Camera Techniques: Multistory Car Park

Establishing Shots From Car Park Roof


For this locations health and safety please see previous post or click link.

Screen Shot of Townscape

Screen Shot of Townscape from different angle

After our previous shoots we became aware of the fact that we had not experimented with different vantage points. The shots from the rooftop allowed us to experiment with filming townscapes, this is something that I had never done before and so provided some great experience and we produced some interesting footage. (clips to be put up soon) These are some shots that I feel would be worth considering for our final film as it does provide us with some brilliant establishing shots as well expanding the shot variety that can we could include.

We did however, run into one problem, that will need to be addressed into to avoid it happening again. This was that one of the cameras we took up to the rooftop, would not record any footage, I tried taking some still images to see if that would work and they did, though only a few would take before a warning message appeared informing me that the SD card was full. Therefore I double checked the card to see what was on there, and found there to be nothing, other than the few stills I had just taken. So after going through the settings I knew of that could affect this I could not come across the source of the problem, meaning we only had one camera that was able to capture any footage.

After taking the cameras back, the technician informed that it may be that SD card needing re-formatting, he showed me how to do this and it seem to rectify the problem. Though this hindered our shoot to some extent, as we could not get as much, footage as we'd like to have got, it has given us the knowledge and experience so that we are able to check this should the problem occur again.

Footage From The Car Park Roof:




MVI 3014 from Sammie Masters-Hopkins on Vimeo.

This is a short clip form the footage we manage to shoot at the top if the miltistory carpark, we choose this particular location as it offered us an interesting vantage point that we had not previously been able to capture. On top of this, we were able to capture a good establishing shot of the top, that we not otherwise have been able to shoot.
One problem with this piece off footage, which is quite noticeable, it that the pan is rather unsmooth, making the entire piece look unprofessional. This could have been rectified by perhaps loosing the screws to make the head of the tripod move with more ease. Alternatively we could have taken out the fluid head tripod, which in hindsight would have been more appropriate due the shots we wanted to get.
As you can see from the clip, we kept to a narrow aperture (f/22) in order to keep the entire shot in focus. Though this meant the image wasn't getting in enough light, but as we wanted this to be a panning we did not want to to slow the shutter speed to compensate for the narrow aperture, otherwise we may have risked blurring the image. Therefore, we upped the ISO (800) slightly so that the image didn't appear under-exposed, thankfully this didn't cause too much grain as the ISO didn't need to be at its highest.


This kind of shot maintains the points laid down in our brief as it is a low budget way of gaining good establishing shots, Neuvelle Vague directors always had a small budget to work with, this is the reason the became well known for the innovation and creation with camera angles and shots and they did have the budget to achieve them the way a Hollywood film crew might.

Location Scout 3 Preparation

Location Scout 3: Ropewalk/Driving Tracking Shots
Monday 24th September

Equipment List
3 Cameras - 2 Canon 600D DSLR and 1 Canon 500D DSLR. Multiple cameras allows us to take shots from several different angles of the same sequence.
1 Lumix Camera - For taking still images to document the outing.
4/8Gb SD Cards for the cameras
1 Tripod - Allowing us to get good steady shots when panning or tracking etc.
Umbrella - To keep rain off equipment

This shoot focussed more on camera angles and techniques rather than location, though we did try new locations, this wasn't necessarily the main of the shoot as it was for the first and second. This time, we decided to split into two groups, allowing us to shoot more in the same amount of time. Will and Jack heading one way, Simmone, Lewis and I heading another.

We compiled a list of shots we each wanted to try out and thought about which location would be best suited to each, and then divided up the list between our two groups and then went out to shoot. Before we went out, however, we did have to consider the weather conditions. as it had been all day, we had to ensure that could film in the rain without risking damage to the equipment, this is why we added a large umbrella to the equipment list as we did not want to have to postpone the shoot.

Establishing shots are commonly used in all film, including the New Wave films. It gives the audience an idea of the area they are going to be in during the film. We opted to do this as it links in with our brief, we had to think of a way to gain these establishing shots by finding somewhere high enough to get them. After some thought, we opted for the top of a car park and although this is a direct technique taken from the new wave, the creative thought gone into trying to get them is reflective of how the new wave directors work.

Shot Types:

Establishing Shots
Travelling Shots (e.g. escalator/lift - coming back to the idea of innovative style)
Ghost Ride
Tracking (From Car)


Locations Ideas:

Ropewalk (Roof for establishing shots. Main centre for lift and escalator shots.)
Queens Rd/Stockingford (For car tracking and ghost ride shots)

Simmone, Lewis and I decided upon heading to Ropewalk Shopping Centre to achieve the establishing and travelling shots. (Evaluation of shots in further post)


Health and Safety

As for every shoot, before heading out, we had to consider any health and safety issues that we may come across. As the images below show, one of the immediate things that came to mind was the weather. We had to ensure that crew members had appropriate clothing to stay warm and dry, avoiding any health issues. And also, umbrellas etc to act as a waterproof covering for equipment should it begin to rain, to avoid and damage to the equipment we were using. Another problem we needed to consider was the windy conditions we were filming in, this was especially important to consider on this particular shoot as we were filming from a high location, meaning the wind conditions would be more extreme. This meant we had to take extra care to ensure the equipment was stable, particularly when using the tripods. Keeping a safe distance form the edge of the platform needed to be taken into account, again avoiding damage to equipment and injury to crew members.
As we were in a car park, vehicles needed to be listened and looked out for, though we were on the top and it would more than likely be fairly quiet, we could not afford to let our guard down, otherwise accidents could be caused.
As the area was in a local place, we were all fairly familiar with it, however we still needn't to maintain our attention to surroundings, i.e. unsanitary objects/broken glass on the floor or any potential criminals/gangs etc that could cause problems.
When it came it shooting for the tracking shots from inside the car there were a number of concerns. Of course the first thing that must be considered is the safety of the car, ensuring that is in full working order and therefore safe to go out in, secondly ensuring the driver is insured etc. On top of this we would have to ensure all crew members were wearing seat belts, including when using the camera. The driver must be focussed on driving, more so if driving along a busy street, rather than worrying about the footage that is being shot.
As it is likely the window would need to open to avoid reflection when filming, it is mandatory to ensure any equipment is safely stored or secured to avoid any accidental damage.

Location Scout 2: Main Issues

Sound

For this locations health and safety please see previous post by clicking link.

Having completed our second scout, we came back to college to upload and review the footage we had taken. We were immediately presented with a problem. As we watched the clips back we came to realise that there was in fact no sound on the footage from 2 of the cameras,  one camera had captured the sound well but the other clips came out completely silent. Thankfully, the shoot was simply for location scouting purposes and so will not have any major affect on our final project. We found the issue was no serious problem and all we had to to was adjust a setting on the two cameras that had not captured sound. This however has taught to ensure we do do more thorough camera checks before we head out to shoot, i.e. maybe taking a short clip before we leave and reviewing it. In the same way the incorrect white balance made us realise complete checks are vital.




sound problems from Sammie Masters-Hopkins on Vimeo.


This piece of footage above is from on of the camera that had the incorrect sound settings, as you can see (or hear) there is no sound at all coming from it. However, despite this problem, i feel the rest of the shot turned out fairly well, the composition within the frame looks good, though perhaps, the subjects eye line could have been slightly lower so they were kept on the horizon one.
We filmed the piece with an aperture setting of f/22, noticeable from the fact that the whole frame is in focus. We tried to keep the shutter speed to same to avoid any blurring, but because of the small aperture we did need to adjust another setting to make sure the exposure of the image was correct. Thanks to the natural light we were shooting in, the image was already fairly well lit, therefore we did not have to alter the ISO too much, just upping it slightly (to around a 400), this avoided us having a grainy image.

One point that can be noted about the piece of footage is the documentary style it adopts, the subject in the foreground is looking directly into the camera breaking the forth wall. This is a technique that is used often throughout the French New Wave library and therefore this footage is maintain a link to our brief. An example of when this technique used is in Truffaut's 400 Blows, the young boy in this film looks directly into the camera on multiple occasions throughout the film reminded the audience that they are in fact watching a fictional piece of work.
As you can see from this screen shot of the ending of the film:

The flats in the background of the footage tells us that we are not in an affluent area of the town, again coming back the realism that is reflected in the New Wave films.

White Balance (includes footage)

White Balance Problems
Location 2

One of the immediate problems we faced was that one of the cameras seemed to have an unusual white balance, the image on the screen seemed to have a slight blueish tint, as you can see from the image below. If we compare it to another screen shot from a clip from one of the other cameras, it will be clear to see the difference.

With these images place next to one another, you can see just how much difference there is in colour between them.
At the time of filming, we noticed the unusual tint and attempted to change the camera's white balance settings. However, it did appear to be correct, we were uncertain of how to fix the problem there and then and so continued with the test and simply used this camera to get an idea of framing and composition, anything that the colour would not directly effect.

After the camera test, we looked into where the problem may lie. As i mentioned, we had already checked the white balance settings so we knew this was not it. So we decided to research a little information about 'white balance', what it is/why we use it/what different settings it has etc. This allowed us to gain some idea of why we may have had problems, after initially thinking that perhaps the software needed resetting, due it not reading the white balance settings probably, we came up with another possible source of the problem. 

The image below, shows 4 different white balance settings. You can the image in the bottom corner is also showing a bluish tint on the TUNGSTEN setting. This setting is used, usually indoors, in order to neutralise the yellowish tint of tungsten (incandescent) light, often caused by sources such as light bulbs. This could be where our problem came from, without knowing this before heading out to shoot it  we were unable to solve the problem whilst there.

Having found this information out know, we have more knowledge of what may cause such problems, this will mean that if it is to ever happen again we may be able to fix it whilst out on the shoot. However, I feel that this experience has taught us to check the camera settings before leaving, that way if there are any problems, they can be solved before any filming begins and footage gets ruined. Or if it is a more serious problem, it may be possible to take another camera in place of one that isn't working correctly. 

MVI 0024 from Sammie Masters-Hopkins on Vimeo.

The piece of footage above, was taken on one of the camera that had the incorrect white balance settings. It is clear to see the blueish tint that the image has due to this. Because of the off colour, we wouldn't be able to use the piece in a final film, however, this does not not render the footage complete useless. The aim of the location scout was to get a good idea of what atmosphere we wanted to convey through the location in our film, to find a place that worked well and kept in with the new wave feel we were trying to created. It also enabled us to experiment and get used to the cameras we were working with, therefore, despite the fact these pieces of footage are not perfect we still achieved what we would have liked to during that shoot.

This piece takes on a new wave feel due to the area it is shot, by shooting in a park such as this, we are able to get a feel of the grittier side of life, which the new wave directors wished to convey in their own films. Also, you will notice that there is children and parents playing in the park, these are not actors and are simply members of the public making use of the facilities. by using members of the public we can get natural reactions to the action within scenes and also natural reactions to cameras and equipment we take out. This is very reflective of the new wave, particularly if we reference the fight scene from Truffaut's Les Quatre Cents Coup. In this scene the actors are having a fight in the street but none of the members of the public were actually informed that this was a staged fight, and so the reaction of the crowd that soon began to form was 1005 natural, offering the perfect realistic feel to the scene. This is definitely an idea we would definitely take into amount when filming the final footage for  our piece. 

As you can see, if you watch the entirety of the clip above, the filming really isn't perfect at all. The focus goes in and out in the middle of the clip, the camera is hand held and therefore incredibly unsteady. I think the focus problems were simply out of experimentation with the cameras, as a rule the aperture of this shot maintains a narrow setting, going between an f/22 and f/16 (except of course when the focus is completely lost). Due to the blueish tint of the footage, it can be hard to be certain  of the exposure of the image. ,are more difficult by lack of certain focus throughout the shot, i personally feel that the piece looks a little under-exposed if anything. With the aperture setting being so narrow, there won't be much light getting through the lens opening, this would mean that the shutter speed or ISO would need altering to compensate. Perhaps the ISO should have been a little higher, (an 800?) so that the little light that can get through is sensed more, brightening the image. 

I liked the fact that the footage was taken as a long shot, this allows the camera to just watch, giving a feeling that the world is just going by and nothing is really happening (again this is a new wave technique). I also feel that the composition was fairly well executed, the horizon line is well placed, and the trees in the background give good symmetrical structure to the image. 

Location 2 Reflection

Location Scout 2 Evaluation

For this locations health and safety please see previous post or click link.

With our production brief in mind, we felt that this location would definitely become a strong contender for one of the places we may decide to shoot our final footage. We felt this location was able to provide the idea of a naturalistic setting. With it being a very public location, and many non-actors often in the background of our test shots, I feel we could quite easily capture the idea of real life without it looking forced.
This location was much appropriate that the first that we choose. This is a very naturalistic setting that is reflective of the New Wave movement and it allowed us top explore society issues through the mise-en-scene. I.e. graffitied park areas, litter, cigarette ends etc. Again reflective of the the New Wave, as the directors of the movement we attempting to explores contemporary issues that surrounded society. The location also provided us with the time to experiment with innovative camera movements, which the directors were acclaimed for. (The clip of this camera technique experiment is on an later post, or click the link to take you directly to it)

Take for example this screen shot from one of our test clips:

You can see (though admittedly not that clearly here) in this screen shot that there are members of the public walking through the background of the shot. This is a technique we find throughout the library of french new wave films and is something the directors used to keep the films looking 'real', allowing for naturalistic reactions to the cameras and crew etc.

When choosing to shoot in this location we also must consider the general appearance of the area, do we feel this particular place accurately represent the area as a whole? Does it suggest and fit in with the atmosphere we aim to convey in our film? Again, if we take a look at a couple of screen shots from the clips we will  be able to evaluate this.

From this screen shot we can see that graffiti has taken place in this area and litter is on the floor,
this may therefore suggest a 'run down' area, children playing in a vandalised park.
Perhaps this area is not particularly affluent. As a group we felt the connotations we get from these little clues that would be placed within the mise-en-scene, should we choose to make use of this location, would be perfect way to suggest the gritty, unglamorous side to life (again in keeping with the French new wave). 

The obvious problem we may come across if choosing to shoot here would be members of the public being unhappy about being in the shots. This would be something we would need to think about whilst shooting, asking permission of the people is definitely something we would consider when shooting footage in this area, though this may cause us to loose some of the naturalistic effect we are aiming for. If the people are aware if the filming this may alter the way in which they act or if after asking permission they refuse, we will immediately have to change the 'real' setting to fit around their decision. This is a problem that will need to discuss in a meeting before heading back out for final filming. Having said that, during our camera test shoot, this wasn't a major problem for us and it may not take up too much of our time trying to over come it.

Overall, as a group we felt this location scout to be very useful in finding an area we would like to use. We found that it would give us the setting (at least in part) that we are looking for when shooting the footage for a our film.




Location 2 from Sammie Masters-Hopkins on Vimeo.

This footage above is of this second location which, as previously mentioned, we felt appropriate for our brief. We begin with a shot of a set of garages and then pan round to see rows of flats and the beginning of a park area. This relatively normal area is reflective of the new wave movement, as the directors of this movement wanted to show, the grittier, more 'real' side to life, as opposed to overly glamourised and stylised version of life that Hollywood and other mainstream films often depict.

This shot is well composed, generally adhering to the image composition guidelines, keeping the horizon in the correct place, which can be seen on the camera seen when the grid setting is on. The entire image within the shot is in focus, suggesting a narrow aperture (f/22). Due to the fairly overcast day, and the small lens opening (a result of the aperture setting), we had to alter the ISO settings (to an 800) to ensure the image did not come out under-exposed. Had we altered the shutter speed (we would have had to make it slower in order to allow more light in) instead, we would have ended up with a blurred image due to the motion within the shot.

Location Scout 2 Preparation

Location Scout: Arts Centre/5 Street Park and Equipment List
Monday 17th September

Following our first somewhat unsuccessful location scout, we headed out to a second which we hoped would provide us with far better locations for shooting scenes. The area we went to was a local park/art centre. We felt this area in particular would have the natural atmosphere we are aiming to achieve and with it being next to arts centre we also managed to find a few actors wiling to help us with our camera testing, a definite bonus.
(evaluation of location and testing to come is further posts)

Before heading out, we completed a list of equipment we would need in order to make the most of our time at this location. This included;
3 Canon 600D DSLR cameras - for high quality HD filming, by using 3 we each were able to try out different shots etc allowing us to have a good range of footage from the shoot.
1 small Lumix camera - for documenting the time spent testing and experimenting with technique and framing.
4/8GB SD cards for the cameras
2 tripods - 1 that was fitted with a fluid head attachment, to make panning shots smoother.
1 dolly - again to steady the camera for shots such as tracking.

Health and Safety

When heading out for an on location shoot, health and safety is a vital component to consider before begin any filming. We have to consider the safety of the crew and of the equipment. As you can see from the below images, we were shooting in a park, this is a public area, meaning we had to wary of the members of public around the area. Would we need their permission should they come into our shots? how trustworthy would they be? we would have to ensure equipment is watched and in a safe place at all times, to avoid loss/theft or damage.
We knew that the uneven ground would mean the use of a dolly track would not be possible and therefore opted not to take it to avoid having unnecessary equipment with us. The uneven ground meant we had to take extra care when moving around the area. And also, had to make sure the tripods were balanced correctly otherwise damaged could be caused to them and the cameras and also could have made out footage be uneven.
The was a near by car park, so listening and looking out for traffic was another thing to pay attention to, we would not want to inconvenience drivers by being in the way or cause accidents due to this.

Setting up equipment.
Here is the Dolly and the camera being set up. 

Setting up camera on tripod.
Trying out different shots and framing ideas.

Test shots.
Again experimenting with Framing and composition

Volunteer Actor.
Having a role explained and close up shots (face/hands) tested.

More equipment set up.

Location Scout 1

 Location Scouting
Wednesday 12th September 2012

After completing our brief, we went on our first location scout (Wednesday 12th September). We began this scout by taking the cameras out around the college and taking some still images in order to gain some idea of what we may be able to work with if we were to shoot at the college.

The neuvelle vague was a movement commenting on contemporary society hence using a younger generation, as the changes in society would have the greatest effect on them. therefore, we choose this location initially due to the fact that it would offer us a realistic setting, with a certain age group that is relative of our original brief as realism is something that is greatly used throughout the new wave movement. 



Will taking some still shots to get an idea of location.








Library.
We felt that this particular location may provide us with some slight differences with regard to the lighting. e.g. the narrow walk ways between book shelves may have had more of a low key effect than that of the courtyard (see below) which, during the day, would obviously be much brighter. However, we found this did not have the effect we expected as you can see from the image here.


Courtyard.
When heading to the courtyard, we felt this may make a good place to make use of a big nature light source, allowing us to experiment with techniques such as soft light.





After carrying out this location scout it became clear to us that simply shooting around college would not be at all enough and did not provide the environment or atmosphere that we wished to convey throughout our film. We had a another meeting (Thursday 13th September) and felt this would not give credit to the french new wave inspired film we are aiming to produce. Though we may be able to experiment with lighting etc it simply didn't seem suitable. All in all we felt this particular scout was unsuccessful, we therefore arranged for a second location scout for the following Monday (17th September), which would also include our first camera test. This would allow us to try out and experiment with lighting/composition and also get a feel for cameras and equipment we would be using.

Cinematic New Wave Assignment Brief

Camera and Lighting Techniques Unit: Assignment Brief

To create a 3 minute sequence/scene in the style of the French New Wave. To be shot/edited in a high contrast monochrome, using as many stylistic techniques conventional of the French New Wave.

For Example;
Innovative camera movement - making use of objects that already move (i.e in Godard's A Bout de Souffle (1960), Patrica is watched by the camera as both her and the camera travel up an escalator).
Different use of lighting techniques - low key/hard/soft lighting. Trying out different techniques in or to make use of natural lighting, i.e. use of a reflector etc.


Narrative/exploring issues
 The scene that we have decide to shoot will consist of a series of conversations, preferably between a group of young people (18-24?), commenting on contemporary social issues. We aim to achieve a natural looking discussion shooting in a 'real' environment (found through location scouting) and by asking them questions with such topics in mind and simply asking them to comment on them. This allows for a certain degree of improvisation but with slight direction. By allowing the actors to go where they wish with their answer, we are able to further explore the issues of
concentration span; how long does it take for the for the conversation to drift of topic etc. Are concentration levels diminishing due to the ease at which we now access information?

Techniques to include:
Camera;
Close up - face/hands/feet, showing emotion/how people fidget even when mid-conversation.
Tracking/panning - act as establishing shots.
Jump Cuts - use of editing to further suggesting our French new wave inspired style.
Camera Drift - links with idea of concentration span, even camera can't focus for long.

Composition - Thirds

                        Accurate Balance

                        Leading Lines

                        Equal Symmetry

Lighting;
Low Key - encapsulates the style of the French new wave, allows us to develop good lighting skills.
Hard/Soft - to allow us to accurate execute these lighting style we may have to experiment with different sources of light. i.e small touch etc
Natural - this is another important to technique for us and in order to carry this out well we may have to make use of REFLECTOR to encourage use of natural light. Again, keeping to the French new wave inspiration noted in the brief but also allowing us to develop our lighting skills.

Other;
Take audience out of the film - break the escapist nature of mainstream film, force the audience to realise that they are watching a film.