Using the Video Cameras

As I wasn't here for this session, I had to pick everything up as we were shooting our preliminary task. Most of it was fairly straightforward for anyone that has ever used an electronic device before: On switch, battery remaining indicator, things like that. Next was the time code, which is in the corner of the screen and is broken down into 4 number readings.

From left to right they are: HH:MM:SS:FF, the last being frames per second. Usually on the cameras we use, there are 25 fps.
Next I was shown how to use the zoom and focus, and was instructed to zoom all the way in and then out again, to make sure the subject is in focus.


 Next I got a quick briefing on exposure, shutter speed and colour temperature, which wasn't too difficult as it is the same as in photography. Exposure is shown in F stops, ranging from 1 to 22, which measure the amount of light in the shot. By raising the shutter speed, you increase the clarity of the shot and by lowering it, you can blur it. With colour temperature, you first need to set the white balance, by focusing on a white flat surface in the general location of your shoot.