Technical Research / Equipment

The majority of equipment and software we'll be using is things I have experience with so hopefully that will improve the quality of our finished Main Production and Ancillary Products.

To film we will be using as Nikon D5100 which is my dad's camera that he'll be letting us use for our main production but also to take the photos for the Film Poster and Film Review. We'll be using two different lenses (lens here) The camera itself has a moveable viewfinder, around 12 different built in view settings and a built in flash.

Seeming as our idea includes filming at night and in the dark for lighting we will be using 2 soft boxes with energy saving bulbs and a small LED battery powered light that can be attached to the top of the camera which would help with spotlight lighting but the soft boxes will help with key lighting and to prevent as much noise/static within the shots,
it also diffuses the light into a pleasing soft, even light. When used properly, it reduces harsh shadows. The closer the softbox is to the model or subject, the softer the light appears, emulating window light. The shape of a softbox can vary from rectangular to octagonal to square to a long strip of light. A softbox is comprised of translucent cloth and attached to a light sourced and it's on a light stand.

The microphone we shall be using is a RODE VideoMic, it has
studio recording quality, condenser microphone, super-cardioid polar pattern, 9V battery power, integrated Rycote® Lyre® shock mounting, two step High Pass Filter (Flat/80Hz), three step PAD (0, -10, -20dB), rugged reinforced ABS construction, a 3.5mm mini-jack output and a integrated cold-shoe mount (3/8” thread). Just like the LED light, it attaches to the top of the camera then you input it into the side of there camera that is labelled as "mic".

The tripod we will be using during filming is the Velbon DF-41, The Velbon DF-41 Tripod Kit is a standard-size, heavy-duty tripod that is ideal for regular SLR cameras and video camcorders.
It is distinguished by such features as a quick-release pan head for tilts and pans, a sure-grip handle that is positioned on the left side for easy access to the main camera controls, a dual-position quick-release platform, and a geared centre platform for quick height adjustments.
Maximum Height; 152cm
Closed Height; 58.6cm
Leg Sections; 3
Weight; 1.38k

This camera stabilizer is something I recently received as a gift and the stabilizer itself turns into several different types of stabilizer such as a should rig, I felt that it was less useful then having several different, separate stabilizers and better to have just one that did everything as it's or portable when traveling to locations and easier to swap between the two. As you can see from the picture it has foam padding around the main handles to help with grip and it have several knobs around it to help adjust the tightness and the length of the stabilizer to fit whatever you want.

For both the Film Poster and Film Review we will be using Adobe Photoshop CS6 which is something I have been using for years now and feel moderately experienced at. In Photoshop CS6 you can crop an images, remove or alter certain aspects of the picture such as, blurring it, changing the colour of it, adding images, maybe even changing someones face. You can also use it to add blood onto a picture, add shadows, make the picture darker to match the horror genre conventions.

Seeming as I will be the editor I have decided to use Final Cut Pro X, just like Adobe Photoshop CS6 this is a software I have used for many years and feel that I am experienced with. Final Cut Pro uses all the RAM in your system to handle larger frame sizes and keep more frames in memory. You can now create more extensive projects and work with deeper, more interesting multilayered effects. The high-quality rendering in Final Cut Pro makes it possible to compute realistic effects with extraordinary precision using floating-point, linear-light colour space calculations. You get the same superb results for blurs, scales and lighting effects as you would from high-end compositing software. Final Cut Pro is designed to use Apple’s ColorSync colour management for display and processing, producing accurate and consistent colour from import to render and export. Colours look the same whether you’re playing back media in Final Cut Pro, Motion or QuickTime Player, there are so many brilliant features to it.