The first class exercise, getting heads around cameras or camera class for numpties. It began with the what to do’s & what NOT to do’s of using the equipment. It was probably best that Paul told us to get outside and just shoot something. Don’t THINK just DO. I strongly agree that technical ability comes from practical activity and getting your hands dirty. It does feel clumsy, especially for someone who has spent a lot of time on sets I have to admit I’m a little embarrassed about how little I know about cameras. But, we all have to start somewhere and I’ll start where I am. My name’s Fab, I’m an attention seeker with a need to entertain and be interesting AT ALL TIMES so when we were told to go and shoot 10 seconds of footage of course I automatically started thinking “I wonder how my group members would feel if I started directing them or told them to act out a scenario for my scene so that I could capture something interesting…probably best to ask them their names or introduce myself before I start bossing them around”.

But alas! We were told we couldn’t direct. Just set up a shoot and shoot for ten seconds. I chose to shoot (and I don’t yet know the technical name for it) one of those creepy shots you see in horror films where we see the unsuspecting victim from around a corner where the stalker waits and watches. I instantly feel the need to set up character or some kind of story and that’s probably a good thing. Wondering how a shot will depict certain elements of character or story.

After Paul briefed us on some basics concerning depth of field, exposure, focus and how not to have our fingers guillotined by the tripod, we were ready for the next step. 2×50 second grabs of some kind of action outside and around the campus. We chose (or my group member suggested) to shoot the people coming on and off the tram. We only had a little time so while I was against this subject matter I reminded myself that it is more of a technical exercise intended to explore exposure, framing and focus… I’m not a control freak!

Just setting up a single shot without story or character or any agenda at all, calls into question certain decisions. What is most interesting here, why do I want to include this in the frame and not that, what sort of angle makes this area look the biggest, scariest or the most desolate, what height or angle evokes (for the audience) the connection or emotion I have for this location. The possibilities are exiting and the little decisions along the way all contribute to the final product. To shoot anything (successfully) would require a lot of pre-production and planning. Evoking mood in foreign locations without sound or actors or anything else to contribute to the scene is a skill I want to develop.

At the basics and not a bad place to be.