When to use which lens

[grifpo]

I'm a sophomore in college- cinema major. I'm in a video production class and am about to shoot my final. My instructor said to treat the DVX 10x zoom as a 'box of lenses'. I understand the difference of an image at 4.5mm and an image at 45mm. Wide angle requires less light and telephoto requires more. Depth of field is smaller with telephoto than with wide. But when should I use which. I have a 3 lowel spots and a pepper, so amount of light isn't a problem. Any help guys? Thanks in advance.

-Griffin
And I'm sorry if this was addressed in a previous thread.

 

[M.A.P.]

Well I guess it all depends on the feeling you want. If a charecter is displaying an important emotion or saying something significant. Use a colse up with telephoto. If you want to show the bigger picture use the wide angle. It has been a trial and error process for me. But watch a movie you like and try to imagine what the shots would look like if the cinematographer used a diffrent lense. Then think about why the cinematographer did that. Try to mix all of these up so you have intresting visuals. Most of all match the feeling of the scene with the type of shot you compose

 

[PDX_DVX]

Also keep in mind that you can keep a subject the same size in the frame by moving the camera farther away or closer to the subject and it will effect your DOF and pull or push your background away. I agree that it sort of depends on the shots you're looking for and the mood, there isn't really a set formula. But if you're shooting a dialogue scene with both people, usually it's good to use a little zoom to get some shallow DOF and to try and stay the same focal length between the two people, so when you cut it, it doesn't look too weird.