and then wait for something to happen within the frame. It could be at the beginning or end or somewhere in the middle but it will be there. You know how to hold a camera steady when you are not moving but with video, you will also need to learn to move smoothly while you shoot. You may also need to learn to be steady for a longer period of time. You should use a tripod if you can’t hold the camera rock steady. Another rule of thumb, don't zoom and only pan if it's "motivated."

When writing a story, the sentence is the basic building block. Your story could be one sentence long. It could be a paragraph long with several sentences strung together or it could be a book. They all start with the sentence.

When telling a story with video, the sequence is the basic building block - wide shot establishing the key players in context with the location, medium shot - move in on the focus of the story, and close up shot - fill the frame with the main focus. Your story could be a single sequence, two or three sequences or a documentary. They are all created by editing together sequences.

(show My Skin - Shawn Sorrels & Wolfsie)

The 5 Deadly Sins of Amateur Video

Camera Settings

All semester I've been telling you NOT to use shutter speeds lower than 1/60th of a second but for shooting video all that changes. Put you camera in the M (Manual) setting. Now set your shutter to 1/30th of a second. You'll probably want to start with an ISO of 800 and then adjust your Aperture. Make sure the exposure meter reads 0. If it's not, adjust the ISO and/or aperture but do NOT change the shutter speed. It must be 1/30th of a second.

Shooting and Editing

Shooting and editing go hand in hand. You will have the best results if you are able to think about how the scene will be edited together while you are shooting the scene. Nothing is more frustrating than to sit down to edit and finding that you don’t have the necessary shots or key sound elements. Before you pack up your camera, stop and think through the video you just shot and think about how you plan to edit it together and ask yourself if there is anything you forgot.

Show How to shoot Sequencing Made Easy from computer

Shooting For the Edit

Sound

Most still photographers have never dealt with sound. Good sound is both an art and a science. While people make careers of capturing good audio, a simple principle will help. Get the mic as close as possible to the source. Any good videographer will tell you that they work just as hard to get good sound as they work to capture good moving images.

Tip: Think of video and sound as two independent aspects of capturing a good video sequence. For example, if you are shooting a wide shot of someone reading a book, you need to also move in close and capture the sound of the page as it’s turned.

Continuity

Still photographers think of flow, opening and closing shots, etc., when laying out picture pages. Video continuity is similar but somewhat more involved. It requires paying close attention to what’s going on in your pictures so, for example, you take a wide shot of someone studying at a table and there is a half empty glass on the left side of the books. Make sure the glass doesn't suddenly jump to the right side of the books in the next picture.

Screen Direction

You don’t want to have race cars streaking from left to right in one picture and right to left in the next picture - it looks like they are going to run into each other. Or you don’t want to shoot an interview with your subject looking screen left in one picture and then looking screen right in the next picture - it will look like they are talking to themselves. The trick to avoiding these problems is called the 180 degree rule. When you start shooting, draw an imaginary line through the middle of the scene or through the middle of the subject’s nose and then stay on one side of that line. In the case of an interview, shoot from one side of the subject's nose or the other. Here are two video examples that illustrate the basics and a more complex explanation of a moving 180 degree axis of action. (starts at 1:20) (Read more.)

Matched Action

Editing Action & Screen direction demo.
Show from computer (How to Cut Video Transitions for Action Scenes)

Matched action uses at least two separate shots from different angles and different image magnifications. The edit for each of the shots is made in the middle of the action.

For example, if you are shooting and editing a sequence of a woman drinking a cup of coffee.

The first shot is a wide shots and ends as the woman takes a drink.

The second shot is tighter and also shows the woman taking a drink (the repeated action).

Now for the finished matched-action edit.

In this edited sequence, the edit between the two shots is made in the middle of the action. You would do the cut in the middle of the movement as she lifts the cup from table to her lips. This technique is easy to do if there is repetitive action. This also gives you a chance to move the camera, setup the second shot and wait for the cycle to repeat. Matched action can also be used if whatever is happening is slow enough for you to move the camera for the second shot.

Jump Cut

A jump cut occurs when you jump the viewer in time. For example, in the one shot you show someone getting ready to cross the street and in the next shot you show them on the other side of the street - you have jumped the viewer in time.

The way to avoid this is to always shoot sequences - wide shot, medium shot and tight shot. Also shoot cut aways - cut away from the primary action. In the above example, you would shoot a wide shot of the person preparing to cross the street, you would shoot a medium shot of the person looking up toward the traffic light, then shoot a tight shot of the traffic light (this is the cut away) and then shoot a wide shot of the person stepping onto the other side of the street. Now, you can put together a sequence of shots. First shot is the wide of the person preparing to cross the street, second shot is the medium shot of the person looking toward the street light, then the cut away tight shot of the traffic light and finally, the wide shot of the person stepping up onto the curb.

In and out of frame

Another way to avoid a jump cut is to let your subject move into frame or move out of frame. When someone walks out of frame the mind doesn’t know where they went so it gives you the benefit of the doubt. In our example above, if the wide shot showed the person stepping off the curb and walking out of frame, the next shot could show the person on the other side of the street - the mind fills in the blank and assumes that when they left the frame, they crossed the street before we see them again.

Tip: It is preferable to show subjects moving into frame instead of moving out of frame. For starters, it may take several seconds to get the subject out of frame whereas it takes much less time to get the subject into frame. Also, by shooting the subject coming into frame, you are working ahead of the action rather then following the action. It is tougher to shoot into frame because it requires to think ahead and anticipate the action - where is this person going next? How can I get there before they do and compose a frame that they can move into? Trust me, your video will flow more smoothly and quickly if you learn to shoot into frame.

Zoom with your feet

The human eye does not zoom and you should avoid zooms as well. If you are tempted to zoom in to get a close/tight shot, resist the temptation to touch the zoom button on the camera. Instead, zoom with your feet - keep the lens set to wide and walk up close to the subject and put the camera close to the subject. These cameras are amazing and will auto focus on objects that are only a few inch away. Remember, the camera doesn’t have to be at your eye to take a picture - don’t be afraid to put the camera in auto focus and then put it close to the object you want to capture.

General suggestions:

Shooting tips - Overview

Objective:

Make a short interesting or entertaining video that demonstrates basic mastery of moving image shots and story-telling structure.

Assignment:

Shoot and edit a one minute or less story with interesting or entertaining video that includes AT LEAST TWO sequences (wide, medium and tight shot). When you think you have a close up, try to take an even closer shot. Shoot no more than 4 minutes of video. Stop the camera between shots - don’t record one continuous shot. Maintain proper screen direction. Stay on one side on an imaginary line (same side of nose). Experiment with camera angles. Look for unusual low or high viewpoints. Avoid pans and there should be no zooms! Make sure the camera does not display data in the frame (date, time, etc.). Try to capture the appropriate clean natural sound - if someone is washing dishes, make sure there isn’t a TV playing in the background. Include at least one matched action edit.

Import Your Video:
Importing your video - these are the step by step instructions for importing your video (copying it from your camera card to your computer.)

Assignment Specifics:

The story must have a clear beginning, middle and end.

In the video you must include the following techniques:

With your sequence selected, Export Your Video using File/Export/Media to export your project as an H264 movie. Put the movie in Your Video Sequence folder on Box.com.

You should avoid:

 

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