Video Camera: Instruction Manual

Umar Hassan

External Microphone

Small LCD screen

Detachable lens

Zoom

Insert video tape here

Viewfinder (used for eyes)

Buttons used for recording, white balance, playing footage and AWB

Focus• Focus is so important because in most professional TV and film cameras, they do not have the auto focus

feature that you are most likely to see in entry and high tech camcorders so professional cameras don’t have the luxury of having auto focus.

• There are three different types of focus used in a video camera and those types are Back, Depth of Field and Focus Pulls.

• Back Focus: Back Focus is usually referred to as the ‘focal flange length’. This basically means the distance from the CCD (Charged Coupled Device) and rear lens element. What happens is you need a camera with a back focus ring that is located on the rear of the lens housing or the most obvious choice is the back focus chart shown on the bottom right hand side of the page is really helpful but if you have a sharp contrast on the camera, then that’s fine as well.

• Depth of field: Depth of field (also referred to as DOF) is referred to as the range of distances at which sharp focus can be acceptably obtained. This is an important aspect being used in video work for two reasons. One of the reasons is you have to understand DOF in detail to have control over your focus because if you have no idea how the DOF works, then you’ll end with soft footage that would have been saved from earlier on.

• Focus pulls: Focus pulls (also known as the rack focus) is one of the many creative camera techniques being used to change the focus in one image being shot. This usually means adjusting the focus from one subject to another. These 2 shots being shown on the bottom left hand side show the plant and girl being shown in the first shot and then in the second shot, it shows the focus being adjust to show the image of the girl in a sharper resolution.

Exposure and Iris• Iris is the aperture which basically controls the amount of light that comes through the lens. The iris basically

works similarly as a still camera iris. As you open the iris, the picture seems a lot brighter because more light comes into the shot. The main difference with a video camera, the viewfinder totally changes the picture when the iris is adjusted.

• The Correct Exposure: Before you go onto using the manual iris, you must know what the correct exposure is going to look like on your viewfinder. A great start to do this is when you set the camera’s settings onto auto-iris and try to frame the shot with some nice and even lighting and then try to notice the brightness of the picture whether it is too dark or too bright. With most cameras for example, they will retain the same exposure with the auto-function which you can adjust. You can either open or close the iris or either set the exposure from where you set it before.

• The only way to get this technique right and it is by practising many times in different lighting conditions. For example try to record a certain amount of shots and play them back to see if the exposure is good enough for that shot. Remember, you’ll learn to trust yourself more than the auto-iris.

• Backlight: One of the most common difficulties with exposure is with uneven light situations. With strong light in the background, it can be a real headache for filming.

With the first example, the camera is on auto-iris. It adjusts the exposure automatically but it leaves the shot as a silhouette due to the strong backlight. Some cameras may have a backlight feature which may not sort the problem out as well as the manual iris.

On the other hand with the second example, the manual iris is opened correctly to show the detail of the girl. This is a huge improvement of the first picture which looked more like a silhouette. This situation is more common on TV when you see an outside light on the window which may look too bright.

White Balance• White balance is basically “colour balance”. It’s a function which gives the camera reference to “true

white”. It basically tells the camera what the white colour looks like so the camera records it accurately. Here are some picture examples of White Balance:

Too blue Too yellowCorrect

•Terminology for white balance:•Auto white simply means the complete automatic function•Manual white simply means the operation below•Colour correction simply means an other method of adjusting colours.

How to perform manual white balance correctly

You will need a camera with a function for the manual white balance

•1. Use the correct filter (for this you will need the white filter)•2. Point the camera to a complete white subject so what you’re seeing on the viewfinder is white. You need about 50 to 80% of the frame should be white. The subject should be non-reflective but fairly matte.•3. Setup the exposure and focus•4. You must activate the white balance by either throwing the switch or pressing one of the buttons. It may take a few seconds to complete the operation but once it’s finished, the viewfinder may send a message to notify you that the white balance has been succeeded in which the colour balance will be retained. If it fails, then you need to find out the problem.

Sound• A great example of sound being used in video is in interviews. The quality of sound is especially important

as the audience is concentrating more on the guest saying on a topic rather than their appearance. If there isn’t crystal clear sound, the audience will be irritated by the sound quality.

• There are many different types of microphones used in interviews but the two main microphones used mostly in interviews are lapel and radio mics.

• Lapel mics: Lapel (also known as lavalier mics) create high quality and consistent sounds. Every person has their individual mic to use. They are always in the correct position and unwanted noise is rejected. The disadvantage of using lapel mics is that it’s difficult to setup because it’s slower and difficult because you may have a certain number of guests coming in either in the TV studio or outside. If the lapel mics are not fitted in correctly, then the presenter/interviewer may have to interrupt the interview to fix the problem before they can carry on.

• Radio mics: You can plug any type of microphone into a small battery-powered radio transmitter and it’s sent to the receiver at the recording end. This makes the interviewer and guest’s job much easier because of audio cable restraints. That also means that the guest and interviewer can be a long way from the camera (that would be on a long zoom).

Composition• Composition basically refers to the layout of everything that is within a picture frame. What the subject is,

where the thing is in the frame, the background, lighting and foreground. • Framing: Framing shots are basically all about composition. Rather than shooting the camera at that

particular subject, you would have to compose that image. Mentioned previously, framing is the process of composition.

• Rules of framing are look for the horizontal and vertical lines in the frame. With the horizontal frame, it must be level. While on the other hand, the verticals must be straight up and down.

• Rule of thirds: The rule of thirds is used in film and video production to divide the frame into nine imaginary sections. This creates points of reference and acts as a guide for framing the images.

• Like in many rules of framing, it’s not necessary to remember it but you should understand very well before you break it

• Some examples of composition are:• Close ups: It basically means a close up of the person’s face• Extreme Close ups: For example, the ECU is used to convey a person’s emotion.

ECU (Extreme Close Ups) CU (Close Ups)

Health and Safety• Video cameras are vitally important to film and TV productions whether if it’s broadcasting in the studio or

on an outside broadcast. Video cameras are everywhere. These pieces of equipment are extremely bulky and heavy and for most of the time they need an electrical power source to make the video cameras work.

• What a production company may do is have a risk assessment to make sure that the employees know what they are doing properly. With electrical equipment for example there are key points that the employee must cover for instance damaged cables and inaccurate wiring. But there is another risk assessment which is generic and that basically covers working in different environments and terrain. Another example of this is with heights where cranes maybe used so that carries another potential risk.

• One of the ideas is to create a set of rules designed in mind for Health and Safety and the camera equipment being used in many different circumstances. This is to make sure the standards for the camera equipment being used are fit for purpose. The standards also must cover the maintenance and safe operation used so that when employees go into a location, they know first hand that Health and Safety is a priority.