Barry Lyndon released in 1975 show-cased Stanley Kubric’s mastery of cinematography. Shooting scenes by candlelight required special attention.
Kubric acquired three Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f0.7 lenses from Zeiss, lenses designed and built for NASA’s Apollo lunar programme to film these scenes.
Technology has come a long way since 1975 but it can only go so far. Modern cameras can film in very low light but they are not miracle workers. Often when watching television or films we can see the capability of this technology, but cameras used in these environments can cost upwards of £200,000. The consumer camcorders we use in the university can’t compare.
The visual aspect is one part, audio is a whole other field. Whereas a CCD or CMOS sensor will capture part of the scene, no matter how dark it is a microphone’s drop-off is like a cliff edge. Many are also omni-directional so any sound from around the camera, including itself will be picked up, so it is important to position your camera so that both audio and visual aspects are captured.
Click here to see some guides that will you get the most from a video camera.
Of course, if you want to hire Kubric’s lenses to film your presentation click here.
