Training Services

| Production |

How the Camera Works

| How the Camera Works | LCD and Viewfinder | White Balance |

| Light and Exposure | Using a Gray Card |

| Manual Exposure Control | Manual Focus Control |

Use the LCD Screen and the Viewfinder Correctly

Sometimes when shooting, we set the camera on automatic and go. We may not realize how cockeyed the composition is or how much detail has gone missing until we play back the tape. In the old days, when every motion picture was shot in film, the cameraperson or cinematographer checked the composition through the viewfinder and relied on a light meter and a gray card to set the exposure. Today, we mostly use the LCD (liquid crystal display) screen or, if you've got a budget, an external monitor. Assuming your budget isn't large enough to include an external monitor, let's focus on the LCD.

The LCD screen has its advantages. First of all, it looks more or less like what you'll get when you play back the tape. If the image in the LCD doesn't look like what you are able to see with your eyes, or doesn't look the way you want, then you can tweak it until it does or at least until it gets as close as you can to what you want. It's really quite magical. Does your image look too dark? Put the camera on manual and open the aperture wider. Everything looks too bright? Well, just stop that aperture down a bit.

Most of the time this works fine. But if the LCD is set at the wrong intensity or is tilted at an angle that causes a misrepresentation of the light, then the footage you shoot will be either too dark or too light, but you won't catch it until you play it back on your computer or television. Oops. Check your LCD against what you see with your eye, but make sure the LCD is set accurately. You should be able to make adjustments through the on-camera menu. Unless there's something wrong with the camera, setting the LCD halfway between the brightest possible setting and the darkest, should give you an accurate reading. It's possible to have similar problems with the viewfinder. Some cameras will allow you to adjust the brightness of the image for the viewfinder just as you can for the LCD. If so, you should be able to make those adjustments through the on-camera menu. In addition, there is usually a ring beneath the viewfinder that allows you to focus the viewfinder to your eye.