Digital Cinematography

2

Creating a look

Decide what you want

The first thing to do before you even switch on the camera is to try to see in your mind what you wish the image on the monitor to look like. This is known as previsualization. It is not always possible – sometimes you just have to put time aside, perhaps lunchtime during a shoot, and work through the menus until you get a feel for where you want to go. Remember that if you end up with something you hate you only have to put in your original camera control card and press ‘read’ to get back to your original settings in just a few seconds so even wild experimentation is quite safe.

If you have been able to decide in what directions you want to push the image they will usually come under a small number of easily ...