Behind the Camera

Medium, medium-long, long, close-up: this list of words represents a small fraction of the amount of camera shots that movie and television crews utilize in the filmmaking industry. It seems mind-boggling. And what makes these shots even more complex is that each of them is used in specific situations and scenes of films. I honestly have never thought about the job of the camera man or that he even had a very difficult job until now. Yet after learning about the different shots and when they are used, I was getting slightly mixed up with the terminology. Imagine being a camera man and having the pressure of taking the correct shots at the correct moments during filming. One incorrect camera angle could evoke the wrong experience for the audience. Needless to say, the job of the camera man is far more intricate than I have ever realized.

In addition, the short videos we watched last Thursday revealed another job behind the scenes that I have never thought much about: the editor. The footage covering the detailed work of the editors for the most recent Star Wars movies was interesting. Although the job title gives it away, I never understood just how much editing an editor would have to do in order to produce a hit film such as Star Wars. And it is not just large chunks of the movie that can be edited all at once. The editing occurs in each scene and for every camera frame that is shot. It made me realize that directors, writers, editors, and the camera crew have equally difficult jobs and no position should be valued above another.

When watching the videos about the making of Lord of the Rings, I was fascinated with the creativity behind the sound editor's job. I have always ignorantly thought that the sounds within movies can simply be made within a computer program and zapped into the film. I had no idea that sound editors had to physically travel to distant zoos or drop boulders in order to create the sounds desired for a movie. The creativity behind this type of position truly suprised me. It makes me respect the movie-making business even more now that I better understand the detailed work that film crews undergo to produce those Blockbuster hits.