Camera Techniques and

Media ProductionBy Michael luton

Focus Focus is when you keep the camera focused on one thing and getting a clear shot of that.

You can do this by zooming in on the chosen thing and moving the focus round till you find a focus that is good and clear of it then you can zoom out and it will still be clear and in focus.

When you get a good focus you can get a picture looking clear like the picture below

exposureExposure is about how much light can get in the camera, cameras have a Aperture and a Iris that determines the right amount of light that can enter the camera.

As you can see the bigger the Aperture is the more light is let in and the brighter the picture will be.

White balanceWhite balance is when sources of white light like a light bulb contains primary colours, and when using a camera if you are not using the correct amount of white balance the video or picture picked up on the camera can have different colours in it, like white would turn a bit orange.

soundSound is very important when using a camcorder or any recording device in general because the recorder can sometimes add his own voice to the mix so get the microphone as close to the subject as possible.

compositionComposition is where you decide where you place things, you have to decide what happens in every bit of the recording, you have to make sure everyone in the shot is given head room and that they are on the right side because someone might be talking to them.

Also on the camcorder there is a grid and it is called ‘rule of third’ like the picture below this and you can decide where everything or everyone should be because it would give off the wrong composition if people were all facing the one way for example.