Camera Assistance

After completing an array of test shots and watching a range of different YouTube videos I was still unfamiliar on how to create the depth of field effect on the camera and I knew that important shots in my music video would require depth of field, so I needed to ask someone that was familiar with the camera to help me out and tell me how it works - so I decided to ask Liam, who is the person at college that provides everyone with all of the camera equipment and ensures that everyone knows what they are doing with it.

When I questioned Liam about this, he essentially said everything that was mentioned on all of the YouTube videos, which I clearly understood, but the issue was that whenever I tried to do what the videos on YouTube said, it never worked for me, so Liam actually showed me himself by using one of the cameras. He demonstrated that you are able to chose a manual or automatic mode, but suggested that automatic was the best. Once this had been selected it just meant that I would have to focus the camera on an object just by holding down the button that is used to take a photograph instead of actually moving the lens myself to focus it. By this time I knew that creating this effect was actually very simple and I was more confident in knowing how to create the depth of field effect. As it was obvious that the further away I am from the object I am trying to shoot, the better the depth of field would be and when I was talking to this about Liam, he suggested an application that I could get for free on my phone which would measure the depth of field and be more precise which would be beneficial for me as I would like my music video to look as best as it could. The application that Liam suggested to me was a depth of field calculator called 'SetMyCamera' and below are some images which present the process I went through to get this application on my phone:

When downloading this application, all I had to do was go onto the 'App Store' on my phone, type in 'depth of field calculator' and once I had done that a range of different applications appeared, but I chose the first one as this seemed to have everything that Liam explained was in the applications - once I knew this was the right one, I then began to download the application; when it had finished it then appeared on my phone and by that point I knew that the application was saved on my phone and I would be able to use it when I begin to film or want to practice trying to use the application. To actually use this, all you would have to do is open the application then select the camera that you would be using, in my case I would choose either 'Canon EOS 1200D or 1300D' as these are the cameras that are provided at college. Once that has been completed, I would then just have to input how far away I think I am from the object I want to film and the application would then tell me how blurry the depth of field would be, so the further I move away from the object, the blurrier the application will say the depth of field is and the closer I am to the object, the clearer the application will say the depth of field is. It is beneficial as you are able to choose the units you want to measure in as some people may be more precise when estimating 'feet' than when estimating in 'centermetres' - nonetheless, the application has been made to suit everyone's needs. 

I think using this application is really going to benefit me as it will help me in creating the depth of field effect that I want for certain scenes in my music video.When I begin to construct my music video, I think I will use this applications a few times, but after a while I will get used to the camera and will understand how it works so will no longer need to use the application. Nonetheless, I am glad that I came across this applications and if I didn't talk to Liam about my issue then I don't think I would be as confident as I am now with the camera because I now understand everything in relation to the camera and hopefully this means I will get the outcome I want for my music video.