Psychology of the Home

I feel that in the past few weeks I’ve learned a lot about filming, photography, and even life stages of the home and the people live in there. I finally finished my first set of readings as well. I really found “Architecture of Happiness” interesting. It taught me about how styles can effect a building and how changing eve just a few aspects of a door or window can change the style of how it is seen.

I’ve been really enjoying learning the new skills with my camera the most. I’ve been reading a lot about cinematography and editing and realized how little I know about the entire film process.

I’ve collected almost all the footage I need for my project now, which means I still just need to collect footage from two more houses which I plan to do next week. By the end of week 6 I hope to have all the footage I need and be able to start editing pictures and find the right music to edit my video.

I will admit this project has been a lot harder than I thought it would be. However, it has been really great to challenge my skills and concentration and ability to have self-discipline with my work. I’m trying my best though, so I hope the class enjoys my final film.

I also realize I mentioned before that I’ve learned a lot more about cinematography. To be specific…

Cinematography comes from the Greek roots Kinema meaning “motion,” and graphia meaning “to describe” or “to write.” So cinematography is literally writing or describing in motion.

The cinematographer is responsible for all aspects of filmmaking related to the camera, including the materials, composition, light & color, framing, movement, and duration.

The main aspects of the chapter that really caught my attention however were the sections on deep-focus shots, shallow-focus shots, and the rule of thirds. I realized how much I haven’t been focusing what all i am capturing on screen and have really been trying to develop a deeper understanding of what matters to get on screen.

For those who don’t know, a deep-focus shot is when you can see several planes in one scene. For example, a character standing in front of a couch in front of a lamp in front of another character in front of a wall is a deep-focus shots because of how many layers are on screen. You’re able to see more of the scene than in a shallow-focus shot where you can only see a few objects in the shot. Usually no more than two or three. Lastly, the rule of thirds is when you make sure the main subject on screen is not in the center but more to the side, above or below. It gives balance to the scene.

Those are just a few of the main points I’ll begin to look for in my editing just to better my camera skills. If anyone has any specific questions, I would be happy to answer.

I feel like I have really learned a lot about filmmaking but at the same time I know I have a lot of room for improvement. I’ve been working with a little video camera I have as well as a new dslr camera I bought resently.

I am still learning about lighting, effects, sound, color, technique, angles, and framing. By the end of this quarter I hope to come out with a much greater understanding of films, as well as a greater knowledge of the aspects. I already extremely respect it and the work that goes into filmmaking.