In this lesson I learned about white balancing, colour bars and digital effects.
White balancing adjusts colours to match the lighting in a particular location. To white balance we simply navigate to manual white balance mode, aim the camera at a piece of white paper in the location of shooting and hold down select until the icon on screen stops flashing. This is to be done in every location and light setting before any filming starts.
I used this technique when filming a short sequence, as it is vital in achieving a meaningful, professional looking final product. Obviously, this technique will also be necessary when creating my Unit 3 Production.
Colour bars are used to help collaborate video with television. When capturing footage, editing software needs a few moments to buffer. Colour bars ensure that you aren't losing any footage. We use colour bars as page markers or full stops. Colour bars are accessed in the digital effects setting. When they are highlighted, we simply press select to see them cover the screen. We can then record them for as long as we need to between shots.
This is another technique that is vital in creating a professional looking piece of film. By filming colour bars between shots you are effectively giving your footage ‘handles’. Meaning you have a lot more to work with and giving you a lot more control over editing pace. This will be an a helpful technique when it comes to my Unit 3 Production.
Many digital effects such as black and white mode, sepia mode and mirror mode are also found in the digital effects setting. Shots can be recorded with digital effects present, though this isn't really necessary as they can be adding during post-production editing.
I haven’t used these effects when filming anything so far. I believe that these effects are to be used sparingly as they could easily make a piece of film look less professional if you were to get carried away with them. I’m not sure if they will be necessary in regards to my Unit 3 Production.
Independent Learning - The 180 Degree Rule
The clip spoke about how when you are shooting a scene with two characters exchanging dialogue, it is always best to imagine a circle around the two characters and keep the camera on one side of the circle, hence the term '180 Degree Rule'.
I think that by keeping this rule in mind when shooting a scene, my work will look a lot more professional. This is because the shots seem to flow a lot better and don't confuse and disorientate the viewer.
