Camera COURSE OUTLINE

PASA 5266 FILM & TELEVISION 1B - CAMERA

Level Course No. Course Name Credits
5 PASA5266 Film & Television 1B 30

Welcome to the Camera elective, classes for which take place during
Semester Two of your Year 1 programme.

Teaching Staff
Dan Wagner (Camera Tutor) dwagner2@unitec.ac.nz
Alan Locke (Camera Tutor) alocke@unitec.ac.nz

Course/Programme Co-ordinator
Victor Grbic (Film & Television) – vgrbic@unitec.ac.nz

Learning Outcomes
1. Demonstrate technical skills and operational understanding needed to achieve standards
that enhance creative decisions.
- - Identify the creative and aesthetic aspects of each specialisation

2. Demonstrate a range of skill in …

- Camera – Camera operation, camera assisting and lighting assisting procedures

3. Explore the basic technical craft and operational understanding needed to achieve
standards that enhance creative decisions.
- Reflect on the creative processes involved in story telling for the screen and theatre
- Review own contribution to a project

Course Information

GOAL
The goal of this semester is to take one step beyond the basic skills required to
operate the gear and to venture into some of the more technical and aesthetic
realms of the craft.

CONTENT
In CAMERA class, you will:
• Journey a step deeper into the individual sub-specialties of the Camera,
Lighting and Grip departments;
• Develop a functional conversancy with each of these sub-specialties
That means you’ll fulfil the crew positions on a more advanced level than during
the previous semester, you’ll understand more about what the various
challenges are within each sub-specialty, and you’ll have a go at solving those
challenges;
• Apply creative problem-solving to execute shots to given specifications.
Much of this will be in preparation for your work on the main project of this
semester: STUDIO ONE

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Course Assessment
As you now have two electives in PASA5266, you will receive 50% of your mark
for the course from Camera and the other 50% from your other elective.

The 50% mark for Camera will be derived from two assessment events.

The first one will be based on your work on the STUDIO ONE project [2nd – 12th
November]. The assessment will focus on your knowledgeable execution of craft
skills and on your attentiveness and responses to a variety of production
challenges. This assessment will comprise 30% of your mark in PASA5266.

The other assessment event will be a shot-making exercise. You will complete a
7-shot sequence to tutor specifications. This assessment [due 23rd November] will
focus on your conversancy with visual grammar (such as continuity of screen
direction) and with effective choices for visual storytelling (such as lens/actor
placement, use of light & shadow, foreground & background, etc.). This
assessment will comprise 20% of your mark in PASA5266.

Class Schedule

Tues-28July
PM 1/C 1 Welcome electives / Pathway Intro / Exercise

Lighting & Exposure I (as Gaffers & Lx's) - LECTURE: Key

Tues-4Aug PM 1/C 2 Directions; Direct, Diffused, Bounced / WORKSHOP: L&E I
Tues-11Aug Operating - LECTURE: Operator - the 1st audience /
PM 1/C 3 WORKSHOP: L&E II + Operating I
Tues-18Aug Focus-Pulling - LECTURE: Basic Optics & Distance
PM 1/C 4 Estimation / WORKSHOP: L&E III + Operating II + Focus I
Tues-25Aug Camera Movement - LECTURE: why do we move? /
PM 1/C 5 WORKSHOP: L&E IV + Operating III + Focus II + CamMvmnt I
Lighting & Exposure II (as DP's) - LECTURE / WORKSHOP:
Tues-1Sep PM 1/C 6 L&E V + Operating IV + Focus III + CamMvmnt II
Assisting - Camera Assisting / Lighting Assisting / Grip
Tues-8Sep PM 1/C 7 Assisting: what it is to be an Assistant, plus the specific tasks
involved. LECTURE / WORKSHOP
Shot Making I: During each class over the next three classes,
you will tackle 3 coached mock shooting situations with problems
Tues-15Sep to solve taken from the above learning [and from issues
PM 1/C 8
presented in GRAMMAR OF THE SHOT]. These classes are
intended to "bring it all together" and launch you on your journey
as members of a working camera crew. You will rotate key crew
Tues-22Sep positions, fine-tuning your skills, your methods and your
PM 1/C 9
knowledge of our craft.
TERM BREAK

Tues-13Oct PM 1/D 1 Shot Making II [see above]

Thurs-22Oct Discuss then Rig Studio Lighting Grid for Y1 Studio

1/D 2
AM Exercise
STUDIO ONE
2 – 12 November

Wed-18Nov
AM 1/D 3 A Look Ahead: DP Exercise / Visions of Light

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Required / Recommended Items

REQUIRED TEXT
We’ll still be working from the text required and used last term, which is:
Thompson, Roy, Grammar of the Shot, Focal Press, 1998 - ISBN: 978-0-240-51398-0

RECOMMENDED TEXTS
Ballinger, Alex, New Cinematographers, Collins Design, 2004
Giannetti, Louis, Understanding Movies, 10th Edition, Prentice-Hall, 2004

REQUIRED ITEMS
USB Flash Drive – at least 1GB
You still need to have one of these, as required from last semester. A small drive will
become indispensable for not only Camera (where we’ll have more photo exercises) but
also for your other courses, where you’ll increasingly be needing the flexibility to transfer
files easily.

Torch
http://www.hollywoodprops.co.nz/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=57
[some sort of small torch – doesn’t have to be this brand or from this vendor]

Work Gloves
http://www.hollywoodprops.co.nz/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=975
[as above, doesn’t have to come from HPS – can be from Mitre10 or anywhere]

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