Main Task - Equipment

Equipment

To complete our film opening, we are going to have to use various different types of equipment so that our film can be completed to its best ability. We also used the same equipment in our preliminary tasks which helped us get used to them but also know how to use the equipment properly and in a safe manner so that we can handle them correctly and not cause any damage to it. All the equipment that we used was all borrowed from the school which were high quality pieces and enhanced our overall quality in the production.

To film my opening scene, I used a Sony HD camera. The camera was given to us by the school which helped us a lot as we didn’t have a camera of our own that we could use. The camera was flexible for us to use and exactly what we needed especially with the different functions that we could use on it such as changing the colour complexion. On the camera we were also able to zoom in and out which was very useful for when we wanted to do close up shots of the character which we wanted to do so that we can have a range of different angle shots which keeps the piece mixed and not boring. One of the problems that we had with the camera was that because we filmed the shots in the morning, it kept showing the sunlight which disrupted the filming process and so we had to keep moving the camera around a lot so that we didn’t get the sun in the shot. Another problem was that the battery life of the camera kept going low and turning off which was quite stressful and annoying at times which also leads to another problem that we had which was that the camera would sometimes freeze and not record what we wanted. Some of the shots that we wanted, we were not able to get because of this reason and so we decided to cut these out in the end.

We also used a Sony tripod. This is because when filming our shots, we wanted out shots to be steady so that the audience can see the film as if a professional has filmed it which also gives the high quality effect. The tripod was very helpful and useful because it kept the camera still whilst filming but also we were able to tilt the camera sideways and up or down without having to move the tripod which helped expand the different shots we used. The tripod also gave us an advantage of the different angles that we could use such as if we opened it, it would go longer at different heights and we could also shorten it as well.

We then needed a USB cable which connects the camera to the iMac laptop so that we could edit the pieces that we had recorded and put it together on the laptop. We couldn’t find one from school at first as they were all out and so we used one that a group member had at home but then we used one from school after they had one spare.

If we didn't have these pieces of equipment, we would not have been able to complete our production with high standards. If our film was real we would be using various other pieces of equipment which professional film makers have. I am satisfied with the equipment we used and think with them we have been able to make our film to our best ability.