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I'm about to shoot a short that I wrote and a friend of mine is producing. I'm really excited about it. Related: Does anyone have good ideas for a no budget way to make it look like someone gets hit by a car? I want him rolling up the hood, so I was thinking of cutting from a shot of him turning his head to see the car to an interior shot of him on the hood. What are the odds it will look like garbage if I have him roll down the hood and reverse the footage?
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Jun 22, 2009 03:05
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Yeah I was thinking of just doing it carefully as a stunt. An afternoon of practice shooting should nail it down pretty well. Now I have to decide on going handheld or building a rig for inside the car. I can probably get away with handheld for such a quick cut but I do love building poo poo and figuring out the best way to use it. On a somewhat related note - anyone know how expensive it would be to rent studio space around the Denver area? It would be nice to have an equipment and prop laboratory and storage space. Probably an editing suite as well so I don't get distracted when working on projects like I do at home.
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Jun 22, 2009 04:14
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Thanks to my friend/producer who works at the local access TV station we now have access to a small but complete lighting kit (mini spotlight, two fills and a couple of large bounce boards) AND we may get to use this project to test out the new HD camera(s) that they have coming in next week. Things are falling amazingly in to place. Aside from speeding up and slowing down footage, does anyone have any good examples of Directors/DPs playing around with framerates? I'm planning on shooting in 24p but I think the new cameras that the station is getting have the option of going higher or lower than that and I was thinking it might be fun to experiment during the car stunt. Also, Cinematography.com has a list of 40 or so recommended books found here: http://astore.amazon.com/cinematographyco?node=1&page=3 Anyone read any of these that can comment? Might be good to have a reading list in the OP. I have two of them so far: The Five C's of Cinematography by Joseph V. Mascelli - Extremely comprehensive look at the classic Hollywood style of cinematography and blocking. It's pretty dry and reads a bit like a technical manual because, in a way, it is one. Great especially for newbies. Film Lighting by Kris Malkiewicz - An indispensable book with not only descriptions of each type of lighting set-up, how they work, and why, but it's also loaded with interviews from people working in the field. I'm also picking up Digital Cinematography, The Filmmaker's Handbook, and Master Shots. They should be shipping today or tomorrow. And finally a slight derail, anyone know of any must have books that deal with directing?
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Jun 23, 2009 16:54
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While I agree that nothing beats practice, I do think that it's a good idea to learn what you need to be practicing. If you just hand a camera to somebody who has never used one before and tell them to make a movie it will look like garbage unless that person studies movies obsessively or is some kind of genius. I really wish my high school video teacher taught us how to actually make good use of our lighting kits and went beyond the basic explanations of close-ups, mediums, and wides before setting us loose. Though in retrospect he doesn't seem like he did too much creative lighting work himself.
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Jun 25, 2009 00:04
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Good resource for DVX100 users: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=101419 I just got my 100B in the mail today. First real camera and I'm just so excited about it, can't wait to start playing around with different camera settings and lights.
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Jun 25, 2009 05:15
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Not exactly a cinematography question (but I don't want to see this thread die and it's not like there are any other filmmaking threads out there) but I just wrapped shooting on the short I'm making. One of the scenes takes place in a liquor store, and we happened to be shooting there during business hours on Fourth of July weekend. Needless to say we had to get in and out as fast as possible. We ended up using a 3-camera setup, with the two close-up cams shooting at 24p and 30p pulldown respectively. The master camera however was shooting at 60i and using a pulldown. For something that's destined mainly for Viddler and being part of a demo reel, I don't mind shooting interlacing vs progressive. The problem though is that when I look at the master footage in my editing suite (Premiere Pro CS3) I'm getting crazy edge tear for even the smallest motions. Obviously no good. Is there a different process I should be using to capture the interlaced footage? Is there a program I should run it through after capturing to smooth the motion out? Or am I just boned? I'm still getting used to Premiere's workflow, since this is the first time I've used it with anything better than consumer grade camcorders where it didn't really matter what I did because it looked like poo poo anyway. Aside from that the footage looks loving fantastic and I'm in love with my new Panasonic. Can't wait to put the finished product up.
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Jul 6, 2009 15:19
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That did the trick. Thanks!
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Jul 6, 2009 18:52
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Slim Pickens posted:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSsKFF1lCMc Really cool stuff here, footage looks great. Did you get commissioned to do this or what?
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Jul 13, 2009 05:21
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Super psyched to be done with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWxqkAUdSew We had to do a 3-camera shoot in the liquor store, and unfortunately two of the cameras were not nearly as high quality as the third. Luckily that isn't a big deal for straight internet viewing. This is the first project that I've done since graduating, and I am very pleased with the results. Feel free to knock me off of my cloud and rip me a new rear end in a top hat.
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Jul 20, 2009 02:03
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Well most of that stuff can be fixed with some re-editing. Can't do anything about the placement of the ticket (my main actor just moved 2000 miles away), but the knife is actually a real switchblade, I just cut it like that to cover up a transition. Would you think it was better if the first and last scene were a lot shorter?
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Jul 20, 2009 14:44
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Good to know. I'm going on a road trip to move to Denver tomorrow so I won't be able to re-cut it for probably a couple of weeks. Regarding the thief in the store: is the problem that you don't know where he is in relation to the other two? I'm hesitant to cut him out entirely because I feel the next scene would be random and not motivated.
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Jul 20, 2009 16:15
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I'm going to be shooting something soon that's just one scene, and it takes place in a single room. I want to start the setup on a tripod, but switch to handheld as the story progresses. Are there any hard and fast rules concerning this? Aside from cutting on action, what can I do to make sure the transition goes unnoticed?
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Aug 31, 2009 18:47
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Well, going to be participating in the Boulder Shoot-Out 24 Hour Film Fest. All in-camera editing. This is going to be hell, but at least it's really fun hell. Anybody doing or done one of these recently? I want war stories.
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Sep 13, 2009 04:18
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I'm starting to do some resume building with odd PA jobs, and (I think) I'm going to be running second camera on a feature in October for deferred pay. I'm realizing now however that I don't know what a real production resume looks like. Anyone care to post a sample? Or where I could find one? It would be much appreciated.
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Sep 18, 2009 03:49
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7 Grand for a student camera? drat, I wish I was related to you. On topic, I'm going to be Camera Op for a feature starting in October, shooting on a Canon XH-G1. Never shot on that model, or a Canon for that matter, anything in particular that I should know about it?
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Sep 28, 2009 21:04
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A theory and research school with a dying film program.
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Sep 29, 2009 04:17
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Dr. Fishopolis posted:I don't really know where to start because every element is basically as wrong as it can possibly be. It's not great but I think this is a bit of a stretch. The writing and acting are really stilted and awkward, certainly. Work on how to convey a message without using exposition. "You sound like a vampire. I hate vampires" could have easily been cut and replaced with a visual cue. Dracula would know to disguise himself as a human. This is just one example. Your camera angles are also pretty wonky and generally boring. Read a book or two on cinematography and watch a lot of movies with the intent of analyzing them. That said, the basic story elements are solid, and you hit the punchline well. Comedy is all about timing and you managed to get it there. The best advice I can give is study a lot of movies, and keep cranking out shorts. It's the only way to learn. On another note, let's talk about lighting. Specifically, motivated vs unmotivated lighting. Say I want hard, raking Noir style shadows in a scene, is that going to play if most other scenes have "realistic" lighting? Night shots especially trip me up because it's obvious that all the light you need is NOT coming from the moon and any practicals you might have, especially if I need some really directional fill or spots on certain foreground or background objects. How do you deal with multiple shadows from one object if you don't have enough light to use diffusement?
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Nov 10, 2009 19:32
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Right now I'm working as a Camera Op on a low budget feature, and doing some G/E Swing work as well. We're going to be getting IMDb credit from this, and the producers are willing to give me an additional credit for the stuff I've done outside of the camera department. I'm wondering, though, if that would make my Camera credit look weaker than if it were my sole credit on the project, since it "detracts" from my focus on camera (I've only had to do this stuff on a couple of days that were really hectic, we had a skeleton crew, or G&E wasn't able to show up). It's probably a silly thing to worry about, I should take the additional credit and be happy about it, but my focus is in the camera department and I don't want something weird like that making it just a little harder to find my next project.
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Nov 30, 2009 03:53
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Film Lighting Wrapping up the feature this weekend, just finished the first draft of a web series that I'm going in to pre-pro for early next year, have a feature script to finish up, and I plan on participating in DVXuser.com's BetrayalFest. And I'm going to talk my friends who are in bands in to letting me shoot music videos for them. I don't want a day to go by in 2010 that I'm not working on a project in some capacity.
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Dec 9, 2009 20:37
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I saw it in 2D because my hometown theater is not equipped for the 21st century and boy was it annoying. Half of the movie was blurry and soft focused from double exposure that they clearly did their best to get rid of but it wasn't enough. I also thought the CGI looked like poo poo but that's another story. I'm really hoping this movie tanks because I hate 3D and I want it dead and buried for good this time. Of course it'll become the norm and 2D will now be reserved only for weird art films and lovely pretentious student productions like B&W is now and I'll be some outdated old codger who pines for the days when cinema was pure.
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Dec 19, 2009 17:13
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Maybe it was the lack of 3D or just a bad print but to me it looked like every other big CG action movie that came out in the last 5 years and didn't even come close to the hype. But what the gently caress do I know I'm just a goon. On something not related to Avatar, as far as renting lights do you guys prefer to go to DPs who have packages available for rental or to a rental house itself? Do you just go by word of mouth as for what places are good?
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Dec 20, 2009 00:32
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That and most public access is godawful because the people using the equipment don't know a drat thing about what they're doing. If you can make a good show you'd be doing a service to the community. And it's a good way to get practice, so go for it!
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Jan 26, 2010 22:00
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I'm going to be shooting a webseries in a few months on a Z5U, and my friend who works at a film lab said that she's willing to strike a 35mm print for free (labor). I was wondering what the advantage of that would be, though, since it's going to be shot on DV. Wouldn't it just look like a grainier video? I'm new to the world of film stock and HD video, and I feel like it would be a post nightmare to go from digital to film to digital on Adobe Premiere without losing any quality.
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Apr 6, 2010 00:38
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Good to know. I was considering shooting on Super 16 but I can use the Sony for free so I may as well save the budget for renting lights and actually paying people.
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Apr 6, 2010 02:51
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What I find really depressing about the technology trend is everything is going to small format, since more and more people are watching content on portable devices. Feels like it's hard to layer in subtle visuals when everything has to be in close-up to read well the way most people will be viewing it. On the other hand cheap rear end technology means that you can shoot a good or even great looking feature for under ten grand if you've got a solid DP. What I'm hoping will happen is that things trend towards crews working on the same projects with each other over the course of their careers, like the old studio system, and the fact that you need significantly less people to fully staff a crew now makes that much easier.
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Apr 24, 2010 22:50
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The more mistakes you make now the less you'll make later. I'm kind of glad that I learned on really lovely equipment so that the video quality was pretty in line with my level of incompetence. Not at all related to cinematography but I'm going to be directing and exec producing a webseries that I wrote, and I'm wondering how to best compensate people. I'm funding this out of pocket and I really really can't afford to pay anyone. I was thinking of providing a travel stipend, but I don't really know how to figure that one out. If I just give a flat rate than any cast and crew that have pretty small roles get a pretty good deal while all of my principal actors and full time crew get screwed, but on the other hand if I just get mileage from people and reimburse them for that then there's a very good chance I'll end up getting screwed by at least some of the people I'm not personal friends with (hell I've lied about my own miles before.) I'm sure I could get away with the usual credit/copy/meals bullshit but I don't want to continue the trend of expecting everyone to work for free.
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May 23, 2010 20:56
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It's pretty distracting from an otherwise super clean and polished reel. Everything else looks great.
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Jun 15, 2010 01:13
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What are people's experiences with uprezzing SD? I've got a super low budget feature shoot coming up and the director, cam op, and myself are trying to figure out our best camera option. Right now we're looking at a 5D, an HVX, and a DVX100 w/ a 35mm adapter. Currently I'm leaning towards the DVX since I think they're fantastic cameras and we already have two of them available for free, so we would just have the cost of the adapter and lenses. We're shying away from the 5D right now because we want a pretty large depth of field, and don't want to deal with rolling shutter since there will be a lot of action shots. I know It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is shot on a DVX and uprezzed to HD, although I'm sure that spikes the cost of post up a good amount to have it done professionally.
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Aug 14, 2010 19:16
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Ok, got another one. We've decided to go HD, using the 5D as the second camera. Now the question regarding the primary camera comes down to buying an HVX200, or renting a Z1U or Z5U from the local public access station. We're going with that particular option because I have a membership and thus can get rental discounts and some days free. My question then is, what are the major differences between the Z1 and the Z5? The person I talked to at the station didn't seem to know much other than "the Z5 is a newer model." I'm inclined to go with the Z1U because it's cheaper by a good margin, however I've read that it can't shoot in 24p, and that the best bet is to shoot 60i and do a pulldown in post. I'm not sure yet if the plan is to strike a film print, but the fact that we can't get 24 frames natively makes me nervous.
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Aug 19, 2010 00:45
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I've started working on a stop motion, using a Canon Rebel. It's been a really interesting learning experience and is a lot of fun. I'm expecting editing will take forever, but doing animation is awesome!
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Oct 27, 2010 01:55
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Having a nice fluid head tripod definitely helps. A $50.00 hunk o' junk isn't going to get you very far. If you're serious about it, invest in a nice one. I'm not familiar with the camera you're using, but chances are it's also contributing to rolling shutter problems (that jerkiness when you're panning). For now, stick with static shots, or learn how to do handheld very smoothly. You aren't going to be able to get a cheap dolly rig that's worth a drat anyway. e: Be sure to learn the basics before you spend any money, and make sure that it's something you really care about. Good equipment is a huge investment, and it's only worth getting if you're going to work enough to get your money's worth. For just starting out, basic equipment is just fine. Once you get the technique down then you can start looking in to better gear. Rogetz fucked around with this message at 07:08 on Nov 9, 2010 |
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Nov 9, 2010 07:04
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Does your city/town/podunk have a local access TV station? Those usually offer classes and equipment, a lot of times for free if you're a member.
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Nov 27, 2010 01:48
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Flutch posted:Made this for my final project in Advanced Media Arts, looking for any feedback at all if you've got seven minutes. Dunno if it would count for your class but if you really want to do justice to this project it would be significantly better as a series of stills. Because that's all it is, but on video. It's a horrible use of the medium. Why use a medium that exists in time and is best at portraying motion (or juxtaposing motion with stillness) when what you're displaying is images frozen in time? It's not like the soundtrack adds a hell of a lot and it's basically a slideshow right now. Aside from that, most of your compositions are pretty boring. As others have said, we have no context for these images beyond what you've told us. I don't care about these locations because I don't occupy that space, therefor they mean nothing to me. Without some killer composition (pun intended because it's the focus of your project) all of the impact is lost to everyone except your fellow students. All that said, you're getting some pretty harsh feedback, and it's easy to get discouraged and stop trying. DON'T! The point of feedback is to improve your work, so don't let a bunch of jerks from the internet keep you from trying.
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May 7, 2011 19:34
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I guess my point was that you're going to get harsh notes no matter what so they should be used as a jumping off point for improvement rather than a dissuasion from doing more work. It's easy to rip in to someone, it's not as easy to take it.
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May 8, 2011 00:27
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Moon Potato posted:Does anyone here do any nature videography/cinematography? I've found myself doing more and more of it as a hobby since moving up to Humboldt County, and I may have the opportunity to start doing it professionally this fall - I'd love to hear some general career advice from experienced nature videographers, and any filming anecdotes you'd like to share. I haven't done much in the way of nature videography but I do a fair bit of landscape photography. The main thing you're going for (at least as far as I'm concerned) is a sense of grandeur. Think about how to best capture the breath-taking scene in front of you within the confines of the frame. I'm not really getting that from the reel. It feels pretty claustrophobic, which can happen easily in forests, making them difficult to shoot. I think the main issue is that aside from a few rack-focus shots of leaves, the foreground doesn't pop much from the background. The shots of the deer are also pretty static and go on for too long. Wish I had more advice for you, hope this helps.
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May 15, 2011 20:52
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Any advice on getting the best possible image out of a flip cam? Or just anecdotes with using them. I'm going to be shooting in full sun with 1-2 reflectors and 1-2 flags. Based on some test footage it looks like shooting in 720 crushes the blacks more than 1080i does. Planning on stationary tripod shots with a tilt at the end, maybe a short pan, but for the most part I wont be moving the frame within a shot.
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May 17, 2011 06:26
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