Equipment

Camera

The camera we are using is a Canon 550D. It is a DSLR that records in 1080p at 30 frames per second which is not perfect for a music video as there is lots of slow motion footage and also higher than real time speed. This makes the slow motion become rough and not smooth as you can see each frames transition to the next. Although the 1080p pixel rate is very high to show a lot of high quality. It also has a lot of features which allows you to manually set the camera the way you want to shoot with, such as the Shutter speed, Apatures, Iso and White balance. If the camera is set up correctly to the scenery it is shooting the quality and colour correction will be almost perfect.

Lenses

Canon 18-55mm
This lens is a standard lens which allows some wide angle shooting from 18mm, to 55mm with manual focus.

Tamron 80-210mm

This is a very good lens with a large zoom difference which allows a lot of different size shots. This lens also allows an apature stop of F4.6 which can make your shots a lot more creative and professional.

Samyang 8mm Fisheye
This lens is a fixed lens of 8mm which is a full frame fish eye lens which shows extreme wide angle images with a high appature to show all focus point within the viewfinder. Fisheye lenses are wide angle without image correction which leaves the image distorted in a circular shape.

Each lens gives a different effect to show a different image so we can vary between the different shots to show a variety of footage.

Tripod

Velbon dv-6000

This is a professional video tripod with 2-way PH-358 fluid head, quick release platform and spirit level. It also braced 3 section legs for maximum stability in regular or semi low-angle setting and heavy duty rubber feet. The PH-368 head has separate pan and tilt adjustment knobs and large quick release platform with   an Auto Lock system. Also features a 4 –position handle that can be changeable from front to rear and from left handed to right.

Tracking Slider

We made a tracking slider out of some PVC plastic and screwed it to a wooden board to make it rigid and straight. The dolly was made out of a wooden block with some skateboard wheels which flowed smoothly down the track. A tracking dolly allows moving shots and brings subjects or people into shot or out of shot.

Backdrop

The backdrop is a white screen that shows nothing in the background, so what ever subject is in the foreground all the attention is based on them, this keeps the audience focused on them. You can also introduce different lights and flashes which give off different effects and can make the picture come alive.

Microphone
An external microphone improves the quality of the sound recording which made it easier for us to tell what clip was with what part of the song.