Technical Tutorials

The above YouTube video is set of publicity images that we have taken and put into a video format. When taking these pictures we took many things into account such as the mis-en-scene, setting, lighting and framing of the shot.

In order to take these publicity photos we borrowed a still digital camera and took them at different points throughout the school. Our main priority of taking these images was to get a feeling of what is really needed in a successful publicity photo, and get a successful photo that represents our genre.

When taking these images we were restricted to only being able to take them within school property. This in a way was a benefit, as it gave us a challenge to use the resources available. We knew that using a variety of shot angles and distances was vital, as it prevents viewer fatigue and makes the image look much more interesting and appealing. Additionally, as we took some images inside and outside we made sure that we took advantage of the natural light. Another very important part that we had to take into account when shooting our publicity photos was facial expressions. This was a major factor that helped distinguish the different genres of publicity photos.

Here is a picture of the green screen that we used in class to practice a small lip sync task. The green screen can be very effective as it is a lot budget way to make things look interesting; however it can sometimes make it look unprofessional if not done properly.

The downsides to the green screen are that people are unable to wear green as it will become affected by the effects. When setting up the green screen we also set up three lights that were carefully positioned and focused on the performer. We also set up three camera’s which were also focused on all the performers. 

Chroma key

Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing (layering) two images together.

A colour range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind.

The Chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production.

This technique is also referred to as color keying, color-separation, green screen, and blue screen.

It is commonly used for weather forecast broadcasts, wherein the news presenter appears to be standing in front of a large map during live television newscasts, but in a television studio it is actually a large blue or green background.

Moreover, when developing our technical tutorials we also created publicity photos. The photo below shows a medium-long shot of Nathan. When framing and composing this shot we looked specifically into the lighting and framing. The light of the sun is very bright and therefore contrasts with the outline of Nathan, making him stand out. In addition, we also took the idea of rule of thirds into account. For example, the lines diving the photograph below show how it can be divided into the rule of thirds.