Shooting Techniques

Focus

The vision of the shot, if the shot is blurry in the foreground then there is a chance the camera is focused on something in the background. The focus is basically the clarity of the current shot. There are two methods of focusing, there is auto-focus which surveys the area and focuses on whatever is in the centre of that shot, and there is manual focus which allows the camera operator to focus on whatever they like that is in the shot.

Exposure

Exposure is the volume of light that the camera can pick up in a single scene. A scene can be over-exposed because of the amount of light that the camera is shooting, this can be adjusted by altering the aperture of the camera to let in the correct amount of light that is perfect for that scene, for example if you were shooting a scene with very little lighting you would want to set the exposure to high so the camera lets in enough light for the shot to become visible to the viewer. There is a feature on some cameras which auto adjusts the exposure, this isn't the best feature as it can be unreliable.

White Balance

The white balance is the quality of the light, there are 2 types of light, natural light and artificial light. Different kinds of lighting can give the shot a different feel. Natural lighting makes the shot more natural looking which can be effective, however artificial light can be adjusted to how the camera operator will want it to be, for example, if you want a shot where the scene is filled with light you can set up a lighting rig and adjust it to the specification you need.

Sound

If you want the audio to be the way you want it always listen to a live feed of the audio through headphones. If you are interviewing someone use an external microphone to cancel out background noise and to make the interviewee the main focus of audio. If you want to reduce the noise of the wind you should put a protector over the microphone.

Composition

The composition is your own judgement of the shot. This can be different between people. It is up to you how you want your shot to be filmed but you must always stick to the headroom rules and always have a relevant background for what ever you're filming, for example, if you are filming a reporter on a news story about a football club it would be inappropriate to film the reporter in front of a hospital because the context of the news report wouldn't match the background. As you are filming also keep the rule of thirds in check and make sure what you are filming is roughly in-line with it. Also make sure you have a suitable profile of the interviewee, if you film the interviewees head and leaving nearly a whole screen of background you're not making a good shot.