5 in 1; The Shot

overview | assignment | evaluation | examples

Overview:

Video is a series of actions or shots that come together to tell a story. But how are these shots created? There are two main ways a story can be captured on film. One is to have the action happen within the frame and the other is to have the camera capture each of the actions as separate shots. Often times it is a combination of the two that is used to tell the story.

In this activity you are asked to video tape five pieces of action within one shot. It will help you see that a scene can be one shot.

Remember, the Director of Photography (DP) is the person responsible for the shots. Based on the script and instructions from the director, the DP sets up the camera and takes the shot. In this activity, the students are responsible for putting the shot to tape. They are asked to perform the duties of the DP.

Purpose of the Activity:

The purpose of the activity is to show you that there are different ways to capture the action within a story. During the activity you will:

• Become familiar with camera controls
• Become familiar with writing a script and shot sheet
• Shoot a brief video that has one scene with five pieces of action within one shot
• Show your video to the class
• Analyze the results and identify limitation