RESEARCH INTO EQUIPMENT

CANON 550D:The camera is an 18.0 megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera. It is very lightweight, weighing approximately weight 0.53 kg (1.2 lb) with battery and card and is also not too big (128.8x97.3x62mm). It has a built in flash and 18.0 effective megapixel CMOS sensor. It is the camera that I will be using to shoot my music video, as well as take photos for digipaks and other things, however, I will change the lenses for video and photography. I am using this camera because it is a high quality SLR that can shot in HD as it has the ability to film in full 1080p, Moreover, I am using a 16GB SD card to hold my footage, the SD card is a good size as I can take a lot of footage and pictures, which is very useful to me.

Lenses: I will attach lenses to my camera when filming and taking images, the zoom lens will be used for images and the aperture lens will be used for the actual video footage. The aperture lens is a 50mm and it is of high quality so I hope to get some good shots, it allows me to adjust the aperture of the footage so I can make sure I have the right amount of light for the shot. The lens does not let you get too close as if you do it will go blurry, however as it is good for letting in light it means I can adjust the aperture depending on what ‘look’ I want the shot to have, however, the lens does not allow you to zoom in or out. The zoom lens is for photos as I can zoom in and out which I will probably do manually, it is also good quality and will allow for high quality images.

Sony fdr-x1000v (Action/Sports Camera):

The small camera can film at 240 frame rate, meaning it is very good for slowing down shots to get high quality in extreme slow motion. It is 3 times more stable due to the advanced SteadyShot. I will also use this camera when filming my video as filming in high quality slow motion will add variety to my footage as well as making certain shots seem much more dramatic and interesting. It is a very good piece of equipment to use so I hope to use it to its full effect.

Tripod:This is also a very key piece of equipment, it is a three legged stand that I can attach the camera, dolly, camera slide, and lights to. It can be lengthened so that it is much longer, as well as having a handle so that you can pan or tilt a camera, having this fixed position is useful to keep a shot steady. I can create more variety of shots using the tripod and I don’t have to use just the steadicam. It is a very beneficial piece of equipment for me as I can extend the tripod fro high angle shots, and shorten it for low angle shots.

Camera Slide:The camera slide is a metal slide that you can mount the camera on top of, then the slide is then attached to a tripod. It is a very good piece of equipment as it will add variety to the type of shots I am shooting. You can slide the camera from left to right or tilt the slide to get a high to low or low to high angled shot. Some of the slide could be behind a wall (for example) and then you could slide it out to reveal the shot. It can be used in a very dramatic way.

Steadicam:The camera is attached to the front/middle of the steadicam, it benefits me greatly as whether someone is waling, running, dancing etc, the steadicam allows you to follow the movements in the shot in a much smoother way than if you were just holding the camera. Its adds more movement to the shots as everything does not seem so fixed. It is a very useful piece of equipment, it takes a little bit of getting used to, but the extra point of contact and sturdiness it gives you, means you can experiment more with the shots.

Lights:Lighting is very important as it can make a shot look so much more professional and well made. I have access to some different lights which I can use to my advantage to manipulate the shot and create a whole different tone and atmosphere. Red Heads:I will use these when I film in the black box room, as they are very good as lighting up a dark room to create an infinite background, which will be very beneficial to some of my shots. To set them up you would need to use three point lighting, but you can adjust the barn doors to direct where you want the light to go.Fill Light:This is a softer light that will make a shot lighter, or softer, depending on the effect you want it to have. The manipulation of light will make a shot look so much better and more professional. LED:This is a very small light that attached to the tripod, it is very harsh and bright (but you can adjust this) and is simply used to light a shot, but is is portable and small so it is easy to use.