Camera workshop 1

The camera that we worked with today was the Black magic 4k mini USRA. We were also shown how to attach this to a tripod and attach a battery to the camera.

 

When passing the camera, we used a rule called the yours, mine rule. We use this when passing the camera and to notify the other person that we have the weight of it. This is to make sure that we do not drop the camera when exchanging it. 

On the tripod there was a spirit level to make sure that the camera is balanced and not lopsided otherwise this would make our shot look unprofessional. We do something called bubbling the camera once it is on the tripod, where we unscrew the underneath a quarter of a turn, and then adjust the camera so the bubble is in the middle of the circle.

Before bubbling we need to set up the tripod, and this is how we do so:

-undo the locks on the bottom legs before the top ones as it is easier to adjust once the camera is on the tripod.

- screw on the tripod handle on the right side of the tripod before placing the camera on.

When attaching the camera, you have to make sure that you are facing the bubble when pushing it in place, and you have to push down the button on the left side in order to slide the bottom of the camera onto the tripod. 

Once you have done this you have to turn the dial on the right side towards you to lock the camera in place, to make sure that it doesn’t move when filming. 

You have to make sure this dial is on the unlocked side when attaching the camera so that it can fit onto the tripod, otherwise it won’t work.

Next, we have to set up the shot by focusing it and zooming it on the camera. There is a lens at the front of the camera, and you can twist it either right or left further down the neck of the lens which can un-focus and focus the lens, and another can zoom in and zoom out.

You may need to alternate between the two in order to focus the camera properly. It is important to zoom in as much as you can and then focus the shot and zoom out again, as this completely focuses the lens on the subject matter for example a person, and makes the shot look higher quality.

Once we have focused the camera we will need to make sure the exposure and white balancing is right. White balancing is when you make sure that the hue and colour of the shot matches the location that it is in. For example, if you are outside, but have the inside setting on, your image will have a colder hue and the colour on the film will not match what the outside actually looks like. Similarly, if you shoot inside with the outside setting, the colour will be too warm.

You change the white balance by pressing an icon on the top right of the screen, and then you select the icon appropriate for what scene you are shooting. 

Exposure is how much light is being let into the lens, e.g low exposure is little light and high exposure is a lot of light. When something is overexposed, it means it has too much light in it, which may mean that you have to turn down the exposure. You do this by moving a blue bump on the side of the lens next to the base of where the camera meets the lens.