FMP: VHS-C & Cannon 600D's

VHS-C

VHS-C is the compact VHS videocassette format introduced in 1982 and used primarily for consumer-grade compact analog recording camcorders. The format is based on the same video tape as is used in VHS, and be played back in a standard VHS VCR with an adapter.

Throughout my music video, there are a number of archive video clips of my family and I from when I was around 3-5 years of age. My Grandad, being the technological genius that he is, was able to convert the VHS-C videos into MP4s using a simple USB adapter and a lot of patience. There were around 40 videos he had to convert, so props to him for doing that.

Importing these clips into Adobe Premiere Pro was just the same as importing any video, by selecting File > Import. The only real difference is the sizing and quality of the clips compared to others that I had gathered from the likes of an iPhone and a Canon 600D camera. The video clips from the VHS-C are around 352x480 pixels, so when I blew them up to fill the screen of 1080x720 pixels, they slightly lost their quality. Don't get me wrong, they weren't AMAZING in the first place, but the did become a little blurry.

Disclaimer: not every single archive bit of footage were recorded on a VHS-C, just most. The others were recorded on an older Canon E300 camcorder. I'm not 100% sure which one's are which. (nobody is)


CANON 600D

The Canon EOS 600D is an 18.0 megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera, released by Canon on 7 February 2011. The 600D is the second Canon EOS camera with an articulating LCD screen and supersedes the 550D, although the earlier model was no discontinued until June 2012, when the successor of the 600D, the 650D was announced. Its features include HD 1080p video recording at 24/25/30 frames/s, 3-10x digital zoom in video recording only, and built in flash with Speedlite wireless multi-flash support.

The only footage recorded on a Canon 600D in my production are the shots taken in the film studio of me. My colleague, Matthew Jury, filmed these shots in 25fps in 1080p video recording. We set it to auto focus to make the moving shots easier to film, and Matt placed the camera on a fig-rig to ensure a steady and smooth operating technique was used, so the shots were clean cut for when I edited it all together.

The contrast between the Canon 600D and VHS-C are extraordinary, but I'm really pleased with how they all came out. I like the fact that the older shots are slightly blurry and pixelated as it shows they're authentic and captivates the audience, actually almost proving what era they're from.


- Olivia


Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHS-C - accessed on 20th May 2015
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_EOS_600D - accessed on 20th May 2015