The Effect of Aperture on Depth of Field

This is a shot at f/2.8 showing a subject walking into focus.
Process: To create this shot, I used a lens that has it's lowest F stop at f/2.8 in order to create a shallow Depth of Field. I also used a fairly high shutter speed to clearly define the movements.
Problem Solving: The main problem I had when Filming this shot was getting the focus on the subject right. To solve this problem, I got the subject to stand in front of the camera to make sure he was in focus, then got him to move back to make sure he was out of focus when further back. After a couple of trial runs, we managed to perfect the shot.
Justification: I chose to shoot in this location as it was in college so it was available for me. I also wanted to experiment with depth of field in a less conventional way.
Recommendations: If I shot this footage again, I would make it so that when the subject comes into focus, it is clearer and there is more definition between him and the background.


This is shot at f/2.8 and clearly shows the definition between the subject and the background, as he is much more in focus than the background.
Process: To create the above shot, I used the same lens I had used to create the first shot which had the lowest f stop.
Problem Solving: The only real problem I faced when filming this shot was getting the exposure right and this was easily solved by increasing the ISO and also increasing the shutter speed.
Justification: I shot this in a location where the background was far enough away from my subject that you could clearly see the difference in focus between the subject and the background.
Recommendations: If I were to re-shoot this shot, I would make sure it is not over-exposed, as this shot is slightly too bright.


This is a shot at f/8 and has less definition between the subject and the background
Process: For this shot I used the standard kit lens that came with my camera, and set the aperture to f/8, a fairly low f stop.
Problem Solving: The main problem I had when creating this shot was making sure the background was slightly less focused than the subject, as sometimes the focus was a little bit off. This was fixed by altering the focus slightly.
Justification: I chose to shoot this in the same place as the previous shot, however I filmed it at a different angle, as the previous angle would not have clearly shown the difference in focus between the subject and the background.
Recommendations: If I were to re-shoot this shot, I would try and get a more sideways angle to clearly show the difference in focus.


This is shot at f/22 and all of the frame is in focus, so there is no difference in definition between the subject and the background.
Process: For this shot I also used a standard kit lens in order to get a fairly high aperture of f/22 to create deep focus.
Problem Solving: The main problem I encountered was getting the exposure right, as with a high aperture less light is allowed to enter the frame so I had to use a low shutter speed to counter this.
Justification: I shot this at this angle in order to clearly show how there is no difference in focus between the subject and the background.
Recommendations: If I chose to shoot this again I would try to frame the shot better to get a more straight on view of the subject.

Dogme 95 research

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Reference List:
1- http://cinetext.philo.at/reports/dogme_ct.html
2-http://www.moviemail.com/film-shop/collection/509-A-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Dogme-95/
3-http://www.dogme95.dk/dogma-95/
4-http://www.dogme95.dk/the-vow-of-chastity/
5-The Rutledge Companion to Philosophy and Film, Paisley Livingston and Carl Plantinga- Chapter 44, Dogme 95.

Film Editing

180 Degree Rule: This is a cinematic technique where during a conversation or fight scene, the camera will not cross over an imaginary line placed between the two people, so that no matter where that camera moves to on one side of the line, the characters stay in the same position relative to the
other and the audience do not get confused. A diagram of this can be seen to the left. [1]
An example of this is in the 1999 film by David Fincher, 'Fight Club', when The Narrator and Tyler Durden first fight, and the camera doesn't cross the imaginary line, as they both have a side of the screen, with the mise-en-scene on each side reflecting their own personalities with Tyler's being far more cluttered and unorganised than The Narrator's, as Tyler is represented as much more of a chaotic person than 'Jack' who is stuck in the consumerism, conformist state of mind.


Crosscutting/Parallel Editing: This is where there is a cut away from the main scene to another scene, often showing that the two events are happening simultaneously, however this is not always the case as sometimes there is parallel editing between the present and a flashback sequence, or a flash forward. [2]
This technique can be seen in the 1991 film by Jonathan Demme, 'The Silence of the Lambs', in the scene where Buffalo Bill (the film's main antagonist) has his victim trapped in a hole dug in his basement, and the scene cuts between this and a group of FBI agents surrounding the house we believe to be Bill's, even with the doorbell being rung by an agent and the doorbell ringing in Bill's house, however when he answers the door, we see agent Clarice Starling(the film's protagonist) and not the FBI agent we just saw in the previous shot at the door, which we as a viewer now know is a very dangerous position for her to be put in, alone on the doorstep of a serial killer.

 Temporal Overlap: This is a style of editing where the rules of time and space are defied so that an audience can see that AWESOME backflip 6 more times in slow motion from different angles, just in case you missed it the first 5 times. In more formal terms, this is where a scene is shown again from a different angle directly after being shown the first time. [3]
This technique is used frequently within Kung-Fu movies, and throughout the 2005 film Ong Bak. In this scene, we see the protagonist take down several men one after the other, but when he fights one of them we see him jump up and wrap his legs around his head. when this happens, there is a cut back to when he jumps and we see this shot 3 times from different perspectives, as if the audience are taking the viewpoints of members of the crowd.

  Resource List
1- http://learnaboutfilm.com/film-language/sequence/180-degree-rule/
2- http://www.elementsofcinema.com/editing/parallel-editing/
3- Stop the Clocks! Time and Narrative in Cinema -Helen Powell -2012

Pull Focus

Pull focus is a technique used in video when focus is shifted from one item to another, often shifting from a person/item to the background. This technique is often used in films in conversations, as when you focus a subject a viewer's eyes are automatically drawn to that item, so if, for example two people are having a conversation, but only one is in focus, they are the subject of the viewer's attention and if the camera shifts focus to the other person, they become the subject of attention[1].


Process: To create the above shot, I shifted the focus from the hand in the foreground to the door in the background, so that the signs become visible. I think this video is quite effective in showing this technique.

Problem Solving: In order to solve some initial problems I had, such as defining the focus between the foreground subject and the background, I had to decrease the aperture to create a more shallow depth of field. I also zoomed in slightly so that the definition between the focus of the hand and the door becomes clearer. I also used a tripod so that the video was not shaky. It was also fairly difficult to find the right location to film this shot as in a cramped location both subjects would be in focus when I only wanted the background in focus.

Justification: I chose to shoot this shot because the corridor leading up to the door is fairly long, so it was easier to get a clearer focus between the two subjects rather than when in a smaller location. Also the door was readily available and easily accessible.

Recommendations: If I were to change anything in this shot, it would be to try it with two people in a conversation to try and shift the attention from one to another.

References:
1- http://www.mediacollege.com/video/camera/focus/pull.html

Experimenting with ISO

ISO 200 (Daytime)


Here I have set the camera to ISO 200, the lowest ISO setting on my camera, as it is a Nikon D5000, and I have shot a Close-Up of a cigarette. ISO 200 has the least light sensitivity, so allows the least amount of light to enter the frame, giving a clearer but darker image.
ISO 1600 (Daytime)


In this shot I set my camera to ISO 1600, the midway point of the ISO settings on my camera. I captured a Long Shot of trees blowing in the wind. ISO 1600 has higher light sensitivity when compared to ISO 200, so gives a slightly less clear but darker image.
ISO 3200 (Daytime)


ISO 3200 is one of the highest ISO settings on my camera, and in this shot I captured a Point of View shot of me walking. ISO 3200 allows the most light to enter the image and therefore gives a much brighter, but much grainier image.
ISO 200 (Night)


This clip has the camera set to ISO 200. I filmed cars passing on the road, but since ISO 200 is the lowest ISO setting it allows the least light to enter the lens and therefore creates a very dark but clear image.
ISO 1600 (Night)


ISO 1600 allows much more light to enter the image, and therefore creates a much brighter image. In the above Extreme Long Shot of a flat block, the image is much brighter than in ISO 200, but the resolution of the image has decreased significantly.
ISO 3200 (Night)


In this shot, I set the camera to ISO 3200 and shot the same road as in ISO 200. As you can see, the image is much brighter, however due to increasing the ISO, the video has become much grainier.


I also filmed this Low Angle shot of a street lamp in ISO 3200. Setting the ISO this high and pointing the camera directly at a light source created a lens flare which I thought was an interesting shot and decided to include it in my blog.

Process: I think these videos were effective in showing the differences in different ISOs when shot at day and at night.

Problem Solving: The main problem I encountered was getting the right exposure, so that the shot wasn't under or over exposed. I overcame this problem by increasing/decreasing the aperture to allow more light into the lens.

Justification of Decisions: I shot these in outdoor locations that were readily available to me and I frequently travel, so were easy to get to, even at night. I also used items that were easy for me to acquire, such as a cigarette. I also shot the last video purely to show the effect of lens flare at a high ISO.

Recommendations: If I were to make these videos again I would use a tripod to get steadier footage. I would also use another source of light when filming at night just to make sure that the subject is in focus.

ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed

ISO

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[2]

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References:
1- https://photographylife.com/what-is-iso-in-photography
2-http://improvephotography.com/photography-basics/aperture-shutter-speed-and-iso/

Camera Shots

Camera Shots from Liam Mulholland on Vimeo.
This is a video displaying different shot types.
Process: I think this video is quite effective in showing the different types of shot with cinematic examples and examples that I shot myself.
Problem Solving: The main problem we came up against was getting the exposure right on the cameras, as none of us had really used DSLR's before, so we had to change the aperture to alter the amount of light entering the camera.Justification: We created this in order to help people understand different shot types, and I think it is quite effective in doing this. Recommendations: If I were to re-do this task, I would make sure every shot is exposed correctly and in focus so that when it comes together it looks higher quality than in this video.

Mic Check

The above video was recorded using the Automatic Audio function on the Canon D600 cameras. The sound quality in this recording is, quite frankly, below par in comparison to the sound quality used in most professional recordings. It also has severe flaws in the fact that it appears to have an omnidirectional polar pattern, so picks up sound from every direction, therefore if a scene was being filmed on location, there would be a lot of unwanted background noise that gets picked up.


This video was recorded using an external stereo mic, the Zoom H. This recording has far superior sound quality, and even stereophonic sound, which is when there is a significant difference between the left and right speakers. This mic actually consists of 2 separate microphones, each of which having a cardioid polar pattern, so sound is only picked up from where the microphones are being pointed, therefore eliminating most unwanted background noise.


The fina video was recorded with a Boom or Shotgun microphone, and the sound quality in this clip is significantly better than when recorded with just the audio function on the camera, as the mic can be placed directly overhead the subject, therefore capturing crystal clear quality sound. The Boom mic also has a supercardioid directional response, therefore only picking up sound from where the boom is overhead and not the sides, so even more background noise is eliminated.

Enrolment Task Part 2

 In this clip, I attempted to construct soft lighting with a variety of different light sources, including a back light, fill light and front light. I believed this went fairly well, however could have been improved with the use of more advanced lighting equipment, rather than just using dim torches and candles that I had lying around my home. I also attempted to adjust the depth of field to see if different focal points would change the contrast of the light, but I found that in soft light not much changed when the subject was in or out of focus.


 In this clip, I tried to see how decreasing the aperture to f/5.6 and experimenting with depth of field affected lighting in the scene in the camera's manual mode. I found that when I decreased the aperture, the bulb was in much higher contrast to the dark background. I also found that when I made the light out of focus, it appeared to get much brighter therefore I can conclude that in such low key lighting focus and depth of field greatly affect the light density in the area, therefore increasing contrast.

 In this clip I attempted to create hard lighting by using one source of front light and increasing the aperture to f/25 to allow less light to enter the image plane. I think this would have gone much better if I had used a brighter source of light, rather than a dim LED torch I had lying around my home, however I think other than that I proved what I had intended to do in that with low aperture, there is a high contrast between the shadows and light. Also, I proved that with one source of light, there are a wide variety of effects that placing the light in certain locations can have on the scene, because in some places the light will cast small shadows, whereas in others there will be long, thin shadows, so dependant on the emotions a producer is trying to portray in a scene the light can be manipulated to alter the mood.

Enrolment Task Part 1

From my research I have discovered how a variety of lighting techniques alter the way film is constructed. An example of this is how Aperture changes the lighting in a scene. Aperture is the lense in a camera which opens and closes to allow a certain degree of light through, for example a low aperture of f5.6 would let significantly more light into the image plane than a high aperture of f20, so the lower the aperture, the higher the contrast between light and dark (2). Another light technique which contributes to the contrast in the scene is Hard/Soft lighting. Hard lighting is light that comes from one, usually bright, source, and created high contrast between the dark areas and the light, and also created more shadows in the scene, whereas soft lighting comes from an array of sources, with a back light (used to create separation from the background), a fill light(to soften the edges of the focal point) and a key light(the main light on a subject), which will create a low contrast as there will be few shadows in the scene. The best example of hard and soft lighting in nature respectively is a harsh noon sun, where many shadows are created from one point of lighting, and an overcast day, where light is coming from all around the sky, so very few shadows are cast(1). The positions of the lights also create different effects, as different positions create different shadows, so if a film maker wanted to get part of the scene immersed in darkness he/she could manipulate the positions of the light sources in order to get the shadows they want and also create the preferred reading in the text.
In my short clips, I tried to manipulate light in a variety of different ways, and also wanted to see how depth of field affected light, so I used an array of different lighting styles and altered the aperture on the camera in order to affect the overall contrast, also manipulating the focus on the camera to change depth of field.



1- Malkiewicz, Kris, Film Lighting, 2012
2- Peterson, Bryan, Understanding Exposure (Revised Edition), 2010