wildlife documentary notes on use of camera pt. 1
Snow Leopard footage from BBC Planet Earth, narrated by David Attenborough. When I first saw this I was so blown away that I couldn’t stop thinking about it for days. It gets REALLY amazing at 1’50″.
(notes below are also from a bunch of tiger videos like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE-I3rzjGUk)
True essence of a creature must be seen in nature (true of domestic or urban wildlife who are entrenched in human life and dependent on us?)
establishing shots
tracking shots
still shot, subject pass-through
center framed subject, no matter what
hidden subject, physical obstructions interposed
narrative, telling a story by lining up shots in sequence
close-ups on action
repetition of shots (part of establishing narrative)
depth of field when camera is on same horizontal plane
what the subject looks at can be a cut-away
cutting from individual subject to group and vice versa
subject entering still shot and staying
sequence: close-ups on body parts, then wide shot, then establishing, then anticipatory right before hunt
pan-tilt, camera orientation to subject is key (different angles, pointing up, pointing down)
Tags: animal behavior, art, performance, RATS