Camera Techniques

In order to allow our documentary to seem more vibrant and aesthetically pleasing, I feel as though it is compulsory to research into certain camera techniques that are used in documentary film-making. These techniques are used not only to create more interesting and visually appealing shots, but are also commonly used to enhance the emotion of a scene or to establish a certain location or idea. Of course there are countless techniques available, however given our time constraints, our lack of advanced equipment, and my personal lack of professional cinematographic experience, I feel it is important to only focus on a few relatively simplistic techniques rather than getting carried away with something beyond my own capability as a cinematographer.

Slider Shots

As the name suggests, these are achieved by attaching the camera to a slider, then sliding the camera along its length in order to obtain some rather graceful sweeping shots. The static camera, while capable of obtaining some very compelling shots, will only be able to hold the viewer's attention for so long. Overuse of the static camera will eventually become dull and repetitive, meaning that other forms of camera movement will be necessary. While handheld shots would be the more obvious solution, they are (in my experience) very difficult to effectively execute; often seeming amateurish and poorly shot. Slider shots, to an extent, bridge the gap between handheld and static camera movement; allowing for visually pleasing camera movement without the detrimental lack of quality that a poorly-executed handheld shot will incur. Instead, sliders allow for subtle, elegant movement of the camera that is capable of maintaining the viewer's attention, without being too distracting from what the shots are actually trying to present. A notable example is in the clip below (left) from "The Archive" (Sean Dunne, 2008). Here, sliders are used to create a few elegant sweeping shots of the aisles of Paul's collection; allowing for more vibrant and energetic cinematography that allows the viewer to develop an emotional connection with the collection more quickly; making the bombshell dropped around halfway through the film all the more powerful. This an effect that we hope to emulate in our documentary. The other clip gives an explanation of how sliders can be used to make an interview more visually interesting. Often, an interview is shot using a static camera; meaning that it is often rather uninteresting to look at for long periods of time, leading to an over-reliance on b-roll. Using sliders allows attention to be kept on the interviewee for longer before losing the viewer's attention; thereby reducing the risk of being detrimental to the film's pacing with the use of b-roll.











 





Depth of Field

This is a very common camera technique used in both films and documentaries alike. Specifically, a shallow depth of field (where only a certain area of a shot is in focus) is very frequently used not only to draw the viewer's attention to a particular part of a shot and prevent distraction, but also create a rather rich, cinematic visual style to shots taken. The Canon XF100 (the camera we will be using) is indeed capable of executing shallow focus; which I know from my experience with a previous project. Though from my recollection, it can be rather difficult to implement. To achieve a cinematic shallow focus, a large aperture is required, meaning that the camera often needs to be as zoomed in as possible in order to increase the aperture. As a result, the camera often needs to be situated a fair distance from the subject of the shot in order to guarantee that it adequately lies within the frame after zooming; which can easily cause problems when shooting in certain locations. It also largely restricts camera movement when shallow focus is active, meaning that some types of cinematic shots may be difficult, or even impossible to implement given my personal inexperience with cinematography.

Shallow Focus in "Skateistan: To Live And Skate Kabul" (Orlando Von Einsiedel, 2011).

The above image demonstrates the use of shallow focus in documentary film-making. Most documentaries will make use of shallow focus at some point or another as it is, to some extent, a fundamental part of cinematography. Its aim here, as well as in most documentaries, is to draw the viewer's attention to a particular part of the shot; in this case the woman's face. The area out of focus behind her is not completely obscured however as it is still visible, it has simply been demoted to the secondary target of attention for this shot. Often, actions being performed in the out of focus regions of the shot may provide some illustration for the regions in focus. In this case, the woman in the focus of the shot is the manager of the skate-park seen out of focus in the background. Hence, the out of focus areas of the shot are able to provide some context for the in-focus areas of the foreground without being too much of a distraction from the the main subject of the shot. Shallow focus of course also has the secondary impact of creating a rather aesthetically pleasing cinematic effect that is more likely to maintain the viewer's attention.

Establishing Shots

Once again, this a technique that is frequently used in both documentary and film. The main intention of an establishing shot, as the name suggests, is to establish the setting that a forthcoming scene will be taking place in. However, it can also be used to establish a certain style or idea to the viewer, and can also be used in interesting ways.

Four screenshots from "The Apology Line" (James Lees, 2010).

Interestingly, the first few minutes of "The Apology Line" (above) uses establishing shots several times; or at least what seems to resemble establishing shots. It does this however, not to establish or lead into a following scene, but rather to establish the setting with regards to tone and style. The narrative of The Apology Line is delivered indirectly, in that voiceovers provide most of the narrative, which are then subsequently accompanied by some rather ambiguous visual illustration. Establishing shots are used, for the most part, to demonstrate the style and the atmosphere of the film; with the shots making up around the first third of the documentary.

A photograph of Sheffield taken by us.

We have considered using a similar style of cityscape establishing shot in our film; one that would be similar to the photograph above that we took as a point of reference. In this case however, the shot will be used less to establish a certain style of film-making and more in its natural purpose: to establish a setting. I feel at least one establishing shot would be certainly be beneficial as it rather effectively illustrates our intended presentation of Sheffield: a city built from steel both literally and metaphorically.