Camcorder Masterclass - Index
Getting used to your Camcorder

Our two newcomers, Eric and Ron, have acquired JVC GR-S707s (now sadly discontinued, Ed). They have yet to master many buttons and knobs and only practice will achieve familiarity. I have suggested that it will help them to master the main controls by developing a regular shooting procedure - a cockpit drill, designed to increase the probability of regularly securing correctly coloured, sharply focussed visuals and quality sound. Whilst the suggested routine relates principally to the GR-S707 it can easily be adapted to match individual requirements and camcorder characteristics.

Location shooting: The Checklist

1. Turn on power, slide the eject switch to open the cassette holder and insert the cassette, first taking up any tape slackness.

2. Press the monitor button to initiate display in the Electronic viewfinder (EVF) and the camera section LCD panel. This mode, termed "rehearsal" by JVC, allows manual controls and composition etc. to be set without the tape being in contact with the drum, (The mode is also useful for recording direct to a VCR).

3. Check that the EVF display can be clearly read. If otherwise, move the eyepiece diopter adjustment slide to suit your eyesight - glasses needn't be worn.

4. Check the recorder section LCD panel to ensure that S-VHS has been selected.

5. Check that the Standard Play/Long Play (SP/LP) switch is in the required position. We recommend SP because it gives better picture and sound quality.

6. Press the date/time button if you wish to prevent that data being recorded.

7. Check EVF display, or the Automatic Level Control (ALC) switch, to ensure that it is off. This enables the recording level of the Hi-Fi tracks to be manually controlled, (see 10); an improvement over automatic control which attempts to equalise sound, often with dire results.
   Confusingly JVC refer to the control as ALC, whereas for audio cassette recording the terminology is AGC - see 8.

8. Automatic Gain Control (AGC) electronically amplifies the signal to afford better low light capability, unfortunately at the expense of grainier pictures. It is set when turning the camcorder on. If unwanted, press the AGC button and check the camera section LCD, or the EVF, to confirm that it has been switched off.

9. Check the camera section LCD to ensure that standard (1/50second - US 1/60th) shutter speed has been selected, and whether focus, white balance and the iris (exposure) settings are automatic. If manual control is required, and we regard it as the norm for the first two of those three modes, then adjust as per instruction book.

10. Use well-padded headphones to ensure that the sound level coming from the proposed scene is audible and devoid of unwanted noise emanating from electrical equipment, clocks and wind etc. If necessary adjust the manual level for the Hi-Fi tracks, and/or get closer to the sound source. When an external mic. is used and sound is absent, check that it is switched on, Additionally, but not instead of, the recording level should also be monitored via the Hi-fi Audio Level display on the recorder section panel.

11. A final check. Does the EVF contain any warning indicators re. battery state, poor lighting or other conditions requiring remedial action or consideration?

12. Manually focus the subject and then switch over to the Record mode. Shooting can now commence.

Although the above seems a rigmarole, it soon becomes second nature. Many of the checks only require a glance, whilst others may be irrelevant to a less well specified camcorder, or where full automatic control is intended. There is, of course, no need to carry out the full routine for each shot, but when circumstances change, or the camcorder has been switched out of the record or record/pause mode, then some of the checks might apply. It depends on the camcorder characteristics.

Incidentally, if switched from record or record/pause, watch the back-spacing operation of your machine when re-entering the record-pause; the last few seconds of a previously recorded shot might get over-recorded.

Camcorder Masterclass - Index
Shot Composition

Although the average viewer professes to know very little about composition, many of them can sense that some pictures look right and others don't - and we're not talking about the obvious, such as cutting the head off or being speared by a a telegraph pole. It's up to us, the camera operators, to ensure that our pictures consistently fall in the former category.

Possibly some of the best advice that I have heard emanated from a professional lighting director who recently visited the Westcliff Film and Video Club. It can be summarised as, "Don't spend the entire shoot with your eye glued to the camcorder EVF. There's a bigger world out there. Stand back - look at the scene and visualise how it might best appear on the screen - only when you have sorted that out should you commence framing and shooting."

Obviously there are many occasions when there is very little contemplation time, but keeping an eye open for visual possibilities inevitably leads to better composition and enables one to catch that movement, or happening, just out of frame. The end result is likely to be a better movie.

The Top Tips

Since the start of photography various composition conventions or rules have developed, many of them being of a commonsense nature. They are not necessarily absolute but need to be fully understood and shouldn't be lightly broken.

• The first rule is to try and keep the principal subject free from clutter or distracting objects. Provided the location allows it, a simple and plain background is far more likely to allow the viewer to concentrate on the principal subject.

• The second obvious point, but one frequently overlooked, is to check that the camera is vertical. If you are unsure, include a nearby vertical object, such as a lampost, in the picture. It can be excluded when framing to the required composition. Alternatively, test with a known level horizontal, Talk of horizontals leads us to the horizon. Apart from getting it straight never let it bisect the frame; it will look as though the picture is cut in two. Around the top or bottom third looks better.

• Another convention, familiar to many still photographers, is to allow more space in front of a subject, particularly a moving one, than behind. Pros often talk of this as walking room.

• A more powerful composition will be gained by remembering the still photographer's 'rule of thirds', even though our compositions will be changing the whole time. Imagine the screen divided into nine equal rectangles and aim to have the prime visual interest at those points where the imaginary lines, which make up the rectangles, intersect.

• Create the illusion of depth. Instead of shooting objects and people 'head-on', try a diagonal approach. A building, for example will look more solid if we can see at least patr of its side. A similarly angled shot of a face gives much better clue to proportions than a full frontal one.

• Take care when framing human subjects: Don't let the framing cut through joints, but compose the shot to to start just above or below the ankles, kness or waist. The reason - it looks so much better.

• Close-ups or Big Close-ups of the face will create impact on a small screen - but get it right:
  • Don't let the subject's chin bump on the bottom of the frame.

  • The very top of the head can be chopped by the frame, within reason, and still look 'right'.

  • Avoid acreages of empty space above a talking head.

  • Eyes are the most important part of the face. Frame them about a third from the top of the screen (that rule again!)

  • Except when the subject is 'square-on' to the camera, give looking room - more space in the direction the subject is looking.

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The Dutch Tilt

In earlier articles we have referred to various ways of creating variety in camerawork, the aim being to stimulate audience interest in the pictures being screened. The suggested variations included unusual angles, focus pulls, big close-ups, zooms , pans and tilts. Each had to have a purpose and shouldn't be overdone.

Now we'll deal with a further variation - the Dutch Tilt. I have no idea why "Dutch" but the "Tilt" is obvious, the picture, instead of being horizontal goes diagonally from one corner to the opposite one, left or right. Arguably the Dutch Tilt is more gimmicky than most other variations - although it is usually employed solely to add variety, it does have other uses.

I once made a movie showing the actions and reactions of people and pigeons in London's Trafalgar Square. On this occasion the tilt was used solely for variety purposes during a sequence showing people standing and watching. It comprised of six shots of individuals. The first showed the feet at the left-hand bottom of the frame and the head at the top-right. The second shot was diagonally composed at the opposite angle. Shot three reverted left to right and four right to left etc. In the context of the surrounding material, it worked. Whilst normally the tilt isn't suitable for a scenic view, it doesn't have to be confined to people. In a low level tilted shot of a car approaching, the camera not only adds variety but can add greater impact.

What the shot communicates

The tilt might be used to illustrate disorientation, confusion or even a threatening situation. Someone suffers a blow, perhaps to the head, or falls down. Successive shots could show that the the victim has become disorientated and cannot see in a coordinated fashion. People and objects are tilted. A certain amount of controlled unsteadiness and soft focussing can make the shot look more convincing.

Whilst we don't recommend making a habit of shooting Dutch Tilts nevertheless they are worth considering. Sometimes they can be just what you are looking for.