Unsplash.com; Jon Flobrant
Church filmmaking is growing faster than lightning. Aspiring producers from a number of different backgrounds are finding their way into ministry everyday. Many of these artists, while perhaps not coming from a traditional filmmaking background, have a tremendous amount to add to the art form and the mission of church film.
To assist filmmakers who find themselves in this kind of position, we’ve compiled a list of 10 essential filmmaking terms they’re likely to encounter, as well as how to use the concepts behind these terms to take their craft to the next level.
#1: Aperture
While there are a number of expressions on this list that sound like they were simply made up to make outsiders feel dumb, aperture has to be near the top. Fortunately, aperture is simply the term for the size of the mechanical opening inside of a lens that lets in light. The wider this opening (aperture) is, the more light reaches the sensor, making your image brighter or darker. Aperture settings are usually expressed with a letter and number, such as F/10. The wider the aperture setting the smaller the number will be.
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#2: Depth of Field
Depth of field is the way cinematographers express the distance between what’s in focus and out of focus in a shot. If a shot has a ‘deep’ depth of field it means objects in a larger distance range from the lens will be sharp. Conversely, if a shot has ‘shallow’ depth of field it means there will be far less distance between what’s in focus and what’s out of focus. Both kinds of depths of field have value, depending on what the director needs the viewer to know (or not know) in order to tell a good story.
#3: Shutter Speed
The shutter speed refers to how long the sensor is taking in light to create the image, and is expressed in fractions of a second (i.e. 1/50). A long (or slow) shutter speed will capture motion blur from objects moving while the shot was being taken. A short (or fast) shutter speed will eliminate almost all motion blur. For filmmaking a good rule of thumb is that the shutter speed to should be set to twice the frame rate in order to capture natural motion blur.
#4: ISO
The term ISO is awesome in that it stands for “International Standards Organization,” which means absolutely nothing. On a camera the ISO (or gain) simply measures how much the camera’s sensor is boosting the signal electronically. Filmmakers have to be careful with ISO, as adding too much gain to the sensor will introduce ugly noise into their imagery.
#5: Waveform
Effective cinematographers have to be very careful to shoot images that are neither too dark nor too bright. In order to assist them, most digital film cameras today include something called a waveform monitor. This onscreen tool allows filmmakers to evaluate what’s happening in different parts of their image, ensuring that the footage is captured at optimal exposure levels. If your camera has this tool you’ll want to know how to turn it on and use it on command.
#6: Vectorscope
Like the waveform monitor, the vectorscope is a tool designed to help cinematographers ensure they’re capturing the best possible imagery. The vectorscope is a circle that assigns different parts of the color spectrum to different locations on that circle. The 11:00 position on a clock coincides the location on a vectorscope where skin tones should exist on a well-balance shot. Vectorscopes are also tremendously helpful when performing a color grade in post-production.
#7: Color Temperature
While our eyes and brains coordinate to compensate for different kinds of lights like LED, fluorescent, tungsten or candlelight, camera sensors are not nearly as sophisticated. Trusting a camera’s auto white balance function is a mistake rookie filmmakers make only once. Effective filmmakers evaluate the primary type of light in an environment and set the color temperature on the camera to ensure the best footage capture possible.
#8: Diffusion
Although it can sound vaguely medical in nature, diffusion is simply the process of using a semitransparent material to soften and spread a light source before it reaches the subject you’re filming. This type of softening is usually a good idea when filming human beings as it creates a far more flattering image than using undiffused ‘hard’ lights. Incorporating diffusion is usually not very expensive – it simple requires a little planning and a few more minutes of set up time. The payoff, however, is enormous.
#9: Flagging
On the flip side of the coin, flagging light is nothing more than the process of using dark materials to reduce or eliminate light on a subject or surface. For instance, strategically placing a “flag”, or black piece of material, can allow a light to illuminate your subject while keeping it from hitting the background. In the same way, hanging a large swath of black material just to one side of your subject in an otherwise bright environment can help create dimensionality on a subject’s face.
#10: Composition
While the term “composition” may conjure up nightmare flashbacks to senior English class, in the filmmaking world composition refers to the way cinematographers choose what belongs in the frame of an image and what doesn’t. Many factors such as camera placement, position and movement can go into creating a composition, but the most important aspect of composition is making sure that what’s in the image serves the purpose of telling the story. When in doubt, experiment until you find the composition that includes the elements that will best visually convey that story information.
