Getting Our Hands On The Camera...

In our last lesson with Bernard, we finally got our hands on the camera! It was really exciting but first of of all we were told the basics of the DO's and the DONT'S etc... below are the main things i remember;

. Don't allow the camera to get wet ; We must try our best to not let the camera come into contact with water or rain! We should only film in the rain if necessary, and if we do we should use a very big umbrella to protect it. We were told a story of how a group in the past left the camera in a bag full of rain which was quite funny and silly of them but luckily they managed to dry the camera and it still worked!

. Always shut the lens after use ; The lens is the most sensitive (and most expenisve I think) part of the camera so we must do everything we can to protect it. This means shutting it after we finish filming so that it will not get damaged, cracked etc..

. Return the camera on time ; When we are given a deadline of when to bring the cameras back we must meet that deadline! If we don't this means that other groups will not be able to use the cameras, and if other groups don't return it on time aswel, this would also mean the same for us!

. Treat the camera with respect ; We should handle the cameras gently and make sure we do not damage them! They are very expensive!! If we break them we will have to pay for them and split the charge with the people in our group despite who damaged it! Sounds quite harsh actually...


First, I took the camera stand and practised how to unscrew it so that I could make the legs longer and how to shorten them again. I also practised placing the camera on top of the stand and sliding it off again. It was very easy.







The camera that we were introduced to looked very similar to this one! As you can see it looks very professional! We were told that they cost around £2,500 each! I am definately going to treat it with care!

After that we got told the basic features of the camera and how to use it.. We were taught how to insert the memory cards, how to insert the battery, change the lighting settings, how to make the image sharp, how to record, and so on.... it really wasn't as hard as I thought!

 After that we got into groups, and practised filming. We had to do a continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, and we had to add in some dialogue. Each group was given a scenario then we seperated and started doing our filming. This was our scernario (sorry if it is difficult to read!)...

 It was really fun once we got started but first we had to plan out our 12 shots which was the boring part. But once we got filming it was really funny and also a good experience as we got to have a feeling of how it would be like when it comes to starting to film our real film!