. Filmmaking: Bad Cinematography Cinematography no-no’s: Important for people shooting with 1 camera Many amateur filmmakers fail to get the proper technical training before stepping behind the camera and their footage lacks a sense of real production value. Not only that, but they use techniques which actually lower the production value rather than keeping it neutral. We will speak about what the common mistakes are and how to avoid them. Zooming Very rarely should you ever use the zoom shot within a film. You can use the zoom function of your camera but you’ll want to use it very slowly to create frame movement which is almost unnoticeable. Some film cameras may not even have lenses that can zoom. Digital cameras on the other hand are almost guaranteed to have a zoom switch of some sort. Do yourself a favor and DON’T touch the zoom. Using the zoom in most cases looks unprofessional, not very well thought out, too quick and not properly composed. It is a sure-fire way to subtract production value from your film. Changing angle / expression / position slightly Another major giveaway that your film lacks professional quality is when there are slight changes in line of sight or action between shots (as discussed above). This is often a major problem for productions using just one camera. It’s not unavoidable, but you’ll need to spend a lot of time working on your ability to recreate scenes. In order to understand this problem it’s best to watch amateur videos on file sharing sites like YouTube which display this problem. Hand held problems Another major problem in independent productions is that most of the camera work is done “hand held”. This gives videos a “home made” feel, which can be desirable in some instances and undesirable in others. Generally speaking, the hand-held look can serve two purposes. First, it can give a “home made” feel. This may be desirable if this is the type of look you’re going for (i.e. Couple sitting on bed. Girlfriend turns on video camera to tape her boyfriend. The camera angle changes to capture the POV of the hand held camera). Secondly, hand held (but more often steady-cam) shots are used to provide a dramatic, slightly more stressful, more chaotic feel to a scene. For example, in the movie Atonement, when the soldiers’ bodies are being taken out of ambulances, the cameraman uses a steadycam and some camera shake to follow around the main female character as she searches through the ambulances and soldiers bodies. Even with slight camera shake and subtle movements it’s symbolic to a human point of view in a chaotic situation. However, all too often, hand held movement is used in independent films to try to create an artificial sense of tension when the film isn’t really calling for it. Audiences don’t like feeling like they are being manipulated and in many cases, these hand held tricks aim to do just that; manipulate the audience.   Continue Below... Filmmaking Medium Shot Full Shot / Establishing Shot Line of Sight Cinematography no no's       .

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