Production and Camerawork Basics

Before we actually got stuck in, and started working on our 8 Shot Journeys, most of us were very inexperienced, so we went over some of the things that would helps us. We started of learning about the 3 main areas of making a film; Pre-Production, Production and Post-Production.
Pre-Production (Pre-P) is focused on create the ideas, gathering up information about; the location of the piece, auditions or actors, script writing, Story boards so that the camera/lighting/sound crews have something to go by, and achieve the shots and effects the Director wants. Pre-P is essential to the whole thing, as without it, no one would know what is happening, money and time would be wasted in getting everyone organized in a last minute attempt.
Production (P) is where its all made. Actors are in place, costume and make up, sorted, the set is ready for use, and everyone knows their cues. It can take quite a long time just to get one scene done and over with, but Directors always aim for it being done in one, This saves time, money and energy of the entire production crew, ranging from the directors himself, to the runner's and the actors.
Post Production (Pos-P) is where the magic happens. All the film is put together, along with the sound effects, CGI and music. it is mainly left up to the Editors to get the work done, as this is their only input throughout the whole project. The Director will also be present, working with the editors to get the shots and sequences just how he wants them.

After learning about that, we moved onto some of the most crucial things to know, when recording. This had terms like Rule of 1/3's, 180 Degree line Rule, Time Code etc.
The Rule of 1/3's is that when you record and look through the viewfinder, you should make a mental image of the screen divided in a noughts and crosses fashion. The upper horizontal line is the 'eye line' and the lower one is the 'horizon line'. Your character should be placed along the left hand vertical line, because it gives space on the right hand side. Thus allowing some background to be seen, but more importantly, it looks more natural, it gives the user time to see whether or not something will happen, if the character in question will move into that space.

The 180 Degree line, is basically a line which must not be crossed when recording. For example, if you were recording a conversation between 2 people. One sits on the right, the other the left. If you record on one side of the line, then on camera it will show that the 2 people are facing opposite each other in the right way. But if you recorded that, then crossed the line, and recorded it again. It looks like the people are sitting facing the same way as the other person, thus causing confusion, and becoming poor shody camera work. You can record as close to the line as you want, even on it. but the only way to cross it is to physically record the scene whilst moving the camera across the line, because then its more natural.

Time Code is part of the tape itself. When you record something, a set of numbers in this fashion will show up;
00:00:00:00
This stands for, from left to right; Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Frames. There are 25 frames per second, so when 25 have gone through and a new second is born, the time code resets itself. This happens everytime you hit record, and it is essential, since all editing software in the world, use this time code to digitalise your recordings. if you are to break this code, then the tape will end up making multiple time codes which are all exactly similar. When this happens the editing software cant take out the clip you want, and you might end up getting one that completely different. To stop this from happening, 'Striping' the tap, comes in. This is when you face the camera at a wall, then pres record, and allow the tape to reach its limit. once done you rewind it, and have a clean, unbroken Time Code.