Recreate camera moves from different directors.
More on Fincher
Here are a few more videos that explore David Fincher’s extraordinarily precise camera movement, cinematography, and direction.
Project Details: Push/Pull
Over the next few weeks, we’re going to be doing some in-class exercises designed around the signature camera moves of famous directors.
Lesson 9.2: Pull, Push, Dolly, Track
We’ve now used cameras on tripods, handheld, and on shoulder rigs. This week, we’re going to play with some bigger toys to create camera movement that is – dare I say it – more cinematic.
Lesson 9.1: Sliders and Dollies
Here are some of the tools we have in our collection for smoothly moving a camera forwards, backwards, and side to side.
Project: Stable/Unstable
Film a sequence of shots three different ways.
Film Riot’s One Minute Short Film Competition
Want to try out your filmmaking skills? Check out this one minute short film competition from the fine folks at Film Riot.
Project Details: Stable/Unstable
To illustrate how handheld movement affects cinematography, we’re going to do a very short film as a class. Each shot will be filmed three ways: first, locked off on a tripod; then with the camera handheld but not moving otherwise; and finally, following the action with the camera on a shoulder rig.
Handheld Camera Tips
Want some additional tips for shooting handheld footage? Check out these videos for some more techniques.
Lesson 8.2: Shoulder Stabilizers and Rigs
We first talked about camera rigging way back in week three. Rigs are great for adding additional components to your camera and for making it handle more like a traditional dedicated video camera. However, it’s also easy to go way overboard with rigging.
Lesson 8.1: Going Handheld
In your first project, you made films using only a camera with a single lens – no tripods or other stabilization methods. This week, we’re going to explore the idea of handheld cinematography in greater depth.
Project: Fast/Slow
Capture slow motion and time lapse shots.
More CINEMATIC
The word “cinematic” gets thrown around a lot on filmmaking blogs and in video tutorials. It’s an extremely vague term, but generally describes footage that doesn’t look like a home movie or quick social media post. That could be due to the color grading, movement, depth of field, framing, slow motion, or other factors.
Lesson 7.2: Capturing Cinematic Footage
Filming cinematic footage is all about planning. The tools used on major cinematic productions are highly specialized and the individuals who operate them have very specific jobs to do. Filming a documentary short requires you to be resourceful; filming an event requires you to be adaptable; filming cinema requires you to be deliberate.
Lesson 7.1: BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera
This week, we’re looking at a very unusual camera: the BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera. The first, much larger, BlackMagic Cinema Camera was released in 2012 and it immediately made waves in the filmmaking community.
Project: Sit/Stand
Film a live event and a sit-down interview.
Project Details: Sleeping/Waking
For your next project, you’re going to be making a short film utilizing some of the different techniques we’ve discussed thus far. Your theme for this project is Sleeping/Waking. You can work in a small group on this or create something individually.
Lesson 6.2: Tripods and Monopods
The most obvious use for a tripod is to keep the camera from moving – and that’s often critically important. When using a long lens or recording for a long period of time, tripods are a practical necessity. However, a static shot also creates its own kind of drama and not moving the camera can be an aesthetic choice.
Lesson 6.1: The Language of Movement
Here are some basic terms that we’ll be using a lot when discussing camera movement.
Insane Slow Motion from Phantom Flex
Being able to film at up to 960 frames per second with the compact RX10 II is amazing. If you want to capture really slow motion, however, the best tool for the job is probably a Phantom camera, which can capture footage at thousands of frames per second for specialty shots or scientific tests.