Recommended Equipment summer task

HNC induction task






B

suggested lighting for a small documentary in which portability is paramount 

For a documentary in which portability is crucial, you would need to use a set up which is malleable to the environment it is being used in, and is also relatively easy to store and set up. standard lighting equipment used in film making would be unreliable in this scenario as it would be far to heavy and cumbersome to reliably use. therefore we would need to use equipment that is smaller but just as reliable as its bulkier counterpart. for interview type shots the most reliable lighting tool would be a three point lighting kit,

 

a standard set up for a three point lighting technique 

a three point lighting kit would essentially be three led lights on three seperate tripods, the three tripods would be able to collapse down, meaning the equipment would be easy to store and transport around. the led lights could easily double as a tool to illuminate ares required for filming, meaning not only are we able to keep the amount of equipment low, but are also able to have one piece of equipment for multiple purposes. a possible struggle that might be experienced with this piece of equipment however is that it is only really reliable in a indoor setting, where light can naturally be controlled to fit the scenes purpose. if you were to use a three point light outside, the natural lighting cannot be controlled, meaning that lighting would be very unreliable, however we can work around this issue by limiting the equipments to indoor use only, allowing us to control the lighting reliably. however this equipment can only reach its full potential when used in a interview, three point lighting wouldn’t be effective in any other situation, except as a way to fill a small area with light

for open or ambient shots we would need a piece of equipment that is capable of filling a large area with light, but is also relativey easy to set up and transport, for this we would potentially use a led light suspended by a tripod, a led light would be able to easily match other light sources, balance a large area with ambient light and be extremely easy to transport. 

 

the LED lights suspended by a tripod 

suggested lighting for a 'talking head interview' 

for a talking head interview a three point light system would ideally be used, a three point lighting set up would bring my depth and vibrancy to a already static “talking head” shot, the three point light would essentially transform a dull 2 dimensional shot into a three dimension shot. since portability is not an issue in this scenario, we can rely on bulkier, more powerful equipment, this would mean we would be able to easily control the light emitted from the lights. however, an issue that could potentially arise from the use of a three point light is that it has now become the standard set up used in interviews, meaning that the shot would have very little individualism when compared to other interviews, the three point light could also limit us in terms of creativity, as it isn’t a very flexible tool to use. 

another piece of equipment we could use would be a camera mounted LED light, with this we would not be as restricted as we would be with the three point lighting, resulting in more dynamic and creative lighting techniques for our footage. the light could also be detached from the camera and stationed elsewhere around the subject, allowing for more diversity in our shits. however with this piece of equipment we run the risk of the footage looking two dimension, lacking vibrancy and depth. we could fix this issue by harnessing any nature light around the subject to compliment the LED light







Camera and Lighting Techniques for Moving Images Production 

Easy Rider scene analysis

easy rider- cemetery analysis- HNC induction

first and foremost easy rider is a critique on the state of decay that America found itself in during the 60’s. America during this period was undergoing drastic social changes, people were realising that the fabled american dream was nothing more than a illusion. the cemetery scene represents this existential moment perfectly. 

the scene starts with the two protagonists sitting in a cemetery with two prostitutes, the camera in this scene is a mid shot, angled slightly downwards this combination creates a impression of uncertainty, the static camera makes the viewer feel uneasy, a state of uncertainty that anything could happen in the moments following, the slightly tilted camera angle the shot relies on could be considered condescending, we are looking down at these individuals, the bottom of the social chain, we can easily relate this shot set up to the existing existential motif, the low angle and static camera represent that these people are people are stagnant, the american dream is dead and for these characters it has died with them, they have given up on the illusion of happiness and its pursuit of it 

following this we watch as the four take LSD, a psychoactive stimulant that induces hallucinations, immediately after, a non diegetic pulsing metallic clanging plays and continues to play throughout the scene, the metallic clanging is alien and disorientating, this could possibly be a representation of the the american dream, about how men and women forced themselves to conform to the ideals set by society at the time, a slow repetitive march that leads nowhere. the scene uses cross cutting at this point to represent the characters trip, the scene frequently cuts to religious iconography, slats in walls which resembles crucifix, are decayed and warped, possibly a representation on how america is now out of touch with its founding morals and principles, a preacher reads out scripture whilst the camera shifts in and out of focus, disorientating the viewer, shots of the sun, shot extremely close up till the screen is engulfed in white create a feeling of nothingness, of a blinding light that creeps forward unwaveringly possibly a representation of the characters impending deaths. one shot used within the cross cutting is particularly interesting, a prostitute lies completely naked in a graveyard, her limbs obscured by water droplets, making her look deformed and warped, this was filmed on a fish eye lens, resulting in a frame that is perfectly rounded which only adds to the alien aesthetic of the shot. this could potentially be a representation of to this fringe group of people, sex is the only thing that matters, not wealth or money or the american dream, but sex in all its forms. we are also presented with fast consecutive shots of one of the men crying next to a statue, upon analysis the statue is a model of the liberty statue, he utters the words “why did you leave me like that, shut up”, the fact that he is saying these words to the statue of liberty itself could mean that he feels as though america has abandoned him, the very ideals that america was built on have escaped him. the scene ends with one of the men sitting on the statue almost mockingly, the sun lights fills the screen and ends with nothing but white, this sunlight which eventually takes over the entire screen could be seen as the protagonist finally accepting that he has finally succumbed to the vices that have claimed so many before him, his sudden realisation that the american dream has indeed died, and this is his moment of clarity 

easy rider was released in 1969, filmmaking during this period was primitive when compared to the digital era we are in now, all film was recorded on reels, and were edited by hand, to create an effective cross cutting  a editor must have spent an extreme amount of time and determination to finish editing. 1969 was also a time in which american avont guarde cinema was being released, for the time this style of film making and editing was considered very experimental, with most directors of the time focussing more on linear narrative and 

well established filming techniques. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDAdzb9IeGU