Production Equipment

Camera

Motion picture cameras are devices that are capable of taking multiple pictures in sequence (at a high speed) to create the illusion of movement.

       Louis Le Prince was the first man to create a patented motion camera in 1888. He filmed several moving picture films such as 'Roundhay Garden Scene' and 'A Leeds Bridge' using a single-lens camera and Eastman's paper film. Le Prince mysteriously disappeared in September 1890, leaving the Lumiere brothers and Thomas Edison to produce more cameras and films (with 14 - 20 fps). However, the very first patented moving picture camera can still be seen at Bradford's National Media Museum.

       The first generation of cameras (analogue) kept the film on the inside, so that it wasn't over-exposed to the light. The shutter would open, allowing light to access the film or sensor, creating an image. Then the shutter would close and the next piece of unexposed film would move into place.

       In 1923, Kodak developed a 16mm film stock for cameras, so that a larger range of people could afford to make videos. Before this launch, all motion picture cameras were 35mm, making them more expensive as they required more money to make.

It was in the 1930's that the BBC experimented with digital cameras using cathode ray tubes. This is what eventually led to the first televisions, as they all used cathode ray tubes. Colour cameras became available in the 50s and 60s (the same time as the colour televisions).

       Cameras have gradually become smaller and more compact, making them suitable for domestic use, as well as for ease of use on a set. Current consumer cameras allow for full high definition which is 1920x1080 (2 megapixels). The current industry film standard is 35mm, which dependant on quality, can range between 10 - 24 mega pixels (sometimes even higher). The current industry digital standard is 4K (equivalent to 12 megapixels - 3840x2160). However, some films are being shot at 6K (19 megapixels).

       In the 20th century, we relied heavily on videotape based analogue formats such as Betamax and VHS. It was in the early 2000s that MiniDV (a digital tape based format) came into play. This was shortly followed by DVD, hard disk drive and SD card/ compact/ solid state flash based recording. Mini-DV allowed for 720x576 (standard definition) recording in PAL (0.4 megapixels), which is very poor compared to the current high definition standards. Big filmmakers would usually use compact flash cards, because they allow for large amounts of data to be saved.

       Digital cameras are greatly impacted by the size of the sensor, as it affects the quality of the image. Bigger sensors allow more light through the lens, making the quality of the image better, but the frame rate lower. However, if the sensor is small, the quality of the image suffers, but the frame rate is larger. Therefore a lot of big filmmakers are starting to use DSLRs. The film 'House' was shot with the Canon 5D Mark 2.

       There are 3 main ways of controlling the exposure on a camera: the shutter speed (the faster the speed, the higher the frame rate, but the lower the quality of each frame due to lack of light), the aperture (a large aperture allows for a large depth of field) and the ISO (sensitivity). If I wanted to film some sport, I would want a camera with a large aperture so that I could see every player on the pitch, and with a fast shutter speed to capture as much action as possible.

         Films such as 'Iron Man 3', 'Pitch Perfect' and 'The Life of Pi' were all shot on digital cameras, as opposed to analogue, to achieve a clear, polished effect. 'Corpse Bride' and '127 Hours' were both shot using DSLRs, which are typically smaller and often thought to be used for domestic use, as opposed to big productions.

Lighting

       The most common lighting setup is '3 point'. This consists of a key light (the main light - it produces harsh light which illuminates your subject well), the fill light (the light that fills in all of the shadows that the key light misses - a softer light) and the back light (which separates your subject from the background). The key light is typically placed 45 degrees to either side of the camera so that the subject's face is illuminated as much as possible. Fill lights tend to use a soft-box to create a softer light, as to not overpower the key light. The back light is essentially what adds dimension to the shot, especially if the background is dark, as it's easier to distinguish between the subject and the background.

When filming inside it's important to ensure that you use the space to your advantage, depending on how many lights you own. Ideally you would have 3 or 4 lights, so that you can have at least one of each type (key, fill and back). However, this is often not the case. With 2 lights it's easier to eliminate the back light and try to make the separation between the background and the subject more evident by using contrasting colours (e.g. a light subject on a dark background). With one light it's easier to shoot near a window so that you can use the natural light as your fill light.

       You need to make sure that any natural light that you don't want in the shot is covered up. For example, you can cover unnecessary windows with black paper or curtains and you can turn off any overhead lights.

       When filming outside it's easier and more practical to use reflectors to get the best out of the natural light, as opposed to bringing lots of lights outside (for which you would need to complete a risk assessment).

Sound

       There are 3 types of microphones that are often used within the media industry. The shotgun microphone is often used in films, as it is directional, meaning it prioritises the sound that is faces. When shooting a subject in front of traffic you would want to use a shotgun microphone on a boom stand. If you held it up and made it face towards the subject (but pointing down), you eliminate as much background noise as possible.

       A dynamic microphone is mostly used for singing and karaoke, because it's designed for only one primary sound to be amplified (the voice). It isn't appropriate for eliminating background noise.

       A condenser microphone is very similar to the dynamic microphone, as it is primarily used for amplifying voices. However, this type of microphone is used in radio stations and studios with sound proofed rooms.

       A filmmaker has to make sure that the sound levels of a film are peaking, but not hitting maximum, otherwise the sound will be distorted.

Broadcast Systems

NTSC (National Television System Committee) is the analogue television system that is used in most of North and South America (excluding Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina and French Guiana), as well as South Korea, Japan, Myanmar, the Philippines, Taiwan and some Pacific Island nations.

In NTSC, 30 frames are transmitted each second and each frame consists of 525 individual scan lines.

            NTSC was developed in 1941 and it wasn’t compatible with colour television. However, a second version of NTSC was adopted in 1953, which allowed for colour television broadcasting. It remained the dominant form of broadcasting until the 21^st century when it was replaced with digital ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee). This was due to the fact that digital broadcasting allowed for HDTV.

            PAL (Phase Alternating Line) is a colour encoding system for analogue television broadcasts, which is widely used within Europe and Asia, as well as parts of South America.

            PAL is one of the predominant video systems, (next to NTSC), which consists of 625 individual scan lines (making the resolution larger than NTSC). It transmits 25 frames per second, making NTSC’s frame rate larger.

            PAL originally came about due to the fact that NTSC standard demonstrated multiple weaknesses, including colour tone shifting under poor transmission conditions. In the 1950s, the Western European countries wanted to introduce colour television, which lead to the development of PAL and SECAM. The aim was to provide colour television for the European picture frequency of 50 hertz (bigger bandwidth and better picture quality) and to eliminate the problems of NTSC.

            SECAM (Sequential Colour with Memory) is a colour TV standard that was introduced in the early 1960s. It’s used sparingly around the world in places such as: France, parts of Greece, Eastern Europe, Russia and Africa.

SECAM uses the same resolution/ bandwidth as PAL (625 lines), but transmits the colour information sequentially. SECAM splits the colour information into several different signals to provide a higher quality image. However, if one of these signals were to get blocked, the colour of the image would appear (for example) bluer.

Sky is a British satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephone company that was formed in 1990. It’s the largest pay-TV broadcaster in the UK and Ireland with over 10 million subscribers.

The benefit of a satellite-based broadcast is that it provides the user with the ability to watch TV on their phones and other wireless devices. However, it might not be as reliable or fast as a cable-based broadcast, such as Virgin Media.

Virgin Media was formed in 2006 in an attempt to predominantly rival Sky in the pay-TV market. Virgin was created by the merge of two cable companies: Telewest and NTL Both companies were too small to compete with popular broadcasting services like Sky, hence the merge.

Despite the fact that Virgin might be a more reliable and perhaps cheaper alternative to Sky, it doesn’t offer as many channels, including the High Definition movies and sports channels. Also, what with Virgin being cable-based, there isn’t much choice in where to watch the broadcasts (e.g. you can’t watch it wirelessly; it requires a connection).

Freeview is a free to air digital and terrestrial television service for the UK. It’s delivered by the company DTV services, which is collaboration between BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky and transmitter operator Arqiva, which was launched in 2002. It works by providing consumer access via an aerial to the six DDT multiplexes covering the UK.

The benefits of Freeview are that it’s free and contains plenty of the most viewed channels (specifically ITV and BBC).  It’s also available in HD, however, it requires special tuner, capable of handling HDTV signals.

The disadvantages are that Freeview still doesn’t offer as many channels as the big broadcasters (e.g. Sky) and it’s only available in the UK.

            LoveFilm is a provider of streaming video on demand and DVD/ video game rentals that’s based in the UK. It was founded in 2002 and over time has grown due to 10 mergers and the acquisition of several other online DVD rental companies (e.g. Online Rentals Limited, ScreenSelect and Video Island). By January 2012, LoveFilm announced that it had reached 2 million subscribers, as well as over 70,000 titles and over 4 million DVD, Blu-ray or Games rentals per month across 5 countries.

            On demand TV has become increasingly popular, as it means that you can watch what you want when you want. The Internet itself has almost completely abolished the need for things like music channels, as everyone watches music videos on YouTube. LoveFilm allows people to watch whatever they want (provided it’s available in their library). Compared to another on demand service, such as Netflix, LoveFilm would be considered the better service, as Netflix doesn’t allow you to rent DVDs and video games.

            However, on demand TV costs extra per month. For example, if I was a Sky TV customer and I wanted to watch movies on demand I could get Sky Anytime, but I’d have to pay for that additional service.