I have also learned that when you are filming on a location you have to use the tripod to get steady shots on difficult landscapes as the tripod keeps the camera steady while you are shooting a shot. The tripod is also useful as the height can be edited so if you need to get different angles the tripod can be used for it. You can also pan along on the tripod and still keep the camera steady as you shoot, this is useful as when you are following the actor or just wanting to move across slightly when filming you can do it easily with the camera still on the tripod which means that you can almost guarantee a steady panning shot.
Lighting is very important to think about because the lighting can effect whether or not you can see anything in the shot when you are editing. I have learnt that you have to plan out how the light might be and plan how you can overcome this when you are using natural light as the sun changes what position it is in every minute or two so you have to position things so you don’t see any unwanted shadows and so you can see the person. You also have to be careful about exposure when filming in natural light as if the camera is facing the sun in a particular shot then the brightness form the sun can overpower a lot of things in the shot and then all you can see is a bright light. When thinking about light you have to plan so that the lighting is right for each shot and doesn’t change suddenly between two shots that are supposed to be next to each other in the sequence.
Location is also very important to think about when filming an opening as there are certain location that works brilliantly in the shot and some that are not right and finding the right location is the key to making a good opening. However, there are some technical difficulties when filming on the location such as traffic, lighting, people and accessibility. Outside factors can be hard to film around so you have to plan for them such as cars going past when you are supposed to be in an abandoned area. To stop this you have to make sure no cars are going past when you are filming a shot and if there were you can either edit the shot out and re-film it or just leave it in. The people factor is very important because you don’t really want to get outside people in your filming without their permission or because it doesn’t work in with the plot of the opening you are shooting. You also have to be careful about filming in public, accessible places where there are lots of people walking around in case you are going to be using weapons or violence in your opening so you have to plan around that by either contacting the police in that area to ask them if you are allowed to use a particular weapon or just inform them that is what you are doing an you aren’t actually going to hurt anyone or just choosing a slightly different location.
Continuity is very important in editing as it makes the shots make sense in the order you want them and it makes the opening just look better if the continuity is right. Continuity can be tricky to get exactly right as you have to fiddle around with the shots and footage until you get it right but I have learned that when you don’t get the continuity in a shot completely right it is quite obvious and can make the shot look wrong. The continuity also helps the shots to flow properly as the shots all make sense and they are not just suddenly jumping around or people aren’t suddenly in a completely different position in the next shot compared to the previous shot.
Different camera shots can make a lot of difference when filming and editing an opening sequence as different camera shots can help the piece flow more smoothly and can help the positions of the people look better. There are certain shot types that you should keep to a minimum as they can be uncomfortable to watch such as the close up and extreme close up. However they can look effective in the right content such as if you are trying to make the audience focus on one particular thing in the shot. However, I have learnt that filming close-ups and extreme close ups can be very difficult and will look very bad if not done correctly. There are certain shot types that are very easy to film such as the long shot, mid shot and medium shot. These shot types are very easy to film as you don’t have to move the camera that much as the camera when on a tripod is basically set at the range and height needed for these types of shots. I have also learnt that these shots can look quite boring if you use too many of them in one go so it is best to try and get a variety of different shot types and angles as angles can make the shots flow better.
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