Shot by Shot_Ch1 & 2.pdf

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ALL RTCTTTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THE RIGFT oF
REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART IN ANY FORM.
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Slnit book was written because, as teachers, we needed a book that would be
appropriate for beginners in filmmaking. Shot By Shot: A Practical Guide to
ifimmat

first time it appears in the text. While each of these new terms is defined within
the body of the text the first time it appears, a concise definition of each term can
also be found in the glossary. The chapters are arranged in a logical order. In
some cases a chapter comes later in the book because of background terminology
that is introduced in other chapters. For instance, "Pre-production" is the sixth
chapter in the book. While an argument could be made for discussing pre-production
before anything else, it is impossible to properly outline the concepts of good
pre-production without first having an understanding of the terms, details and
potential pitfalls involved in shooting and editing.
The authors of Shot By Shot, John Cantine, Susan Howard and Brady Lewis, are
all active independent filmmakers with 25 years of experience in teaching filmmaking
between them. The three authors have also gone through diverse university
filmmaking programs. After taking beginning classes at Pittsburgh Filmmakers
as an undergraduate, John Cantine received his M.F.A. in Film Production
from Ohio University. Susan Howard's B.A. is in Film Production from Pennsylvania
State University, and she has worked on projects as diverse as the low
budget splatter feature Street Trash and, in recent seasons, as the editor of Mr.
Rogers' Neighborhood. Brady Lewis, Pittsburgh Filmmakers' Director of Education,
has a B.F.A. from New York University and his work as an experimental
filmmaker has been recognized by many regional and national film production
grants, screenings and festival awards.
We would like to thank several friends who helped us in the final stages of the production
of this text. Gus Samios did extensive proofreading and his suggestions and
comments were invaluable. Marce Schulz, Robert Rutkowski, Dean Mougainis and
Kathryn Borland also gave us technical and stylistic assistance in specific areas.
Charlie Humphrey provided computer expertise as well as help with the artwork and
layout. Electronic Images assisted with the cover artwork. Karen Hignett created the
index. We have discovered that, like making a film, writing a book requires a great
deal of cooperation among the primary collaborators as well as assistance from people
with a variety of skills.
Brady Lewis . Susan Howard . John Cantine
July, 1993
5

E\lUou, the time that inventors began to perfect the photographic process in the
late 19th century, they also began to consider techniques by which they could
photographically reproduce motion. Nineteenth century parlor toys such as the
zoetrope and flip books demonstrated that the human eye retains the impression of
an image slightly longer than it is actually exposed to that image' When a sequence
of drawings or photographs of an object in motion are viewed in rapid
succession, the eye blends the individual pictures together. creating the illusion of
motion. This optical illusion is called persistence of vision.
In the 1870's Eadweard Muybridge successfully demonstrated the photographic
reproduction of motion when he set up a fow of still cameras and photographed a
race horse running past them. When viewed in rapid succession these photographs
provided a graphic example of photographed motion. However. setting up a
battery of still cameras to photograph a second or two of action was not a practical
method of photographing motion, and inventors worked to develop a camera
that would rapidly expose a series of sequential images onto a single strip of film'
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A motion sequence photographed by Eadweard Muybridge'
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of
A breakthrough in the development of the movie camera occurred with the invention
of flexible celluloid film stock, which replaced the cumbersome glass plates
previously used to capture light and create the photographic image. In 1888
George Eastman marketed the first celluloid film, and in 1890 William Dickson
and Thomas Edison successfully tested a motion picture camera. In 1895 the
Lumiere brothers made the first public motion picture presentation.
)f
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In filmmaking the term format refers to the gauge or width of the film stock. The
35mm format, the format used by Edison's first motion picture cameras, is still
the standard today in feature and commercial filmmaking. 35mm film is 35
millimeters (about 1 1/2 inches) wide. Over the years, however, other formats have
been developed. In the 1920's the 16mm format appeared as a less expensive altemative
to 35mm. Originally aimed at home users, this format became useful to documentary
filmmakers and newsreel photographers, because its smaller size meant a reduction
in the size and weight of the motion picture camera used to expose it. The smaller
camera improved the filmmaker's mobility and ability to shoot in confined spaces.
The Smm format came into existence tn 1932.Smm film was actually 16mm film
with twice the number of sprocket holes. The 16mm film was run through an
8mm camera which exposed one edge of the film. It was rethreaded and run
through the camera again, exposing the frames on the other side. The processed
fiim was then split down the middle lengthwise, resulting in two reels of Smm
film. In 1965 Eastman Kodak introduced super-8mm film. This format was the same
width as regular Smm, but the sprocket hole size was reduced and spacing was redesigned
to provide a507o larger frame, thereby greatly improving image quality.

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35mm 16mm 8mm Super-8
Films generally fit within one of three categories: narrative, documentary or
experimental. Many films actually combine elements of two or more of these
groups but can be described broadly by one of these terms'
The narrative film is probably the most tecognizable type of film' Almost every
theatrically released motion picture falls within this group' Simply put, a narrative
film tells a story. It is scripted and usually has a linear plot line with a beginning'
middle and end, although the action may not unfold on screen in that order' The
storymaybepresentedinasimplestraightforwardway,asinThelmaandLouise,
or in a very complex way, as rn Last Year at Marienbad. In any case the film is
tellingaStoryfeaturingcharacterswhoseactionsadvancetheplot.
Documentaries are films which depict "real life." A documentary filmmaker uses
the world around him, situations and characters which actually exist' as source
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material. Among the very earliest filmmakers, France's Lumiere brothers began
making documentaries in the 1890's. Their films presented everyday occuffences
such as a train pulling out of a station or workers leaving a factory at the end of
the day. Over the decades filmmakers have documented events of global significance,
such as wars and social upheavals, as well as smaller subjects such as
ordinary individuals.
In its most basic sense the documentary is a film in which the filmmaker allows
the action or events to unfold naturally with minimal interference. However, this
definition breaks down the minute the filmmaker turns his camera from one
subject to another or makes a cut. The very process involved in making a film
requires that the artist manipulate the subject material to some extent. The difference
in documentary style is often a matter of the degree of manipulation the
filmmaker chooses to impose. Because of this, documentary films can range from
the work of Robert Flaherty, who in Nanook of the North actually staged much of
the action, to the "cinema verite" of Frederick Wiseman, who manipulates his
subjects in a subtler way through the editing structure he imposes on his footage.
Experimental filmmaking is the broadest and least easily defined category in
terms of cinematic style. The term "experimental film" seems to be a catch-all
term for any film that isn't a namative or documentary. Often experimental films
are not concerned with presenting a fictional story or documenting external
reality. An experimental film might be more concerned with the graphic elements
of the shots, with the play of light and shadow, color or movement. It might
explore the technical limits of the filmmaking process itself: what happens when
you edit together a series of single-frame shots, or shoot a film that is one continuous
shot? Others might be interested in presenting a vision of internal
reality, images from the filmmaker's unconscious. Frequently, films that combine
elements of narrative with documentary filmmaking (and even animation), films
that blur the boundaries of the usual categories, are classified as experimental
films. In many cases experimental films reject traditional filmmaking techniques
and values in favor of new, often unusual approaches.

AI movie is essentially a series of still images on a strip of film' The exposure
of film in a movie camefa is similar to that in a still camera. The shutter opens
and closes quickly, letting light hit the photosensitive material on the film to
create a latent image. With the shutter closed the film is advanced; then the
shutter opens again, exposing another frame. A movie camera captures the sequence
of movement by exposing many separate frames each second.
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lower loop
Diagram of a basic motion picture c&mera'
Movie film comes rolled on the feed reel. As the sprocket wheels turn, the teeth'
or sprockets, engage the perforations (or sprocket holes) in the film, pulling it
through the camera gate. The sprocket wheels turn at a smooth, constant rate' But
if the film went through the camera gate in constant motion the camera would not
IO

-
make separate exposures. Instead, each frame would be a blur. The film must not
be moving when the shutter is open. The camera employs an intermittent movement,
a stop-and-start movement, rather than constant motion to move the film
through the gate. Since the sprocket drive moves constantly and the film in the
gate does not, there must be some slack in the film between the sprocket wheels
and the camera gate or the film will rip. This slack is formed by loops of film
above and below the camera gate.
The camera gate consists of two plates. The aperture plate in front of the film
has a rectanguiar opening, or aperture, through which light passes to strike the
film. The pressure plate, behind the film, presses on the film so that it remains
flat against the aperture plate. Without the pressure plate the image would not stay
in focus. In the gate the pull-down claw reaches up, engages a perforation and
pulls the film down one frame. The claw then disengages, reaching up for the next
perforation. While the claw is disengaged, the film is motionless, as light enters
through the camera aperture and exposes a frame of the film. The pull-down claw
completes this cycle many times each second, causing the film's intermittent
movement through the gate.
If light were to hit the film all the time, the intermittent movement would not be
effective. When the film moved it would blur the still frame just exposed. Light
must be blocked from hitting the film while it is moving in order to prevent this.
In a motion picture camera the shutter is a flat disc of metal that spins in front of
the aperture plate. It spins in synchronizationwith the pull-down claw. While the
claw is pulling the film down, the shutter shields the aperture, and no light hits the
moving film. While the pull-down claw is disengaged and the film is still, the
shutter opening is in front of the aperture, and the light exposes the film. The
shutter is often described by the size of its opening. A l80-degree shutter, for
instance, is a half-circle of metal. 180 degrees of the circle are metal, and the
other 180 degrees are open, the shutter opening.
After passing through the gate the film forms the lower loop. Then it is engaged
by another sprocket wheel, which carries it to the take-up reel, where the film is
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Whentheexposedtilmislatershown,itrunsthroughaprojectorinmuchthe
Samewayitranthroughthecamera.Themaindifferenceisthatinsteadoflight
entering the camera rJ""nor" the film,. a powerful lamp throws through the
film onto a screen. In the projector, as ln ihe camera, a shutter spins and blocks
light while the film is moving so that only still images are seen'
Film moves through a camera or projector at a steadY rate, the frame rate (also
called the camera speed)' which is measuredin frames per second (fps)' "Sound
12

speed," the standard for 16mm and 35mm film, is 24fps. Silent super-8 cameras
run at 18fps, while some super-8 sound cameras run at both 1Sfps and24fps.
Most of the time 18fps is used as the standard speed for super-8 film, but some
filmmakers choose the 24fps standard when shooting super-8 sound film. The
speed of the camera by itself does not matter as much as the relationship between
the frame rate of the camera and that of the projector. For motion to look natural
on the screen the projector must run at the same rate as the camera. If the camera
runs faster than the projector, then the result is slow motion. For instance, if the
camera is run at 36fps, then an action that takes one second (e.g. lighting a match)
will take up 36 frames on film. When the film is shown later at 18fps, those 36
frames will take two seconds to run through the projector. Everything will take
twice as long as it did in real life.
Similarly, if the camera runs more slowly than the projector does (undercranHrg),
fast motion will result. For instance, if the camera runs at 9fps, that one-second
feed reel
re
aperture
lamp
pull-down claw
take-up reel
Diagram of a basic film projector.

match lighting will cover 9 frames of film. when run through a projector at 18fps'
these 9 frames will go by in half a second; everything moves twice as fast' In time
lapsephotogaphytheframeratemightbeasslowasoneframeeveryl0seconds'
every minute or even every hour. This produces an exffeme compression of time so
that clouds seem to whip through the sky or a flower blooms in a few seconds'
Finally, a word about a type of filmmaking which, strictly speaking, doesn't have
a frame rate at all: animation.In animation, rather than speeding up or slowing
down natural motion, you create motion where none exists. For example, you
shoot one frame of a King Kong model. Then you raise his arm a fraction of an
inch and click off another frame of film. Then raise the arm a bit more' click
another frame, etc. until after hours of work you have 180 frames ending with
King Kong',s arm raised over his head. when projected at 18fps the result is a 10
second sequence of film in which King Kong appears to raise his arm over his
head. By moving inanimate objects slightly between frames the filmmaker can
create the illusion of movement on film. In the same way a series of drawings'
each slightly diff'erent from the last, can be photographed to create animation'
LnNsps
Strictly speaking, the lens is not part of the camera' In fact a lens is not necessary
to expose film, as demonstrated by the "pin-hole" camera. A pin-hole camera
consists of a light-tight box with a tiny hole in one side that allows light to enter
the box. Light entering through the pin hole exposes film on the opposite side of
the box. Howevef, it take several seconds for this small amount of light to expose
the film. The basic function of a lens is to gather light rays more efficiently and to
focusthemonthefilmsothatitcanbeexposedmorequickly'
A camera lens consists of several pieces of glass, or elements, connected by a
tube called the barrel of the lens. A lens is referred to by its focal length' a
measure of the lens, size, usually expressed in millimeters (mm). Any lens introduces
some distortion of perspective into the image. Lenses of different focal
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lengths wili reproduce the same shot in different ways. A "normal,'lens reproduces
an image as closely as possible to the way the human eye sees it, with the
least distortion of perspective. In super-8 a normal lens is one with a focal length
between 9mm and 15mm. A lens with a shorter focal length (under 9mm in super-
8) will gather light rays from a wider angie of view in front of it, and therefore it
is called a wide-angle lens. Wide-angle lenses tend to exaggerate the depth of a
scene. An object will seem farther away from the wall behind it than it actually is.
A woman walking toward the camera wili appear to be moving faster than she is
in reality. Extreme wide-angle lenses also cause horizontal lines to bend. The
horizon line in a landscape, for instance, will curve slightly at either end of the
frame. Because of their short focal lengths wide-angie lenses can also be referred
to as short lenses.
A long or telephoto lens (over 15mm in super-g) accepts light rays from a nar_
rower angle of view in front of it. Small details of the scene will fill the frame. If
you keep the camera the same distance from an actor, a wide-angle lens might
show all of the actor's body and some of the background, a normal iens might
show the actor from the waist up, and a telephoto lens might show just the actor's
face. Since the telephoto lens seems to magnify small details of the scene, any
unsteadiness
the camera will also be magnified, so that a handheld or dolly shot
using a long lens may be unacceptably shaky. If image steadiness is a concern.
use a wide-angle lens. If you are using a telephoto lens, use a tripod. In addition,
long lenses introduce some distortion. In contrast to wide-angle lenses which
increase the perceived depth of a shot, telephoto lenses make the shot seem flatter.
An actor in front of a wall will seem to be right up against it, even though she
might be standing a considerable distance away from it.
In this discussion we've treated lenses as prime lenses. A prime lens has only one
fixed focal length. A long lens is only a long lens, and a wide-angle lens is only a
wide-angle lens. Prime lenses, or fixed focal length lenses, are commonly used in
16mm and 35mm filmmaking. They are rare in super-g though. Most super-g
cameras have a variable focal length lensror zoom lens. A zoom lens can duplicate

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the effects of a range of lenses, from wide-angle to telephoto. Zoom lenses are
usually referred to by the range of focal lengths they cover. A"7 to 40 zoom" can
be used as a 7mm wide-angle lens, a 40mm telephoto lens or anything in between.
The main attraction of a zoom lens is convenience. With prime lenses, in order to
change your composition from a long shot to a close-up, you must either move the
camera or remove the lens and replace it with another. Using azoomlens, you can
zoom in to a close-up or zoom out to a long shot by just turning a dial.
If you change focal lengths while the camera is running the result is a "zoom"
shot. In general, excessive zooming can be very annoying. Before you use the
zoom effect in a shot, as with any other camera movement, you should stop and
ask yourself why you want to do it. Is there a legitimate reason? Will the zoom
help your film or are you just bored? Zooms,like dollies, pans or tilts, should be
designed to add or reveal important information within a shot. Zoomrng that is not
motivated can be distracting and can look sloppy.
Many super-8 cameras also have a macro lens setting. Since most lenses cannot
focus on anything closer than four feet away, a special lens is needed to shoot
extreme close-up shots. A macro lens can focus on objects from a few feet away
to objects within millimeters of the lens. If you want to fill the frame with a
postage stamp or show a cricket on a stalk of grass, use the macro lens.
Exposunp
In addition to gathering and focusing rays of light, lenses are used to control the
amount of light reaching the film. when you enter a dark room on a sunny day,
you can't see anything at first. Slowly your eyes adjust to the low light level, and
you can see details. The eye adapts to varying amounts of light by opening or
closing its iris to let the right amount of light reach the retina.
A camera lens also has an iris, a metal diaphragm that can be opened or closed to
control the amount of light reaching the film. If too much light hits the film, it will

e overexposed. If too little light hits the film, it will be underexposed' The right
amount of light is determined by the speed (sensitivity to light) of the film. A
faster (high ASA number) film needs less light than a slower (lower ASA number)
film. Film speed and ASA numbers are discussed in detail in Chapter 2'
Whatever the speed of the film, it always needs a specific combination of amount
of light and exposure time to be correctly exposed. The amount of light hitting the
film can be controlled in two ways: by actually changing the amount of light in
the scene or by opening or closing the lens iris. The film's exposure time. or
shutter speed, can only be controlled by changing the camera's shutter angle or
by changing its running speed (fps). If you are shooting outside on a sunny day,
it's hard to change the amount of light in the scene. often you have to use the
available light in a scene. Similarly, most motion picture cameras don't allow you
to change their shutter angle, and changing a camera's running speed to control
exposufe time is rarely an option, since a change in the frame rate also results in a
change in the speed of motion on the screen.
As discussed earlier, the shutter of a motion picture camefa rotates in front of the
aperture plate, alternately letting light hit the film and then blocking light out' The
shutter speed is the actual length of time that the shutter lets light hit each frame
of film. To let more light hit the film, the shutter opening must be in front of the
film longer. To achieve this the shutter must spin more slowly. Since the shutter
of a motion picture camera is synchronized to the camera's intermittent drive, the
only way to slow the shutter down is to slow down the camera's frame rate. For
instance, at gfps the shutter willlet light hit the film twice as long as it would at
18fps. However, shooting at gfps will result in fast motion' So, while manipulation
of the shutter speed might be a viable means of controlling exposure for a
still photographer who shoots one picture at a time, for the motion picture photographer
changing the shutter speed is seldom an effective way to control the exposure
of the film.
In most cases the best way to control the amount of light that hits the film is by
opening or closing the iris in the lens. Just as the shutter speed determines how long
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light will hit each frame, the size of the iris opening will determine hotu much
light hits the frame. (Note: the iris opening is often referred to as the lens aperture.
Do not confuse this adjustable aperture in the lens with the aperture in the
camera gate, which is simply a frame-sized window cut into the aperture plate.)
The size of the lens aperture is expressed as an f-stop. An f-stop is a number that
indicates the size of the opening of the lens aperture (oriris). Every serious
filmmaker should memorize the f-stop series:
| 1.4 2 2.8 4 5.6 8 11 t6 22 32 45
"stopping down
As the f-stop numbers get higher, the size of the lens aperture is actually getting
smaller, letting less light in. As the f-stop numbers get lower the aperture opening
gets larger, letting more light in. Every time you open up one stop (from f/4 to
f/2.8, for instance) you double the amount of light reaching the film. when you
stop down one stop (from fl4 to f/5.6, for instance) you let half as much light in.
If you change by more than one stop, every stop doubles or halves the light. For
example, if you open up 3 stops (from f/4 to f|l.4, for instance), then you double
the light 3 times to let in: 2x2x 2 = 8 times as much light. The list of f-stop
numbers above is not exhaustive, but a filmmaker will rarelv. if ever. deal with
lens openings larger than f/1 or smaller thanf/45.
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Most super-8 cameras have a built-in light meter which can control the automatic
iris. In effect the camera functions as two distinct instruments; a reflected light
meter to measure light and a camera to take pictures when the camera is in its
automatic mode. The camera's light meter reads the amount of light reflected by the
subject, and then it automatically sets the camera's lens aperture to the coffect f-stop.
19

It is important to understand how reflected light metels work. The reflected light
meter that is built into a super-8 camera, and every reflected light meter for that
matter, is built and calibrated upon a medium gray standard' These meters are
designed so that they give you a light reading (an f-stop number), which is the
correct exposure to use when you want the subject seen by the meter to be reproduced
on the film in tones that are equivalent to medium gray (also known as
neutral gray or l87o Sral). Since most shots represent a variety of brightness,
including light, dark and medium tones, the reflected light meter gives an average
of what it sees. In many cases these light, dark and medium tones do, in fact,
average our to something close to the medium gray standard, and exposure will be
correct. The standard was developed based on the assumption that most shots
have a range ofbrightness that averages out to a shade of gray that reflects l87o of
the light striking it.
In a so-called average Scene, a Scene which contains afange of brightness but is
not dominated by very light or very dark objects, the light reflected by all the
objects within the scene will average out to something close to anI87o reflectance'
In this case the light reading given by the super-8 camera's reflected light meter
will be correct. If you were to use the reflected light meter to take a reading from
an object that reflects exactly l87o of the light striking it (for instance, an lSvo
gray card), the reading you would get would be the perfect f-stop setting to use if
you want the object to look medium gray on the film. This, again, is because the
standard is based upon 187o gray. If you were to take your light reading from a
black object (a black cat, for example) or from a scene dominated by dark tones,
the f-stop reading you would get would result in overexposure' Instead of looking
black on the film, the black cat would appear to be medium gray. Everything else
would be brighter too. Similarly, a reflected light meter reading of a white scene
(a snow- covered hill with a bright sky behind it) would give an f-stop reading
that would result in underexposure. The white hillside and sky would look medium
gray rather than white on the film'
Clearly, when taken atfacevalue, reflected light meter readings are good for
some situations and not for others. A reflected light meter always gives a reading
20
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that will reproduce what the meter sees as medium gray on the film. That is to
say, if the reading is taken from an 18% gray card, the f-stop indicated will be the
correct setting to make that card look medium gray on film. Therefore, all the
other brightness values in the scene should be rendered correctly as well. Objects
that are brighter (or more reflective) than l87a gray will look brighter on the film,
and darker (less reflective) objects will appear darker on the film.
Problems arise when the subject being read by the meter is considerably darker or
lighter than medium gray. Scenes dominated by extremes of brightness can result
in light readings that are severely overexposed or underexposed. This problem can
be overcome if you simply use the standard (187o gray) to which the reflected
light meter is calibrated. In the case of the black cat, you would take a light
reading from an 18% gray card (in the same light that is illuminating the cat)
rather than taking a reading of the cat itself. In the case of the snowy hillside, you
would read an l87a gray card, not the white hillside. As long as the gray card is
read under the same light that illuminates the subject, these readings will give you
an f-stop that would render a medium gray subject (the card) looking medium
gray on the film, instead of readings that would make black or white look medium
gray on the film. If you get a reading that would properly reproduce medium gray as
medium gray on fllm, it should also reproduce brighter and darker tones properly.
When a super-8 camera is set to the automatic setting, the light meter built into the
camera will take readings and simultaneously set the lens iris (the f-stop) to the
reading obtained. The automatic iris is always adjusting to the light. If the actor in a
scene is walking down a dark hallway, the iris will open up to make it look brighter. If
she walks past a bright window, the light meter will read the extra light and suddenly
stop the lens down, and the actor will be underexposed. Overall, relying on the automatic
iris can result in poorly exposed fllms. On most cameras the filmmaker can
override the automatic iris, and by using a medium gray card, set the iris to the conect
f-stop. By taking an automatic light meter reading of an l87o gray card and then
manually adjusting the lens iris to the f-stop indicated, a filmmaker using a reflected
light meter can avoid most of the pitfalls of this kind of metering system.
21

Because all super-8 cameras incorporate a reflected light metering system, this
discussion has concentrated on reflected light meters' Incident light meters are
preferred by most filmmakers. These meters measure the amount of lightfalling
on the subject rather than the light reflected by the subject' Using an incident
meter a black cat, awhite rabbit and an 187o gray card under the same light wil^
give the same reading. In effect, an incident light meter is like a reflected light
meter with a built-in gray card. A reflected meter used in conjunction with an
I87o gray card will give the same readings an incident light meter gives'
The primary function of a lens is to gather light rays and focus them onto the film'
By adjusting the glass elements in a lens, you can focus on objects at different
distances from the camera; the numbers on the focusing ring of the lens tell you
what distance you are focused on. If you set the focusing ring at ten feet, for
instance, all objects on a plane ten feet away will appear to be in focus' The plane
of critical focus is ten feet away. (Note: when measuring focus, one doesn't
measure from the end of the lens, but from the frlm plane or focal plane, which is
marked on the camera by u 0 symbol.) Objects in front of or behind the plane of
critical focus will appear to be out of focus; the farther they are from the plane of
critical focus, the more out of focus they appear. Objects that are close to the
plane of critical focus ale so slightly out of focus that they seem to be in focus'
Rather than just a flat plane being in focus, there is actually a field in front of and
behind the plane of critical focus which appea.rs to be in focus. This area, defined
by the near and far limits of acceptably sharp focus in a given situation, is known
as the depth of field.
Depth of field is not a constant. It can be a few inches, or it might be hundreds of
feet. Depth of field depends on three variables:
1. Focalength: Shorter (wide-angle) lenses provide Sreater depth of
field than long (telephoto) lenses.
2. tris opening: Stopping down the iris increases depth of
field; openini ,p decreases depth of field. Therefore, you will
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usually have less depth of field in Iow lighting, when the lens iris
must be opened up.
3. Focusing distance: The farther the subject is from the camera, the
greater the depth of field; the closer the camera is focused, the less
the depth of field.
The final thing to keep in mind about depth of field is the "one-third two-thirds
rule." That is, if there are two subjects at different distances from the camera that
you want to have equally in focus, do not focus halfway between them. The depth
of field extends farther behind the plane of critical focus than it does in front of it,
so as a general rule you should focus on a point one-third of the way beyond the
nearer of the two subiects.
Two shots with the same image size. Depth of jield is much greater when using a wide-angle
lens (l) thqn when using a telephoto lens (r).
The correct way to focus a zoom lens is to focus with the lens set at its longest
focal length. Even if you are shooting a long shot of a person, zoom in on the
person by turning the zoom ring on the lens to its telephoto position. Adjust the
focusing ring until this magnified image is sharp in the viewfinder. Then zoom
out and compose the long shot. Each shot should be focused by following this
procedure. Zoom lenses should always be focused in the telephoto position,
because you can see greater detail when the image is magnified. Focus does not
change when the focal length is changed. Focus is dependent upon the distance
between the camera and the subiect.
23

f
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I
5
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f
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The one-third two-thirds rule.
feet
flr.4
near
fqr
f/2 near
far
f/2-a
near
far
fl4 near
far
fl5-6
near
far
fla
near
far
fltr
near
far
oo 7',10" 5'7" 4',7 3', 1'8" 1',3 " 1
fl16
near
far
35 6'7" 4'.71 3',9" 2'70" 2',2" r'-7" 1',3 " 1
20 5'1(]" 1'6" 3',6" 2'8" 2'1" 7'.'7" I',3" 1
10 4'4" 3'1()" 3'l 2'5" 1'11 1',6" 1'3 " I
7 3'lI"
42'4"
3',4" 2'lo" 1',10" 1',8" l'2" 11"
5
ll'4"
2'7 l"
26'.7"
2'6" 2'l 1'9" I'5" L'2" ll
4 2',1o"
a'1I"
2',7"
10'4"
31'9"
l'1 I 1'8" l':t" 7'.2" 11
I
Super-8 d.epth qf .fielit table for a lens with afocal length of 8mm showing near andfar limits of
ii[eptabty'shoip"Torut at various f-stop and focusing distance combinations.
su
of (
24

feet
fl7,.4
near
fl2
near
f/2.4
near
f/4
near
f/5.6
near
f/a
near
fltl
near
flt6
near
€ t7'1 l2' 8'6" 6',2" 4'5" 1'8"
35 I l'8" 9'2" a'4" 1', l'8"
20 9'5" 7'.9" 6'3" :+' 1O" 3'9" 2',1o" 2',2" 1'7 "
10 6'6"
22',7"
7 5'2"
11'1"
5',8"
46',7"
4'8"
l4'10"
,+'10" 4'. 2',7" 2',1 l'7 "
4'1" 3'6" 2',1 t" l'l I l'6"
5
6'6"
3'9"
7',9"
3'4"
lo'
3'
18'
2',7" z',2" 1'9" t'5"
4 3'.1"
4',1|
3',2"
5'6"
z'.7 |
6',6"
2','7"
6'l I t7"t 7
2'. 1',4" 7'1"
Super-8 depth of jield table for q lens with afocal length of 12mm showing near andfar limits
ofacceptably sharpfocus atvariousf-stop andfocusing distance combinations.
feet
flL.4
near
f/2
near
f/2.4
near
t/4
near
t/s.6
near
f/a
near
f/tl
near
fqr
f/r6
near
€ ^41
294', 27O'. 147' 1 05', 52'10 36',1
35 32',4"
38'2"
31'3"
39'9"
30'
42'
2a'3"
,18'l O
26',2"
52',4" 66'.2" 9a'7"
t7'4"
211'.
20 l9'l
2t'
l8'9"
2l'a "
18'3 "
22',1"
l7'7"
23'2"
t6'9"
24'4"
l5'8 "
27',5"
l z1'5 "
31'9"
12'10
43',
10 9'.9"
ro'3"
9',8"
70'4"
9'.6"
ro'6"
9'.4"
10'9"
9'1 "
I 1'1
8'9"
11',1"
8'4"
12',1"
7',9"
13'9 "
7 6'l 1
'7',2"
6'lo"
7'2"
6',9"
7',3"
6'8"
'7',4"
6'.6"
-7'6"
7'9"
6',2"
8'1"
5'9"
8'9"
5 4't7
5'1 "
4',11
5'1 "
4'.to"
5',2"
4'1 0"
5'.2"
4',9"
5'3 "
4'4"
5'5"
4',6"
5'7"
4'1"
5'l l"
4 3',1 I
4',l"
3'l I"
4',1"
3'1 1
4'1 "
3'10"
4',2"
3'1 0" 3'9"
4'.3"
3'8"
4'5"
3'6"
4'7"
Super-8 depth of jielil table for q lens with a focal length of 60mm showing near and far limits
of acceptably sharp focus at various f-stop and focusing distance combinqtions.
25

At its most basic level a motion picture is a strip of film, a flexible base
(made of cellulose triacetate), thinly coated on one side with a chemical emulsion.
This emulsion consists of light sensitive grains of silver compounds suspended
in a gelatin. When the emulsion is exposed to light, a chemical reaction
occurs. The grains that are exposed to light change their chemical structure. Those
which are not exposed remain unchanged. At this point no image is visible on the
film. It contains a latent image. In fact, if you were to look at the film immediately
after exposure, it would not only look unchanged, but you would ruin your film,
because the emulsion is still light sensitive. To render the film insensitive to light and
to bring out the latent image, the film must be processed in a chemical developer.
When a film stock is manufactured, the cellulose triacetate (celluloid) base material
is coated with an emulsion of light sensitive silver compounds called silver
halides. During exposure and processing some of these silver halides are converted
into grains of metallic silver. Where more exposure takes place, more
metallic silver is formed.
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Film stocks can be described as either negative or reversal film. When shooting
negative film, the emulsion that has been exposed to light is converted to metallic
silver by the developer. The unexposed emulsion is washed away. Where a lot of
light hit the film, a lot of metallic silver is left. Where no light hit the film, all of
the emulsion is washed off; the negative film is clear in these areas. If run through
a projector, light would shine through these clear areas, making a bright area on
the screen. Where higher concentrations of metallic silver are left, less light would
shine through the film. If enough light has exposed the film, it will be practically
opaque in that area. So with negative film, what was bright leaves a dark image,

and dark objects create bright images. Brightness values are reversed; a negative
image is obtained. To restore tonalities to their proper values, a positive print
must be made. A filmmaker using negative film does not project the camera
original film, the negative film that ran through the camera. It is the positive print
that is handled and projected. This is similar to shooting still photographs and
ordering prints. Strips of negative are returned along with your prints, but it is the
prints that you show to your friends. The negatives are only used when you want
to make additional prints.
Reversal film is similar to slide film. When you mount a slide, you are mounting
the original film that was exposed in the camera, yet the brightness and color
values are not reversed. This is due to the fact that when reversal film is processed,
the emulsion that has rcacted to light is bleached away. So where a lot of
light has hit the film, a lot of emulsion becomes metallic silver and is bleached
away, and the film is clear. Where no light has hit the film, a thick layer of unexposed
emulsion is left.
Tnn nnvnnsAl FrLM pRocESS:
1. Silver halide grains are exposed to light.
2. Exposed grains are converted to silver.
3. Silver grains are bleached away.
4. Remaining emulsion is re-exposed to light
in the lab and a positive image remains.
27

In reversal processing that remaining emulsion is re-exposed to light in the laboratory
and then developed again, so that it becomes metallic silver. What was bright
in front of the camera is bright on the screen. What was dark appears dark on the
screen. The brightness values remain the same as in real life. As a side effect, the
emulsion that is left after developing is harder and more resistanto scratches than
negative emulsion. It can therefore be run through a projector without being easily
scratched. A11 super-S films available today are reversal films. Usually filmmakers
who are working in the super-8 format handle and edit their camera original
film rather than having a print made. It is possible to make a reversal film print from
a reversal camera original, but it is very difficult to get good quality in a super-8 print.
Br.a,cr-AND-\
/rrrrE AND Cor-on
Another way to describe a film stock is by its color characteristics. Black-and-white
(b&w) films do not react differently to different colors and do not reproduce colors on
the film. Only brightness values are reproduced. If a red object reflects light as
brightly as a green object, they will both appear as the same shade of gray on blackand-white
film. The color film process involves the use of colored dyes. Color films
react to and reproduce the colors of objects in the shot. While the image on a strip of
black-and-white film consists of varying densities of metallic silver, a color film
image consists of various intensities of three different colored dyes.
Frr-rvr SpNsrrrvrrY
It is also possible to describe film stocks in terms of their sensitivity to light, or
their speed. In a fast film the grains are larger and more sensitive to light. Less
light is needed to cause them to react. Slow films have small, fine grains, and they
require more light to achieve the same reaction. A slow film needs more light than
a fast film. The speed of a film is expressed by an ASA (American Standards
Association) number. ASA numbers are a way to measure the sensitivity to light one
film stock has in relation to another. A film rated at ASA 100 is twice as sensitive
as a film rated at ASA 50. It needs half as much light to gain the same exposure.
28
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A film stock with a very high ASA number is best to use under low lighting
conditions like you might find indoors. If there is plenty of light (outside on a
sunny day, for instance) you might want to use a slower film, one with a lower
ASA number. Note: ASA numbers are the same as ISO (International Standards
Organization) numbers and EI (Exposure Index) numbers, and they can be used
interchangeably with these other standards. They are not the same as DIN
(Deutsche Industrie Norm) numbers, the European standard.
A film is more sensitive to light if its light sensitive grains are larger. When a film
is projected onto a large screen, these grains are easy to see, and they make the
image lose some of its sharpness. That is one reason a filmmaker might want to
use as slow a film as the light level will permit. Conventional thinking is that
slow, fine grained film stocks produce sharper, more realistic and therefore more
believable pictures. They don't distract the audience by drawing attention to the
medium or the photographic process. Of course, there might be times when you
want to do just that, so the choice of a film stock can be an aesthetic option as
well as a practical one.
Any film stock needs a certain amount of light to get the correct exposure. If too
much light hits the film, it will be overexposed; if too little light hits it, the film
will be underexposed. If the film is overexposed too much, the film will not be
able to handle the light and will begin to burn out and lose detail. In a greatly
overexposed shot of the sky, for instance, the sky will be clear white. The blue
color and the clouds will be washed out by too much light. If the film rs underexposed
too much, then again details get lost. In a severely underexposed shot of a
man standing in the shadows, the film will show only a black mass where the
shadow is. The man will be lost in the underexposed area.
The amount of overexposure and underexposure a film stock can handle without
losing detail is called the latitude of the film. Negative film has greater latitude
than reversal film. It can handle a greater range of brightness values. Super-8
reversal film has a very limited latitude. If you underexpose or overexpose it by
even one stop, you will begin to lose detail in the darkest or brightest areas.
29

Cor-on Ba.r-nNcn'
Using color film introduces an important point to the filmmaker: all light is not
the same color. If you are reading this book outside in the sunlight, you see the
sunlight reflecting off the page as white light. If you are inside reading by
lamplight, you also see the light reflecting off the page as white light. This is
because the eye and the brain, within certain boundaries, adjust to variations in
the color of the light and see the dominant light as white. In fact, daylight is much
bluer than lamp light. You can see this easily when you are outside in the late
afternoon and the lights have been turned on inside. The tungsten light seen
through the windows of a house looks ofange because your eyes are adjusted to
the blue daylight. When you enter the house your eyes quickly adjust to the
tungsten light, and it appears white.
Although your eyes can adjust to variations in the color of light, film cannot. The
light sensitive emulsion must be color balanced in the manufacturing to see one,
and only one, kind of light as white light. Daylight-balanced film reads daylight
as white light. When using daylighrbalanced film, tungsten incandescent light
will look orange. Tungsten-balanced film sees light from tungsten sources (such
as movie lights, household light bulbs ,but not fluorescent lights) as white light,
and daylight will look too blue. Most super-8 color films are tungsten-balanced.
when shooting tungsten-balanced film in daylight an orange filter must be placed
in front of the film. As the blue daylight passes through the filter, it is converted
to the orange color of tungsten light.
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If this sounds a little confusing, it is very easy to deal with in super-S. Most
cameras have a filter switch with two settings: ? 1a hght bulb) 2n6,;Ql:(the sun).
When shooting color film under tungsten lights, set the filter switch to the ?
position, and the filter is out.Itdoes not affect the light. When shooting color film
with daylight as your light source set the switch to the,Oiposition, and the filter

is in, making the daylight orange like tungsten light. In other words, wherever
your light is coming from, the sun or a light bulb, set the filter switch to the
corresponding position. (Note: On tungsten-balanced film fluorescent light appears
greenish, and putting the filter in is usually better.)
When the filter is in it absorbs some of the light passing through it so that less
light reaches the film. For this reason if you are shooting black-and-white film,
keep the filter out (the? position). Since black-and-white film does not react
significantly to color variations anyway, you do not need the filter and leaving it
out allows the maximum amount of lisht to reach the film.
The one super-8 color film that is not tungsten-balanced is Ektachrome Type G
film. This film is balanced half-way between tungsten and daylight. Tungsten
light will seem slightly orange and daylight slightly blue when Type G film is
shot without filtration. when shot with the filter in place daylight will seem
slightly orange, since the orange filter in a super-S camera is designed to match
daylight with film that is tungsten-balanced. Kodak devised Type G film for the
home movie consumer market. Its advantage is that the user can leave the filter
out all the time and the error in color reproduction won't usually be very great. Its
disadvantage is that color reproduction is never coffect. The only exception
occurs when shooting under fluorescent lights where type G film, with the filter
out, may give better color reproduction than Type A film.
For a more detailed discussion of color, please see Chapter 7: Lighting.
31

Frr.nn Srocrs
These are the individual super-8 film stocks that are available from Eastman Kodak:
-
Black'and-white:
Plus-X
Tri-X
ASA 50 (in daylightVo filter)
ASA 200 (in daYlightVo filter)
Color:
Kodachrome40
Ektachrome 160A
Ektachrome 1 50 C
ASA 40 tungsten;
ASA 25 w/filter
ASA 160 tungsten;
ASA 100 w/filter
ASA 160 Vo filter;
ASA 100 wfilter
(Note: Black-and-white films have a nominally lower ASA rating under tungsten
lightthantheyhaveunderdaylight.Thisisbecauseblack-and-whitefilmsare
slightlymoresensitivetobluelightthantootherpartsofthespectrum,and
daylightcontainsanabundanceofbluelight.Nofiltrationisnecessarywhen
shooting black-and-white film, regardl.r, of th" type of light illuminating the subject')
All of these films are packaged in light-tight plastic cartridges containing 50 feet
of film, which is ttrree minutes and20 seconds running time at tSfps (or two
minutes and 30 seconds at24fps).There atel2individual frames in one foot of super-
8film,soatlsfpsittakesfoursecondsforonefoottomovethroughthecamera.
32