Experiment: Camera Movement

Today we experimented with Camera Movement, which involved using physical motion of the camera to alter footage in ways you couldn't do with a stationary camera.

The first experiment involved a full 360 degree rotation shot, which would require three of us to operate the tripod in order to keep it in a perpetual rotation. We found that it was difficult to keep the camera looking at, say, a moving subject. It was also difficult to transfer the tripod's grip from the hand of one user to another without having a jitter in the footage.
[photos needed]

We also experimented with moving the Camera from side to side with a Dolly track lined through the center of the room. However, in doing this, we didn't achieve many unique shots, as we didn't really partake in much motion camera wise.

Camera and Lighting equipment catchup

In today's lesson, we all had a bit of catchup with using the Cameras and Lighting equipment. 

I firstly attached this DSLR to a Tripod. I've done this countless times but not with a DSLR. 

We then looked to the film camera to revise on some of the functions. The Auto/Manual toggle pointed at here toggles Automatic focus on and off. 

The three wheels around the lens were demonstrated to us. Although I'm aware and familiar with the zoom and focus wheel, the iris wheel (the thinnest, and the one closest to the camera's body) was new to me. It changes the size of the aperture over the lens so as to let in different amounts of light. This function can be interrupted by manually zooming the lens however. 

In order to darken/brighten the footage without changing the aperture size, the ND Filter can be used. This simply lays a grat or black filter over the sensor in the camera. 

We then tested each other by completely mucking up the camera's settings and then rectifying them. 

We then moved over to the DSLR, which can be set to record at higher frame rates for slow motion footage. 

The ISO button allows you to, using the scroll wheel ahead of it, alter the shutter speed of the camera. 

The AV button, when held and used in conjunction with the scroll wheel, changes the size of the Iris. 

This menu in the settings allows you to choose the size and frame rate at which you record video footage. The setting selected is at 50FPS, which would make it ideal for slow motion HD footage. 

We then went on to set up the lighting lamps. 

I adjusted the flaps on this lamp so

It would shoot out a pinpoint rectangle of light as opposed to an overall blanket of light. 

With the flaps open, it releases light over the whole room. It's important to use gloves while adjusting these lamps while they are active, as they can get very very hot.