This week in class I feel like I’ve learnt a lot of important technical skills that I’ve never been shown before, but I have known/know to be deeply important in creating good shots for productions. Learning about the four elements that determine exposure have really helped me understand why it’s vitally important to have control and understand these factors to create your desired aesthetic. Despite using video cameras and DSLR’s for past projects I have never fully understood the meaning, difference or how to properly use ISO, shutter speed and the f stop to get the best shot. So this week has been really great finally being able to finally understand and play around with these settings on a camera and see the difference they make to exposure.

I also learnt a lot about depth of field and how to create it in through the camera and how different lens’, distances and other factors greatly influence either making depth of field or taking it away. For example I learnt how the smaller the focal length the more field of view the camera has and the greater depth of field it will create, whereas the higher the focal length the smaller field of view the camera has as well as having a shallower depth of field. These are characteristics of films and shots that I know about, and have tried to create in the past in previous projects but have honestly had no idea how to and what to do. So this week has been really great finally putting the pieces together and learning these invaluable technical skills. We put this into practice by going off with the camera and tripod and shooting one shot with a shallow depth of field, and one with a greater depth of field. Hopefully as the semester goes on these technical skills become sharper with more experience and it becomes almost like second nature.