BFI Film Academy Diary, Week Two

What did you do?

This week, we focussed on cinamatography and sound, and had the opportunity to work with some professional camera and sound equipment.

Firstly we met with Daren Eagles, who gave us a master class on cinamatogaphy, where we looked at camera angles, framing and the effect of colour. Daren taught us the importance of the rule of thirds and the 180֯ rule, showing us how if this not done correctly, it can make the audience feel uneasy. During the presentation we were also shown examples of films where they had used framing, colours or camera angles effectively. For example we were shown a shot from the film ‘Submarine’ where  the love interest Jordana is wearing a red coat. This is effective as the colour red is often asscotiated with love, but also danger and Jordana is a selfish character, so she symbolises with both.

After Daren’s presentation on Cinamatography, we had the opportunity of working with the cameras, to practice what he had taught us. We were given a brief of the main character having to deliver a message to another character. I found it was valuable experience because as well as being able to experiment with different camera angles, practicing the skills that Daren had just previously taught us, we were also getting ourselfs familiar with the cameras that we will be using when we film our final short film.

Once we had practiced working with the cameras, we then got the opportunity of meeting Rob Speranza, who taught us about sound. We learnt the different ways of achieving good sounds, looking at Foley artists. Rob also taught us about problems when filming that can effect the sound, such as a microphone being too close to a fridge.

Similar too what we did earlier, when we were practicing filming with the cameras, we had the opportunity of working with the sound equipment, making ourselfs familiar with it.

The final 30 minutes of the day was spent working with our mini groups, developing ideas for our script. This week we decided on our plot and began to story board possible shots.

What did you learn?

This week I was able to learn more about camera and sound equipment, which was very useful as I have not had very much experience with working with this kind of equipment before. I was able to learn how to use the camera, including how to focus and zoom images. As well as familarising myself with the camera, I also learnt how to use the sound equipment, and learnt how to avoid poor quality sound.

How have you worked with others?

This week I belive I worked well with others when we were working within our groups, working with the camera and sound equipment. I believe I worked well as we were all supporting and helping eachover learn how to work the equipment. We were all asking eachover questions when we were unsure how to do something which sped up the process of filming.

What do you need to develop?

An area I believe I still need to develop within film is my knowledge of certain cinematography rules, such as rule of thirds and the 180֯ rule, as I was not familiar with this. I think I can further this knowledge by looking at more examples from films where they use this, like what we were doing with Daren Eagles.