EXPOSURE

EXPOSURE REVIEW BY MICHAEL C. BUNGAY

 

After covering shot types in our previous session with Ollie Samuel, our next subject relating to filming was Exposure or more specifically, the Exposure Triangle. This consists of Iris or Aperture which determines the depth of field, Shutter which determines the focus depending on its speed and Gain which increases the signal and lowers image quality. 

My team consisted of me, Tom Joy, Adam Frake, Zhane Alcide and Jasmine Levy and at first we all took turns to experiment with the Iris, Shutter and Gain settings on a Canon XF-100 camcorders in F308, each one of these three aspects we learned to use with a varying degree of difficulty. The one that I found most difficult to understand was the Iris setting. We then went downstairs to do a series of shots using specific settings according to each aspect of the Exposure Triangle. Due to the threat of rain, we decided to do our filming outside G Block. We took turns to film and pose for the shots we were required to shoot, the last couple of which we had to shoot indoors as it did eventually rain.  

There was a lot of talking and bantering going on amongst my team members which Diane told me I had to get used to. I can understand that but I felt we were not as focussed as we were supposed to be and I just wanted to get on with the task at hand.

The filming went very well, considering some of the difficulties we had trying to get the settings for particular shots just right. I also insisted on keeping track of the shots we needed to film and the order in which we shot them as we only had 9 shots to film as opposed to twice that many the previous week when we were covering shot types so I composed a shot list myself. For once, I felt I knew what I was doing and that I was trying to be organised. I am gradually getting the hang of transferring footage from camcorders onto my hard drive and editing the footage on Adobe Premier Pro and although Tom tried to help me, I managed to start my editing with few problems other than trying to avoid the clips overlapping each other. I managed to get my editing finished during our study period the Monday after our session covering Exposure Shots with few problems other than not knowing how to do a rolling credits sequence properly.    

As much as it went well, the filming was also interrupted by rain, meaning we had to hastily grab our equipment and go back inside. We also had to film some of the brighter shots again in the open air as John the Media Technician pointed out that it was too dark to film those kinds of shots under the cover of the canopy outside G Block. These factors meant we ended up with more shots than we needed and this led to a lot of arguing during the editing process.

I learned how to alter the settings on the camcorder according to the different aspects of the exposure triangle. Admittedly, it was a lot to take in at first and I still feel I need to gain more experience of working with the Exposure Triangle before I feel confident that I can understand it. I also need to learn how to properly create a rolling credits sequence and that my finished footage has to be exported and not just simply saved

I would try to be more patient and tolerant of my peers during filming and not let their talking and bantering affect my concentration. I should just ignore it and try to remain as organised, enthusiastic and focussed as possible.      

We used a Canon XF-100 Camcorder and one of the tripods supplied by the Media Section and we used the computers in F308 to transfer our footage on to our hard drives and edit it on Adobe Premier Pro. There were no problems with the transfer or the editing process as such but although I had written down the required shots and the order in which we filmed them, not all of us could tell which shots were needed and which ones were not as we ended up with 12 shots instead of the required 9. As a result, I felt we did not listen to each other or cooperate as much as we should have done and that these had been recurrent problems throughout the task anyway.      

At the time of writing, I had only just started editing our footage on Adobe Premier Pro, using my hard drive and had yet to finish the editing and therefore unable to export it.

I need to learn to more about patience and tolerance of my peers during filming and editing as well as try to be organised and remain focussed. That is one of my targets but we as a group also need to learn to cooperate and listen to each other more. My other target is to gain a better understanding of how the Exposure Triangle works as I struggled to understand how the different settings determine the quality of the image and I was also initially unaware that the settings change automatically according to the surroundings.