INTRO TO FILM

Sliders

A small apparatus, usually only a few feet wide, that you can put between two stands or two tripods.

Fill Light

A soft light that is positioned to fill in the shadows created by key light

recording format

(also called acquisition formats and capture formats) determine the way a particular system - like a camera -samples, compresses, encodes, and records video

reflected light meters that are calibrated to the exposure factors you've entered during your camera setup

All built-in camera meters are

Interlaced and Progressive Scanning

All digital video uses an electronic process known as scanning. There are two types of scanning.

when too much light hits the sensor, causing all the brightness values in a scene to be rendered too bright

An over-exposed image occurs

ND filter (neutral density filter)

Another option for controlling exposure. This is simply a gray filter that cuts the amount of light passing through the lens when shooting in over bright situations. The advantage of using it is that it allows you to alter exposure without changing your f-stop.

5,000 k

Color temperature for average daylight

3,200 k

Color temperature for tungsten movie lights

Background-to-subject ratio

Compares the relative brightness of your subject to the background, which in turn determines if and how your subject will stand out from the background.

Pan and Tilt Locks

Completely lock the down the mechanism, keeping the tripod from pivoting at all

lens aperture

Controls the amount of light allowed to pass through to tag the sensor

Shakey Cam

Made by Director Sam Raimi and D.P Tim Philo Was an ultra-inexpensive stabilizing system made by mounting a film camera in the middle of a long wooden board.

Fresnels

One of the most common and versatile lighting units on a film set Are rather hard lights, so the beam is controllable with flags or barndoors

Chrominance (C)

The color component of the video signal is referred to as

Focus Point

The point in which the lens focus is actually set, and there can be only one setting for a given situation, is called the

Light source Scene reflectance Camera filters Lens aperture Shutter speed (frame rate and shutter angle) Sensor response (ISO Gain)

The primary exposure along the path, beginning at the light source and ending at the video sensor are

size of the sensor format

The primary factor in determining the depth of field is the

Key Light

The primary source of illumination in your scene.

Depth of Field (DOF)

The range of apparent focus along the z-axis is called the

the head and the legs

Tripod can be broken into two parts

DC Power

Video cameras run on ( )power provided by onboard batteries or via that adaptor that transforms the AC power coming from the wall outlet into the ( )current. Batteries don't hold their charge as long in extremes of heat and especially cold

Shutter Speed

determines the amount of time a video sensor is exposed to light for each frame

Medium Long Shot

frames your subject from approximately the knees up.

Medium Shot

frames your subject from the waist up

Resolution

generally referees to the ability to reproduce visual detail: sharpness of line, subtlety and degrees of luminance, and accuracy of color.

Booming

lifting the camera up and down. This can be done with a handheld camera or mechanically with a boom or jib arm.

dramatic sequence

made up of a series of scenes that create a larger dramatic unit.

White Balance

means adjusting the sensor's color circuitry to match the color temperature of the light source.

closed frame

means that all of the essential information in the shot is neatly condensed

open frame

means that the composition leads the audience to be aware of the area beyond the edges of a shot

A pan with/tilt with

follows a subject as they move within a space

spot meter mode

forces the internal light meter to read only a small cluster of pixels at the center of the frame and ignore the rest.

inverse square law

says that the intensity of light falls off by the square of the distance from the subject.

Diffusion Media

scatters the light rays in a way similar to that achieved by bouncing light of a diffusing surface.

Eye Shot

the camera angle is at eye level

Aspect Ratio

the relationship between the width and height of the screen

Foreshortening

the same compositional phenomenon but with respect to a single object in which one part of the object seems larger because it's closer to the view. While another part may seem smaller because it's farther away.

Media Bay

where the video signal is written and stored on the record media.

Mise-en-scene

"put on stage" is defined as everything visible in the frame of shot.

Codec

(short for compressor/decompressor) is a video processing tool that reduces media file size to make large amounts of information generated by digital video production easier to store and transmit. T

Pure Black

0 IRE

pure white

100 IRE

slow motion

A faster frame rate than the standard 30 (or 24) frames per second creates slow motion. The faster the frame rate the slower the motion becomes when played back

Prime Lens

A lens that has one fixed focal length Their simple design allows them to be made with few glass elements, which means that they deliver maximum clarity and there is less chance for loss of light or lens aberrations

Dailies

All of the video and audio files that are the result of your production process are your camera original footage (native footage/raw footage)

Color Seperation

All sensors register brightness values, but they cannot register all color values simultaneously In order for a camera to render a color image, the incoming light must be first broken up into three primary colors (red, green, and blue) and then distributed to individual pixels for exposure.

normal lens

Approximates the same perspective and image size that the human eye would see if one were to stand in the same spot as the camera.

Lighting Ratios

Are a measure of the relative intensities of the two major light sources illuminating your subject

LED Lights

Are built from sets of tiny individual cells, which are highly efficient and run on DC power. They are highly controllable and offer both a dimmer switch and a color temperature control.

Natural Density Gels

Are gray tinted gels that simply cut down the intensity of light; they do not, on their own, aggecy the color of a light source.

HMI Lights

Are mercury vapor lamps that were developed as an alternative to tungsten lighting. Emit a light that matches daylight color tempo, 5,600 K, and are commonly Fresnel or Par lights.

Wide-angle lens

Are those with focal lengths shorter than normal lenses They reduce the size of the image and broaden the angle of view, allowing us to see more of the scene compared to the format's normal lens.

Set Lights

Are used to light the larger area of the set: the architecture, furniture, set dressing, etc.

Stands

Are what we usually posistion lighting units on. They are collapsible tripod units that have a telescoping center pole to raise and lower the angle of the light as necessary.

Scanning method Frame rate Aspect ratio Resolution

Broadcast standards refers to four essential technical elements of the video image

the iris either opens to allow more light or closes to allow less light to reach the sensor

By adjusting the aperture ring (f-stop/t-stop ring)

Focus

Can be generally defined as when the rays of light reflecting off the subject converge to form a sharply defined image on the sensor plane

Non-drop-frame timecode (NDF TC)

Counts frames according to the original black and white frame rate, assigning a new number to each video frame at a consistent rate of 30 fps

focal length

Determines the degree of magnification or demagnification of the scene being shot Is determined by the distance between the optical center of the lens and the sensor plane Focal length also determines the lens' angle of view, which means how much of the scene a given lens takes in horizontally (x-axis) or vertically (y-axis) There are three broad focal length classifications for lenses: wide angle (short lenses), normal (medium lenses), and telephoto (long lenses)

Progressive Scanning

Differs from interlaced scanning in that one frame is not made up of two interlaced fields (odd lines, then even) With progressive scanning, the sensor reads out the full frame, all the horizontal lines in order, from top to bottom at a rate of 30 fps or 60i Progressive scanning rates are 30p, 24p, and 60p

30 FPS (sometimes 60)

Digital video replays this sequence of still frames at a frame rate of

time-code (TC)

Every frame you shoot is assigned a specific and unique number called

contrast range

Every scene we record has a range of brightness values that fall somewhere between pure black and pure white. This is called a scene's

mechanical and photochemical motion picture system. It creates the illusion of motion through the rapid presentation of a series of sequential photographic images fixed to a feasible and transparent strip of cellulose.

Film is a

Telephoto Lens

Has a focal length that is longer than the normal lens The longer the focal length, the more the lens magnifies and enlarges the subject in the frame

frame

Has two definitions Has four edges Screen left Screen right Top Bottom

Sensor Size

Image sensors come in a variety of sizes. Extremely small video recording devices, like action cams or smartphones, have sensors that are small stull; the GoPRO Hero4, for example Smaller sensors must pack rows together so tightly that the pixels themselves are minuscule

Pivot Camera Moves (Stationary Camera Moves)

Involve pivoting the camera, horizontally or vertically, from a stationary spot while the camera is running.

Dolly/Zoom Shot

Involves changing the camera-to-subject distance with a dolly while simultaneously changing the focal length to maintain the exact framing

Back Light (Rim Light)

Is a light that separates the subject from the background by positioning a somewhat lower intensity hard to semi-soft light at a high angle and behind the subject.

Jib Arm

Is a long telescoping boom rig with the camera mounted on one end and counterweights at the other.

The head mount

Is at the base of the tripod head and is where the head mounts to the tripod legs.

The Dolly

Is camera support on wheels that is used when your shot requires a dynamic move and you want it to be smoother and more controlled than what you can achieve with a handheld camera

Shoulder Mounts

Large camcorders and 16mm film cameras, common before the advent of small HD digital video cameras, had the advantage of being heavier and long enough to mount on your shoulder

Tripod Legs

Legs are adjustable so that the tripod height, and therefore the camera height, can be easily changed from shot to shot.

aperture

Nestled inside the film production lens is a diaphragm made up of flat, metal blades that overlap in such a way that they create an opening that is nearly circular The diaphragm is called the lens iris and the opening is called the aperture Light-reflecting off your scene, and gathered by the lens, must pass through the aperture before it is registered on the sensor.

Lens Filters

Often employed in film production to alter quality, color, or intensity of the light entering the camera. They have an impact on exposure because any filter placed in front of the lens will reduce the light entering the lens.

Lighting Gels

Positioned in front of a specific light source to change color or quality of that particular light's output before it falls on a scene

image sensor

Recording a video image begins with the lens gathering light from the scene and focusing it on the image plane In video, this surface is the image sensor (also known as the chip) Each sensor is composed of hundreds of thousands to millions of tiny light-sensitive photodiodes, called pixels. When these pixels are stuck by the incoming light, they register an electronic charge that corresponds to the light values (color, tone, intensity) hitting that exact spot on the sensor creating an exposure

Zoom Lenses

Referred to as variable focal length lenses They offer a continuous range of focal lengths in one lens housing Zooming out means adjusting the optical center back toward the sensor plane, causing the image to become more wide angle Zooming in means adjusting the optical center away from the sensor plane and therefore increasing the magnification power It requires more glass elements to make a zoom lens as compared to a prime lens, so zoom lenses are prone to light loss

Spatial compression

Result of a high degree of magnification coupled with a farther camera-to-subject distance Result of a wide-angle lens coupled with the need to move the camera closer to our subject to achieve our desired framing

the size of your subject in frame

Shot size refers to

Long Shot

Shot that contains the whole human figure

24p fps (23.976 FPS)

Stand frame rate for most narrative film projects is

to take into account the amount of light that is lost by the particular lens

T-Stops are f-stops that have been adjusted

Lens Speed

The ability of a lens to gather light is determined by the largest possible f-stop of that particular lens. We refer to this ability as lens speed.

selective focus

The art of using focus to guide the eye of the viewer toward critical areas of the frame

Luminance (Y)

The element of the video image that determines image brightness is called the

Rule of thirds

The frame is divided into thirds with imaginary lines If a subject is looking or moving towards one side of the screen, they are usually placed along the left or the right vertical third line opposite the direction they are looking in. That extra vertical space is called the looking room (or walking room for a moving figure)

The Lens

The function of it is to gather the light reflecting off your scene and focus it onto the image sensor where it's recorded

Interlaced Scanning

The sensor outputs the odd-number horizontal pixel lines one at a time, from top to the bottom, creating a half-resolution image that is called a field of video. The scan process returns to the top of the frame to output the even-numbered rows, from top to the bottom, to fill in the rest of the image information with a second field of video These two fields of video interlace to make up one full frame This read-out of video information happens 30 times every second, thus the ATSC interlaced frame rate is 30fps, but is often written as 60i

the larger the aperture opening is

The smaller the f-stop number

quality

The texture of a light - how hard or soft it is- is referred to as

Steps of Scanning Method

The video image begins with the lens gathering light from the scene and focusing it on the image plane of the camera's video sensor, meaning the surface of a CMOS or CCD sensor Video images are solid-state sensors composed of hundreds of thousands to millions of light-sensitive photodiodes called pixels which are aligned in tight rows When these pixels are struck by the incoming light, they build up an electronic charge that corresponds to the light intensity hitting that particular spot. All at once, the image is created on the face of the sensor. That visual information outputs the pixel-specific voltage information in two different ways, depending on the scanning format

short range apparent motion

The viewer perceives this rapid presentation of still images as motion through the perceptual phenomenon known as

analog-to-digital converter (ADC)

The voltage readout from the pixel rows must be converted into digital data and this is done by the

The shot The shot sequence The scene The dramatic sequence

There are 4 elements in the visual language of film.

Get an exposure Control depth and dimension Create visual and narrative emphasis Establish tone and mood Maintain consistency

There are 5 fundamental objectives to lighting any scene

Shoulder-mount cameras Cameras ergonomically designed to be held in an operator's hands Cameras that are essentially boxes (or designed for shooting still photos)

There are three types of camcorder bodies

Optical zoom and digital zooms

There are two types of zooms

1. Change the camera-to-subject distance - moving the camera itself closer and farther from the subject 2. Alter the magnification and angle of view of the scene by changing the focal length of the lens you use

There are two ways to affect the size of a subject in the frame and the frame's field of view

Intensity, hard versus soft, and color temperature

Three of the basic properties of light that give any light source its distinctive character are

Tripod

Three-legged support is designed to both hold the camera steady for precise subject framing and to allow for fluid pans, tilts, and compound moves.

Fast Motion

Time lapse photography: extreme end of fast motion. Actions that occur over long stretch of time.

divided into 3 primary colors of light: red, green, and blue (RGB), and an accurate color blend is created through the additive process of mixing these three primary colors with the brightness information.

To achieve a color image, the video signal

Two shots, three shots, and group shots

Two shot include two subjects, the three shot include three, and the group shot includes more than three

Polarizing Filters

Used to block light rays that are not parallel when entering the lens.

Color Conversion Gels

Used to change the color temperature of a light source. They come in two basic flavors: CTO (Color Temp Orange) and CTB (Color temp blue.

taking a light reading.

Using the meter in your camera to determine the light values in a particular area in a scene is called

Straight Cut, Split Ends, Insert Cut

When editing picture and dialogue there are three basic cutting techniques

scene

a dramatic unit in which action ostensibly happens in continuous time and within a single location

direct address

a shot in which a subject looks directly into the camera.

crane shot

a shot in which the camera is raised very high in the air.

Static Shot (Fixed Frame)

a shot in which the framing remains steady on the subject without moving

Extreme Long Shot/Wide Shot

a shot shows a large view of the location or landscape.

Frame within a frame

a technique that involves using some of element of the location or lighting to crop an existing frame to new proportions

Tracking Shot

a term used when you move the camera in order to follow or track left, right, forward, or backward to follow along with the movement of your subject.

deep frame

accentuates the compositional element of depth

Optical Zoom

adjusts the central lens element to magnify or demagnify the scene being shot.

Container Format (wrapper format)

all video data ingested into an editing system is "wrapped" within a system container format.

Viewfinder

allows you a close and glare-free look ay the video image.

Sequence

an expressive unit made of editing together multiple shots to define a unified action or event

Display Format

are a set of specifications for how video is broadcast, received, and displayed. In The U.S, they are codified in a set of nationally mandated digital television broadcast standards devised by the ATSC. Examples include 1080i and 720p

Silks

are like nets, but the material is patly opaque, which not only cuts the light intensity, but diffuses it as well.

Specials

are low-wattage, unobtrusive lights whose function is to kick up the illumination on a specific object or a small area of the frame for special emphasis.

Nets

are netting material stretched across a frame and, like scrims are used purely to cut the intensity of light

Zebras

are thin, slanted black lines that show up in the hot spots in your image. They tell you when a bright area in your image has reached the limits of proper exposure and is in danger of being overexposed.

Scrims

are wire mesh screens that fit directly in front of the light unit and their function is simply to reduce intensity of light.

high angle shot

camera is above eye level

Low angle shot

camera is below eye level

Focus Assist

can enlarge a small portion of the image to help find critical focus more easily

Drop-frame time code (DF TC)

does not actually drop any video frames, but it does skip over some timecode numbers from time to time in order to adjust frame count to accurately reflect the true 29.97 fps of SD video.

flat frame

emphasizes the two-dimensionality of the image

servo zoom control

enables you to glide through the zoom range, from wide-angle to telephoto, which a touch of a button

ISO

essentially the same as gain, but reflect the old ISO speed ratings and thereby offer small and more precise increments for boosting the video signal.

dynamic camera moves

involve a mobile camera, which means literally moving the entire camera in space, horizontally (left or right), closer or farther (forward or backward) or even vertically (up and down).

Gain

is a setting that determines the degree of electronic amplification of the video signal coming from the image sensor.

Extreme Close Up

is a stylistically potent shot that isolates a very small detail or feature of the subject

Dolly

is a wheeled apparatus on which we mount the camera to move it.

Artificial light

is any light source that generates light through electricity

Medium Close Up

is generally from the chest or shoulders up

LUT (short for Look-up table)

is simply a collection of customized color calibration instructions that are downloaded into your camera or field monitor, and applied to the footage so you can see a more accurate representation of the image.

Middle gray

is the luminance value midway between black and white

reflectance

is the measure of light reflecting off the scene (toward your lens) and it takes into account the light absorption qualities of objects.

light intesity

is the strength of the light emitted by a source

Workflow

is the technical path your project will take from sound and image acquisition to exhibition

analog video (and audio)

means that the creation, recording, playback, and distribution of the video/audio signal are accomplished on videotape via fluctuations in electronic voltage recorded on magnetic particles, which are respectively, analogous to the original light values of the scene and acoustic waves of the audio

Handheld Camera

means using your hands, arms, and shoulder for holding and moving the camera.

A waveform monitor (or waveform scope or WFM)

measures the video signal voltage in a live video image at the sensor level, and those voltage levels correspond directly to the brightness levels within the image

Dolly Shot

moving shots on which the camera moves closer or farther away from the subject.

Digital Zoom

on the other hand, is essentially an in-camera digital effect on which the circuitry in the camera magnifies the captured video signal by selecting the certain pixels and blowing them up

Pan

pivoting the camera left or right (left pan and right pan)

Close Up

places the primary emphasis on the face or other part of the body.

Juxtaposition

placing two or more shots next together so that you highlight a link or contrast between the content in each shot.

Natural Light

refers to a light source coming from nature, a source that is not artificial

three-point lighting

refers to a specific and commonly used light strategy that employs a key light, a fill light, and backlight

Mixed Lighting

refers to combining available sources and artificial lights to achieve the look you're after.

Available Light

refers to light sources that ordinarily exsist in any given location

The scanning method

relates to both the creation of the video image in the camera as well as the image display on the monitor

Camera Move

shifting the viewer's perspective, in one continuous motion

Tilt

shifts the camera perspective vertically, with lens facing up or down (tilt up or tilt down)

Color space

the organization and blending of color and brightness values

Camera Angles

the orientation of the camera to the subject

diminishing perspective

the perceptual understanding that objects will appear to be small the farther they are from the view, and conversely, objects will appear larger the closer they are.

Media Formats

the physical media on which video data are recorded are often referred to as a format.

Shot

the smallest unit of the film language. It's a continuous rub of images unbroken by an edit.

Motivated Light

the strategy of using movie light to duplicate where light would logistically be emanating from.

Object overlapping

the understanding that objects nearer the foreground will partially cover or overlap objects farther in the background

Color encoding

the way that color and brightness values are integrated into the video signal