Hand-held cameras! I have for years been trying to sell my students on the idea that shooting ‘hand-held‘ is illegal. Well admittedly, that is a bit of a lie, but if you are too weak or too lazy to carry a tripod, you should probably change jobs. ‘Galloping pans and zippity zooms’, particularly in the hands of a beginner are a non-starter. There are a long list of issues here but basically putting your camera on a stable platform (tripod) will solve most of them. Sure there are hand-held shots or even scenes in movies but the guys doing this have probably been doing it for several years.
There is a time and a place for hand-held shots; 1) if the scene requires it and 2) if you or your camera operator is up to the task. The best professional hand-held operators are most likely former news and documentary shooters. In their day they carried around 15-20 pound CP-16s, NPRs or Betacams and some guys liked to brag that they did 100 push-ups a night to keep up their arm strength. OK, I am dating myself and talking about another era but the issues are much the same today and I will deal a variety of these issues in the coming months. Some of the heavy old cameras were actually balanced to work very nicely on the shoulder. The major problem today is that camcorders and DSLRs (and smartphones) are so light that every twitch of your finger results in a wobble in your shot. Hence the abundance of rigs or cages that you can buy to make them manageable. Being old-fashioned, my vote goes for putting the camera on a tripod, but this is just the tip of the iceberg; as there is lots of stuff to discover about cameras on the shoulder, on the ‘pod, dolly, crane, Steadicam, MoVI or other devices. But, what ever you use, practice, practice, practice! Professional athletes and performers practice and so do professional camera operators. That’s why they are professionals and make good money at it. And if you hope to be competing against them one day, prepare and prepare well!
No Camera? Chances are, you do have a camera but are not sure that it will do the job. Or you may be thinking if you could just get you hands on a Red Epic or an Alexa you would be set for glory. Well, if you have a smartphone you have a camera whose quality will astound you – if you use it properly. Or, if you or a buddy has a DSLR or a camcorder you can shoot images that can easily go up on the big screen – if you use it properly. But sticking with cameras that you don’t have to go out and buy (I’ll deal with those issues in future posts), any camera will enable you to capture images so that you can practice putting together your story. That’s what you should start with. As you get familiar with what your camera can do or get frustrated with what it can’t do, you will gain a knowledge and an appreciation of what you actually want in a camera and what you can hold off on.
If you want evidence that an iPhone 4 can capture respectable images check out:
http://www.zacuto.com/shootout-revenge-2012/revenge-great-camera-shootout-part-one
Go to 18 minutes 40 seconds in the video and watch the nine unidentified cameras; from Arri Alexa ($80,000+) to the iPhone4. If you can pick out the iPhone, you get a gold star. Even some of the Hollywood types missed it, so don’t feel bad if you do as well. Why does it look so good? Short answer; it is captured in a scene that was well lit and it was operated by a professional dolly crew. Take the time to watch the entire Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 (about 30 minutes each) when you can. All is revealed. Since then an entire episode of Modern Family (for ABC) was shot on iPhone 6 and the feature film ‘Tangerine’ a hit at Sundance 2015 was also shot on iPhone 6. It’s not about the camera; it’s the brains behind the camera that make a film work.
Be resourceful with whatever camera you have or team up with others and pool your talents and equipment to learn to do the best you can with what you have. Before long you will pleasantly surprise yourself and that will lead to bigger and better projects and will be rewarding creatively and probably financially as well. When you are starting out the best thing to do is to work in small teams. You will quickly find your strengths and those of your team and you will learn and improve together.
Oh yes; what ever you use, practice, practice, practice!
What Camera Should You Buy? Another thing I have been telling my students for years, is that buying a camera is ‘the worst investment you can make‘. I get this question all the time and I respond by asking the question; “what do you want to shoot with your camera?” The answer is usually “my short films, music videos and oh yes I’d like to be able to shoot my feature on it.” When I ask how much they want to spend, the answer is “oh about a thousand”. The truth is that is about what you should spend on your first camera. Even that will get you a camera that will provide you with very high quality images. Most feature films are shot on (rented) cameras that you and I can’t afford. But of course, there are thousands of guerrilla filmmakers out there shooting their feature (or feature documentaries) on a wide range of cameras that may be owned by the filmmakers or their DPs. So, network and collaborate and you will be surprised at what you can do with your very limited resources and only a little bit of cash. So; buy the cheapest camera that will do the basic tasks you have for it to do. Don’t invest in an expensive camera, unless you have contracts or work orders that will enable you to pay for it within about a year. Besides, a camera is just a start point; you will need a variety of lenses, filters, matte-boxes, a follow-focus unit, sound gear, tripod, lights etc. Not to mention a good supply of flash cards or a portable recorder. This is a question that can take volumes to answer; and if you have doodled around the web, you are probably familiar with many of the E-zines and Blogs offering suggestions. And another thing, everyone you ask will give you different answers so be honest with yourself and proceed with prudence. For practise, shoot some short films on your smartphone or a DSLR. Both can do an excellent job if handled properly.
If you have money to spare, invest it in a good tripod, lighting and sound kit or grip equipment. These items will last 20 years if you look after them, returning your investment many times over. Trust me, your camera will be an expensive doorstop in two or three years and you will be drooling at the next latest whiz-bang 4K, Ultra-HD, HDR, HFR etc.
On the level: So many little things go into creating a good looking image that it is sometimes easy to overlook one or more important aspects of good image capture. It seems like a no-brainer that you set your camera level with the horizon before you start rolling. It is, but if you are shooting hand-held you can be off-level much of the time (another good argument for a tripod) and if you don’t set your tripod up properly, your image will suffer. Fortunately the guys who make tripods have trod this path before and provide you with a simple tool, a miniature carpenter’s level on every tripod to make it easy to ‘level’ your camera. This is usually accompanied by a ball-levelling head so that you don’t have to spend a lot of time tweaking, unlocking and locking the legs to get the rig level. Once the tripod head is level by the indicator, you then need to check you image to make sure that vertical lines are parallel to the sides of the frame. If not then adjust the head to make the image appear level (which it may not actually be). The next challenge is that if your camera appears to be level and you then pan around 90 degrees, you may find that it is now not level any more. That requires further tweaking to assure that the camera appears level throughout the shot. Complicated? Not really, but another reminder that it is attention to detail (hundreds of them) that separates the top pros from the masses of wannabees.
Exposure, (ask the Zebra) – is another one of those ‘tip of the iceberg’ challenges that immediately affect the look of your image and are linked to many other issues. It is easy for beginners to assume that exposure is set automatically in the camera but that only works some of the time. Controlling exposure, one key aspect of the look of your image is only one of the important skills a shooter needs to master. Finding the sweet spot between ‘over-exposed’ (clipping) and ‘under-exposed’ (loss of shadow detail), is key. Just looking at the image on your flip-out screen or viewfinder is not reliable for a long list of reasons. However, there is a simple tool in all video cameras which helps you analyze and control of your exposure. Understanding the ‘Zebra’ settings and how to use them is the first step to understanding how to get proper exposure. This is not a photographic way of determining exposure but has been developed by TV engineers to help news shooters get a quick and fairly reliable exposure and has migrated to consumer cameras and amateur videographers. In simple terms the tonal values the camera sees are measured in percentage of reflectance; black is 0% and white is 100%. Facial tones are usually about 70% reflectance and is key to capturing a good image. It’s also why most cameras offer you a 70% and a 100% Zebra indicator. Adjusting the exposure so that the Zebras disappear off the facial highlights (70) or off the entire picture (100) is key to basic understanding of how a video camera can capture the image you want. Get you head around this and you are well on your way. Oh yes, the best way connect theory to reality is to practice, practice, practice!
Zebras will get you closer to optimum exposure. But don’t relax just yet, there are chip charts, color charts, field monitors, histograms, vectorscopes and waveform monitors to get you a very precise exposure. What’s the big deal you say? Well, on a single camera shoot you can be a bit off and correct in post, but in a multi-camera shoot it is critical that all cameras are matched and accurate, otherwise your post guys (or gals) may be tearing out their hair (if they have any left) for days; not to mention that all that post time will cost you a fortune.
In-camera microphones (as opposed to an on-camera mic.) are the bane of most YouTube videos and I don’t know about you, but they drive me crazy. A camera is rarely the right place for the mic. A microphone in or on the camera can pick up zoom noise, hand noise, camera operator’s breathing (or swearing) and a whole bunch of other unwanted stuff. At best, an in-camera mic can be used for guide-track or perhaps a bit of ambient sound. If you are a one-man-band, you can consider a properly tested and mounted medium shotgun on the top of the camera. Some news-guys have perfected this with a shotgun mic on an elevated post above the camera. But if you want to be a professional movie-maker (and I hope you do), then learn the basic method of recording audio from your subject with a properly placed and clipped on lavalier (hard-wired or wireless) or preferably a shotgun mic on a boom pole or handle held just outside of the frame. Oh, and one other thing; capturing picture and sound have now gone full circle to my old film days by recording ‘double system’ (on separate devices). The big guys (features and TV movies or series) do this as regular professional practice. You should too.
You can get low end lavalieres or shotgun mics for under $100, which if properly used will give you perfectly OK ‘broadcast quality’ audio. As a matter of fact 99% of what most professionals do for video, television or features is recorded on these two types of microphones. The microphones used by professionals can go up to several thousand dollars each plus recorders, cables, mixers, accessories and peripherals. But start with the bare minimum you need to get professional results and build out from there.
If you are a ‘one-man-band’ it’s relatively easy to have a lavalier on a cable (or wireless) and once your subject is settled, you can reach in and clip it to their shirt (8-12 inches from the mouth is best). For now, don’t try to hide the mike; that’s for professionals but we will be giving you tips on dealing with that. If you don’t want a mike in the shot it is best to use a shotgun on a boom outside the frame. Lots more on this later.
Film is Dead – Oh really? 35 mm film, the gold standard for the past 100 years has improved steadily over years and for the past couple of decades has been capable of shooting 4K, 6K equivalent (or more). But guess what? DOPs rarely if ever shoot ‘clean’ (without filters or some other form of manipulation); or shoot at 4K or beyond even though they could. Furthermore they frequently add color and softening, diffusion filters or jerry-rig nets, gauze or even pieces of pantyhose on a lens to create a ‘look’ that the director likes. There was even a saying ‘looks like it was shot through the bottom of a Coke bottle’ but in the hands of a great cinematographer it is art.
Part of the illusion or fantasy of movie stories is ‘the look’ and it is rarely stark, crystal-clear hi-resolution images. If it were, everything worthwhile would be shot in Imax or 70mm. Ever try to watch a drama in Imax – doesn’t work does it? Unless you like the comic books Hollywood turns out these days, but they aren’t my kind of film. And most are not actually Imax; rather up-rezzed 4K, Super 35mm or shot the new Digital-Imax camera which is a souped up Phantom 65. By the way; of the 8 films nominated for best picture last year (2014) six were partly or wholly shot on film. This year (2015) the number dropped to five – big deal! Admittedly film has become a niche medium but will be around for some time to come.
4K – fuggedaboudit! Before you even think about any of the new super hi-rez formats you better make sure that what you have to show is worth looking at. Otherwise you are just showing your mistakes for all the world to see in super high definition.
Consumer 4K is in fact just a dumb-ed down form of Hi-Def/4K promoted to sell more TV sets, cameras and software. Making movies is about story-telling, whether it’s your kids birthday party (not a bad place to practice your skills) or a Hollywood movie. Those who do shoot 4K, or pretend to, don’t even agree on the hypothetical standard. Aside from that you will rack up 2 or 3 Terrabytes of data in a normal shoot day. If you are ready to deal with that; be my guest! If 4K (or any higher def format was a winner with the public), sales of BluRay would be exploding. Guess what? They have been flatter than pee on a platter for decades.
The other dirty little secret about 4K delivery is that aside from Google, Amazon and Netflix, the other thousands of video providers and broadcasters can’t even afford to do so. AND to notice a difference on your HDTV you will need at least a 50 inch set. Also broadcasters and video hosting sites add compression and in most cases cancel out the effect in any case. For cinema presentation perhaps, but is anyone complaining about current picture quality in theatres? Where shooting 4K does make sense is in what is referred to as ‘future proofing’. If the cost of capturing in 4K is not prohibitive then simply down-rez to a suitable resolution and output in standard HiDef (1080X1920).
I am as happy as the next guy to see image quality in cameras improve by leaps and bounds in the past few years, but this does not assure a better film. This is just one of many important tools that you have at your fingertips. Learning to use these tools to your advantage is the key to becoming an effective cinematographer or movie-maker. The obsession today over 4K seems in my opinion to have something to do with video’s inferiority complex about having to look up to film for so many decades (driven by manufacturers). Aside from that, several top level DPs have found that 2K shot at 12 Bit color depth looks better (flesh tones) than 4K shot at 10 Bit. So, pick your ammo! And fight your battles with knowledge on your side.