In our first lesson of Week 3, Robin divulged more into the technicalities of the camera, such as the purpose of the “zebra”. It basically had something to do with exposure and how bright you would want a shot to look. We experimented a little bit in class as per the photos above – it helped us navigate how accurately a camera could depict what our eyes see in real life.

Robin had a really good explanation about the aesthetic purposes of filming something. It’s all up to you whether you want to depict an accurate representation of what our eyes see or if you wanted to stylise or change it, depending on your aesthetic approach. For example, the white light reflecting off the pen in the first image can be controlled – it’s up to you whether you want the light to reflect off the pen in your shot or make it appear how it seems the naked eye. However, technology can only do so much and nothing will ever compare to how we see things through our eyes.

In the second class of the week, Robin talked to us about the focal length and the aperture of the lens. These were all familiar terminologies because I had a phase where I independently studied photography and film through YouTube videos. It was a good refresher from Robin and I also gained a little bit more insight from a cinematographer in real life.

Shallow Depth of Field

Great Depth of Field

Just like any theory, we must put them into practice, and that is exactly what we did – Ellie and I were matched up to test out the depth of field around RMIT campus. What I found difficult was operating the camera according to the aperture because that is one of the main factors that control the depth of field. At the same time, it was also what controlled the exposure of the shot but it did take me a long time to figure that there are other controls that determined the depth of field, such as the focal length. However, it is all part of the learning curve and through this, I get to experience the trial and error of film making.

Robin’s words of wisdom for this week is:

“Discipline is in the practice of observation – you should be making it a habit.”