What we Learned in the Practical Session

Lesson: 16-09-2015

At the start of this lesson, we were required to fill in a diagram with male and female directors in. Finding male directors was quite easy; but managing to find female directors was harder than I thought it would be.

After we discussed this as a class, we watched a short film directed by Simon Ellis called 'Soft'. It left quite an impression for a film that was only 15 minutes long.

We then learnt about the Rule of Thirds and where we should place a subject when making a shot. We were then told that the composition is where the director would choose to place or arrange the subject or props.

We got separated into groups so that we could go out and shoot different types of shots. The shots we had to shoot were the establishing shot, a mid-shot, a close-up shot, and extreme close-up shot and then a point-of-view shot. Once we were taught how to use the white balance in our group, we were sent out to shoot the specific shots we were asked for.

Unfortunately, my group didn't obtain the shots we needed as we got confused as to whether we were required to take pictures of the shots or if we had to film the shots. This was most likely our own mistake, as we didn't ask to begin with and then didn't go back to ask when we were unsure.

When we got back to the classroom, we were shown a short video about 'crossing the line', and the '180 degree rule'. This rule states that the camera can only be kept on one side of an invisible line during a shot and, should this line be crossed, it is known as 'crossing the line'. In order to allow a shot to be seen from the other side, the camera must be shown moving to the other side. This is known as a 'tracking shot'.

We were then required to go out in our groups and shoot some shots like the one we saw in the video.