filmmaking exam Flashcards
How do you read and “peg” a white surface?
First indicate read highlight. Cover highlight. Read supplement light and reflective light
What are the four exposure variables?
F stop; shutter speed; ISO; the amount of light
What does ASA stand for?
American Standards Association
What does DIN stand for?
German Institute for Standardization
Why do B&W film stocks have two ASA values?
One is for tungsten and one is for daylight. B&W film is more sensitive to blue light
How do you take an incident light reading?
Place the meter’s white orb in front of the subject facing the camera. Being careful not to cast a shadow on the meter, press the measure button and note the F-stop
How do you take a reflected reading?
Take off the white orb and face the meter toward your subject to measure the light coming off of it. The f-stop setting will make whatever you point at medium gray.
Why does 18% equal medium grey?
medium grey is halfway between black and white on a lightness scale and is 18% reflectance in visible light.
What is EI?
Exposure Index (a numerical system for measuring film sensitivity)
What does ISO stand for?
International Organization for Standardization
how do you read and “peg” different skin tones?
- light skin: Open up one f stop
- dark skin: Close down one f stop
What is the EV scale?
Exposure Value scale = scale of luminance read as whole numbers. One stop difference between each number.
How do you use EV for reading ratios?
- Set your light meter to read EV
- First read your key and fill together. Then read the fill alone. The difference is your ratio.
What is an F number and how do you calculate it?
The widest aperture of a lens.
A numerical representation of the relative aperture of a lens.
f/number = focal length / aperture diameter
What is an F stop and what is the F-stop series?
A numerical representation of the relative aperture of a lens.
Helps create depth of field. Shallow to sharp.
f(n)=f(n-1)*1.4
1 - 1.4 - 2.0 - 2.8 - 4.0 - 5.6 - 8 - 11 - 16 - 22 - 32
What is a T/stop?
The actual light that is transmitted through the lens and hits the emulsion or the sensor. (Some light is lost when it
passes through the lens. The T-stop measures the exact light that actually makes it through the lens)
What does it mean to push film?
Pushing: Increasing gamma to increase sensitivity. Exposing the film longer, ie. force processing. Lab can push film
by up to 3 f-stops. This process adds grain and increases contrast.
What does it mean to pull film?
Pulling: Decreasing gamma to decrease film sensitivity. Underexposing film during developing. Becomes less grainy
and less contrasty.
What is intermittent motion?
In projection and filming, a claw pulls and holds each film frame into place to either be projected or exposed. The
claw pulls each frame, typically, 24 frames per second. This stop/start motion is called intermittent motion.
What are 4 major causes of camera jams?
- Take up spool is not working or is running intermittently
- bent daylight spool
- cold, wet films
- Not enough slack on the take up spool
What are 2 major causes of misregistered film?
Pressure plate not in place
Loops not formed correctly
What is the Bolex’s shutter speed at (with nominal shutter angle of 108˚) 24 fps?
24 fps: 1/80 second
2 fps: 1/7
12 fps: 1/40
16 fps: 1/53
48 fps: 1/160
64 fps: 1/213
How do you calculate shutter speed?
1/FPS x shutter angle/360
Nominal Shutter angle for Bolex: 108˚; actual shutter angle for bolex 133˚
How do you adjust the Bolex diopter?
Control diopter with no image. Look through viewfinder into sky or a bright surface with no lens. Then adjust until the
grains (ground glass structure) are in focus.
How do you focus a prime lens?
- adjust diopter focus to your eye
- open up the aperture to the widest and focus by eye
- Check focus by measurement
- Return f stop to desired setting
How do you focus a zoom lens?
a) Adjust diopter to your eye
b) Zoom all the way in and focus by eye
c) Pull back
How do you define focal length?
The distance from the optical center of the lens to the film plane or sensor
What are some effects of a wide lens?
Bends light and distorts objects. Motion is slower on the X, Y axis. Motion is faster on the Z axis. Objects seem further away that what they really are on the Z axis. Deeper depth of field.
What is the effect of a normal lens?
The viewing angle is what the eye would see naturally.
What are some effects of a long/telephoto lens?
Light comes in straight. Motion is faster on the X, Y axis. Motion is slower on the Z axis. Objects seem closer than reality, ie. Z axis is compressed. Shallower depth of field. Magnification of lens shake.
What are the 4 primary variables of depth of field?
- f stop(aperture)
- Power of the lens, Focal Length
- Focusing distance
- CoC(circle of confusion)
What are 4 (of 9) ways to control depth of field?
1) Focal length
2) Focusing distance
3) Aperture
4) Amount of Light
5) Circle of Confusion
6) ISO
7) Shutter speed
8) Sensor/format size
9) Filters
How do you define hyperfocal distance?
Closest distance setting where the farthest end of the DOF is at infinity. The closest end of the DOF is half the distance setting.
How can light act as an indicator?
- Time
- Weather
- Off-screen presence
How can light act as a modifier?
- Emphasis & de-emphasis
- Visibility & clarity
- Flatness VS depth and dimension
- Foreground VS background
- Modeling
How can light act as a symbol?
- Halo
- Traffic light
- Memorial “light sculpture” for the World Trade Center
- Metaphor
- Synecdoche (relatedness)
How can light act as an icon?
- A visible source
- Ray of light or a shadow as a meaningful image
- (who) modeling (modifying) the subject
- (what) indicating mood, temperature & weather, style or “the look”, the nature of the event, the implied
source - (when) indicating time (hour), season, period
- (where) modifying space (through modeling), indicating interior/exterior, indicating geographic location,
indicating off-screen space
What are 10 (of 14) physical variables of photographic light?
1) Exposure
2) Intensity
3) Angle
4) Direction
5) Coherence
6) highlight/shadow ratio
7) foreground/background ratio
8) Spread (spot/flood)
9) Throw (close/distant)
10) Number of sources
11) pattern/shape
12) Color (temperature)
13) practicals
14) What light hits
What are 4 (of 9) ways to control the intensity of light?
1) Choice of instrument
2) Choice of lamp & wattage
3) Distance(the throw)
4) spot/flood control
5) Bounce to reduce light
6) Scrim
7) Filter (ND etc.)
8) Dimmer
9) “Liquid dimmer”
What is the Inverse Square Law for light intensity?
-Intensity = 1/D²
-light intensity is doubled or halved at a new distance according to the subject’s previous distance divided or multiplied by the square root of 2
-It states that any point source which spreads its influence equally in all directions will see the strength of that influence reduced in a manner inversely proportional to the square of the difference in distance
- when you double the distance from the source, you quarter the strength (1/2²) of that point source’s influence, when you triple the distance you get 1/9th (1/3²) the power, quadruple the distance you get 1/16th
(1/4²) the power
What are four ways of separating figure from background?
- Chiaroscuro (use of light against dark, can be done by light, clothes and props)
- Select focus (shallow depth of the field)
- Movement
- Backlight (separate medium tone from medium tone, dark tone from dark tone)
Draw a fresnel lens and explain its qualities
Blendable edge, fall-off in brightness, coherent shadow, spot to flood, daylight or tungsten
Draw an omni light and explain its qualities
Double shadow, edged-circle, spot-to-flood
How do you calculate amps from volts & watts?
Amps = watts/volts
watts = volts x amps
(typical voltage in the US is 120 volts)
What gauge of wire would you need for 2000 watts of light?
14 gauge
What is a key light?
The apparent light source, main light on the subject
What is the fill light?
Controls the shadow intensity
What is a kicker or backlight?
Light that separates the subject from the background, typically creates a rim of light behind their head
What is a Cucoloris(cookie)
object with structure placed in front of light creates shadow with certain shape
Draw an omni mic pattern
records all directions
Draw a cardioid mic pickup pattern
(heart shaped), like ME64
Draw a super cardioid mic pickup pattern
ME65
Draw a lobar/short shotgun mic pickup pattern
ME66 and MKE 60
Draw an X/Y mic pickup pattern
(45º/45º) stereo, like consumer camcorders
What Kelvin temp is tungsten light?
3200K
What Kelvin temp is daylight?
5600K
What is a Rembrandt patch?
- lighting technique
- can be achieved using one light and a reflector, or two lights
- popular because it is capable of producing images which appear both natural and compelling with a
minimum of equipment. - characterized by an illuminated triangle under the eye of the subject on the less illuminated side of the face.
- it is named for the Dutch painter Rembrandt, who often used this type of lighting.
How many bits is Raw?
12 bits
What is the Bayer pattern?
form of storing data, 2 green, 1 red, 1 blue pixels
What are some ways to create hard light?
direct sunlight, compact filaments or arc (quarts light), lensless options, focused bean with lens, greater distance increases hardness
What are some ways to create soft light?
overcast day, skylight fog, butterfly, paper lantern, frosted globe, lamp shield, soft light instruments, bounce light, reflectors, umbrella, frost gel, tough spun, silks, etc.
What does ADSR stand for?
attack, decay, sustain, release
100 feet of 16mm film is how much screen time?
2min 47 sec
