Camerawork

The Camerawork

The camerawork was one very important factor that determined the final outlook of my video. Obviously I operated the camera for every shot throughout the production. This included planning each shot in advance, adjusting the technical settings on the fly, and physically operating the camera.  Every decision, from the angle to the exposure, was thought through with the film's psychological tone in mind. I wasn't just recording scenes, I was shaping tension.

While shooting, I focused on a few key aspects that would help maintain visual consistency and give me more flexibility during the edit.

1. Clarity and Framing

One of the biggest challenges I faced was working without any autofocus. Every shot had to be manually focused. That meant I had to practice movement distances, memorize how a subject’s motion would affect focus, and anticipate exactly where the lens needed to land during handheld or tracking shots. Some of these were complex shots that began in extreme close-up and then shifted focus to a very specific point in the distance, such as a person across a crowded street. These had to remain sharp without any visible shake, so I developed a precise and delicate manual focusing technique. I became a one-person focus puller, timing movements down to audio cues and making sure the focus responded in rhythm with what was happening onscreen.

2. Shot Composition and Movement

I used a wide range of compositions from extreme close-ups with shallow depth to wide environmental shots, and many of them involved movement. These weren’t just pans or tilts. I had to walk, shift, crouch, or rotate the camera smoothly while simultaneously adjusting focus in real time. In scenes involving emotional tension or conflict, the camera felt alive. It responded not only to character movement, but also to tone and pacing.

3. Shot Length and Control

Shots were kept long enough to give me flexibility during editing, especially since some moments required visual emphasis to match the score or sound design. I made sure every shot had a rhythm that would sync with the edit later. I was thinking like both a cinematographer and an editor on set. 4. Night Shooting in Walled City

Day 1 of shooting took place at night in Androon Sheher (Old Lahore). This introduced a new set of challenges. I had to work with very little available light, relying on practical sources and color grading later to bring clarity. I kept ISO between 1600 and 3200 and used wider apertures to capture enough light while managing noise. Framing in low light is hard enough, but manual focusing in near darkness while staying mobile is something I had to learn through experience.

5. Stability and Movement

To avoid a cheap or amateur look, I stabilized as much footage as possible using my tripod or handheld techniques with firm posture. However, I also embraced a slightly unstable frame when I needed to inject urgency and realism, especially in confrontational or emotionally intense scenes. I switched between cinematic and raw handheld styles depending on what the scene called for.

6. Camera Settings and Color Temperature

The camera settings were tailored differently for each shooting day. On Day 1 in Walled City, I used a higher ISO (1400-2000) to preserve detail whilst keeping grain to a minimum, since there was a distinct lack of light. I also kept the white balance cool to match the eerie tone of the scene. On Day 2, which was indoors in a warmly lit apartment, I pushed ISO lower (around 400) to keep the shot clean trying to avoid creating any visual noise, and adjusted color temperature to preserve skin tones.

This wasn’t just camerawork. It was choreography. Every lens movement, every focus shift, every tilt or pan had a purpose in the emotional journey of the film.