Pre Production - Camera Techniques To Tell a Story Part II

This is a continuation of Camera Techniques To Tell a Story Part I. If you haven't read it, you can do so by following this link:

http://waterflu.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/pre-production-camera-techniques-to.html

The fifth video is Fucking With Physics:

Although this tip can be used in a different amount of situations, it is a very important one because it allows to give your shots different perspectives and make them get a bit more involved with characters with just some simple moves. There are two main types of techniques that are applied here but the based for all of them is the same which is what really matters in the end. The first one that is mentioned is a spin out. This one is a movement that will help defy physics and help the audience get a different perspective. In this case there is a person laying down in bed and we see a shot of him on one side of him, but he seems troubled, he seems like s a lot is going on on his mind and this is where the shot comes in place, which is a spin towards the right, giving the illusion that the room is getting upside down, which helps to establish then away in which his mind is at the moment, which is rotating and very confused for whatever reason. The other example shown here is very similar to the second video in which gives techniques to introduce characters, but this one is a bit more focused towards breaking the physics of a room. Once again the idea is to start the camera at a specific level from the ground and change it as you are slowly zooming in or dollying in. This adds a bit for drama with the zoom in but also changes the perspective of whatever the person is going through at the moment because we see how in an instant the person is growing up into something either good or bad. All these types of shots are very useful as well taking into account that there is a lot of drama and character grown in our show, so I will be taking into account some shots in which I could use the physics to imply a the mood of someone or link it with something that is going on.

The sixth video is Enhancing Conflict:

For this video in particular there is just one small part that I found really useful and that is the reason while I will be a bit more briefly on this one, because although it was quite a short video itself, only one element from it actually worked for my research. One of the things that is mentioned is how the position of the camera can give the illusion of having more or less space that you really have and how where you place it alongside with the way you move it, can give some very make the audience engage a bit more on a scene, even though you feel you don't have enough space to do it. Space is very important when it comes down to actually shooting because sometimes you have a small space and you need to make it look bigger or you don't have too many actors and you want to make it look like you do. This is a great example I can use during the nightclub scene, because I have to make it look like there is quite a lot of people and that it doesn't look very empty. The way some dialogues and conflicts are shot in the video using a spin camera movement are actually very smart and that is something I am going to keep into account for our shoot because it gives a really nice effect specially when dealing with a small cast.

The seventh video is Breaking the Fourth Wall

Just like last video this is a very particular one that mainly brings one thing that could potentially be used in our show mainly in one scene. It is mentioned about the idea of breaking the 4th wall in order to get into someones mind. In this case you can see a girl standing at the end of a hallway in which is snowing. The first element that people automatically are meant to think about is how is it possible that it snows inside a room and that is when you start getting the perspective that you are inside her mind. She talks directly to the camera as it dollys in from one side of the hallway to the other where she is standing and it gives a very different perspective of what troubles her mind, because instead of telling the story to someone, she could be imagining this. I thought this could be a good idea for when Don has a minute with himself to think about coaching this guys and reflecting on his past about it, but it will depend whether a type of shot like that will fit with the show or not, but I believe that it could potentially be and idea.