Section 2.2. Film-Technique Crash Course

2.2. Film-Technique Crash Course

The bottom line is that two different issues separate film from video: the technology and the technique. What you can't change is the look of the basic medium: You're going to be recording onto tape, not film.

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Tip: If the grain and softness associated with film are crucial to your project, you're not utterly out of luck. With the addition of a 320 video-processing program called Adobe After Effects and a $550 software add-on called CineLook (from DigiEffects), you can get very close to making video look like film. CineLook adds the grain, flecks, and scratches to taped footage, and plays with the color palette to make it look more like that of film. Another popular add-on called CineMotion (from the same company) adds subtle blur processing to make the motion of video look more like film, simulating 24- frames -per-second playback. (Needless to say, few iMovie fans go to that expensive extreme.)

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What you can change with iMovie alone, however, is almost every remaining element of the picture. Some of the advice in this chapter requires additional equipment; some simply requires new awareness. Overall, however, the tips in this chapter should take you a long way into the world of professional cinematography.

2.2.1. The Very Basics

If you're using a camcorder for the first time, it's important to understand the difference between its two functions: as a camera and as a VCR.

The most obvious knob or switch on every camcorder lets you switch between these two modes (plus a third one known as Off). These two operating-switch positions may be labeled Camera and VTR (for Video Tape Recorder), Camera and VCR, or Record and Play.

But the point is always the same: When you're in Camera mode, you can record the world; the lens and the microphone are activated. When you're in VTR mode, the lens and the mike are shut down; now your camcorder is a VCR, complete with Play, Rewind, and Fast-Forward buttons (which often light up in VTR mode). When you want to film a movie, use Camera mode; to watch the movie you've recorded, put the camcorder into VTR mode. (You'll also have to put the camera in VTR mode when it comes time to record your finished iMovie creation, or when you want to copy video to or from another camcorder or VCR.)

Here, then, is the usual sequence for filming :

1. Prepare the microphone, lighting, angle, and camera settings as described in this chapter.

   This is the moment, in other words, to play director and cinematographer, to set up the shot. You can read about all these important techniques in the rest of this chapter. They're extremely important techniques, at that: If the raw footage has bad sound, bad lighting, or the wrong camera settings, no amount of iMovie manipulation can make it better.

2. Turn the main knob or switch to Camera (or Record) mode.

   You've just turned the power on. The camera's now in standby modeon, but not playing or recording anything. (See Figure 2-1.)

   

   Figure 2-1. The main button on every camcorder lets you turn the camera on by switching it into Camera or VTR mode (left). The red Record button is the trigger that makes the tape roll (right).

   
   

3. Take off the lens cap.

   The lens cap usually dangles from a short black string that you've looped around a corresponding hole on the front of the camera (or hooks onto the handstrap), unless you're lucky enough to have a camcorder with a built-in, auto-opening lens cap.

4. Frame your shot (aim the camera).

   Do so either by looking at the LCD screen or by looking through the eyepiece. Adjust the zoom controls until the subject nicely fills the frame. Get your performers ready (if they're even aware that they're being filmed, that is).

5. Press the Record button.

   It's usually bright red and located next to your right thumb. (The left-handers' lobby has gotten absolutely nowhere with camcorder manufacturers.)

   Some camcorders have an additional Record button on the top or side, plus another one on the remote control, for use when you're filming yourself or holding the camcorder down at belly level.

   In any case, now you're rolling.

6. Film the action as described in this chapter. When you've filmed enough of the scenewhen you've got the shot press the Record button a second time to stop rolling.

   At this point, the camcorder is back in standby mode. It's using up its battery faster than when it's turned off. Therefore, if you don't expect to be filming anything else within the next few minutes, push the primary switch back to its Off position. (If you forget, no big deal; most camcorders turn off automatically after five minutes or so since your last activity.)

Now you, like thousands before you, know the basics. The rest of this chapter is designed to elevate your art from that of camera operator to cinematographer/director.