Equipment Information (Ben)

When we film our music video and shooting the photographs for our promotional package we plan to each use a DSLR which we are each familiar with and know well; this will be beneficial as it reduces the risk of running into technical issues and we will have the suitable experience and muscle memory to handle the cameras well, keep the actors in focus etc.

Music video

Cameras

To film our music video we plan to use two DSLR cameras, these will be a Canon 550D and a Nikon D3300. These are entry-mid level cameras with the capability to also shoot video as well as stills. We will use the 18-55 kit lens with the 550D as this will be more of an auxiliary camera; shooting the sequences at an alternate angle to the main camera, and so we will need some limited zoom capability. This method will help us to be more time efficient and save us time and is often used whilst filming interviews.

Lenses

For the D3300 we will utilise both the 18-55 kit lens as well as a 35mm prime, the kit lens will be more of a back-up in case we can't get the camera near/far away enough from the actors with the prime. The prime will give use greater image quality and visual clarity as well as a faster autofocus however has no zoom capability. The prime lens also lets us use a lower f-stop (smaller aperture) and thus will allow us to get softer backgrounds and let more light in. We will also take a fisheye lens adapter with us as there is a couple of shots where an extreme close up would be suitable.

Equipment

Whilst filming we will also use tripods for the main camera as it will be recording the angles and shots we know that we definitely want. For the secondary camera we will take another tripod for filming however most of this camera's shots will likely be handheld as it will be used for alternate shots which will be decided more on the fly.

Lighting

For the forest scene we won't need to use artificial lights as we can utilise natural light (as we will be filming early in the day) which will be softer, more even and brighter. For the office scene however we will not be able to solely rely on natural light and so we will use a series of artificial lights to create soft, warm lighting.

Magazine advert/Digipak

Both of these cameras and the named lenses are also excellent stills cameras, and so we will use them for this purpose as well. Whilst one camera is filming a section we will also use the other to take some shots as well as film for the magazine advert/digipak. This will help by giving us more shots to work with when we create our magazine advert/digipak other than posed shots. This will also help us save time greatly.