Women In Cinema Workshop Recap

Thanks to everyone who came to the Camera, Lighting, and Sound Workshop this Saturday at Picturebox studio.  We hope you found each session hands on, informative, and fun.  This workshop could not have been successful without our pro session leaders Renée Stairs (Sound), Roshan Murthy (Camera), and Britta Lundin (Lighting)!

Renée giving the low down on lav mics

Audio wiz, Renée Stairs, took us through the basics of production sound.  We learned about XLR cables, different types of cord connectors, the best way to grab audio for a live concert, and the always tough-and-awkward job of correctly wrapping up an XLR cable.  It takes practice y’all, it takes practice.

UT Student Yamel testing out the HMC150

In the camera department, UT RTF graduate student Roshan Murthy covered the basics of a Panasonic HMC150, a camera that UT students can check out on campus.  Although sometimes confusing, we learned how shutter speed and aperture and frames per second all relate to each other.  If there’s one thing to take away from this session, it’s to always white balance the camera yourself.  If you don’t, you will be crushed when looking at your footage in post.  So don’t forget to bring white paper on your shoot, it’s important!

Setting up a Fresnel 650 Light

The lighting session, taught by UT RTF graduate student Britta Lundin, talked through the basic characteristics of lights: Intensity, Temperature, and Hard vs Soft.  Using still shots from The Third Man, When Harry Met Sally, and Mad Men (if you haven’t ever watched this, you seriously must start immediately), we recreated the lighting from each scene.  One important thing to remember: you must pay attention to not only what you are lighting, but the shadows you are creating.

Thank you again to our session leaders and good luck with your future projects & thesis films! Don’t forget to mark your calendars for our next meeting and panel on October 8th.  More details to follow.  Also, if you’re not already part of our facebook group, do it now here.  You should probably also follow us on Twitter at @womenincinema.