Film Poster

Video Files' Formats

There are many different video formats such as:

- MOV;
- MP4 (MPE4);
- AVI;
- MPG;
- M4V;
- M2T;
- WMD;
- VOB;
- GIF;
- M2T
- and a lot of others.

Lossless and lossy video compression.

Lossy compression gets gradually worse the more you encode it. If you have a source video from your camcorder, and you encode it to a lossy intermediate codec that your video editor understand, then encode it again to a final product that you upload to YouTube, you've essentially reduced the quality of the video twice. Even if you match or exceed the bit rate each time, the compressor will work to copy the source file in a new way, essentially making a copy of copy.

Commonly used lossless video compression methods include:

- FFV1
- ProRes (Depending)
- Huffyuv
- Dirac (Can be lossless)

Lossless creation is an exact pixel-by-pixel copy of the original file. Each pixel is taken from the source and placed in the new file exactly where it existed in the source file. A lossless compression may significantly increase file size.

Commonly used lossy video compression methods include:

- H.264
- MPEG-2
- MPEG-4
- MPEG-1
- VC-1

Lossy compression methods don't make pixel-by-pixel copies of the source at all.

Compressed and uncompressed video files.

Video files may be compressed or uncompressed. Uncompressed video files consist of raw video in the form that it was originally recorded. File sizes for uncompressed video files are typically very large. Compressed video files may either be compressed using a lossless or lossy technique. Video files compressed using a lossy technique typically take up significantly less disk space when comparable to lossless video files.

Aperture, Shutter Speed & ISO research

ISO

ISO is the level of sensitivity of your camera to available light. The lower the ISO number, the less sensitive it is to the light, while a higher ISO number increases the sensitivity of your camera. The component within your camera that can change sensitivity is called “image sensor” or simply “sensor”. It is the most important (and most expensive) part of a camera and it is responsible for gathering light and transforming it into an image. With increased sensitivity, your camera sensor can capture images in low-light environments without having to use a flash. But higher sensitivity comes at an expense – it adds grain or “noise” to the pictures.

The difference is clear – the image on the right hand side at ISO 3200 has a lot more noise in it, than the one on the left at ISO 200.

Shutter Speed

Aperture

Aperture refers to an adjustable opening in your camera lens that is able to limit the amount of light passing through the lens and hitting the camera sensor. 

To control your camera’s aperture, switch your camera mode to aperture priority. In this mode, you are able to manually control your camera’s aperture. The camera will change the shutter speed automatically to match the aperture that you had selected to create a picture that is properly exposed when the shutter release button is clicked.

Aperture is measured in F-stops. The lower the F-stop (e.g. f/2.8), the wider the opening of the aperture. While the higher the F-stop (e.g. f/22), the smaller the opening of the aperture. When the aperture is wide open (e.g. f/2.8), more light will enter through the camera’s lens, therefore, less time is required for proper exposure which meant faster shutter speeds. Wide aperture will also cause a shallow depth of field in your picture, where the foreground and background of your picture is blurred except for the subject which you are focusing on. However, the opposite applies when the aperture is small. When the aperture is small (e.g. f/22), less light will enter through the camera’s lens, therefore, more time is required for proper exposure which meant slower shutter speeds. Small aperture will also cause a deep depth of field in your picture, where everything in the picture is in focus.

Wide aperture (e.g. f/2.8) is useful for taking pictures in low light conditions as more light gets to enter and hit the camera’s sensor. It allows you to use faster shutter speeds as well that can be used to freeze action on moving subjects such as a running dog. It is also suitable to use when you want to take portraits or macros where you want a shallow depth of field so that the subject will be sharp and stand out in your picture.

Small aperture (e.g. f/22) is useful for taking pictures in good light conditions as there is more than enough light that will enter and hit the camera’s sensor. It allows you to use slower shutter speeds which can be used to give your subjects a motion effect in your picture. Remember the running dog example? We can use slower shutter speed to create a motion effect of the dog, running in your picture, bringing your picture to live. A small aperture is also suitable to use when you want to take landscapes or group shots so that everything in the scene is considerably sharp.

Final shots eliza

Famous filmmakers

David Wark Griffith.

He is known in the world as the pioneer American motion-picture director. He had developed many of the basic techniques of filmmaking. His famous films are The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. He was the first film maker who used flashbacks and fade-outs. D.W. Griffith is often considered the most important figure of American cinema for his command of film techniques and expressive skills.

   Lev Kuleshov.

Lev Kuleshov is a famous film art director. He conducted a famous experiment  that shown that depending on how shots are assembled the audience will attach a specific meaning or emotion to it. In his experiment. Kuleshov cut an actor with shots of three different subjects: a hot plate of soup, a girl in a coffin, and a pretty woman lying in a coach. The footage of the actor was the same expressionless gaze. Yet the audience raved his performance, saying first he looked hungry, then sad, then lustful.

Sergei Eisenstein.


Sergei Eisenstein was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage". His famous films are Strike, Battleship Potemkin, October, Alexander Nevsky and Ivan the Terrible. He was a pioneer in the use of montage, a specific use of film editing. He believed that editing could be used not just expounding a scene or moment, through a 'linkage' of related images. Eisenstein felt the 'collision' of shots could be used to manipulate the emotions of the audience and create film metaphors. He believed that an idea should be derived from the juxtaposition of two independent shots, bringing an element of collage into film. He developed what he called 'methods of montage' :

- metric;

- rhythmetic;

- tonal;

- overtonal;
- intellectual.

- EDITING - the activity of selecting the scenes to be shown and putting them together to create a film.

- CUT - one image is suddenly replaced by another, without a visible transition. 

OVERLAPPING EDIT - cuts that repeat part or all of an action, thus expanding its viewing time and plot duration.

CROSSCUTTING - swiftly cutting backwards and forwards between more than one scene.

MONTAGE - style of editing involving rapid cutting so that one image is juxtaposed with another or one scene quickly dissolves into the next.

LOVING ICT

Eyeline match technique

This is a link to video that shows an example of eyeline match technique in the film editing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSFD6aIhvFI

Reverse Shot Video Example

Classical Hollywood Editing

Techniques which are used in Classical Hollywood Editing:

Continuity editing- cutting in order to maintain a clear narrative of action.

Established shot- the opening shot in a scene that which establishes the setting.

Cross-cutting- cutting from one scene of action to another to establish action occurring at the same time.

Cut-ins-used for keeping continuity when there is a break in the action. For example, a close up.

Eyeline matches-an editing technique that shows a character looking off screen and then they cut to what the are looking at. It makes a connection between the character and what they are looking at.

Shot/reverse shot- used often in scenes with dialogue, shows one character looking in the direction of the other character and that character looking back at the first.

Defenitions

Continuity Edit - Editing that creates action that flows smoothly across shots and scenes without jarring visual inconsistencies. Establishes a sence of story for the viewer.

Match Cut - A cut made on action or movement between two shots in which the action has been overlapped either by repetition of the action or by the use of more than one camera. (Film Editing).

Shot -  A developed photographic image.

Reverse shot - a shot that views the action from the opposite side of the previous shot, as during a conversation between two actors, giving the effect of looking from one actor to the other.

Hello Mrs Joy,

This is my new Media Blog.

Elizaveta Nosova