First lesson using the camera

In the lesson we had on the camera, we learnt how to set it up. You start by unfolding the dolly and pushing down the breaks to stop it from moving to make it easier and safer to set the rest of the camera up. After this, the legs of the tripod are extended to the required height and are attached to the end of each branch of the dolly where the flaps are pulled over the bottom of each leg of the tripod.






The camera is then placed on top of the tripod and will click into place (as will the red switch which is pulled down and twisted to remove the camera).

The battery is fitted into the gap and the tape is inserted inside the slot next to it which must then be closed to allow the camera to film over it.









The cap at the smaller end of the lens is taken off and the lens is twisted into place on the camera and may be swapped for a different lens by sliding the ‘lens release switch’ and twisting it off and the same process is repeated to put another one on.











The other cap is taken off the lens so it can be seen out of, either through the eyepiece or on the screen (by flipping up the nearest part of the eyepiece).







The ‘start/stop button’ is pressed to start or stop the camera from recording, as indicated, and you can zoom in (by pressing forward) or zoom out (by pressing backward) with the switch next to it or by twisting the nearest part of the lens.

There is also a white balance switch. In the automatic mode (‘AWB’) the camera tries to adjust to get the correct white balance. However, there are also ‘A’ and ‘B’ positions which the camera can be set to. These store two manual white balance settings by remembering the colour temperature of the light in the scene you want to shoot. This is done by using a white card or object. Place the card at the centre of your shot, then set the ‘white balance switch’ to the ‘A’ or ‘B’ position and press the ‘white balance button’ (button to the right of the ‘white balance switch’). The camera will then adjust so that the card shows no colour.

We also learnt about different shot types. This included the big close-up shot, the close-up, medium close-up, the medium shot, the medium long shot, the wide shot, the over the shoulder shot, the high angle shot and the low angle shot. However when filming two people the 180-degree rule should be followed. An imaginary line called the axis connects the two people, and by keeping the camera on one side of the axis for every shot in the scene, one person is always on the right frame and the other is then always in the left frame so they don’t appear to switch places on the screen.