The second class of our week one of the ‘recording place’ studio, our class get to learn heaps of ways to operate a camera along with other production equipment such as tripod. I learned to use the Sony x200 camera, which I have never used before for any media related classes. So, it was an interesting experience, as well as, efficient new knowledge to have, especially, for throughout this course. Furthermore, we were told to film Queen Victoria Market as our filming activity for this week. We were told to take several shots of QVM from the outside, whilst using camera techniques such as panning, tilting and more. From this experience operating a camera, here are the things that I find most compulsory after going through this activity:

Firstly, one thing that comes to mind is: to be completely familiar or at least have someone familiar (in your group), with the way the camera operates correctly. I always seem to forget which button does what or how to focus, do white balance, etc. To me, it was important to bring notes during these kinds of exercises or activities in class where it requires going ‘out on the field’. This is because it could be very convenient and helpful once, you have notes of which buttons does what, how to focus, utilize white balance, etc. On the plus side, the paper I use for notes could be used for manually setting white balance to ensure balanced color, thus, beautiful shots.

Finally, from this activity I learned to also watch out for visitors or bystanders. Especially, being comfortable with filming in public. When I was doing this activity I find it quite hard to find shots where no one is going to pass by or watch from the distance or saying ‘excuse me’, it’s actually impossible really. So, the best solution before getting my camera out when changing location is really to make sure that you have ‘a good eye’. It might sound really vague, but making sure I know what shot I want to take and have a visual in my head whilst searching for the right angle and location, is a really beneficial skill to learn.