Spending the class focusing on some of the earliest forms of cinema with the Lumière brothers was a really good place to start in terms of learning the camera. By forcing the same limitations of the old cameras in terms of a fixed focal length and zero camera movement options, we had to really consider where we pointed the camera. Our group decided to shoot from higher ground, angling down into a passageway. It was an interesting shot, as we were considerate of the composition and exposure, issues we had with the cameras in the prior week. We had to wait a while for some of note to occur down the passageway, as we were also limited to not influence the content of the shots. This was an interesting thing to contemplate as it was incredibly important where you aim the camera, but are not directing the action of the shot in any way, something that i’m not used to and I’m sure with time I will grow to become more accustomed to in this studio.

It was an interesting end result as we had a lot of issue with not influencing the content of what we shot in the 50 second video, ending up with a 50 second shot of the passageway with a small worker’s union protest walking through, which if we knew they were going to walk through here, I would’ve opted for a ground level, front on shot of the protesters. This was an interesting dilemma to contemplate, as it forced me to think about whether the highest quality shot in terms of composition and exposure is important when it ultimately doesn’t heighten the content of what it is you’re shooting in any cinematic way. This is something that really separates being competent with the equipment and the craft of cinematography, and being able to use this knowledge to improve the content I’m shooting. This is something I had to learn in my years of sound engineering music, and I found really only comes from repetition and reflection.