Jacob used his Canon EOS Kiss x5 camera with third-party firmware to film a project, though it lacked image stabilization and had a poor built-in microphone. He struggled with kit lenses that distorted images and were hard to focus. Additional equipment like a Manfrotto tripod, Rode Video Mic, and LED light were used but had limitations. In editing with Final Cut Pro X, he found exposure and audio fixes didn't work well and needed to re-film some scenes. He learned to use his 50mm prime lens more, the importance of good audio capture, and that more lighting is needed than he had for outdoor scenes.

1. What have I learned about
technology through the
project?
JACOB DUNLOP

2. Camera
The camera I used was my own Canon Eos Kiss x5 which is the same as a Canon 600D. The camera is
primarily designed for photography and taking pictures but it is quite good at shooting video.
I installed some third-party firmware on it called Magic Lantern which meant I could do much more
on it than a factory one. I mostly used the firmware for metering the audio on screen as I shot the
video. I also used a focus aid to help me focus on the camera.
I have been using this camera for a long time and I know that it produces some good results but there
are some issues. There isn't any in-built image stabilizer which I can do in post-production but I
usually think it is better to do that in-camera. The in-built microphone is also terrible so I had to use
an external mic which can present problems.
The biggest issue with this camera that I had to over-come was my lenses. The most practical lens I
own is a second-hand 18-55mm kit lens. I do not like this lens as it has a poor image quality and casn
distort the image, it is also hard to focus with it. I also used a 50mm prime lens that makes a much
nicer image but as it doesn't zoom it isn't always practical being as the microphone is on the camera.

3. Equipment
In addition to the camera I used a fair amount of equipment but it was mostly just a tripod and microphone. I also
attempted to use some lighting but it wasn't powerful enough, I used an LCD viewfinder to get a clearer image
from the camera's screen.
I used a Manfrotto tripod with a 3-axis head which meant I could control which axis I could pan on. I found while
filming that this tripod didn't cope very well with being on a surface that wasn't flat, it took a long time to get the
camera level when we filmed in the tunnel because the tripod had be partially on and off the pavement. However
this is a problem that i have faced with any tripod I have ever used even if it is a professional one.
I used a Rode Video Mic for the audio, it mounted on and plugged into the camera so i didn't have to worry about
syncing the audio, it was already working. this was the first time I had used anything other than the internal mic
on my camera and it seeming went perfectly on the shoot. it was after the shoot in post production the I found
that some of the clips just didn't have audio, they just had a constant frequency buzz.
I brought with me on the second shooting day a small LED video light for film-making. I quickly found that the
scenes we were filming in couldn't be lit with just that. The little light didn't do anything and I didn't use it in the
end.
I also brought with me an LCD viewfinder which I used to put my eye closer to the camera's screen so I could see
the image clearer and without the sunlight shining on it. I found quite quickly that I didn't need it and I could
focus the camera using the zoom feature on the camera and I didn't use the viewfinder in the end.

4. Editing
I used Final Cut Pro X to edit my film on my laptop which meant I could do it at home and take it
to school. I have been using this software for my own use for a long time and as I wasn't doing
anything particularly advanced with it, I didn't encounter many problems. However I did use the
colour, exposure and audio correction more than I have in the past which was interesting.
When it came to correcting the exposure I found that I couldn't really do much to it without
making the image look terrible. In the end I re-filmed the scenes that we're under exposed as
they had some other issues as well.
With the audio fixing I found it was quite similar to the exposure in that I couldn't fix the sound
much before you couldn't hear the dialogue. Thankfully the scenes that needed it we're the
scenes I re-filmed.

5. Conclusion
I learned that it is worth trying to use my 50mm lens even if it seems a bit impractical as the
image it produces is much better than I had previously thought.
I learned that if I have the option of an external microphone then it is much better to use that,
but always review or monitor the audio as it doesn't always work.
I learned that it takes much more lighting than I have to light an outdoor scene.
I learned that my LCD viewfinder is basically useless unless it is unbearably sunny.
I learned the importance of getting audio, colour, white balance and exposure perfect on
location because post-production is not as good at fixing them as I had thought.