Equipment and technology

We used a variety of equipment and software to aid us throughout the production. Some were key to finishing the production while some helped enhanced the finished product.

The first three pieces of equipment were a necessity during the filing process. The first of these was essential to any video production, the camera. To be more specific, the camera was a Canon Legria FS406 . All clips and photos for either filming or the blog was done with this camera. The camera may not have had the greatest of quality, but it was the only camera available to us so we had to make do with what we had. Also due to its small size and weight we could easily handle it handheld-style. It was also very user friendly and easily to use, which meant that even someone who was wasn't very experienced with camera could use and handle it with ease.

The next piece of equipment we used was an asset to the camera, the tripod. Specifically designed so the camera could be securely mounted on top, this kept the camera steady whenever it wasn't moving. The part of the tripod with the mount was also able to swivel side-to-side and tilt up and down, so it allowed us to have good smooth panning shots and easily follow any on-screen action with ease. The legs of the tripod were also able to be extended, which allowed to have shots from a high angle.

The third and last piece of equipment was another camera asset; the Jib. Similar to a camera crane, the camera is mount on top of the Jib on a platform separate to the main structure of the Jib. Then through the use of a handle located at the other end of the Jib, the platform can be turned up and down at a various number of degrees. This permitted us to have camera movements mimicking those of a camera mounted a crane, with shots going from high shots to low shots in a smooth fashion. This also made executing high and low shots easier as we didn't need someone with the camera to be placed on a high object or to lie down on the floor. The Jib was also able to extend higher allowing for shots that were higher then first thought.

Next, we moved into the equipment in the studio area to film some performance shots. While working in there, we made use of the Spotlights positioned in there. We could move the lights around so we could use them to achieve the mood we were looking for. We could also change the brightness of the lights helping to further set the mood of the shot. They also help us achieve shots that would normally be hard to do; for example, our performer walks out of the shadows and up to the mic. This would normally be done with visual effects, but it has been easily achieved by lighting.

On the software side of things, the editing program we used was Final Cut Pro. Being a professional editing program and used by many Hollywood editors, Final Cut Pro was an ideal system to use. Although it is not easy to use unless you have experience with the program, it is probably the simplest and best way to edit anything; it has a wide variety of special effects and most importantly it allows non-liniaer editing. Basically this means that if we wanted to re-edit the beginning part, instead of having start over again like in the days of film editing, we simply scroll back to the start and edit away. Furthermore, the Mac computers we had access to had two screens, allowing Final Cut Pro to be used on both screens, giving us a clearer view on what we were editing.