From the course: Creating a Short Film: 07 Cinematography

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Using lenses to tell a story

Using lenses to tell a story

- In order to be an effective cinematographer it's important to understand the role of lenses in telling visual stories. Most experienced cinematographers will tell you that, you know, it really doesn't matter what camera you use. But when they say that, it's almost like there's a little imaginary asterisk next to that statement that links to a disclaimer at the bottom that says, yeah, but it's best if you use one with interchangeable lenses. Long before you thought of becoming a cinematographer, you might have played with a camera that had a long zoom lens on it, and you might have realized as you played with the lens that your view appears to zoom in and out. It's kind of like looking through a telescope, except a telescope didn't record stuff. But using different lenses goes far beyond simply zooming in and out. Lenses have properties and attributes that change the look of an image dramatically. Every lens has a focal length which is a number in millimeters that tells us its field…

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