Research into equipment

Canon 550DThe canon 550D is a camera perfect for filming, with up to 3.7fps shooting and full HD settings for filming, it will be great for me to use for my music video. It is easy to carry around, not too bulky like most SLR’s, it is lightweight, only weighing around 0.53 kg, it is seamless for going out on long filming trips to get the perfect shots.With an ISO of 100-6400 it allows me to shoot in lots of different light (although I will be using a great deal of lighting equipment as well). So this camera will be perfect for me when I want to go out to London in the late afternoon/evening to film with Georgia, it will allow me to have great quality shots which I’ll need for an effective music video. Moreover it has a built in flash and 18.0 mega pixel sensor so I can literally shoot in the dark if I wanted to, but I will definitely be using light equipment for my music video.I am confident that using this camera will ensure my music video stays at a high quality and a professional look (which I am aiming for). I have briefly used this camera before for photo shoots and even filming just before summer at school just to get to grips with using it and how confident I am with it. So now I feel adept with the technology of the camera and I now indeed have ideas to go with the using of the camera. I will be using my own SD card most likely, as that way I don’t have to feel so responsible for it and I can have all of my pictures on one card which has a lot of storage, so overall I am confident to use this camera and I feel it will work to my advantage.

TripodI would argue that a tripod is a very important piece of equipment needed most definitely when filming, it is one of the key pieces of equipment for effective, professional looking shots, as the tripod keeps the camera still instead of holding it with your hands which would shake, the tripod secures it. Most successful when doing shots over a long period of time, i.e. time lapses, which is something I plan to do of the sky. So the tripod is a three-legged stand which I can attach the camera on top off and secure it down nicely so I can tilt the top of the tripod and the camera wont fall, if it has been secured properly. You can even attach other equipment to tripods for example, such as camera slides and lights. If you need low or high up shots, you can shorten and extend the legs of the tripod and then fix it into the heights you want. So this is essentially a great deal more effective than just holding it as you cannot have it in a fixed position by just holding it. This is a piece of equipment that without a doubt I will be using for my filming as it makes your shots just that bit easier to do and give it a more professional look. Although tripods are a rather large piece of equipment in comparison to the camera, it is worth it to bring it whenever you are filming as like I said your shots would look a great deal better than they would without a tripod, I would even argue certain shots MUST be done with a tripod as without they wouldn’t even look good enough to show so like the camera it is a key piece of equipment if you want great shots that are in focus and not blurred.

GoProGoPro’s are a great piece of equipment, they are very effective and give filming a very professional feel. I am excited to use the Go-pro as you can use it in any condition as they're very well made you can even use them in water which could be a good shot to add to my music video. I am also confident I want to include a time-lapse in my music video in a field of a sunset, changing colours and a GoPro would be great for that. As I can use the GoPro to film the time-lapse while at the same time filming something else on a camera so I do not waste any time. so GoPro’s are great for time-lapse filming as they will get everything you want to show in the shot while filming it at a time setting you want, while keeping with its HD quality. Following on from this, you can get specific equipment to make your time-lapse look even better. This would be a rotating time lapse device, that can usually rotate for as long as 2 hours! This would be great for my music video. Furthermore although GoPro’s are great pieces of equipment they still stay with a high quality HD setting which allow all of the shooting look highly professional. So ill mainly use the GoPro for any time-lapse filming I want to do and any filming that I may want to use water in it. So I have noticed that in the past people have done like filming of the GoPro in the sink or something and the actor puts their head in the sink to wash their face and it does actually look very effective.

Camera slide

Steadicam (shoulder rig)

Camera slides are a very effective piece of equipment as they can turn a normal shot into a very professional one, whereby you can move the camera along the slide so you can get very different and unique shots with it with a much different look than if the camera was just still and motionless. Furthermore this piece of equipment is great if you're in a very interesting location and you are trying to evoke a certain mood or feeling to the shot. So for example by sliding the camera up the slide you can gain a happy mood to it and contrasting with if you were to slide it down the slide you can evoke a sadder mood. I am confident I would like to use this piece of equipment when I next go out to film as I do believe it will give the music video a very professional look to it and the fact the camera doesn’t wobble like it would if you were just holding it, is great.

Steadicam or shoulder rig’s are a very helpful piece of equipment as they allow you to do filming while moving but still allowing the camera to stay still. So if you wanted to do some filming while following your actor/actress you can and the camera would feel so wobbly as it might if you were to just hold it. But by walking and holding the camera at the same time allows the shot to look like you are walking, as you are but the camera will not be so wobbly as you do walk. Students in the past have used this piece of equipment and I do believe it is a simple yet effective piece of equipment that is very beneficial to the entire video. This type of equipment would be good if you were to film in London for example, which I plan to do, so following my actress around London as London is so busy you have to keep walking and you can do just that with the Steadicam.

Lighting Lighting is something crucial that I will need to use with my filming as it more or less highlights the professionalism of your entire video! If you have bad lighting/not enough lighting then your video would look very unprofessional and it could give off certain moods to the video, for example less lighting usually connotates sadder moods and if your video shouldn’t be evoking that sort of mood you would want to make sure your lighting is okay. But at the same time, too much lighting can look bad, and by having to alter the camera settings to match the lighting can make your video look very out of focus and uninteresting.

Fill lightFill lights are necessary when filming as they allow the video to look specialised and not mediocre as fill lights essentially give off a soft amount of light so your filming doesn’t actually look too dark and you shouldn’t have to keep adjusting your cameras settings such as aperture and ISO to try and give more light to your shot.

Red headsThese are usually a piece of lighting that would be used in a very dark room to allow the initial main source of light, so if I need to do any filming in the black box room then I would definitely need to use this piece of equipment. This would usually be used to create an ‘infinite background’ look which evokes a great deal of mood to your filming and looks very interesting.

LEDWhen I am using the tripod and most likely when I would need to use it in the dark so for example the late evening, this is a small light that attaches to the tripod, it is a very bright light and would allow any filming in any dark place to turn out lighter and much brighter and following on from that, professional.