Video Research Nottingham

Camera Practice

During this time, I have been given many opportunities to exercise my skills with the camera being able to take pictures for others in creative situations.

I felt that this was relevant as it allowed me to problem solve and use the knowledge that I have learnt from the video researched during previous weeks
For example:
- Shooting in a low-light situation
- Framing and composition
Furthermore, some problems arose that I hadn't yet encountered during my research or during my shooting days:
- ND filter polorisation
  - The client requested to shoot a low-angle shot through a glass bridge with them facing the camera but as seen in the photo, you can only see the subject's silhouette in the photo. This is because of the skylight reflecting off of the glass windows which covered the subjects.
  - This would've been solved if I had an ND filter on the lens but unfortunately I had not expected to be using it in this kind of situation so I didn't bring it.
    - Knowing this now I will remember that in any situation where I intend to shoot a subject(s) through the glass I will need to bring the ND filter with me.

Work flow Efficiency Improvements

Because of the delays from London’s editing week, I want to try and make the compiling process quicker so I will be able to do more creative editing.

This includes:

Foley audio matching
- For this, I have thought of a plan that may help align the audio to the video clips faster.
  - Every time I were to take a break to review the footage, I will take a note by shooting a black video which will essentially put a marker in the folder to signify when the breaks are.
  - with this and also noting down the last audio recording before the break. I should be able to pair the audio and video together as I have separated and organised the files in chunks.
Video clip timing w/music
- I stumbled across the video “This Resolve Plugin Will Save You Hours of Editing” - by George Kamenov which talks about a plugin that automatically makes out the beats of a music clip which saves you time scanning through the music and fine-tuning the video to the music.
  - This is very helpful as it cuts down the alignment time significantly.

“Why you should SHOOT IN THE RAIN - Filmmaking/Photography Tutorial” - Aidin Robbins

What I’ve Learnt:

Rain creates a softbox-like feature because the clouds evenly cover the sunlight
If there is fog, you can use it as negative space to focus on your subject
Rain droplets create a cool effect when out of focus as it creates a moving bokeh effect when falling
Filming the puddles adds to more variety of shots.
Cover up ports so rain doesn’t seep through into the camerasu
switch lenses as less as possible so rain doesn’t get into the sensor
- I will only be using one lens so this doesn’t apply to me
Colour grading the scene to reflect the environment of a rainy day will add to the overall composition
subtle Sound design adds to the atmosphere.

“My Davinci Resolve Color Grading Process - Simple & Effective!” - Dunna did it

What I’ve Learnt:

Add node key bind - Option + S
Name the nodes for the organisation
- Node 1 - WB (White balance)
- Node 2 - Pre - LOG
- Node 3 - LOG
- Node 4 - Post - LOG
Add “Colour space Transform” and change it to REC.709
- This is done on the 3rd node (LOG) because we would be able to change the PRE - LOG node to effect the LOG node
- I used “ARRI Wide Gamut 3” for the Colour space
- “ARRI LogC3” for the input Gamma
- and Rec.709 for the Output colour space and Gamma
Use Pre - LOG node to adjust any lighting
- Lift and Gain to adjust brightness and darkness to your liking
Use WB node to change the white balance
- Use eye dropper tool on white part of the image to change the WB to neutral
Use Post - LOG for more creative work
Feels free to add more notes if you want, organise each setting change