This document provides an overview of manual camera controls and concepts important for videography. It discusses the importance of manual control for professional work. It also covers different recording formats, factors that influence image quality like frame rate and compression, and how to set aperture, focus, and exposure. Additional sections explain white balance, using tripods, sound equipment and considerations, and techniques for capturing narrative sequences. The overall goal is to help understand manual camera functions and best practices for shooting video.

1. Manual Camera Controls

2. Goals for Today
 Understand why having manual control
is important in Videography
 Understand different formats that
cameras can shoot in

3. Importance of Manual
Control
 Who camcorders are built for:
 Consumer level cameras are built for
someone who knows little about
videography
 They usually have little by way of manual
controls
 Full control is important in order to be
professional
 Caveat: The problem with Camera fan-
boys

4. Understanding Format
 You need to be aware
of the format you are
shooting your project in
 SD vs. HD: what does
this mean?
 What’s the deal with all
these new cameras?
 The quest for RAW

5. Camera Research Exercise
 Look for One or Two of the following
cameras. What are the different
specifications of them
 Red Scarlet-X
 Phantom HD
 Sony FS-700
 Arri Alexa
 Canon C500
 Blackmagic Cinema
 Compare and Contrast

6. Understanding Format
(cont.)
 Other things that you need to consider:
 Interlaced vs. Progressive shooting
○ Videopia
 The frame rate of the camera
○ 60i – Good for shooting broadcast
○ 30p – Good for web delivery
○ 24p – The film look
 The pixel aspect ratio of the camera
○ Use if you want to shoot in a widescreen format
○ Some cameras do not have the ability to do a true
widescreen format
 Compression
○ Office Max vs. B & H
 Demonstration of how to set up the video signal

7. Setting Aperture
 What is aperture?
 Tools for Setting Aperture
 Zebras
 Light Meters
 What to expose for?

8. The Exposure Triangle

9. Focus and Depth of Field
 What is depth of field?
How do we control Depth
of Field?
 F-stop or Iris: the amount of
light that we let into the lens.
 Focal Length: What effect
does focal length have on
depth of field?
 ND Filter: cuts the light level
allowing us to get a wider
aperture outside

10. Determining Depth of Field
Greater Depth of Field Shallow Depth of Field
Wide angle lens Telephoto Lens
High f-stop (small aperture) Low f-stop (large aperture)
Subject far away from camera Subject close to camera
Smaller Sensor or Frame Size Larger Sensor or Frame Size

11. What should DOF be?
 What should you have it be for:
 Landscapes
 Interviews
 Narrative films
 Evaluate Depth of Field
 Gangs of Ballet

12. White Balance
 Why do we need to
white balance?
 From
LightsandCameras.co
m
 The best way to
White Balance a Shot

13. Tripod Usage
Demonstration
 Advantages and Disadvantages of using
a tripod for your project
 Differences between types of tripods
 Using the base plate on your tripod
 How to set-up/break-down

14. Other Camera Controls
 Focus
 The best method for focusing on a subject
 Gain

15. Exercise: Getting to Know your
Camera
 Activity: Get into a group and locate the
following from 4 different cameras
 Focus Control
 White Balance
 Iris or F-Stop
 ND Filter
 Gain
 Sound Control

16. The Sound Department
Sound Mixer:
Responsible for getting
correct and usable levels
from various sources of
dialogue
Boom Operator:
Responsible for holding the
boom above actors heads to
capture production dialogue.
Also responsible for placing
wireless microphones on
actors bodies
Cable Puller: Back up boom
operator. Cable wrangler.

17. Sound Considerations
 The recording medium: Film
vs. Video
 When working with film you need
to record sound onto a separate
medium such as DAT or a Hard
Drive. You will also be in charge
of keeping the slate in sync with
the audio.
 When working with video sound
is usually recorded only to the
video tape. Your job is to ensure
that the levels that the camera is
receiving are well mixed.
 A short film I mixed: Milton
Glaser Draws and Lectures

18. Working with an External Mixer
 Know the basics of Sound
Routing
 Sound Starts with a Microphone of
some kind >
 Travels into the Mixer >
 Mixer sends signal to the camera
 To ensure that you are getting the
same levels on your camera as
you are through your mixer, you
will want to send a reference tone
from the mixer to the camera to
set the levels
 Once set, be sure that the controls
on the camera are not touched by
the cameraman

19. Boom Mics
 Shotgun mics are the preferred
method of gathering sound on set
 Most shotgun microphones require
some sort of power – Field mixers
and professional level cameras can
provide this power
 Tips for handling the boom

20. Lavaliers
 Two Main types of Lavaliers: Wired and
Wireless
 Wired: Good for sit down interviews – no
worries about radio interference
 Wireless: Good because of portability. Allows
you to follow characters around as well as get
clear sound from wide shots
 Watch out for:
 Clothing Noise
 Improper Placement
 Radio Interference

21. Overall Sound Advice
 Pay Attention to it!
 Avoid using the on-camera microphone
 If you use an external microphone, be
sure and monitor your sound at all times
 The last thing you want is to realize that you
have no audio!

22. Class Exercise
 Get into your group of 4
 Take a camera, tripod, and audio setup
 Make up an idea for a documentary
 Capture at least 3 20-second interviews
in locations around the school
 Return to review the footage

23. Narrative Shot Sequencing
 Plan ahead
 Spend a few moments planning out a
storyboard for your sequence. This will
ensure that you have story that will make
sense once you edit it together
 Think about video sequencing: From the
Storyguide

24. Narrative Shot Sequencing
(cont.)
 Shoot for the edit
 Try to vary the framing and composition of the shots
that you are trying to edit together
 It is easier to edit with locked off shots – avoid
handheld shots
 When a character is moving, have them leave frame
– this enables you to cut to wherever you like
 Obey the 30° rule – two shots should be at least 30°
apart from each other to avoid jump cuts
 The more shots that you use, the more visually
interesting the story will be
 Shoot a given action from a couple of different
angles, this will give you more options in the edit.

25. Discuss Project 1
 Pre-production discussion
 Parameters of Assignment