Basics of Camera and Sound

18/09/2022- WEEK ONE AND TWO

Exploring the ins and outs of basic camera and sound. here we cover my journey on learning developing these new techniques.

AC1

INFORMING IDEAS

After being introduced to the course and its expectations for the next two years, I used all notes and images from these sessions to boost my knowledge and plan my learning schedules for the coming months. Due to this I now feel prepared and content with what's to come. I also now know the skills I need to develop in order to complete these tasks, therefore reassuring me of things I was convinced I would struggle at. So, by doing this it also required me to do external research into topics such as adobe software, camera equipment and even advertisement techniques after we were given our first project brief. This again allowed me to give input when team effort was needed and gave me a sense of relief during classes as I knew what people were on about. I'm not going to lie there were times during sessions where I felt completely lost, but this was also beneficial as it taught me areas where I need to develop and improve.

AC2

PROBLEM SOLVING

I started this course knowing barley anything but the basics of broadcast and media, therefore I have been terrified to join this course. Therefore, my primary barrier was just getting into my first class. Due to me knowing pretty much nothing, it made me even more eager to get stuck into everything, and experience different angles of the media world. Working straight away with the cameras was difficult as everyone looked like they knew exactly what they were doing yet, I was just excited, as I had finally come to terms with the fact, I was actually getting the opportunity to use a camera! But if I'm being honest admitting that I had no clue what I was doing was harder than finding the on button for the first time. However, I soon overcome these hurdles as everyone was so helpful and Mr. butler is a brill teacher. By doing these sessions it also inspired me to look more into camera operation and go into more depth regarding cameras themselves. Same situation with the mics, I had no clue where to start, but by jumping straight into thing sit allowed me to adapt quickly. Regarding group issues, our main hurdle was that none of us remembered earphones, therefore hearing the audio form the mics was going to prove a little difficult without them. Our feedback here was to BRING WIRED EARPHONES. So, I will of course bring some wired earphones with me next time.

AC3/ AC4

TECHNICAL SKILLS

the tripod is one of the most important and basic pieces of equipment. its purpose is to steady the camera for a shot to appear as flawless as possible. if you're wanting a clean and steady shot, your tripod is necessary. Before we began adding the camera and erecting the tripod we needed to learn in depth about its anatomy. In my opinion, it was easier to show you this using a labelled picture. Number 1 being the bottom and 11 being the top. One rule that became the most important was to one, not force anything as anything that was possible to move and manipulate would be easy to do so. Two, was that when extending the legs to adjust the height, you should always begin by extending the middle foot first. This is so the legs are secure, and the tripod cannot move or slip. you can then adjust several positions including other locks on the feet and extendable points at the head of the tripod and the centre Collection. Once stable and adjusted to the right height you can then make sure the head is level and all clips and clamps have been tightened, this includes making sure you have moved the pan handle out to the front. Then it's time to mount your camera. Take the quick release clamp and attach it to your camera cage (see below for more detail) then use the safety buttons by holding it in to reattach the camera to the tripod. Once secure tighten the knobs on the head and adjust the levels till the spirit levels confirms this.

The camera cage is one of them things that looks so complicated but is incredibly basic. In theory it is just a camera cage. Although I have not yet been taught how to attach a camera to the cage, I do know how to attach this to a tripod. Let's imagine that the camera is already attached, we now have the plate from the tripod along with its screws attached. As you can see where the lens interface is, there is a screw port, this is used to secure the cage to the tripod plate. the largest screw is then inserted into the largest hole, we were then told to use a penny (to avoid damage to materials) to turn the screw into place. Then to unattached it you of course do the same thing but in reverse. Make sure all screws are tight and secure before using your camera.

Once set up it’s now time to use the camera. To pan and tilt you now can release the clamps on the head to unlock the two movements. Then when dismantling the tripod, you now do the reverse method but making sure it is fully dismantled to its original height, all locks are in place and the pan handle in tucked back down.

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

This was the camera we used during our session. By using this camera, we were able to try out different movement using the tripod such as panning and tilting. We also learnt the basics of turning the camera on and adjusting the settings and lenses, including reattaching lenses. Regarding angles we did a few basic trials on different techniques one being using the grid to determine the angle, e.g., by using the top left quadrant and positioning someone's head on that bottom corner of that quadrant gave a great effect used in most interviews, creating a less formal and close position. However, contracting we also did centre and head on shots which focused on positioning heads in the centre of the grid- CAMERA [Blackmagic DSLR cinema 6k pro pocket]

During this session we looked at attaching bullet mics to the boom poles. This was very simple and was just a case of screwing the mic directly onto the top of the pole. Then all was left to do was attach the aux cables to the mic and to the camera or to earphones, or you could even attach it to a portable audio collector. This allowed you to record and hear the audio that had been collected. These are important and useful as they can collect direct audio while also making sure the mic is out of sight and out of shot. This is perfect for interviews and natural shots where you don’t want mics to ruin a certain naturalistic effect. However, these are often used for walking shots where the sound Op mic is perfect for the types of film just mentioned as these mics do a great job at picking up directional sound, so wherever the mic is pointing is what sound it will record. allowing you to gain that full sound potential. Boom handling is also an incredible difficult job, you need to be quick, quiet and very strong. you may have to hold that boom directly above your head for a very long time, with a very steady and firm hold, so, stamina is key. if you want to perfect this role, some overhead holds would be perfect, therefore improving your shoulder muscles allowing you to maintain that hold for a long period of time.

AC5

COMMUNICATION

Communication was a major skill during this first week, as it was not only a huge requirement in getting to know and understanding your peers, but it is also important to listen to each other so you can learn off each other. This first week we were responsible for developing our basic skills so we can take part in future projects. Communication and understanding between students and teachers were so important, as we needed to communicate with them in a way where they can understand where we are logically at, and of we need to understand

there way of teaching. It’s so important to work with your teachers as they work with you, so communication and understanding each other is a great start!

AC1

INFORMING IDEAS

Interpreting the brief came natural, due to previous experience of relying on a brief to successfully create a project to a client's standards. Sticking to and understanding a brief is crucial in this industry, as we oversee the project and work to perfect the vision, that also can communicate our style but of course their ideas. This brief was fortunately very flexible, and we were able to project a lot of our individual creative values into it, without erasing the contents of the brief. Our brief in short and simple terms was to create an advertisement for boa stage and screen for the students from the students. This meant it needed to appeal to an audience of upcoming students who are in the position we were a year ago. That includes thinking about questions aimed at our personal opinions. Why would I want to go to boa? What would I want to see of the college before I applied? Facilities? Building? Departments? What’s the atmosphere between students like? Expectations? Types of lessons? SO MANY QUESTIONS. So, my point is, what will these upcoming young people want to see. Regarding the brief it was important to check that every criteria had been met. This included time, footage requirements and even creative goals. To ensure we met every point we made a check list and ticked off each point after completing it. This made things easier, and we were able to create a plan that included points from the brief that needed completing.

AC2

PROBLEM SOLVING

Developing ideas was one of the fun parts to this project. From the initial ideas from different creatives, to using contrasting ideas collaboratively to create an amazing concept. it was also amazing to work with different departments and learn more about what they know or had learnt already, this helped the pre-production process massively, as we could use our professional and personal expertise and work on specifics in groups, this helped our time management as we could all put our best effort into things that we knew we could put our best knowledge onto. Once we then had our idea and sorted out who was doing what, we now had to create a plan for production. This is where we used storyboards, schedules, scripts and in-depth notes for each scene. This went well, considering we didn’t have much time to generate ideas and plan. The only thing that hindered us at the start was that because we were all new and nervous, we spend a lot of time getting to know each other and breaking the ice. This was a good thing though as we all become aware of everybody in the group and made us closer as a team, but it did slow down the preproduction process just slightly. The script was also very basic which meant we then wasted time in production by sorting the improvisation and in the moment ideas, so they made sense and fit to the style of the film. However, we did end up heavily relying on editing during post.

We started with a concept of having a presenter, which then lead onto the ideas within different scenes and scripts. Despite that we also had a responsibility for our work to be original and relevant. This required us to research online about advertisement techniques in media and presenting styles. We also researched using social media, including TikTok and Instagram. This helped us gain relevant knowledge that would help when trying to connect with our audience.

AC3

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Using the camera/tripod creatively - How did you use the camera/tripod to creative effect? What were your intentions, and did you achieve them?

He used the tripod to be able to film steady and free-handed shots when doing our advisement project. This allowed us to get amazing professional standard shots without causing distractions from human error. We did this by using different heights and angles to create different effects.

Basics of Premiere-Pro – What are the basics of Premiere Pro? What are the tabs and tools? What are they used for?

There are so many things I've learnt about premier pro this week including the basics of cut, copy, add in. Also, things like adding text, music and effects to enhance our transitions. Others include the difference between daVinci and premier:

Premiere pro-

· More advanced and better for creative features

· Better for more in depth editing with more features

· Takes longer but is a great software.

· Pro- specialising in video editing

· Industry standard

· Takes a while to get use to/ very technical

· A lot of different elements

· Subscription based (15month)

· 3rd party resources, can use other adobe apps and software (dynamic link)

AC4

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

I learnt about editing, pre productions, production and postproduction techniques. The basics of how to organize a simple yet industry standard project and learn how to apply them into future work. I also leant about the role and importance within a social media exec, as that was my role during the advisement. This required me to go behind the scenes and get extra bts footage, that could be used to engage and excite a potential audience. It was also a very research heavy role as using out footage along with keeping things trendy and well balanced to the current social standards, had to be massively considered. This included using relevant hashtags, music or key phrases. It also included tagging, sharing and communicating with the right people to engage a new upcoming audience or to Liese with potential supporters. 

AC5

COMMUNICICATION

One thing we were amazing with as a whole group was listening and taking on each other's ideas. We valued and appreciated every view and used it in some way shape or form. of course, there were more verbal participants than others, but I think that was because the ones who took lead, had the best vision and in short terms, knew what they were doing. This worked though as those people were able to take o other ideas and spin them into possibilities to be used within the production process. 

As a result, I think we did amazing, and when tested Infront of an audience at the showcase event we got some amazing feedback from our year, the year above and even our teachers. We got amazing comments on our editing, our footage and even the concept. We all were really pleased with what we had created and managed to learn along the way, and we’re looking forward to creating more projects with even more potential.  

WRITTEN BY JESSICA-CHLOE WATSON