{"id":25175,"date":"2017-02-06T14:31:57","date_gmt":"2017-02-06T14:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/communication\/?p=25175"},"modified":"2019-03-04T04:53:46","modified_gmt":"2019-03-04T04:53:46","slug":"5-important-things-every-film-student-should-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/communication\/2017\/02\/06\/5-important-things-every-film-student-should-know\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Important Things Every Film Student Should Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Prof. Wesley Ellenwood<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Know the difference between film and video and digital media.\u00a0 At Augsburg University we teach filmmaking with film.\u00a0 If you hold a frame of film up to a light you\u2019ll see an image.\u00a0 If you hold any videocassette up to a light all you\u2019ll see is plastic.\u00a0 And if you try to hold a computer up to a light, may I suggest you use a laptop.<\/li>\n
  2. Know that film doesn\u2019t have a R-E-C button.\u00a0 With film, you load a roll into the camera, calculate the f\/stop with a light meter, focus, shoot, then unload the film and take it to a laboratory for developing.\u00a0 Once it\u2019s exposed and developed, that\u2019s it.\u00a0 With video and digital media you can press that red R-E-C button again and again to record and reuse it time after time.\u00a0 For those who didn\u2019t know, R-E-C stands for record.\u00a0 Knowing that film can\u2019t be re-recorded forces the novice filmmaker to plan out the project, rehearse the scene, and carefully consider the shot before pressing that shutter button.\u00a0 Oh by the way, film cameras have shutter buttons, not R-E-C buttons.<\/li>\n
  3. Know a favorite film inside and out.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t have a favorite film, pick one.\u00a0 Once you have a favorite film watch it until you can quote lines or accurately describe sequences.\u00a0 Study the credits.\u00a0 Get to know who did what.\u00a0 Perhaps even do some research on all those technical jobs?\u00a0 Like what is a key grip anyway?\u00a0 Or what does a best boy do?\u00a0 Not only will this familiarity with a favorite film prepare you for studying film, you\u2019ll have a ready-made answer for all those social gatherings where the typical question is:\u00a0 What\u2019s your major?<\/li>\n
  4. Know the importance of sound recording and sound design in filmmaking.\u00a0 After you\u2019ve watched your favorite film often enough that you can easily quote lines, watch it again but turn your back to the picture and just listen.\u00a0 If you can ignore the dialogue, that would be best.\u00a0 When you do this you\u2019ll be amazed by what you\u2019ll hear.\u00a0 A typical film has multiple layers of sounds, elements, and effects that normally go by unnoticed by casual audiences.<\/li>\n
  5. Know the three basic camera shots (wide, medium, and close up) and know the four basic camera moves (pan, tilt, truck, and dolly).\u00a0 Get a camera, any camera; still, digital, super 8, anything.\u00a0 You don\u2019t need to shoot anything (though it would help) to practice framing shots and moving the camera.\u00a0 If you can locate a tripod, use it.\u00a0 Too many novice filmmakers don\u2019t have the patience to properly set up their shots.\u00a0 They shoot their stories with a \u2018quick and dirty\u2019 hand-held camera and the end result looks it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    by Prof. Wesley Ellenwood Know the difference between film and video and digital media.\u00a0 At Augsburg University we teach filmmaking …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faculty","category-film"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25175"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25211,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25175\/revisions\/25211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}