The beauty of montages is that, if done correctly, they are able to tell an entire story in a short amount of time. There are common montages that will go down in history and will continue to be replicated in modern media like the Training Montage in the movie Rocky, or my favorite, Married Life from the Disney Pixar movie Up. While both examples are emotional, montages can also be comedic, such as The Plan scene from the movie Shaun of the Dead. Regardless of the genre, all montages should aim to tell a story.
With the ultimate goal of creating a montage in the coming days, I set forth on preparing for it this week by taking part in a visual composition scavenger hunt. I was able to plan out my concept by scouting the location I hope to shoot at and take still photos in preparation for the video. On top of that, I also came up with a script and pre-production checklist to ensure I had all my basis covered. Before I went out, however, I wanted to make sure I knew how to do things a certain way as well as why to ensure I got the best outcome. The first steps included doing my readings and research.
READING
In author Tom Schroeppel’s “The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video,” he provides readers with dozens of tips and information over the course of several chapters.
In Chapter One: Basics, for instance, he begins with a basic simplification of how cameras work. He dives into exposure, color temperature, lenses and depth of field. He states that a camera is essentially an imperfect imitation of the human eye. This means we’re able to see moving images because a camera lens directs patterns of light onto sensitive surfaces. An important section in this chapter was his explanation of exposure. Exposure us the amount of light that comes through the lens and hits the film or Charge Coupled Device (CCD) chip. Within the umbrella of exposure you learn of the hole on the lens called the aperture, in which its size is measured by the f-stop.
Color temperature is important because it is a way of identifying different colors of light sources. The International Standards Organization, or ISO, indicates the speed of the film. The lower the ISO, the less sensitive or slower the film is, which means you need more light to get a usable picture. The opposite is true of a higher ISO. There are different concepts to note for lenses, such as focus (a sharp image) and zoom (moving from wide angle to telephoto). Depth of field is the area in front of your camera where everything is sharp and in focus.
In Chapter Two of Schroeppel’s book, he dives into Composition. The most important thing to take away from this chapter is keeping in mind what you want your audience to see as only the camera operator can show them what they need to see. He notes that when considering composition, tripods are essential as viewers must see the images without distractions. The rule of thirds is also crucial as it is the practice of dividing the frame into thirds horizontally and vertically, then placing your subjects along those lines. The idea of balance is also needed because failure to have enough space when a subject is facing a specific way can be frustrating to viewers. Schroeppel ends the chapter by encouraging photographers or videographers to always look as critically as they can before shooting and should make it a habit to frame with intent.
There are three basic camera moves, which Schroeppel expands on in chapter five. The moves are zooms, pans and tilts (as well as a combination of the three). A zoom-in is when you go from a wide shot to a close up and a zoom-out is the opposite. A pan is when the camera moves from side-to-side and a tilt is when it moves vertically. The most important tip he offered in this chapter was making sure to begin and end every move with a well-composed static shot, regardless of the camera move you will make.
The chapter that I knew I would need for this week was Chapter six: Montages. By definition, a montage is a series of shots that are used to condense time or distance. Schroeppel emphasizes that for the montage to work, it is vital that each shot is clearly different from the one before, otherwise it will look like a jump cut.
In addition to The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video, I also read two articles in preparation for this week’s task. The first was Video Pre-Production Planning Check-List – 11 Steps to a Successful Project. In it, author Jimm Fox states that too often, videographers make the mistake of not having their key messages or plan out how they will deliver it to their audience. His suggestion is a pre-production planning check-list that will clearly define your objective. Once you determine your goal, the next step is planning your production with a set budget. From there, it’s time to start developing your key messages and create a brief that will help with your concept development.
Storyboarding is vital as it helps determine the flow, length and the structure of the video. Once you have the length, and planned distribution figured out, all that’s left is for it to get approved by the right channels and then you can begin the scheduling and production process. It may sound like a lot of unnecessary steps, but each one is important as it not only helps the production run smoothly, but most everything in post production can now be shortened as you already had the plan and approvals set in stone.
The final reading I did this week was an article by Mark R. Robertson called Storyboarding Tips: How to Plan & Visualize Your Next Video. In it, he discusses one of the most integral aspects of video making: storyboarding. Robertson describes storyboarding as a visual blueprint that will determine the flow of the video and emphasizes that it should always be done before actually filming anything. All it needs to include are details such as technical items, content, verbal delivery, set location and time of day. Once you have that set, it should be smooth(er) sailing from there!
RESEARCH
When thinking about media with great cinematic visual composition, I am certain everyone has their fair share of favorite scenes that made you think, “Wow, that was a cool shot.”
For me, one of the first scenes that popped into my head when thinking about this was the hallway scene in The Shining. The camera operator not only did a fantastic job of following the subject and keeping it tight when needed, but I believe what makes this an example of proper visual competition is their use of leading lines. The hallway is so narrow and the camera work is so spot on, it feels like you’re there.
Another example is during the movie Blade Runner 2049. I have only seen the movie once when it was released back in 2017, and though I don’t recall every detail of the movie, what I do remember was thinking how beautiful the cinematography was. The movie not only demonstrated incredible color theory, but most scenes were composed according to the rule of thirds.
When the movie Logan was released in 2017, I recall being so impressed by the cinematography, I went on my friend’s podcast to talk about how much I noticed the film’s frequent rack focuses. Doing so created depth in the foreground and then background, or vice versa. One of the quick rack focuses could be seen in the following clip at around 0:25 seconds.
CREATE
Upon doing my research and rewatching a lot of my favorite clips for inspiration, it was time to begin this week’s task: a scavenger hunt to practice on visual composition in preparation for recording my montage next week.
All the photos in the scavenger hunt were taken at the Edinburg Municipal Park, colloquially known as Doolittle Park as that is the planned location for my montage. Included in the scavenger hunt was a shot list with items including composition, balance, color, depth, natural frames, leading lines, backgrounds, shot framing, perspective and shallow depth of field.
After a two-day shoot at the park, I took more than 540 photos and managed to narrow it down to the final 29. There were a few obstacles during the scavenger hunt, but one of the biggest for me was the sun. Here in Texas, we are already at three digit temperatures, which means that when I shot my photos, the sun was incredibly noticeable in each shot. If I went to the shade, then I was met with heavy shadows, so it was important that I did my best to find that middle ground.
The toughest category for me to shoot was “Balance,” specifically, the car shots because I needed the background blurry for when I did the pan, but the subject had to remain in focus, which I had never attempted before. After several attempts and failures, I was finally able to get the shots! My favorite category was “Shot Framing” as I felt like I was telling a story through sequences.
In addition to the scavenger hunt, I also completed a Pre-Production Planning Document for my montage. In it, I planned out the types of shots I’d need, the music, ambient sound, sound effects, as well as a script that will be voiced over my montage. In an effort to be as organized as I could, I also created a storyboard for each visual I included in my script in sequential order.
When I shot my photos this week, I was at the park from 5-8 PM because I knew I’d only be able to shoot my video after work, which is why I wanted the lighting to be similar. I don’t foresee any major obstacles other than possible overexposure, which I am hoping to prevent!
I really enjoyed getting out on the field this week as it helped me mentally prepare for what to expect with my montage this coming week. Scouting the location beforehand has its benefits, and I definitely recommend it if you have the time!