PRACTICAL CAMERA WORKSHOP 1

 In todays lesson, we took a practical approach and got to know the basics of camera equipment as we are filming our concept pieces it is vital we know the fundamentals of filming and our way around a camera. We began by being taught how to properly assemble the camera tripod, going through how to tighten and loosen the pan and tilt and using the spirit level to make sure the camera will be straight when filming.  

After familiarizing ourselves with the tripods, we moved onto assembling the camera onto the tripod itself. The camera that we were using was the Black magic 4K mini URSA; we were made aware of the dialogue used when passing equipment on set, using the ‘mine’ and ‘yours’ method to efficiently pass over equipment safely. When coming to actually placing the camera onto the tripod, we are taught the correct buttons to hold whilst gripping the camera securely into place. 

 

We moved onto the actualities of filming which involved; focusing, zooming, exposure and correcting the white balance to match the room's light specification.  

We learnt that into order to put the cameras' ‘objective’ in focus whether that be an inanimate object or person that you must zoom in, then dial the focus to then zoom back out the create the sharpness of the camera. Furthermore, the exposure dial was another key aspect of the actuality of filming with the ‘dangers’ of its location being so close to the lens cap which is what one must be aware of when increasing or decreasing the cameras exposure. 

 Next, we were taught the different white balance levels and how to change accordingly to a certain type of light exposure. Several types of white balance are needed for different types of light and the camera has certain settings for each light intensity: indoor (synthetic light), natural light (sunlight), shade, and overcast.  

Finally, we finished todays lesson by learning the term striking the kit to disassemble the camera equipment and making sure its ‘ready’ for its next use which will be extremely important when we begin filming our opening title sequence and obtaining the professionalism needed on set.