19.1.15 - ACTING ON CAMERA

Today in class with Andy we started to shoot our soap opera scenes. We only managed to shoot two scenes, but it didn't mean that everyone else was just sitting around. We got the chance to operate the camera, mark places and operate the microphone. I got to do some camera work and marking places.

As an actor, it is important to learn the basics of film and TV work, even behind the scenes, since it is something we probably will end up doing at some point in our career. Here are some of the things we learned today:

• You shoot with 180 degrees(a semi circle), so that the characters in the scene remain in the same places and won't confuse the audience. This way you can't see the crew filming neither
• the sound technician, or mic operator, much keep looking at the scene themselves, to see, where they are in shot or when they need to move to keep away from being on camera
• Hold the mic in a 45 degree angle from the actors to get the voice best(also just how to hold the mic the best)
• TV acting is a lot slower than stage acting, it is important to take it easy, because they can speed the scene up in editing, but not slow it down. So, an actor must take their time to first listen, react and then say their line. 
• The editing will edit to get the best story, not necessarily caring about minor details, like which way the pen is on the table. 

   My first job was to mark places. This was quite simple. After watching the scene first we then went trough all the marks in the scene, meaning the places people would move into. Then, as the actor stands in their mark, I would go and make a T-shaped mark in between their feet. This helps with the lighting, but also the balance of the shot. The actor must hit the mark, so that the light hits their face from the right angle. Andy also told us, that it wasn't so important if one of your feet wasn't exactly on place, you just need to have the balance of your body at the mark. This job also included me watching the actors(Jenny and Sophie) and looking out if they hit their marks or not. This was a easy job for me, since both of the girls were very good with their marks, and didn't miss them once.

   I also tried out being behind the camera, which was harder, but I did enjoy it too. I filmed a scene with Sav, Yunusa, Jade and Harry, so I feel it was a little bit more complicated than filming the previous scene, simply because the amount of people on camera. We took three different shots; Establishing shot, Medium shot with Yunusa and Sav and Medium shot with Jade and Harry.  What I found difficulty with, was that I didn't first really know where to center the shot and Andy taught me that when filming one person on medium shot, leaving 2/3 of the shot clear looks good. Even with two people this looks better, but then you can also center them. It was interesting to find out that you really do need to control the camera constantly, moving the camera to keep people in focus and everyone in shot, but also to make the scene look good. When moving the camera, the movement should be slow and steady, so that it leaves more room for editing.