Camera Shots

Directors of photography and directors have to consider four main features of any set up that they wish to shoot. These four main features include:

Depth - The distance from the camera lens to the object in the frame.

Framing - Making the main object in the frame sharper then the softened background.

Composition - The arrangement of the objects in the frame.

Focus - The objects chosen to be put in the frame.

As a way to understand these camera shots further we recreated some famous film scenes using the cameras. Shawshank Redemption (top) and The Taxi Driver (bottom) were the two still images we recreated. We analysed these film stills so that we could understand the position of the characters and the lighting used. Especially for The Taxi Driver still image there was a real emphasis on what was focused in the frame because the gun is out of focus but closer to the camera (foreground) and the character was in focus but further away from the camera (background). This shows that the character is the most important thing in the frame and that's where the director wants the audience's attention to be.

The second picture is our recreated 'Taxi Driver' moment. It was difficult to recreate this picture because we could not get the focus correct. Every time we would get everything in place in the frame it would look as though the gun was out of focus and the character was in focus, like the original. However when it came to actually taking the shot it would swap the two around and therefore to overcome this problem we changed the lens to see if that made a difference, which it did. The fourth picture was also quite difficult to recreate because there was no possibility of rain being created in the shot. However we did chose a location which had an element of blue (radiator and floor) to try and match it as best we could.

To create a certain tone, mood or meaning to a piece of media directors and the light coordinators need to think about lighting and camera angle. To create isolation you would normally place the object far away from the camera and have an open space around it to show that it is alone and 'isolated'. To create a sense of darkness or horror you could shine a light above the object to create a shadow. This shadow would highlight the mysterious persona that normally corresponds with a dark or horror genres.

During the time in which we recreated these iconic film stills it was important to know how to use the camera in terms of switching lenses, putting the battery and memory card into the camera properly. These were all tools which we learnt during this process.