Practical Lesson

Every person studying media would obviously have to know about the camera you are going to use so we had a practical lesson Matt and Simon. We were taught on a Sony NX5 digital HD camera. The first device we were taught to use was a tripod. This involved unlocking the catches on each leg than adjusting it to our preferred height. After this we were taught to put the camera on the tripod this done by unlocking the lock and holding down a button then sliding on the camera to the head of the tripod. After setting up the tripod and camera we learnt how to bubble it which makes sure the camera angle is straight and the filming being done wont be at a angle. Next we were taught how to insert the battery and most importantly turn the camera on. Following this we were taught about the zoom and focus, which we had to twist to adjust.

After this we moved onto the inner workings of the camera. we were taught about white balance. This is were you zoom in on a white surface and press the white balance button. This then adjusts the colours according to the light present. If the white balance is not adjusted to suit the lighting state your in then their will be a colour distortion and depending if it is natural light or artificial it will be either blue or orange. After we did all of this we were split into small groups and start experimenting with the camera. As well as this we were told about what happens if you adjust the aperture and shutter speed. We plugged the camera in to the TV screen and the important things such as the F-stop and Time code were pointed out to us and explained.

In conclusion I very much enjoyed this lesson and was taught things I have never known before. It was very interesting experimenting with such a advanced camera and it was a great privilege for me to be able to use it. It also gave me more confidence in how to film my thriller and was glad we didn’t just get thrown in.