Cinematography Test and Follow-up

Here is the test we took for the Cinematography Merit Badge:

1. What is Visual Story Telling

2. What is the Cinematographer's Role in the Movie-making Process?

3. Draw a diagram illustrating four-point lighting
– Bonus: label the light sources

4. What is the 180-axis rule?

5. Draw a diagram of a Zoom lens

6. Draw a simple picture illustrating proper use of the Rule of thirds.

7. Describe four framing techniques.

8. Describe four motion techniques.

9. How does a wide angle lens differ from a telephoto lens?

10. How does rhythm affect a movie?

11. What role does viewer perspective play in movie-making?

12. How does a treatment differ from a script?

13. Why is Story Boarding used in Cinematography?

14. Label the functions of a tripod. (Official names of parts are not required.)

Here is a list of things to do to finish the Merit Badge:

Treatment & Story Board

Shoot a Short Film
Demonstrating techniques discussed in class including proper use of:
– Tripod, hand-held, angle, panning, framing, and lighting

Identify Three Cinematography Careers (hint: Cinematographer, or Director of Photography, is an actual career title, search for motion picture careers that do work with cameras or lighting or other jobs related to camera-work. You might try looking at the Credits of a movie for ideas. Also, you can search the Career Guide to Industries: http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/)
– Pick one and explain education, training and experience needed.
– Why might this career be interesting to you?

Cinematography

I had the opportunity to start helping our local Scout Troop earn the Cinematography Merit Badge. I'm having a lot of fun.

For the Scouts, here is a sample treatment, Story board and the video to go with it.

Treatment:

Puzzled

The figure of a young boy sits in a spacious room with his back to the audience. Out of all the activities a young boy could do in the room, he sits still. Drawing closer the boy appears to be focused, with his face down, on something on a small table. Coming in close finally reveals the boy looking earnestly at puzzle pieces scattered about the table.

The boy's face reveals his tight, serious concentration as he tests different puzzle pieces to find a fit. Sometimes the fit, but often times they don't fit. A bit of anxiety can be seen on the boys face with every failed match.

The boy's countenance changes as the pieces start coming together. He appears to be filled with hope and encouragement. Perhaps he speeds up his pace as each successful puzzle match feeds his motivation. Finally the puzzle is complete, almost glistening in the brilliance of success! The boy looks up with a look of humble satisfaction on his face.

Story Board:



Completed Video: (note: this video was filmed using a point-and-shoot camera that could only shoot 20 seconds of low-quality video at a time...goes to show you don't need fancy equipment to tell a visual story. In fact the camera didn't record sound. On my first sound video, I recorded the sound using a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) with a sound recorder and matched the sound to the video. Now cell phones can do both...with better quality.)