Introduction | Video Basics | Pre-Production | Production | Post-Production

Assignments: Assignment #9 - Soundtrack | Assignment #10 - Freeze Frame Action | Assignment #11 - Action matching dialogue | Assignment #12 - Green Screen Jedi | Assignment #13 - Animating the lightsaber

Video Basics

The fields of television broadcasting and film are huge. Salaries can range from an hourly minimum wage to the tens of millions depending on luck, skill, schooling and networking. The first big question is why? Typically we generate TV & film for one of (or several of) 3 reasons: for pure art, for an audience, or for a client.

Video Production types

There are 2 basic production types live and canned. Live production is exemplified by the traditional broadcast while canned production is where footage is shot, then edited, then distributed to the user. Canned production far exceeds live production because all aspects of the finished product can be manipulated, while live production is at the mercy of lady chance (i.e. a team can do all they can to minimize errors, but because it's live, errors can result in termination of broadcast).

1. Live Production - not used at SCHS, but programs like those at Sir Will and a few others have sound, lighting and film-work combined to generate live streams watched by audiences.
2. Canned production (coined by the fact that film used to be carried around in 'tin cans' containing the celluloid) is what is done at SC. We have 2 forms of canned production:
   1. Film: using Premiere Elements as an editor, footage and sound is mixed in a post-production environment to generate a finished product.
   2. Broadcast (using Visual Communicator as an assembler): a time-line-based piece of software that ties together live and pre-edited elements to generate a finished product.

All the work is done upfront BEFORE the shooting happens.

SD-Card recorders used @ SCHS

• Nikon D5X00 (e.g. 5100, 5300...), D7000, D600,
• Canon HFS200

Manuals

• Nikon D5100 User Manual
• Nikon D5300 User Manual
• Nikon D7000 User Manual
• Nikon D300 User Manual
• Canon HFS20 Camcorder.pdf

Mic options

SINGLE SYSTEM RECORDING (easy to record, but often has far lower sound quality due to cheap audio amps inside the camera)

• onboard mic on the cameras: poor tinny option. Very low-quality sound
• shotgun mic - slots into the hotshoe/coldshoe (the flash slot at the top of the camera) and plugs into the mic port on the dslr - good for synch'd sound, but is only good for about 20' and a cone about 30 deg. over that distance.
• lavaliere mic (lapel mic) - useful to get dialogue in interview style video, but is visible, and if there's movement can pick up clothing noises and changes based on head movement. The base of the lav mic fits in the hotshoe. Problem - wireless mics can also pick up wireless noise.
• handheld boom pole mic - exceptional sound quality, but requires a person to hold it and orient it to conversation. Also requires syncing with video if you're not using passthrough on the zoom recorders.

DOUBLE SYSTEM RECORDING OPTIONS (you have to sync audio file with the onboard mic "scratch recording" but quality is FAR superiod)

• Shotgun mic, Lav mic and boom-pole mic all feed into a digital audio recorder "DAR" (usually the Zoom 5) through either 1/8" or XLR jacks on the DAR and are often positioned nearer to the subject.

Rules of Conduct

Also note that there are rules of conduct implied with video production:

• Be Careful handling the equipment
  • Change SD cards and lenses over a table
  • Use the strap when available
  • Secure and carry the camera when mounted on a tripod carefully
• Be Respectful when shooting
  • Do not disrupt other classes
  • Don't intentionally record someone without their knowledge or implied consent
  • Never record in washrooms or locker rooms
• Be Accountable
  • If you are outside of the Comm Tech area, it is to complete your production - not to get food, make calls, chat with friends etc.
  • Get the job done, and return to class ASAP to continue in on the post-production phase.

Camera Setup

These settings are easy to overlook, but potentially DISASTROUS to your production if not set properly

Good tips

• FORMAT THE SD CARD UNLESS IT'S YOURS.
• RESET THE SHOOTING MENU. In the options under camera settings on the DSLR.
• SET THE DATE AND TIME

ASPECT RATIO

• Wide-screen is the most common format. When selecting this format on our cameras we choose 1920x1080 or 1280x720. We will also choose 24fps, or 30fps. To be honest - people often choose 24fps because it is a traditional filmmaking framerate (the number of frames per second recorded) - however, 30fps is the default for most DSLR's. If you intend on having fast motion sequences you want to slow down, shoot at 60fps instead.

AUTOMATIC SETTINGS

• AUTO FOCUS works well in most cases, but changing the setting to MANUAL FOCUS can ensure your shots STAY in focus if there is positional movement in your shot.

WHITE BALANCE

• As with digital photography, setting white balance ensures proper colours and can pro-actively eliminate "colour casts", manually correcting colour afterwards is a pain.
• Finding the White Balance settings is a big challenge - Consult the PDF manuals in the handouts folder to set the white balance for specific cameras (in the PDF, use EDIT FIND and search for the word "balance")

AUDIO SOURCE

• Be sure to MONITOR the sound using headphones, and adjust settings appropriately. Nothing sucks worse than recording an awesome take that seems like it will be good, only to get back and put on a pair of headphones and realize there's a bunch of tinny noise, or wind etc....

• Use a STANDARD DEFINITION setting (1280x720) for any projects you do in school unless you're submitting to a competition and editing on a "silver tower".