A review of all Production slides

1. Production Review

2. Key Elements of Production
 Director’s Vision
 Cinematography
 Acting

3. Cinematographer’s Tasks
 Works with the director to plan how to
photograph the scenes.
 Decides where to place the camera for
each shot.
 Decides how to light each shot based
on director’s vision.

4. Cinematography
 Cinematography is a film language that
communicates ideas, emotions, and
relationships to the audience by
photographing light and shadows,
movement, objects, and people.

5. Acting
 The actor’s performance affects
the audience’s understanding of
the story.
 Often, the actor’s interpretation comes
from personal experiences and values.

6. Production Planning
 Production Planning is the process of
organizing and managing the
complexities of shooting.
 Planning is critically important for two
reasons: time and money.
 Good production planning can be the
difference between a smooth, successful
shoot and a disaster.

7. Planning involves:
 People: The cast and crew of the production.
 Places: The locations and/or sets where
shooting will take place.
 Things: The equipment used to shoot the
program, the props and costumes in it, and
miscellaneous items like talent and location
releases.
 Plans: The scheduling and other
organizational processes that ensure a
smooth shoot.
 Budgets: The predicted production costs.

8. Places: Scouting Locations
 Things to check for:
 Can you create the on-screen environment
that you need?
 Do you have adequate power for all your
equipment?
 Will outside noise be a problem?
 Will lighting setup be a problem?

9. Production Equipment
 Make a list of everything you need for each
scene including:
 Camera, cables, power cords, batteries.
 Tapes
 Microphones, microphone cables, field mixer
 Lighting equipment, spare bulbs.
 Costumes
 Props
 Makeup

10. Timecode Address
 A timecode address is the unique
identifying code number assigned to
each frame of video. Timecode is
expressed in hours, minutes, seconds,
and frames. Counted from the point at
which timecode recording is started.

11. Timecode
 Time code is also laid down again with
every shot recorded. The reason for
prerecording it throughout the length of
the tape is to provide readable code for
any blank spots between recordings.

12. Crew Responsibilities
 Read the handout and think about who
in this class would be the best choice
for each crew position, do not use your
actors.

13. Scheduling
 Scheduling is the process of deciding
which scenes to shoot in which order.
 Shoot by location, not by order of
shots.

14. Planning your final project
 Complete storyboards (each shot has it’s own
frame).
 Create “Shot Sheet” with order you want to
film your scenes. (Remember to film by
location, not in chronological order).
 Assign cast or crew jobs to everyone in the
class (you are the director).
 Create your project folder.

15. Actors and Performers
 To be believable, the performers should
not appear to be acting, but simply
living and behaving normally while the
camera just happens to record them.

16. Actors and Insecurity
 Camera fright is a form of stage
fright: a fear of subjecting yourself
to public attention, of placing
yourself under a spotlight for
critical inspection by the audience.
 The nice thing of about camera fright is
that you can re-shoot until you have a
good performance.

17. Helping Actors Overcome Self-Consciousness
 Allow plenty of time for rehearsal.
 The more familiar the performers are with the
material, the more comfortable they feel.
 Sometimes amateurs will perform more
naturally if they think they are not being
recorded.
 To reduce physical awkwardness, keep actor
movements simple and natural. Ask them if
anything feels awkward to them.

18. Helping Actors with Lines
 If a performer cannot read aloud
convincingly, the easiest solution is to
allow him or her to improvise.
 Break down long speeches into several
brief shots.
 Remind performers that only the best
take will be used in the final product.
 Use cue cards if needed.

19. Looking at the Camera
 You need to leave about 3 seconds
of extra footage at the beginning
and the end of each shot for
editing transitions.
 Remind the actor not to look into the
camera when the shot finishes, they
need to stay in position for a few
seconds.

20. Helping Actors Express Emotion
 If an actor is overacting, show them
some close-ups of their work.
 Back away from overacting. The closer
the shot, the more intense it is.
 If an actor is having trouble changing
emotions in a scene, separate the
different emotions into different shots.

21. Continuity
 Continuity is the complex process of
ensuring that all the small pieces of a
video (the shots and the details
recorded in them) add up to a smooth,
consistent whole.
 A program with good continuity appears to be
a single continuous presentation that has no
mismatches in information, action, or screen
direction.

22. Continuity
 Maintaining good continuity is the
responsibility of the director. The
script supervisor assists the
director in this task.

23. Continuity of Information
 In shots that include duplicate or
overlapping action, the details should
all be the same.
 Dialogue and physical details should
match from take to take.
 If the actor is holding a glass in the medium
shot, he should still be holding it in the close
up.
 Since all shots may not be recorded in the
same day, it’s very important to pay attention
to the small details.

24. Continuity in Your Project
 How will you make sure that your actors
look the same from day to day?
 How are you going to make sure you
look the same from day to day?