1. Cinematographers Journal
What role does the director play in the production?
As the cinematographermyjobwastocreate filmthe filmandmake sure the scriptwas
transformedintoavisual thatreflectedthe conceptaccurately.Myrole didnotsimplyconsistof
pressingthe recordingbuttonbutIwas alsoincharge of makingsure thatframingwas correct and
lightingwassuitable foreveryshot.Since Iwasalsothe directorin the projectitmade it easierfor
me to visualise whateachshotshouldlooklike.
Whydid I decide to take the role?
I decided totake on thisrole as there were onlytwoof usin the groupso we had to splitthe roles
evenly,I’ve alreadyhadsome previousexperience beingacinematographerwhenIdidmyASmedia
courseworksoI alreadyhadsome experience priorthisproject.
What doesthe role involve?
My role consistedof me havingaroughideaof whatI thoughteach shotshouldlooklike after
readingthe script.On topof that myrole alsorequiredme tobe comfortable withusingthe
equipmentwe decidedtouse tofilmthe scene,therefore itwasmyjobto checkout the equipment
and experimentwiththemsoIknewhow touse it on the day. Usuallythe directorand
cinematographerwouldworktogether tomake sure theybothhave the same ideaintermsof the
outcome forthe production,butsince Iwasthe directoritmade my jobeasierbecause Iknew
exactlywhatI wanted.
Did I encounterany problemswhilstcompletingthe role?
Whilstfilmingone of the majorproblemsIfacedwasgettingthe camera to focusespeciallywhenwe
were filmingthe lastscene of ourshortfilm, Iexperimentedwithdifferentlensesbutitdidn’t
change the fact that the camera wouldnotfocus,but aftersome experimentingwe wereable toget
the camera to focusto get the perfectshot.Anotherproblem Iencountered wascapturing
movementshotsespeciallywhenfollowinganyof the charactersbecause Ihad to rememberto
make sure the framingwas correct whichturnedoutto be difficultattimes. Wheneither of these
problemsoccurreditmeantwe had to re-filmwhichmeantwe were usingextratime onjustone
scene whenwe couldhave movedontotry and make sure we capturedall the scenesina smaller
amountof time.
What have I learnedfrom thisexperience?
From thisexperience Ilearnedthatthere are differenttypesof equipmentyoucanuse to capture
certainshotsor movementswithmore ease.While beingacinematographerIalso expandedonthe
skillsIalreadyhadand I wasable to playmy part effectively,butthe one thingIlearnedthe most
was the fact that one scene can take a couple of hoursto filmbecause itcouldtake a while toget
the right shot.
PreciousOladimeji
