Work Log
Monday: No School
Tuesday: No School
Wednesday: Toured the studio room to learn of the equipment available to film students.
Thursday: Investigating audio equipment
Friday: Learning how to use the camera slider.
Investigation
During my shortly timed investigation this week, I focused on learning how to use the equipment that is provided to the film students within Cumberland Valley High School. I now understand that I have access to a recording booth, a studio, camera sliders, plenty of audio equipment, camera mounts, and camera cranes.
Microphones
The beginning of my investigation was that of learning how to use the various kinds of microphones available to the film students. With any microphone, it's important to know a few things when using a DSLR camera. First of all, it's necessary to make sure the attenuator setting is off, as that is only supposed to be used with nonmicrophones (similar to line-in for computers). Furthermore, when using auto volume, be aware that it will have a lot of background noise. Consider that in the future, as it may very well be more worthwhile to have the microphone on manual and just adjust in yourself.
There were three microphones I learned to use. The first of them was a simple shotgun mic that can be attached to the DSLR. This will most likely be the microphone that one would use when filming, as it provides fine audio and is the easiest to use. The second microphone was the dynamic mic. It would provide the best directional audio (meaning it would capture only from the direction you point it), as it can be used to only record the audio of the person it is right next to. However, using it in a film without showing it is extremely difficult, so it can only really be used when it makes sense to see it in a film. Lastly, we tested the lavalier mics. Since they are easily hidden, they are very useful to record audio if you do not want to use a boom microphone. In my opinion, the lavalier seems preferable.
The difference of when to use between a dynamic mic and the other two is easier to understand than the difference between the lavalier and the shotgun/boom microphone setup. Here is a video that gives further explanation on the difference.
Camera Slider
A camera slider is used to have extremely smooth camera movements from left to right or front to back (or the reverse direction of two). Another thing filmmakers can do with a slider is zoom in while pulling away from a subject to create a vertigo effect. Additionally, one must attach a camera mount to the slider that is being used, meaning that you could also pan or crane the camera while moving it as well. The last important thing to know about camera sliders is that they include legs that can be used on a table or floor, so one does not need to use a tripod with it necessarily.
Setting camera sliders is difficult. If you want more information of getting yours set up, here is a tutorial video on how to do so (including how to attach the camera mount).
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