John Hunter

John used to be cameraman. He still is, but he is also a director, sometimes editor, now.

He teaches us how to do a decent job with our camera (sony z1) in documentary filming.

About Shooting:
"You can't get enough cut-aways."
"Always think about editing when you are filming."

These are the two things he keeps mentioning in all the lessons he gave us.

Before shooting, check the followings in Z1:
1) Set the camera to manual mode;
2) Adjust white balance;
3) Adjust iris (aperture), and gain (ISO) if necessary.
4) Use Zebra to ajust iris when filming a person. Normally, Zebra is set to 70% if the person is white.
5) Check the sound.

* The Focusing ring is not handy in Z1-- the ring is too sensitive to handle. Z7 is said to be way better in focusing.

* Beware: what you see on the LCD viewfinder of Z1 is a little bit smaller than on the computer screen when you're editing.

* To ajust the viewfinder to the right brightness (especially when filming takes place under bright day light), use the button "Barz", and either press "-" or "+" till the grey strap turns black.

* When shooting an undirected scene, try to run ahead of the person that you're filming, so that you can have a control of what's going to happen.


About Editing:

1) when using cutaway shots, try to avoid using a single cutaway, instead use several cutaways to build a sequence;
2) use "trim" to introduce the sound before the image pops out, so that it won't look so sudden-- overlapping; (杨德昌的《一一》里有很多这样的处理，未见其像，先闻其声)
3) when editing the sound, use "shift"+ "<--"/"-->";
4) when dragging the blue line to the cutting point of a clip, press "ctrl" so that the line will hit exactly the cutting point.
5) Sub Clip-- to take out the bits from a large clip, first mark-in & mark-out the bit you want, then press "alt" and drag that bit to the bin. This bit is called sub-clip.


Clips:

I remember once I told John that I had seen a film about the white farmer unfairly treated by Mugabe in Zimbabwe. John said, "I used to live in Zimbabwe. I grew up there. I'm one of the colonists. Haha."

I remember one day he suddenly tucked something into my hand. It appeared to be a work card with a photo of a young John Hunter who had moustache and thick hair (he's half bald now). It reminded me of... well, who is that guy in Before Sunrise? "You must have been a laday's man when you were young!" I cried out. "Oh, no, no." John giggled. "I was a cameraman's assistant then, the lowest of the low. Once I tried to go into the place where the crew were filming the queen. I showed them the expired card. They just let me in. They thought I worked for Channel 4. The card was given when I worked for ITC, which was before Channel 4, but they didn't notice it."

"15 years ago, nobody in Britain knew that documentary would draw such a big audience. Now Panaroma has become a very popular programme in this country. People said television would be dead back then. But look at it now. You never know documentary can be this popular."

Today is John's last class with us. Before he left, he said in Latin "Don't let the bastards grind you down."