Pasa 5266 Camera Course Outline

Camera COURSE OUTLINE

PASA 5266 FILM & TELEVISION 1B - CAMERA Level 5

Course No. PASA5266

Course Name Film & Television 1B

Credits 30

Welcome to the Camera elective, classes for which take place during Semester Two of your Year 1 programme. Teaching Staff Dan Wagner (Camera Tutor) [email protected] Alan Locke (Camera Tutor) [email protected] Course/Programme Co-ordinator Victor Grbic (Film & Television) – [email protected]

Learning Outcomes 1. Demonstrate technical skills and operational understanding needed to achieve standards that enhance creative decisions. - - Identify the creative and aesthetic aspects of each specialisation 2. Demonstrate a range of skill in … - Camera – Camera operation, camera assisting and lighting assisting procedures 3. Explore the basic technical craft and operational understanding needed to achieve standards that enhance creative decisions. - Reflect on the creative processes involved in story telling for the screen and theatre - Review own contribution to a project

Course Information GOAL The goal of this semester is to take one step beyond the basic skills required to operate the gear and to venture into some of the more technical and aesthetic realms of the craft. CONTENT In CAMERA class, you will: • Journey a step deeper into the individual sub-specialties of the Camera, Lighting and Grip departments; • Develop a functional conversancy with each of these sub-specialties That means you’ll fulfil the crew positions on a more advanced level than during the previous semester, you’ll understand more about what the various challenges are within each sub-specialty, and you’ll have a go at solving those challenges; • Apply creative problem-solving to execute shots to given specifications. Much of this will be in preparation for your work on the main project of this semester: STUDIO ONE

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Camera COURSE OUTLINE

Course Assessment As you now have two electives in PASA5266, you will receive 50% of your mark for the course from Camera and the other 50% from your other elective. The 50% mark for Camera will be derived from two assessment events. The first one will be based on your work on the STUDIO ONE project [2nd – 12th November]. The assessment will focus on your knowledgeable execution of craft skills and on your attentiveness and responses to a variety of production challenges. This assessment will comprise 30% of your mark in PASA5266. The other assessment event will be a shot-making exercise. You will complete a 7-shot sequence to tutor specifications. This assessment [due 23rd November] will focus on your conversancy with visual grammar (such as continuity of screen direction) and with effective choices for visual storytelling (such as lens/actor placement, use of light & shadow, foreground & background, etc.). This assessment will comprise 20% of your mark in PASA5266.

Class Schedule Tues-28July PM

1/C 1

Tues-4Aug PM

1/C 2

Lighting & Exposure I (as Gaffers & Lx's) - LECTURE: Key

Tues-11Aug PM

1/C 3

Operating - LECTURE: Operator - the 1st audience /

Tues-18Aug PM

1/C 4

Focus-Pulling - LECTURE: Basic Optics & Distance

Tues-25Aug PM

1/C 5

Camera Movement - LECTURE: why do we move? /

Tues-1Sep PM

1/C 6

Lighting & Exposure II (as DP's) - LECTURE / WORKSHOP:

Tues-8Sep PM

1/C 7

Welcome electives / Pathway Intro / Exercise Directions; Direct, Diffused, Bounced / WORKSHOP: L&E I WORKSHOP: L&E II + Operating I

Estimation / WORKSHOP: L&E III + Operating II + Focus I WORKSHOP: L&E IV + Operating III + Focus II + CamMvmnt I L&E V + Operating IV + Focus III + CamMvmnt II

Assisting - Camera Assisting / Lighting Assisting / Grip

Assisting: what it is to be an Assistant, plus the specific tasks involved. LECTURE / WORKSHOP

Shot Making I: During each class over the next three classes, Tues-15Sep PM

1/C 8

Tues-22Sep PM

1/C 9

you will tackle 3 coached mock shooting situations with problems to solve taken from the above learning [and from issues presented in GRAMMAR OF THE SHOT]. These classes are intended to "bring it all together" and launch you on your journey as members of a working camera crew. You will rotate key crew positions, fine-tuning your skills, your methods and your knowledge of our craft. TERM BREAK

Tues-13Oct PM

1/D 1

Shot Making II [see above]

Thurs-22Oct AM

1/D 2

Discuss then Rig Studio Lighting Grid for Y1 Studio Exercise STUDIO ONE 2 – 12 November

Wed-18Nov AM

1/D 3

A Look Ahead: DP Exercise / Visions of Light

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Required / Recommended Items REQUIRED TEXT We’ll still be working from the text required and used last term, which is: Thompson, Roy, Grammar of the Shot, Focal Press, 1998 - ISBN: 978-0-240-51398-0

RECOMMENDED TEXTS Ballinger, Alex, New Cinematographers, Collins Design, 2004 Giannetti, Louis, Understanding Movies, 10th Edition, Prentice-Hall, 2004

REQUIRED ITEMS USB Flash Drive – at least 1GB You still need to have one of these, as required from last semester. A small drive will become indispensable for not only Camera (where we’ll have more photo exercises) but also for your other courses, where you’ll increasingly be needing the flexibility to transfer files easily. Torch http://www.hollywoodprops.co.nz/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=57 [some sort of small torch – doesn’t have to be this brand or from this vendor] Work Gloves http://www.hollywoodprops.co.nz/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=975 [as above, doesn’t have to come from HPS – can be from Mitre10 or anywhere]

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