Camera Workshop (Monday the 20th and 21st of October 2014)

1st Camera:
The Sony EX

I have to admit in my college days I have not remotely held one of these types of cameras without a tripod for filming.
So testing one out was quite an experience, the XD was heavier than it looked and it was for a good reason. Because it is very powerful and for it's price it is practically £5,000,00 worth of equipment and from my notes it comes with:

1. Microphone
2. Headphones
3. Battery and charger

From other notes I learned:

• All the kits come with a kit number. Everything in the kit must have that same number and must not get mixed with items from other camera kits.

• The memory card is called an SXS card.

• EXPANDING FOCUS – to check the focus and sharpness of an object far away and that the object can remain in focus when it is moving towards you.
  

• PEAKING – A red flashing light which lets you know its in focus.
  

• RAT FOCUS – term for pulling Focus.
  

• SHUTTER OFF – located under the lens – this will let more light in.
  

• Z, is for Zoom setting and appears on the top left of your screen.
  

• Format Size: 1280 / 25P – (P, stands for Progressive)
  

• To use MF (Manual Focus) push the ring back so you can see the orange line.
  

• APERATURE – the higher the number on the setting, the more light you let in.   
  

• Working from the lens backwards you will find the FOCUS ring then the ZOOM and then the APERATURE setting.
  

• The switch on the bottom of the camera needs to be switched to MANUAL setting before using the zoom etc. otherwise this could damage the camera if forced.
  

• Your battery life is displayed on the camera display screen.
  

• 8GB is around 25 mins of recording.
  

2nd Camera:
The Sony PMW 100

This camera is definitely different in size and wight when compared to the EX, it was indeed lighter and in my opinion less powerful in terms of quality. But this camera can do things that the EX can't and from my notes this is what I found out:

• This camera records more colour information, which is good for Green Screen.
  
  
• If the screen appears yellow or blue try changing the WHITE BALANCE.
  
  
• There are no ‘F’ Stops on this camera.
  
  
• You will need to look at the (Z) ZOOM Number and the (E) EXPOSURE Number. Eg. Z99, which is around 7 metres away, and this would make your Depth of field E99.
  
  
• GAMMA SHIFT – this is when you are experiencing colour changes in the background of your shot.
  
  
• WHITE BALANCE – Fill the screen with a white test card, use the Auto White BALANCE BUTTON on the camera. Eg. W:A3300 K . (K, References warmth or Heat in the frame.

For the first exercise using the cameras, on the 21st of October, we got into groups of 2 and using different shots, we were to make a short film using a chair and using our group partners, find different way to shoot someone sitting on it.

I wish I used more shots but since we were limited to 4 to 6 shots, it was a lot harder than it looked.  I managed to make a story of chemistry between my partner and the chair using a sense of lust in the way it is edited and using music in the background. See for yourself:

The Chair