Tracking Shots

Tracking Shots

          The term tracking shot may refers to to any shot in which the camera follows a subject within the frame a shot, usually by the camera  being mounted on a camera dolly, a wheeled platform that is pushed on rails, a handheld camera operator, or by being panned on a tripod. Long tracking shots are common in new wave cinema, so we wanted capture this. we did have a dolly, but the footage would not have been smooth over the concrete, and we didn't have tracks/rail, so instead we went out and film tracking shot in the car.  

These are two screen shots of footage taken on the same day a few minutes apart. there was constant overcast so the light was the same. the image on the left has a higher ISO, about 1600, and makes the footage brighter, whereas the image on the right has a lower ISO, of around 800, so the footage was darker/duller.

The first tracking shot were done wrong, being taken out of the front of the car and the dashboard being seen in shots, and shots being taken through a closed window, so the camera had trouble on what to focus on, also reflections were seen.  

        The second time tracking shots were taken they were done correctly, through a open window and none of the car was seen in the shot. With this said they were still quite shakey (which is what we were trying to avoid, by not using the dolly), and they were not long enough shot to fit with this new wave technique.

       The third time the shots were a lot better; they were through an open window, no car was seen in the shot, the footage was a lot smoother and they tracking times were longer. however i forgot to adjust the shutter speed so the footage has a lot of motion blur. this is not all bad as the movement was what we were trying to capture and there was no specific subject that we were trying to capture.

Screen shots of bushes and moving van with a slower shutter speed of 1/20th per frame, giving a lot of motion blur and making the bushes indistinguishable.



Screen shots of lorry and houses with a fast shutter speed of 1/400 per frame giving crisp footage.


   

                    

We also got some interesting tracking shot through the car windscreen mirror. i found these shots to be very imaginative and added a new spin on our tracking shots.  

Cut In, Cut Out

Why Queen's Road? 

We went back to our first location to obtain the cut in's and out's. this was because the grittiness of the area kept in with the new wave style. also on this location shoot, we ventured out of the park area and onto Queen's Road. this was because queen's road offered a lot of abandoned and run down building that we were able to get tracking shots in front of, helping to support the new wave realism theme.

Filming On Location

Location: The Abbey Theatre and Queens Road

Date: 25^th September 2012

Brief: To film cut in and cut out shots and to film more footage that captures the new wave aspect of realism in Nuneaton.

·      Equipment Used

·      Canon 5D

·      Canon 600D 
·      Tripod

·      Fluid Head Tripod

·      4GB memory card

·      8GB memory card
·      Reflector

·      Experience

On Lookers

               Filming on Queen's Road way similar to the experience in Pool Bank park, in the way that the people there didn't quick know what we were doing or how to react, but different in the scene that this time they weren't children, the area was a lot more busy and cars were passing this time, because it is a main road. The people walking past made comments that we were tourist or filming for EastEnders and these tended to be the people that just walked past and got on with what they were doing. other were more curious and stood for a while observing what we were doing. however the curiosity of the people helped to make the footage more new wave, making it more realistic and documentary style, and had a  spontaneous quality, with real people instead of extras. 
             When we went back to the park and filmed by the garages there were no people there so we were able to get on with filming more smoothly. here we used the reflector for the first time and considering that there was a lot of over cast, and virtually no sun, the reflector made a huge difference in the brightness of the shots. 

 Footage analysis

    Reflector


             This was the first time we used the reflector and I found that the shots were a lot brighter with the reflect considering (like I said above) there was very little sun to reflect. the silver side of the reflector made little no difference to the footage, which is a shame as this side would have brighten the Sammie's face with a more natural colder light. the golden side did make a different, but made the shot more orange and gave it a warmer feel. I didn't participially like this effect as, to me, it made the footage more dream like and not very realistic, like new wave is meant to be and it also made Sammie look very pale.  

Live Editing 
     this was the first time we did any live editing, telling Sammie to remain in the same place and look at the same spot as we changed the position of the camera, to capture Sammie from different angles, with out using two or more cameras at once.

Shutter Speed 
          Once again the shutter speed was a problem, but only slightly this time. as capturing the car was not a main focus the motion blur on the car was not a big deal, still though I adjusted the shutter speed to 1/125 this time, to reduce the motion blur. the cars were still blurred but not as much as the establishing shots were from the Ropewalk car park. With this shutter speed capturing Sammie was not a problem, as she moved slower, little motion blur was present.

Car with Shutter Speed 1/125

Sammie with Shutter Speed 1/125

                   

   

New Wave Conventions Checklist

·      Hand-held  ✓ 
When tracking Sammie across the road, this was the most efficient way to do this shot. 

·     Long takes/tracking shots  ✓ 
we did several tracking shots of Sammie passing run down building, they were not very long, but neither was the building she was walking past, so if we were to make them and longer building that were nice looking would have been shot and we were trying to capture the run down looking building to get a feel of realism. 

·     Youthful iconoclasm ✗ 

·      Political and/or social troubles captured ✓ 

i feel that this was capture because building that are ugly and make the area look unpleasant were filmed, and this is an issue for this area and the building get vandalised, and have to be boarded up.

·      Homemade accessories/innovative camera movement  ✗  

innovative movements were not done in this particular location as there were not any way to do so here. 

·      Documentary feel ✓ 

I feel this was done  as  the people in the background were real and reacted to the camera, unlike an extra would, some standing in several shots to see what was going on. 

·      Friends used to act or as crew ✓ 

Once again the actors and the crew were made up of the HNC group, mainly Sammie. 

·      Unbiased and personal realism ✗ 
the footage was biased as we purposely looked for run down location to film in front of, to emphasis the realism in Nuneaton. 

·      Real locations/ environments ✓ 

we were outside on a main busy road, in an environment with a lot of people and cars, so the real location was hit straight away. 

·      Improvised dialogue ✗ 

No dialogue was require this time. 

·     Take the audience out of the film/direct address to the camera ✗ (

This was done slightly with Sammie looking directly at the camera when we were filming the live editing. 

·      Establishing shots ✗  

·      Rapid movement ✗ 

·      Unusual camera angles ✗

Establishing Shots

Why The Ropewalk?

We chose to shoot at the Ropewalk shopping centre, as the top level open car park was readily available to use and would give us a good height and different perspective to shoot establishing shots from. Also we were able to shoot different types of views from one location; shots of the town centre, the horizon, sky shots and high angle shots. 

Town                            Skyline shot
Establishing 
Shot




High Angle                    High Angle      Shot                          Horizon Shot






Filming On Location

Location: Ropewalk Car Park, Ropewalk Shopping Centre

Date: 24^th September 2012

Brief: To film establishing shots that set the context of Nuneaton but to keep the shots new wave by not showing the relationship between its important figures and objects.

·      Equipment Used

·      Canon 600D x 2

·      Tripod

·      Fluid Head Tripod

·      4GB memory card

·      8GB memory card

·      Experience
        Filming on top of the Ropewalk shopping centre was a different experience. by filming up here i was challenged with different weather conditions, including rain and high winds. there were no cars or people on the top level so we were able to maneuver around with ease and not get in anybody's way. the same can not be said for when we filmed some innovation shots inside the rope walk using the escalator  people were cation of entering the shot and very aware of the camera, so shot were taken with people looking at the camera. this helped with the new wave style, keeping the atmosphere realist and not using extras. 
         when using the escalator to film, we did get in some people way, but they were very polite about the situation  also during filming we were approached by the Ropewalk security  who asked what we were doing and were very understanding, telling us to be careful and make sure that we are looking where we are going when using the escalators. 

 Footage analysis

    Shutter Speed
In the clips where I panned left and right the image has blur. This is because the shutter  is open for longer, at around 1/30th of a second, so the image in each frame is exposed for long, which is why there seems to be a trail to the movement. To amend this for next time, I will adjust the shutter speed to about 1/200th so that the footage is much clearer and crisp, with little to no motion blur.

motion blur from Simmone Dudley on Vimeo.

Still Shot With Motion Blur

Still Shot Without Motion Blur

         Amount of Footage 
              I don't think that we got enough footage or a great variation. there are not very many locations in Nuneaton where you are able to obtain establishing shots, and the Ropewalk was the only one that was readily available, it would have been nice to get some establishing shots from different locations and areas of Nuneaton, however with this said the one we where able to get, i.e. the town centre, I think were good.

Town Centre from Simmone Dudley on Vimeo.

               
                     Also the footage of Sammie on the escalators were limited, we only got one of each type (behind, going down the escalator,  in front going up the escalator and with Sammie on one escalator and me on the other with the camera). this limiting footage was because of the security guard being very caution of what we were doing and we didn't want to over stay or welcome, so we though that just getting one at the time would be enough; but when revisiting the clips, I feel that it would have been nice to have choice. 

Sammie Up Escalator from Simmone Dudley on Vimeo.

Opposite Escalators from Simmone Dudley on Vimeo.

Sammie Down Escalator from Simmone Dudley on Vimeo.

           

   New Wave Conventions Checklist

·      Hand-held ✗  
We didn't have any hand held shots, so to speak, the camera was hand held when on the escalator but the escalator was providing the movement. 

·     Long takes/tracking shots ✗ 

·     Youthful iconoclasm ✗ 

·      Political and/or social troubles captured ✗ 

·      Homemade accessories/innovative camera movement ✓ 

This was done effectively by using the escalator to create the innovative camera movement giving a smooth forward tracking shot of Sammie ascending and descending. this same innovative movement was used in the French new wave film Breathless. 

·      Documentary feel ✓ 

I feel this was done slightly because the people captured in the shots that did not expect it were visually uncomfortable.

·      Friends used to act or as crew ✓ 

Once again the actors and the crew were made up of the HNC group.

·      Unbiased and personal realism ✗ 

·      Real locations/ environments ✓ 

A shopping centre was used as the location around lunchtime.

·      Improvised dialogue ✗ 

No dialogue was require this time. 

·     Take the audience out of the film/direct address to the camera ✗ (

This was not a focus of this particular location shoot, so in this time it was not met.

·      Establishing shots ✓ 

As this was the brief is was met straight away. All of the establishing shots were from a high rise building so a lot of the surrounding environment was seen at once. 

·      Rapid movement ✗ 

·      Unusual camera angles ✗

Shutter Speed

Shutter Speed

The shutter is a small flap directly in front of the sensor inside a camera. When a photo is taken this opens and closes to let light reach the sensor, creating the image. The shutter speed refers to how quickly or slowly the shutter opens and closes again.

The faster the shutter speed, the shorter the period of time the shutter is open for; a slower shutter speed allows the shutter to be open for longer.

Shutter speeds are measured in seconds, or fractions of a second. For example, a shutter speed of ¹/₁₀₀ means ¹/₁₀₀^th of a second, or, 0.01 seconds. This is also known as the exposure time because it’s the amount of time the sensor is exposed to light.

What Shutter Speed Effects
Shaking

You can avoid camera shake by using a faster shutter speed.

Motion Blur

Faster shutter speed. The subject will move less while the shutter is open, reducing the blurring effect.

Creative Effects

A few seconds to several minutes can completely change the look of an image. Shutter speed is perfect for creating blurred crowd shots, giving moving water a fog-like appearance and capturing trails of light. Alternatively, a faster shutter speed can capture frozen motion, like a bird in flight or water splashing.


Slow Shutter Speed                         Fast Shutter Speed

Shutter Speed and Filming

Shutter speed whilst recording video is nothing to do with the DSLR camera's physical shutter, it rather, has to do with duration that the camera uses for sampling light from the CMOS sensor.

The sensor collects light information over 1/60th of a second and passes that on as a frame to the video.

Shutter speed will affect the smoothness of movements and the amount of blur present in moving objects. For example, if you want to shoot a rainfall and have shimmering light from the rain, you use a high shutter speed. If you want it to look like it's pouring outside then use a slower shutter speed.

Part 6: Shutter Speed & FPS from --jL on Vimeo.

Basic rule of thumb for reasonably smooth movement is to have the shutter open for at least half of your frame rate speed or more. So for 30fps, keep the shutter at 1/60. Changing the shutter speed will work to get a better exposure of the image, but it will also change how your image looks.