How to learn camerawork
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Long lenses vs. wide lenses
Another fundamental difference between wide lenses and long lenses is how much background you see for a given framing. If you frame a close-up of an actress with a wide lens and then frame the close-up in the same way using a long lens, you will see that a lot more background is visible when using the wide lens. Try it!
Long lenses (also known as telephoto lenses) compress planes quite dramatically; the longer the lens, the more compressed the visual planes are. This is why, for example, if an actress walks towards a camera fitted with a long lens, the actress will appear to be walking on the spot. The actress will increase in size quite slowly as she walks towards the camera. Something else you will familiarize with by experimenting with a camera is kinematics: that is, how motion is rendered by different lenses. As mentioned above, both wide and long lenses (and everything in between) can be used in tracking shots; the feeling of motion will differ depending on the focal length of the lens being used.
Lenses are a vast subject and one that you can only master by experimenting with them in your own time. Having a comprehensive knowledge of lenses is vital to your development as a film or video maker. As you learn more about the art of filmmaking, you will develop your own visual style, your own way of seeing the world through the camera lens. You will also begin to spot other filmmakers' preferences when you watch movies; Steven Spielberg, for example, uses a lot of wide lenses, whereas Michael Bay loves to use long lenses. Spielberg and Bay have an absolutely encyclopaedic knowledge of lenses and this is partly why their work is so distinctive. The camera is, ultimately, the crucial link between a filmmaker and the audience; become intimate with camera lenses and you are well on your way to becoming a visually compelling filmmaker.
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