In this week’s studio, we touched on more basic knowledge of Sony EX3 in order to have a better grasp on cinematography.
The viewfinder could be unreliable sometimes as it might display the image unauthentically because of the brightness and contrast are not correctly set. Therefore, it’s fairly important to calibrate these settings prior to filming to make sure the image is true to the eye. And the method is to use the bar/cam. For the brightness of the viewfinder to be correct, first the camera has to be changed into black and white, and then bring the brightness to the lowest and slowly turn it up until the black bar on the right is fully black and not becoming lighter. For the contrast to be correct, first bring it down to make the white bar look muddy grey and then turn it back until the white is only getting brighter but not whiter.
We’re then introduced to peaking, which adjusts the sharpness of the monitor for when it’s hard to tell if it’s focused, emphasizing the contours of the image in the viewfinder.
ND filter is like sunglasses for the camera. It’s usually turned on in strong lighting and to bring the general exposure down. It’s is often used outdoors in direct sunlight.
Another important piece of knowledge was the use of zebra pattern. Zebra pattern helps you deter mine the amount of light you’re letting in the lens more precisely. Mostly the zebra is set to 70% while shooting a portrait, leaving a stripe or two on the highlight area like cheekbone or tip of the nose is usually the best setting and the skin tone is correctly exposed, so is everything else in the frame.
These knowledge really helps with the preparation before filming that would 10/10 enhance the quality of the clips and avoid certain beginner mistakes.