Video Communication & Production Chapter 1: About Video

Ch. 1 Objectives  Explain the meaning of “Video Communication”  Explain why it is important to understand the nature of the video world.  List some major types of video programs.  Describe the three major phases of video production.

A. What is video?  Until recently, video did not exist.  There were just two main audiovisual media: Film & Television I. About Video?

 Film was the medium used for creating most audiovisual programs, from movies to TV commercials.  Film was (and is) an excellent production medium. 1. Film

The Advantages of Film  Film equipment is relatively portable, so location filming is practical.  Film’s ability to reproduce quality images in black and white or color is highly refined.  Film picture and sound tracks are usually recorded on separate strips of film (or audio tape), so sophisticated editing is possible.

2. Television  TV was the medium used for broadcasting studio programs as they happened (“live”), and other programs previously produced on (or copied onto) film. Fig 1-1

The Early Disadvantages of TV  Its equipment was heavy, complex, and tied down by cables to its control systems.  Its image quality was markedly lower than that of film, and its ability to render shades of grey from black to white was limited.  It could not be recorded for later editing, except by copying the live signal to film and then treating it as if it were a filmed program (kinescope).

Video Comes of Age  As the popularity of television grew over the years, equipment manufacturers gradually solved most of its problems.

B. Video vs. Film  Disadvantages of TV –Picture clarity is course because its resolution is low –Color lacks a certain richness that is hard to describe but easy to see in film –Until recently, sound editing has been more cumbersome in video  Disadvantages of Film –More expensive to shoot and process to a final composite positive strip –Less tolerant of different light levels –Color-balancing is time- consuming and expensive –Editing is much more difficult

C. Converging Technologies  Whatever the alleged weaknesses of film or video, they are now becoming less important as the two media grow closer together.  High-definition video, for example, is close to the visual quality of film; and modern film stocks have wider exposure ranges.

D. Types of Video Production  Today, people make a wide variety of video programs ranging from five-second to thirteen- hour miniseries.  These are distributed for broadcast, cable, satellite TV and the Internet, and on cassettes or disks played in schools, businesses, and homes.  Some videos are produced to entertain, to persuade, or to teach. Others capture a family holiday, inventory a stamp collection, or document a vacation.

E. Video Talents and Jobs  If you like the story side of production, try writing, directing, or editing.  If you have graphic talents, the specialties of art decoration, set and costume design, and makeup are vital to sophisticated video production. You can also create postproduction video graphics and titles.  If you are intrigued by nuts and bolts of production, then camera operation, lighting, and audio recording are skills that command respect.  If you have technical aptitude, audio and video engineering are challenging occupations.  If management is your aim, video producing and production management require well-developed skills in organization, personnel, and finance.

F. Not for Professionals Only  You may not anticipate a career in video production, but you may want to master this medium purely for personal expression.  Like music or painting or photography or cabinetmaking, video is an art in which “amateur” practitioners can and should develop exactly the same skills that full-time professionals use to make their living in this medium.

II. Video Communication A.The Nature of the Video World  When you watch TV, you may think you are looking at a picture of the actual world, but you are not. The TV screen is a window that looks out on a completely different universe – a strange cosmos in which the formal laws of space and time and gravity do not work at all. (See figure 1-5) B.The Language of Video Expression C.The Construction of Video Programs

II. Video Communication A.The Nature of the Video World B.The Language of Video Expression  Video Communication uses a visual language – a language with rules much like those of a written language.  An image is much like a single word  A shot is like a complete sentence  A scene is like a paragraph  A sequence is like a chapter C.The Construction of Video Programs

II. Video Communication A.The Nature of the Video World B.The Language of Video Expression C.The Construction of Video Programs  Video Communication is like written communication in yet another way: it is not enough to write a grammatically correct sentence or compose a short paragraph. You must be able to organize and develop a coherent story or essay – or even a whole book.

III. Visual Literacy  Even if your career never involves producing video, you spend a considerable amount of time consuming it: Video is the most persuasive and powerful system ever invented for delivering facts, ideas, and opinions.  If you understand the techniques of video communication, you can separate the information you are watching from the methods used to organize and present it. This is called Visual Literacy.

IV. Video Production 1.Preproduction  This phase includes everything you do before actual shooting begins. (scripting, storyboards, scouting locations, gathering cast and crew, planning production equipment, etc) 2.Production  This phase covers the actual shooting of the material that will become the program. 3.Postproduction  In this phase, you select the shots you want to include, assemble them in order, add music and sound effects to the audio, and create titles and visual effects. This process is called editing.