Film Workshop Trip

On the 12th October, my media class took a trip to a film workshop. Organised by a local film group, it featured a talk from BBC cameraman Robert Foster. He has worked on various pieces of film such as The mist and Straw Dogs. He also did a lot of work for BBC on various celebrity documentaries throughout the past 20-30 years. He held a speech on the job of a cameraman and how the cameraman works within the rest of the cast and his role. He also went through various examples of lighting and how important lighting is to your work and how it can completely make or break a shot. We were shown live examples of very high-end camera equipment as well as shown examples on a hooked up monitor on how to change a shot and what is being implied through different shot types. He also took a handful of questions towards the ending, telling us the best amateur equipment to spend money on to make your work better, as well as the worst mistakes that beginners do and what to avoid.

Overall, I found the talk very helpful as I found out a lot about the delicacy of capturing a good shot and how it all works in contrast with lighting and the environment around you. I also found out a lot about the industry and how it works in relation to each job role and certain productions.