Camera Lesson

As someone who has never used a camera before I was worried about how difficult it would be to grasp how to use one in just one lesson, however, in this camera lesson, I learnt a lot about how to set up a camera and the different ways to achieve the best looking film.

 

1) Tripod

Firstly, we learnt how to set up the tripod. This was quite a simple step as it involved pulling out the legs of the tripod to make it steady and adjust the height. The tripod is extremely important because it ensures that the shot is steady and the camera does not move around.

 

 

2) Pan/Tilt Handle

 The next stage of setting up the tripod was attaching the pan/tilt handle. This feature enabled us to move the tripod to pan or tilt. these different methods of filming are really useful for creating different effects within a film. Tilt can instantly change a character's status and pan is great for long shots to help set the scene for the audience.

 

3) Camera (Sony NX 5)

Each group got given a camera. Ours was the Sony NX 5. I liked this camera as it was simple to use and it didn't require a lens to be put on it as it already had one. What we did learn was how to attach the camera to the tripod. I found this a lot easier than I thought as the camera has clear labels on it of how to place it onto the tripod and it easily slides into place like a jigsaw puzzle.

 

 

4) Battery

The next thing we learnt how to do was put the battery into the camera. Again, the battery and the camera had labels on them so that it was easy to remember how to put the battery in. Our battery needed to be pushed up and then down again until it clicked into place.

5) Tilt/Pan

After learning how to put the tilt and pan handle onto the tripod, it was important to know how to use it with the camera effectively and so we had time to practice this. We learnt the different mechanisms which you had to alter to cause the camera to lock in a titled position or to stay loose to pan the camera.

 

6) Zoom and Focus

An important part of learning how to use a camera is learning how to zoom in and focus. We learnt firstly how to zoom in on an object and once we had grasped that we learnt how to focus effectively. The best way of doing this is to zoom in as far as possible to a specific point and then adjust the focus so that everything shot would be in focus.

 

7) White balance and Lighting

The  final thing we learnt how to do was how to adjust the lighting and the white balance on the camera. This step was particularly important for filming outside because the lighting changes from inside to outside. To adjust the white balance, all we had to do was put a white object in front of the camera and then adjust the lighting until the camera created a bright white effect on the object.