After watching Hailey Bartholomeow and Sue Bryce’s workshop on creativeLIVE, I have decided to participate in the 30-day filming challenge. My camera doesn’t have video function and my ancient iPhone 3G doesn’t shoot video either. So how on earth are you going to make a video – you might ask. There is a thing called stop motion. You shoot sequences of movement or objects that you move ever so slightly and take a picture of each adjustment then you stitch the frames together in a video editing software so eventually it will become a “movie”. So watch this space and you’ll see what I’ve managed to put together 😉
The great thing about this film challenge is that it forces me to think outside the box or actually inside the box. I need to remember to shoot horizontal which is sometimes challenging because I need to be more mindful of what ends up in the frame. Also you kind of need to play with various angles otherwise the whole thing will become boring after a while. It’s a great exercise to experiment with focal lengths too. Since right now my only lens is the 14-42mm, I’m somewhat limited to these focal lengths. I also lack models, so yet again, I’m using my daughter as usual.
Anyways, I’ve shot some sequences already and tried to put them together. It’s really fun to see her jumping on the bed or twirling around or running all over the place 🙂 Obviously the footage is a bit jumpy ’cause we’re so used to watching 25 frames/sec on tv or video. My camera shoots about 3 frames/sec so the majority of the movement is missing but I think that makes it fun. What I really love about it, that I get to capture some amazing expressions in the meantime 🙂 It’s a bit “spray and pray” for the moment ’cause I have some difficulties keeping the focus sharp as she moves in front of the camera, sometimes getting closer then the next second a bit further. The other thing I find a bit difficult is shooting from the hip. She’s obviously a lot shorter than me so I need to go down to her level to be able to capture her little world better. It’s ok when you’re shooting one frame at a time but when you’re after the whole movement, chasing a boisterous 3-year-old on your knees isn’t an option 🙂 So I’m just putting my arm out, guessing the framing (hoping for a straight horizon and a sharp focus on her not on the background :P), trying to keep the same distance while running with her 🙂 Sometimes I manage, sometimes not but I do end up with some really awesome single frames during the process. Actually I find my pictures are a lot more interesting shooting from the hip as opposed to looking through the viewfinder. The other advantage of shooting like this is that I can interact with her a lot better. Right now the whole thing is a major trial and error method but now that I’ve seen some of the results, I can be a little more intentional with the following set of sequences 🙂
Enjoy some of these pull outs and please drop a line bellow how you liked them 😉
Orsi Vilusz Photography 