CTVA 250 STUDY GUIDE

1. This is material I remember from my time in CTVA 250 and therefore may not be totally comprehensive with regards to the final examination; however, those who received help from me on the mid-term did exceptionally well. It is, however, your responsibility to reference your notes and the text for a complete knowledge of the material.
2. Though I will be refreshing your memory of the information you were lectured on over the course of the semester it is important that you understand that Mr. Ollis will more than likely frame his questions in real world scenario form and may require the application of some common sense. READ EACH QUESTION CAREFULLY BEFORE VENTURING AN ANSWER!

METERS

There are two types of Meters:

      Reflective and incidental

      The sekonik and the Spectra Pro are incidental meters.

Incidental meters read the amount of light falling on a particular point. Reflective meters read the amount of light bouncing/reflecting off a point.

The four elements of exposer are:

1.      F. stop

2.      shutter speed

3.      ISO/ASA  (ISO of film and ASA offal are the same thing)

4.      The number of foot candles of light.

Remember the formula for “Magic 16” or “Sunny 16”

            If the ISO of the film is approximately the same as the shutter speed you can set your f. stop at 16 and get proper exposer in direct sunlight.

Remember, you cannot adjust the shutter speed of a motion picture camera, it is locked at 1/48 of a second (some times referred as 1/50 of a second) so if your film has an ISO/ASA of 50 you can expose you film at an f stop of 16. If you have film with an ISO/ASA of 100 you will have to expose at an f stop of 22. If you have film with an ISO/ASA faster than 100 you CAN NOT EXPOSE YOUR FILM IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT WITHOUT A NUETRAL DENSITY FILTER, (Unless you’re lucky enough to have a camera with a f stop smaller than 22)

Neutral density filters are as follows:

            #3 ND Filter (.3) takes away 1 stop of light.

            #6 ND Filter (.6) takes away 2 stops of light.

            #9 ND Filter (.9) takes away 3 stops of light.

ND filters have no color corrective or special affect properties.

80A filters corrects for daylight balances film shot under tungsten lights (you lose 2 stops of light with this filter)

85 FILTERS correct for tungsten balanced film shot in daylight (you lose 2/3 of a stop of light with this filter.)

Camera f stops are as follows

            f/1.0 f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, and f/22. KNOW THEM ALL!

Depth of field is real important to know:

Depth of field is the amount of the frame in front and behind the point of focus that is SHARP! (Not in focus)

The ratio of sharpness is about 1/3 in front, 2/3 behind the point of focus.

Depth of field is principally determined by the size of the aperture or F/ Stop. Simply put, the smaller the aperture the greater the depth of field, the bigger the aperture, the less depth of field.

BIG NUMBER (F/ 22)= SMALL HOLE=MORE DEPTH OF FIELD!

LITTLE NUMBER (F/ 1.4)=BIG HOLE=LESS DEPTH OF FIELD!

GOT IT?

Lens sizes for a 16mm motion picture camera are as follows:

            25mm lens-NORMAL LENS

            50mm lens-PORTRAIT LENS

            13-17mm lens-WIDE ANGLE LENS

Lens sizes for a 35mm motion picture camera are as follows:

            50mm lens-NORMAL LENS

            100mm lens-PORTRAIT LENS

            35mm and below-WIDE ANGLE LENS

The focal length of the lens’ are unmovable (Fixed focal length or prime) if you cannot zoom in or out with them

The speed of a lens is determined by it’s largest aperture setting or the greatest amount of light it can let in. (e.g. A lens with a speed of 1.7 is faster than a lens with a speed of 2.4)

It is always best to light your scene based on you the speed of your slowest lens.

Remember, film is recorded and projected back at 24 frames a second. This is true for 16mm and 35mm whether it’s sync sound or not.

24 FRAMES A SECOND!

Oh yeh, if you over crank the camera (making the camera go faster), say to 48 frames a second, the effect you will get is slow motion. Be careful, now that the film is moving FASTER,  so it will be UNDER EXPOSED. Since 48 frames a second is double that of 24 frames a second you will be LOSING one stop of light. So, you will need to open up your aperture ONE WHOLE STOP so you film doesn’t come out under exposed.

On the other hand, if you under crank the camera (Make it go slower) at a rate of, say, 12 frames per second, the effect you will get is FAST MOTION (Charlie Chaplain). However, now that the film is going slower, each frame of film is going to get more light and become OVER EXPOSED. Since 12 frames a second is ½ that of 24 frames a second your film will be OVER EXPOSED by ONE WHOLE STOP. Simple enough to fix by closing your aperture ONE WHOLE STOP. Remember, no matter what, you will be projecting you film at 24 frames a second.

16mm films, when operating at 24 frames a second, moves through the camera at a speed of 36 feet per minute.

35mm film, when operating at 24 frames a second, moves through the camera at a speed of 90 feet per minute.

There are FORTY FRAMES in ONE FOOT of 16mm film.

There are 16 FRAMES in ONE FOOT of 35mm film.

Remember that a camera that has a “Wild” motor has a motor that can be speed adjusted but is no good for sync sound.

A camera with a “Crystal motor” has a motor with precise enough speed for sync sound.

There are three basic three point lighting setups.

Paramount (or butterfly if you like) where the key light is closest to the camera

Rembrandt (or ¾ lighting) where the key light is at more of a 45 degree angle in relation to the subject

Split lighting, where the key light is perpendicular or at a 90 degree angle to the subject being lit.

The three lights are the Key light, the fill light and the rim or hair light.

The rim light is typically the brightest, followed by the key light which is usually 1 stop dimmer (2:1 ration) and then the fill light which is 2 stops dimmer than the rim (4:1 ratio)

Night lighting is accomplished by alleviating the key light and under exposing by 2 stops. In a night light set-up you can have two rim lights set behind your subject at 45 degree angles creating the “Back cross Key”

A note about color:

The colors of light, the ones you NEED TO REMEMBER, are:

Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet

Good way to remember is the acronym ROY G BIV

The two important light sources and their corresponding color temperatures are:

Sunlight at 5600 Degrees Kelvin (Sunlight is Blue shifted)

And

Tungsten or quarts light at 3200 Degrees Kelvin (Amber shifted)

WARNING! Ohm’s LAW WILL BE ON THE TEST SO, BY GOD, YOU BETTER KNOW IT!

Watts over volts equals Amps (That way you don’t start a wall fire in Mommy and Daddy’s house).

AGAIN FOR THE MATHMATICALLY CHALLENGED!

Watts (That’s the size and/or strength of the lights you want to use) over (Meaning divided by) volts (The average amount of voltage coming out of the wall socket is 110 volts) equals AMPS (The actual electrical pressure moving through the electrical lines).

Most homes have a  breaker with a 20 amp capacity (unless you live in a shack out in the Mojave)

THE DREADED INVERSE SQUARE LAW

Any point source which spreads its influence equally in all directions without a limit to its range will obey the inverse square law. This comes from strictly geometrical considerations. The intensity of the influence at any given radius r is the source strength divided by the area of the sphere. Being strictly geometric in its origin, the inverse square law applies to diverse phenomena. Point sources of gravitational force, electric field, light, sound or radiation obey the inverse square law.  (Holy shit Right?)

In simple terms: Light loses its intensity the farther away it gets from the source. Every time you double the distance from the light source, the light is covering 4 times the area because it is spreading out geometrically. So, if you are lighting someone who is 5 feet away from a light, then you move them 10 feet away, the are only going to be getting ¼ the light they got at 5 feet. If you move the person out to 15 feet, they are only getting 1/9 of the light.

Enough of that shit!

Story structure is as follows:

Films are typically broken into three acts.

Act one you establish the plot and characters, act two you develop the plot and characters, act three you resolve the plot and characters.

The major phases of a movie are pre-production, principle photography, and post production.

Shots to remember:

1.      Establishing: Establishes the environment of the scene, (can be a wide angle shot)

2.      Cowboy: Between wide and medium. Usually from the knees up.

3.      Medium: From the waist up

4.      Close up (CU): Tight shot on face

5.      Extreme close up (ECU): Lips or eyes only

6.      Point of View (POV): Simulates looking through the eyes of a character

7.      Over the shoulder (OTS): Camera peers over the shoulder of a character

8.      Insert: A close up of something relevant that could already be seen in a scene at a distance but is clarified or creates added value to a scene with a close up inserted.

9.      Cut-a-way: Typically a shot of something that couldn’t or wouldn’t be seen in a scene yet is relevant to or adds value to the scene.

That’s all I have to offer at this time. I couldn’t find my notes from my days as a 250 scrub so I had to do this from memory. Based on this I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU REVIEW YOUR NOTES FROM CLASS OR THE NOTES OF SOMEONE WHO BOTHERED TO GO TO CLASS. Additionally, the text is a wonderful reference.

Good luck!

And for God’s sake, don’t smoke crack!

P.S. You fuckers owe me!