As Live Production - Vision Mixing + Camera workshop

-
Today we got split into our A/B groups and had a workshop with Del who was very informative and helpful. I feel very fortunate to have Del teach us everything he knows, today he taught us about being a professional camera operator and it is NOT an easy job! The main thing that was difficult was focusing while an object is moving in an extreme close up, but after a few tries, everyone started to get the hang of it.

He explained to us that when we go in for a camera op job we are meant to understand all of the director's technical terminologies. He also mentioned that it can't take us too long to set up our cameras because this runs into the show's time, and we could possibly not get booked again! There are A LOT of terminologies that directors specifically use to communicate with their camera operators but these are some of the important ones we should always remember.

 Camera Direction/Movement:
READY Next camera to be cut (live) to program out
STANDBY Next camera to be dissolved (live) to program out
TAKE/CUT Ready camera is quickly cut to program out (eg. Cut 1)
DISSOLVE/MIX  Standby camera is slowly dissolved to  program  out (eg. Dissolve 2)


HOLD Stop camera movement (hold current shot)
RESET Return to previous position (starting point)
START Begin prescribed movement (eg. start push)
PAN RIGHT Move camera lens right
PAN LEFT Move camera lens left
TILT UP Move camera lens up
TILT DOWN Move camera lens down
ZOOM IN Tighten camera framing
ZOOM OUT Loosen camera framing
TIGHTEN UP Zoom in slightly to tighten camera framing
LOOSEN UP Zoom out slightly to loosen camera framing
PUSH IN Zoom in slowly on subject
PULL OUT Zoom out slowly from subject



These are also used to also communicate with the vision mixer which had an important job that collides with the camera operator. We also practiced moving the camera while we zoom in and focus at the same time while our model walks side to side, which we also warmed up to after a few tries. I feel a lot more confident in my camera operating skills and also how to set up a camera property, we had Ferg on hand to help us with anything we didn't understand.


He also taught us about the 'Camera Greyscale' that is really important for our 'Camera Operators' it is made out of the purest black and white. This is also important to have on hand to adjust your camera and white balance, especially the IRIS!

The 'Hole' in the middle is empty and made out of felt, this is so that no light reflects on the blackest of black. I find this chart very helpful and Del also mentioned that it is very expensive but every studio must have one.


After we were finished with our camera operating Del took us into the gallery to show us what professional Vision Mixers have to operate while on a live production. This was so fun and exciting to learn since I have never seen this much equipment. Del taught us about the 'T-Bar' and 'Stand By' 'Preview' buttons which is all we needed to know for that session. Del expressed this mixer panel as a live editing software, anything could be done on this desk. He showed us how to use the 'T-bar' for live transmissions such as 'Dissolve' and 'Slide', we all had a go on the buttons and how to "Stand By' a shot before we set it to go live. There is also a specific way to hold your hand on the keys, each finger should be placed on each camera 1 - pinky finger, 2 - ring finger, 3 - middle finger, 4 - index finger. It was VERY difficult to get used to this and to also use the T-bar at the same time.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fiction Adaptation - Trespass - John Clare research

-
Image
While coming up with my proposal i really wanted to discover more about John Clare. John was born in 1793 and was a very famous poet, he was born as the son of a farm labourer and did not have much money. Many individuals state that Clare is 'the greatest labouring class poet that England has ever produced' since he came from a very poor background. While reading up on his background it was very hard, he had a troubled childhood and was also sent to an asylum where he had written most of his poems. I chose the Trespass poem due to me really having a strong connection to it. I feel as John Clare felt a lot of loneliness and pain during the time that this poem was written. The sonnet has rhyming couplets and seems less angry even though it is in-fact very sad. Clare really felt despair and pain while this poem was written. Clare was born into a middle class family and felt as he wanted to express these feelings within his other poems. I couldn't really find any informati
Read more

As Live Production - VT Reasearch 'Fashion Fails'

-
Image
Fashion Fails – Internet Shopping Websites I have actually experiences these issues in the past with ‘Online Shopping’ you can never be sure if what you order is what you will actually get. I have researched a few websites that have this issue and how could we possibly stop them? The first website that has caught my eye is ‘Zaful’ . This online store describes itself as ‘Trendy women’s fashion’ it started off with just bikini sales but developed into clothing also – I have noticed this online store getting more and more attention due to Youtuber sponsorships, Zaful sent Bikinis and clothing for free to popular Youtubers to review them. This is where some of their stuff really came differently to what was show online. Most of their bikinis are VERY small when ordered in a Medium or Small, ‘It would fit a child’ one Youtuber mentioned while reviewing the clothing off the site. You cannot tell a lot from their pictures either, there is no description of mate
Read more

As Live Production - First look into Studio Production (workshop)

-
Image
Today we had a very exciting workshop with Del, it was our first go at working in a real Studio Production atmosphere. We all had a go at different jobs such as Floor Managin, Sound, Directing, VT, Talent etc. We also had a go at playing around in the gallery and seeing what it takes to be a vocal Director. We all had a go and realised that when we go live all of us tone our voices down and really start to focus very strongly on what to say and what shot to play live. I had so much fun during this workshop but found out that most of the jobs are very difficult! Escpecially my own, being a floor manager comes with many different responsibilities. I realised that i had to really nail my 'Floor Manager' hand signals. I also found it difficult to manage the talent, Del told me that i had to be nexto each camera when live so that the talent can look at you and the correct camera. Me and George both decided to take care of one talent each - i would be in charge of Adeline and Georg
Read more