From the course: Learning Cinematography: 3 Hands On Techniques

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Actors: Rehearsals vs. the shot

Actors: Rehearsals vs. the shot

From the course: Learning Cinematography: 3 Hands On Techniques

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Actors: Rehearsals vs. the shot

- The most important thing we do as a cinematographer is to turn fantasy into reality. The cinematographer has to create the illusion of reality in an unreal situation. It's a movie set; there's lot of equipment around, there are actors pretending to be someone they're not. It's critical that the audience not have any sense of that. The truthful behavior of the actor is critical in maintaining that illusion. Remember, actors aren't furniture. However, on occasion we do have to ask them to do things we need them to do. When it comes to both focus and lighting the most common thing we need from them is a clear sense of where they're going to be. So, let's take a look at how we determine the distance between camera and the actor for the shot so we make sure that the shot's in focus. Now I've seen people use tape measures like this, and I think that's kind of a mistake. It's a dangerous thing to have, even with a little powder puff here, have this thing jutting toward an actor's face. Far…

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