Canon 5D DSLR

 

I have recently been trained on this camera and I would like to use

it for my film. I like the depth of focus on DSLR’s and the fact they

are small and lightweight so quite practical. This camera also has

immaculate image quality. Not only does it have good resolution

and sharpness but it has an ISO that goes down to 50 making

some of my scene like the barn scene easier to film as there will

be less noise. It also has a long battery life that will come in handy

when filming long day shoots. However it gets very hot so will have

to take care when using it for a long period of time.

 

Marantz Recorder

 

As the 5D doesn’t have a good enough sound recorder I will use a

Marantz. They are simple to use but can be unreliable, I will have to

make sure too bring lots of batteries with me as they run out fast.

 

Redrock Shoulder Mount

 

I also want to use the redrock shoulder mount. In my film a lot of the

shot are fluid slow moving shots so I feel this would be the best and

easiest way to make sure the shots are smooth and steady. This

shoulder mount is good as it is very adaptable and so can easily be

adjusted to make sure we can get the shot we need in the most

practical way.

 

 

 

Technical Theory

 

For my film I need to understand full the technical termonology so I can apply them to my film and especially if I manage to get a professional cameraman he may ask me questions on what I’m looking for, so to know these terms will help me look more professional.

 

 

 

 

Sharpening

 

Sharpening makes edges appear more defined by darkening

the darker pixels and brightening the brighter pixels. This

creates a crisp edge between light and dark portions of the

image, giving it more contrast. Hopefully I shouldn't have

to sharpen the footage too much for my film but it

might look nice on some of the shots to make them a bit

more defined.

 

 

 

 

 

 

White Balance

 

White Balance is the concept of colour temperature. Colour

temperature is a way of measuring the quality of a light source. It

is based on the ratio of the amount of blue light to the amount of

red light, and the green light is ignored. The unit for measuring

this ratio is in degree Kelvin (K). A light with higher colour

temperature (larger Kelvin value) has more blue lights than a light

with lower colour temperature (smaller Kelvin value). Digital

cameras usually have built-in sensors to measure the current colour

temperature. Under some difficult situations when the in-camera

sensor is not able to set the colour temperature correctly we can

instruct the camera to use a particular colour temperature. This

adjustment that makes sure the white colour we view directly will

also appear white in the image which is referred to as white balance.

 

 

 

Rule of Thirds

 

Rule of Thirds is the basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to

imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and

vertically) so that you have 9 parts.

 

The theory states that if you place points of interest in the

intersections or along the lines that your photo becomes more

balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it

more naturally. Studies have shown that when viewing images that

people’s eyes usually go to one of the intersection points most

naturally rather than the centre of the shot. For my film I will make

sure to use rule of thirds to let the audience know where to look to

focus them on important aspects. For example I willl use rule of

thirds to show the timid sapien in the background using the top right

focal point and the bottom left point will be the other sapiens. This

will show the timid sapien is isolated and lonely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aperture

 

Aperture is the opening in the lens. When you hit the shutter

release button of your camera a hole opens up that allows your

cameras image sensor to catch a glimpse of the scene you’re

wanting to capture. The aperture that you set

 

 

impacts the size

of that hole. The larger the hole the more light that gets in – the

smaller the hole the less light, just like an eyes' pupil. Aperture

is measured in ‘f-stops’. Moving from one f-stop to the next

doubles or halves the size of the amount of opening in your lens

(and the amount of light getting through). For my film I will use

 multiple different apertures but the main one I will use is f/2.8.

I will use that f number on objects and facial expersions so the

audience can focus on them more and won't be too distracted

by the background, hopefully making it more emotional.

 

ISO

 

ISO in traditional film photography was the indication of how

sensitive a film was to light. It was measured in numbers, the

lower the number the lower the sensitivity of the film and the

finer the grain in the shots you’re taking. However in digital

photography ISO measures the sensitivity of the image

sensor. The same principles apply as in film photography,

the lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to

light and the finer the grain. Higher ISO settings are generally

used in darker situations to get faster shutter speeds. But the

higher the ISO you choose the noisier shots you will get. For

my film I will use 100 ISO as this is generally accepted as

‘normal’ and will give us lovely crisp shots with little

noise/grain. However for the barn shots where it will be

darker I will adjust the aputure to allow more light in. Luckily

with the Canon 5D it has a good ISO so will be usfull when

filming in dark locations. When you choose a specific ISO

you’ll notice that it impacts the aperture and shutter speed

needed for a well exposed shot. For example – if you put

your ISO up from 100 to 400 you’ll notice that you can shoot

at higher shutter speeds and/or smaller apertures.

 

 

 

Shutter Speed

 

Shutter Speed is the length of time a camera's shutter is open

when taking a photograph. The amount of light that reaches

the image sensor is proportional to the exposure time. Shutter

speed is measured in seconds or in fractions of seconds. The

bigger the denominator the faster the speed (i.e. 1/1000 is

much faster than 1/30). For my film I will be using shutter

speeds of 1/60th of a second or faster as anything slower than

this is very difficult to use without getting camera shake and

we want it to look natural. Camera shake is when your camera

is moving while the shutter is open and results in blur in your

photos.