I Make TV

Microphones

2011-05-18T08:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a good microphone primer from HD Video Pro:

One of the major benefits of the digital revolution compared to production 20 or 30 years ago is that with the proliferation of inexpensive cameras, editing gear and software, there also have been huge strides in the variety and types of microphones available. There’s a microphone for every job, and within each of the most popular categories of mics, there are dozens of choices available. How do you determine which type of microphone to use, and which model to consider buying or renting for your project?

iPhone 4 Video

2010-06-29T14:41:00.000-07:00

Here's a video about a motorcycle race up Pike's Peak in Colorado - shot entirely with an iPhone 4, and an article about it...

Day for Night

2010-06-17T07:45:00.000-07:00

Jay Holben has a nice article at DV.com on how to use natural lighting and your camera's white balance to achieve a nighttime look while shooting during the day:

That in mind, I decided to challenge myself to create a “night” look utilizing natural daylight — shooting day-for-night — without any augmentation with artificial lighting.
A day-for-night effect is, generally, achieved through gross underexposure. You’re rendering your highlights down to below middle gray and plunging your shadows into the abyssal blackness. Day for night works best when the natural light is backlighting the subjects and when you can keep the sky and the ground out of the shot — two things that will give away the cheat very quickly.

And here's an article on why night is usually colored blue in the movies, from The Academia Dictionary via io9.

The Purkinje effect (sometimes called the Purkinje shift, or dark adaptation and named after the Czech anatomist Jan Evangelista Purkyně) is the tendency for the peak sensitivity of the human eye to shift toward the blue end of the color spectrum at low illumination levels.
This effect introduces a difference in color contrast under different levels of illumination. For instance, in bright sunlight, geranium flowers appear bright red against the dull green of their leaves, but in the same scene viewed at dusk, the contrast is reversed, with the petals appearing a dull red and the leaves appearing bright green.

Flip Ultra HD camera

2010-04-09T13:24:00.000-07:00

Stefan Sargent's column in the back of DV Magazine is always interesting. Usually he shares a story about one of the unbelievable shoots he's been on, but this month he talks about using his new Flip Ultra HD consumer video cam. I've read some good things about this camera and have been thinking of picking one up for myself. Stefan seems to be enjoying his...

While the rest of the world is drooling over the latest fare from RED, Sony, Panasonic, the new HD-capable DSLRs, I’m in love my $150 widescreen HD gizmo. I call her Flipa.

The good thing is I’m using her professionally; I’ll get my return of investment back on day one, which just happens to be yesterday.

He goes on to talk about how he mounted it to a truck, and links to the video of the shoot. I can think of all kinds of uses for this cam.

Canon 7D

2010-04-07T20:50:00.000-07:00

I'm slowly becoming convinced that my next video camera will be the Canon 7D. It has quite a few drawbacks, especially for one-person run-and-gun shooting like I do A LOT of, but the video looks fantastic and the price tag looks even better. I'm sure with all the accolades surrounding it, Canon will come out with a version specifically for video within a year, but I'd really like to upgrade from my PD-150 this summer.
Here's an article from Tubefilter News that lists some pros and cons:

Cons
The biggest negative is that the 7D doesn’t yet have a sensible solution for recording sound directly into camera. This means whoever’s running sound will have to record it into a small digital recorder and then you’ll sync it all up in post. Fear not though, it’s often helpful to not have your sound guy tethered to the camera and there are now programs like Pluralize ($150) that will do the heavy lifting of synchronization.
If you’re dead-set on shooting quick whip pans around a room Office-style, this may not be the camera for you. It has a rolling shutter which will produces jello-y vertical lines on quick movements. It’s also more sensitive than usual to tight patterns, so leave your plaids at home. (Note: The Red One and Sony EX-1 have these same problems)

A Dose of Reality

2010-04-05T13:02:00.000-07:00

Here's an entertaining article about life as a Hollywood vfx artist from Cracked.com. Worthwhile reading for anyone dreaming about life in the Big Leagues...

Everyone assumes VFX happen in an office that looks something like Mythbusters except with excited artistic types gathering around computers, talking about what kind of dinosaurs they want to make today. And for the top ranking people, the ones who get to talk on the DVD special features, it might be.
But several steps down the ladder from those guys, you have an army of peons whose job descriptions seem to have been created as part of some cruel psychological experiment. If you dream of a career making super heroes fly, these jobs are where you'll start, and you may never leave.

We Got That B-Roll

2010-01-22T18:26:00.000-08:00

From Funny or Die. Don't judge the B-roll!

WE GOT THAT B ROLL!! - watch more funny videos

Follow Focus for DSLRs

2010-01-22T17:28:00.000-08:00

Everyone's talking about the new Canon HD DSLRs, so I'll jump on the bandwagon...
Mark Wilson at Gizmodo has put up a couple of posts about DIY focus rigs for DSLR cameras. This one's ugly, but looks somewhat functional. This one's pretty, simple, and cheap, but probably not very useful as a follow focus. I like this one, posted by a commenter. It seems to be a nice combination of simplicity and usefulness:

"I'm not an experienced cinematographer. But I want to use the Canon 5D Mark II to shoot decent quality video—without expensive rails, follow-focus rigs, matte-boxes, etc.

The solution, for me, needed to be portable/ultralight, SIMPLE, and as cheap as possible. Most often, I’m rack-focusing between preset points. The sample movie shows the rig in action. Remember, I am new at this, so you can probably rack more smoothly and might use a better tripod. The rig itself is very smooth and does not create much vibration. With two people, it should be okay for follow-focus.
Just for fun, I’m calling this “The Scocus Ring”-- for Scott focus ring--but call it what you want! It is essentially an off-the-shelf MegaClamp with foam buffers to protect the lens, a simple picture hook “needle” indicator, and a bag of rubber bands."

Doritos spot

2009-03-13T07:35:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure if this really qualifies as a low budget spot for most of us, but Film & Video has an interview with Director Eric Heimbold on a spec spot he did for Doritos that aired during the Super Bowl:

Director Eric Heimbold's spec ad for Doritos, "Power of the Crunch," didn't win the grand prize in the company's "Crash the Super Bowl" contest, but Doritos decided to air it during the game anyway, along with the eventual winner, "Free Doritos." That's a testament not only to the fan enthusiasm Heimbold was able to drum up for his irreverent spot online, but also to the production values apparent in the self-financed spot — which Heimbold shot on a single day in downtown L.A. with a donated Red camera, a tiny lighting package, and a dedicated, fast-moving crew working free or for peanuts as a favor. (It didn't hurt that Heimbold opened the spot with that vaudeville standby, the girl in the Velcro dress.) We got Heimbold on the phone to talk about working fast, fixing it in post, and bringing sexy back.

Slo-Mo

2009-03-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

My friend Mark Wilson over at the tech blog Gizmodo has a nice basic primer explaining slow-motion, along with sample clips of various frame rates. Here's tip 1:

1. Use Lots of Light
When you shoot slow mo, you are taking pictures quickly. And when you take pictures quickly, light has less time to create an image in your camera. Shoot in plenty of light, or you will get dark and gloomy slow-mo.

In real terms, that means that super high-speed shooting might not work indoors. On the Casio EX-F1, for instance, you can shoot 300fps indoors, and maybe 600fps if you're near a window, but you can't pull off its 1200fps setting without adding bright light. For the same reason, night shooting may very well be out of the question, depending on your particular rig and just what you expect from the image in terms of detail—artsy stuff may be fine, but don't expect to film a hummingbird under the soft glow of the moon.

More Free Stuff

2008-09-25T20:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a Free Media Directory, with links to Icons, Fonts, Images and more:

At first the point of this section might not be apparent. Finding images, music, and other media on the Internet is much like finding sand on the beach... it doesn't take a whole lot of effort. However, if you plan on using artistic material in your works, then the net gets a whole lot smaller. Most established artists have customized terms of use that are vague (is use in FOSS projects a 'personal' use?) or restrictive ("these images may not be cropped or modified"), if it allows for free use at all. Though the net is littered with wonderful art, most of it becomes useless when it comes time to release.

The net has permissively licenses media... it just takes some looking to find useful works free in the libre sense rather than just no-cost. This section has resources I've found helpful in my projects. If the license matter in your work then double check that I'm right before using it. Please let me know of any mistakes or especially interesting free content out there.

Free stock photography

2008-07-26T14:44:00.000-07:00

Digital Image Magazine's blog has a post featuring 25 Free Stock Photo Sites. If you check the comments, you'll find a few additional listings. Read the fine print on each site. Some offer their photos only for non-commercial use.

When I began the research for this article, I knew of only a handful of free stock photography sites. I set out to find as many good ones as I could, thinking maybe I’d find a dozen. I was quite surprised to find 25 good, solid resources out there. There are probably more, but these are the ones I found. If you’ve got a favorite and it’s not here, send it along.

Note the terms of use for each site. Some of these sites offer free images in addition to images for a fee. All of them are worth a look.

Keep in mind that “Royalty Free” does not mean the images are free; it means that you don’t need to pay the photographer a royalty each time you use the image. These sites offer free royalty-free images.

Affordable Mics

2008-07-23T20:55:00.000-07:00

Audiotuts has a good article on affordable mics and what to use them for:

Making music is perhaps one of the most expensive hobbies in the world—that is, aside from tasting truffles. When you’re looking to set up a decent home studio, it’s hard to find a way to stay within budget without ending up with a terrible sound. Here are ten options to minimize expenditure while still getting a decent sound out of your system at the end of the day, by buying smart when it comes to one of the most important types of studio equipment: microphones.

Script Formatting

2008-05-28T20:18:00.000-07:00

I don't have much desire to write a movie, but I found this interesting. Hollywood Script Express, a script printing and shipping service, has some tips on how to format your script by Hollywood standards. I didn't realize script readers were so specific. Since the business is for sale, the site may down soon, so I'll take the liberty of printing the whole thing here. Visit the site anyway, though, because there's other good info there and it seems like a good service if you need that sort of thing.

Professional Script Formatting

Feature Film Screenplay

Your average overworked and underpaid script reader slaving away in some Hollywood hotshot’s Century City office is just looking for an excuse - any excuse - to tear your submission apart. And nothing will make that screenplay contest judge's temper enflame more than a poorly formatted or shoddily presented script.

Thus to save you the embarrassment of such a shredding, the recommended Hollywood standards for formatting a feature length motion picture screenplay are below:

1] MATERIALS:	Paper – U.S. Letter or die! Hollywood does not do metric; so keep that A4 away from American airspace. 8 1/2" X 11" plain white 20 lbs stock (i.e. US Letter) with no watermarks. Covers -- Card stock (80-120lbs) should be used on the front and back of the script to provide protection. Once again 8 1/2" X 11" US Letter size only. Avoid adding any logos, illustrations, etc… The cover should be solid a color, but plain. No fancy rag stock. Cream or Ivory should do the trick. Binding -- Two solid brass paper fasteners (1 1/4") a.k.a ‘brads’ should be used to bind the script. Avoid the flimsy Staples kind. 3-Hole-punched -- Covers and Pages should be three hole punched. Fasteners should be placed in the top and bottom holes with the center hole left empty. Guru's Tip: Once bound, gently pound the fasteners on the head with a hammer or hard object - I’ve found a baseball works quite well - to tighten script. *Note: Hollywood Script Express has you covered, providing all the recommended materials!*


2] FONT:	“COURIER” (typewriter) font 12pt is the one and only font you should use. Use "old" if at all possible but "Courier New” will do in a pinch. You are a screenwriter not a layout artist, so no kerning the letters or fudging on the line spacing. 12 pt only!


3] TITLE PAGE:	The less the better with title pages. Just start down from the top about a quarter of the page and center your screenplay title, either in all caps or surrounded by quotation marks. Double space two lines below and add the words “written by” and of course… your name. In the bottom right corner add your contact information, including your address, phone and e-mail. If you have a WGA registration number or US Copyright PAU number, then it is a good idea to put it down here. Try to avoid adding any specific dates or draft numbers to your Title pages as it might make the reader think your material has been around the block a few times… And everyone in Hollywood is looking for a virgin…err, material that is. Also as noted above, resist the urge to add any graphics or logos. For an example of a stellar Title Page click here. If you are entering screenplay contests via Withoutabox.com please be sure to put your entry tracking number on your coverpage!


4] LENGTH:	The general rule of thumb in the biz is: 1 script page = 1 minute of screen time. Thus it is advisable to avoid submitting scripts longer than 120 pages or shorter than 90 pages. Obviously films over two hours do get made all the time, but Guru's advice for new writers who are trying to get their foot in Hollywood’s door is to hang on to that 4 hour epic until you are an established player! Don’t give that overworked reader an easy excuse to bin your baby! If you are using a program with 'word count', your final draft should ideally weigh in at 18,000 - 22,000 words. The lower end of the scale for comedies and the upper for dramas or action.


5] MARGINS:	There is no 100% rule to margins, but rather very firm guidelines one should attempt at all costs to follow. Please do not stray off the reservation with margins and tabs to lengthen or shorten your script, as any professional reader will spot this junior league tactic a mile away. Guru's Tip: There are plenty of good screenwriting packages out there that will put your screenplay into the correct format. The most popular of which you can find in the left margin including: Final Draft, Movie Magic Screenwriter and Dramatica Pro. The left side of your script should have a 1 1/2" margin. The right side of the script should have 1/2" to 1" of margin. The top and bottom margins of your script should be 1". Sluglines or Scene Headings are spaced 1 1/2" from the left side of the page. Dialogue should be spaced 2 1/2" from the left margin. That's 1" from the Slugline or Scene Heading margin or about 10 spaces. Character names should be 3.7" from the left margin or 12-13 spaces from the start of Dialogue Parentheticals aka Dialogue Directions should be 3.1" from the left margin or 6 spaces from the start of Dialogue. MAX lines per page: 52 – 56 (including blank lines). Do not exceed 56 lines per page!


6] SCREENPLAY TERMS:	V.O. - VOICE OVER: This is narration that does not originate in the scene itself. It can be a Narrator or Inner thoughts of a character on screen, or it can simply be a disembodied voice coming over a radio, telephone or speaker that the filmmakers can later add in post production. O.S. - OFF SCREEN: Dialogue or sounds that are heard in the scene/location, but not actually seen. For example, FBI agents outside a bank siege who are shouting through a megaphone. Or a on a lighter note, maybe a sweet little ole granny calling her children in for dinner when the scene itself is set with the kids out on the playground. P.O.V. – POINT-OF-VIEW: This is a way of showing a scene as seen from a specific character's perspective. INSERT or CUTAWAY: This is used when you need to draw attention to a specific object in a scene that is away from the main action or dialogue. Note: It is as close to a Camera Cue as you can get away with! See below for explaination. SUPERIMPOSE: This is for written information (time, date, location, etc…) given to the audience that appears on screen. i.e. “One month Later” or “The Pentagon, D.C. - 08:00 hours”. INTERCUT: This is often used when showing two or more characters interacting from two separate locations… A telephone call is the most obvious use, but it is also quite handy for parallel action such as the opening of Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train. MONTAGE: This is used for a series of related or contrasting images that are often set to music. SERIES OF SHOTS: Varied shots and locations used to establish a scene or sense of place. RE: Often used in parentheticals as short hand for ‘reference to’. Useful when multiple characters are speaking to each other or in reference to props or objects. For example. JOHNNY HERO (re: the fallen knife) Go ahead, tough guy. Make my day.


7] CAMERA CUES:	ZOOM, PAN, TILT, DOLLY IN/OUT, BOOM UP/DOWN, ANGLE ON, etc should be avoided if at all possible in your first few scripts. Nothing screams amateur more than Camera Cues. Until you are established enough to be telling the director how to do his or her job, you should stick to your own… telling the story! A good trick is to find any place where you have used a Camera Cue and simply WRITE! what that movement would reveal. For example: Instead of writing: “As Johnny Hero cleans his gun, tilt up to reveal a missile streaking across the sky”; You could write: “Dropping his M16 and snapping his gaze skyward, Johnny Hero watches a missile streak across the sky.” Also try to avoid the royal “We”. As in “We see”, “We hear”. If we, the audience, hear it then why don’t you just bloody WRITE IT! So instead of, “We hear a blood-curdling scream in the distance.” You could just as easily type, “A blood-curdling scream echoes in the distance.” Guru's Tip: Camera Cues and the royal “We” are nothing more than lazy writing! Avoid them at all cost!


8] SPELLING:	Check it once, check it twice and then by golly, check it again! Poor spelling disrupts the reader’s suspension of disbelief and really pisses off a professional. Guru's Tip: Search (aka ‘Find’) for Homonyms as they often go over-looked by computer spell checkers: They’re - There - Their Your - You’re We’re - Were Its - It's


9] EASY ON THE EYES / TEST READ:	“The One Big Haiku Theory” - Sounds odd to say that a properly formatted screenplay should be as elegant and precise as a Haiku, but alas it is true. A good script – like a good poem - should be lean and mean with only the essentials on the page. Sooooo…. prior to submission take a good honest look at your pages. If the pages are margin to margin description (aka “all that black stuff”) or page after page of dialogue (aka “pictures of people talking”) then maybe you need a second opinion prior to sending out your baby. Reading a good script should be just like watching a good movie. Ideally it can be enjoyed cover to cover in a single 90 minute to 2 hour session and have the audience (reader) sucked in from the first page to the last. Guru's tip: Give your script to a friend and ask them to read it in one sitting. If they can’t… you need to go back and trim the fat! Or perhaps find more literate friends.


10] CLEAN PRESENTATION:	Last but not least… and also coincidentally Hollywood Script Express’s speciality! You only get one shot with professional readers in Hollywood (Agents, Managers, Producers, Screenplay Contest Judges) so make your first impression, your best impression. A fresh, clean copy of your screenplay on the proper paper (US Letter) and securely fastened with two solid brass brads is essential. Laser printing is also a must, as many a script will see some poolside or happy hour reading and ink-jet runs when wet. Not only would your script be ruined but maybe that hotshot producer’s jacket as well! Add in a crisp cardstock cover, proper margins and a professional envelope with typed address and you, my friend, at least have a fighting chance!

Steal This Music

2008-05-12T14:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a possible new source for music beds. Rifflet.com is a new site that encourages people upload and download short music clips to use for remixes. They describe it as "Like Twitter for Rock and Roll". I think it's more like Flickr for music. For now anyway, there's nothing preventing commercial use:

A rifflet is a piece of a song--a bass line, a guitar riff, a drum beat or something else entirely. Share your rifflets and combine them with others, or even upload a finished song.
Here's the catch: every rifflet must be less than 60 seconds. The idea is to only upload a part of a song, or an idea for a song, or just a couple of guitar chords you think are cool. Then, you can download parts of other people songs (like a drumbeat) that you can combine with your ideas.
If you're a dj, you can use all these great pieces of proto-songs for remixes without worrying about royalties or copyright restrictions, because these sounds are all on this site for the purpose of being remixed.

17 Rules

2008-03-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

From the HOW Magazine blog - 17 Rules for Designers, but they work just as well for video producers. Here's a couple:

11. Take advantage of the perks.
Have fun. We’ll never get paid as much as the sales guy in the building next door. I guarantee we have more fun at work though.

13. Never, ever, ever stop learning.
The moment you think you know everything, your learning/growing/executing curve stops right there and you will be doomed to a life of simply repeating what you know. This industry is constantly turning over with new technology, new avenues of communication and new techniques to reach new people. The desire to constantly relearn the technical skills required to execute our ideas is crucial to our future success, but moreover, our desire to improve our ability to generate better ideas and conceptualize stronger solutions is of greater importance. Anyone can use Photoshop. Only you can decide why to use it.

Legal Advice

2008-03-20T14:10:00.000-07:00

Photojojo has a post on Photography and the Law. I'm no lawyer, but I would think that it would apply to videographers as well. I've had a couple of the issues they cover come up over the years, like issue #1:

I. Anyone in a public place can take pictures of anything they want. Public places include parks, sidewalks, malls, etc. Malls? Yeah. Even though it’s technically private property, being open to the public makes it public space.

I've been stopped by mall security when shooting in a mall, even though I was hired to shoot a commercial for the particular store that I was shooting. Most security guards around here, though, tend to let you do whatever you want if they see you have a camera.
Of course, beware their disclaimer:

...we’re not lawyers. None of this should be construed as legal advice. If you have a legal issue, get in touch with a lawyer. Much of this information was gleaned from attorney Bert P. Krages‘ website, so we’ll go ahead and recommend him.

Teleprompters

2008-03-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

I like to think up DIY projects and convince myself that someday I'll actually finish one. That's why Instructables is one of my new favorite websites. It's chock full of user-submitted projects of all kinds - some simple, some harder, some dirt cheap, some more costly.
Here's two Instructables on how to build a teleprompter:

Full-screen scrolling teleprompter
I needed a teleprompter to help me make better looking videos for my website on woodblock printmaking, so I built this one, using nothing but a few pieces of scrap wood and glass, and only free software.

When recording videos, I discovered that I'm not much of an actor ... namely, I can't remember my lines! I tried to get around this by printing out a large-type 'script' and hanging it up next to the camera, but when I looked at the resulting video, it was obvious that I was reading something, and not looking directly into the camera. There was only one solution ... build a teleprompter!

Here's how I did it, in just a few minutes, using a couple of scraps of wood, a scavenged piece of glass, and an old shirt ...

Teleprompter DIY for $50.00:

Filmlinker

2007-12-20T21:59:00.000-08:00

Filmlinker.com is a good site for aspiring film/video people by filmmaker Rick Santos. I'm not much of a "Film" guy, but he has a good post on DIY equipment and another on educational sites. It looks like his Links page has a lot of good stuff as well.

Afterworld

2007-12-18T07:28:00.000-08:00

Afterworld is a sci-fi web series about a man who wakes up one morning in New York City, apparently alone. Each chapter is around 3-minutes long, so it's easy to watch. It's not really video - it uses 2-D backgrounds combined with characters created in Poser. It's a cool, relatively low-budget way to tell a story.
Mobi-lize.com has a good article about it.

Insomnia Film Fest

2007-09-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

Apple's sponsoring the Insomnia Film Fest for high school and college students. On October 13, you'll have 24 hours to produce a 3-minute "film" based on elements that will be posted at 9am that day:

The Insomnia Film Festival is back—and while the world sleeps, you could be making film history.
Calling all high school and college filmmakers.
On Saturday, October 13 at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern time), we’ll post a top-secret list of elements — special props, dialogue, settings — you get the idea. Choose any three to include in your movie. Then all you and your team have to do is write, cast, shoot, edit, score, and upload your 3-minute masterpiece within 24 hours. No problem, right?
Once the films are in, your friends, family, and adoring fans will be able to watch them online and rate their favorites. The 25 entries with the highest rating on November 9 at 12:00 a.m. EST will be screened by industry professionals, including Barry Sonnenfeld, James Mangold, and Nora Ephron.
If your film is the biggest hit with either the public or the pros, each member of your team will receive a MacBook Pro, Final Cut Studio 2, Logic Studio, and Shake so you can get started on that first sequel. How’s that for a Hollywood ending?

Terrabytes on Sale

2007-09-25T12:40:00.000-07:00

Office Depot has the Western Digital 1TB My Book USB/Firewire drive on sale for $279 (after rebates). I paid $500 for mine not even 6 months ago. It works pretty well, but it's loud (at least mine is). I'll trade a little extra noise for a TB of storage at this price, though.

Western Digital® 1TB My Book Premium II USB/FireWire External Hard Drive

SAVE $120

$279.99

After $50 Instant & $70 Mail-In Savings

( In Store Price $349.99)
thru Sep 29

Sound Effects

2007-09-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

J-Walk titled this "Worst Deal At eMusic", but if you need sound effects and already have an eMusic account, it may be a great deal:

If you're an eMusic member, you'll probably want to pass this one by: Whooshes, Swipes, Swooshes and Fly-In Sound Effects.

The album has 42 tracks, with a total time of 2 minutes, 41 seconds. Unfortunately, sample clips aren't available for this item.

I'm guessing that if they have one sound effects disk, they probably have others.

Expert Village

2007-06-01T07:43:00.000-07:00

Expert Village has oodles of instructional videos covering everything from automotive repair to sewing. Of interest to video people are topics like special effects make-up, voice lessons, acting, and indie filmmaking stuff like this video on legal issues by Corey Turner:

Hello I'm Corey Turner here on ExpertVillage.com and today we're talking about low budget moving making. Now within the past twenty-four months I've written, produced and directed two independent films and I've also just wrapped and just finished completely a children's DVD. As I go into every production and especially as I come out of every production, I've learned so many more things and today I hope to pass that information and knowledge on to you. So you've decided that you want to make a low budget movie, but you don't know where to start. Step number one, this is one of the most important things for me, go to your library, your bookstore, search on the internet and find a book that talks about movie contracts. Now if you're a movie maker and you want to be creative and you're ready to start filming, usually you try to rush pass this part of the process, but it is vital. And as we talk on each step of the way, we're always going to revert back to the legal issues and so it's a good foundation to have that right from the start. Now legal contracts, the things you really want to focus on are your actor releases, your location releases, you also want to talk about equipment and music, music is a vital thing. So you want to have the releases so that you have control of that and also you want to make sure that the script, whether it be yours or somebody else's, you've addressed from the very beginning how to handle that and you have the contracts in place to do that.

Under Consideration

2007-05-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

Here's a kick-ass "Dio-esque" track for anyone who works with clients on a regular basis. It's from graphic design site UnderConsideration.com.

Video Disk Space Calculator

2007-04-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

Here's a handy free app for calculating video disk space. You can also calculate the length of your footage from the file size. It also has a handy printable codec chart with each codec's data rate.

Fonts and Stuff

2007-04-17T21:58:00.000-07:00

From DVGuru.com:

Have you ever wanted to add that professional touch to your film/movie trailer/movie poster/DVD cover? Below are a few resources for fonts, logos, and box art templates you can use in your project and increase its production value.

There's a bunch of other resources there, too, so click around. Unfortunately, it's not being updated any longer.

Urban Dirty

2007-04-15T17:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a site for free texture stock photography:

Urban Dirty is a regularly updated online photo library featuring 153 gritty, grimy and sometimes slimy images for use in design and artwork creation. For example, here's a desktop wallpaper using an Urban Dirty photo. View the images in small, medium or large, download or edit online and have fun with them.

Are these images free?

Yes. The photos featured on this site are currently free for you to download for both commercial and non-commercial use. All we ask is that you credit urbandirty.com, somewhere, somehow. All photos are licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.

NATPE

2007-03-22T18:59:00.000-07:00

The National Association of Television Program Executives hosts a conference in Las Vegas every January. This is where all the big-wigs go to buy and sell TV shows and movies. Stacey Parks has a blog with some tips for attendees (scroll down to the Sunday Jan. 14 post). It costs around $1000 to attend, so I probably won't be going next year, but who knows? The thing I like the most was her use of the word "their" in the below sentence:

...so you may get lucky and get to talk to some companies while their standing their at their booth.

In her defense, she used it correctly in the rest of the blog.
The NATPE site has videos from this year's conference for sale at their store for $29.95.

9-27-07 Update: The tips can now be found here (with the same typo). The link above doesn't work. She's now associated with filmspecific.com.

Free Stuff

2007-03-22T18:20:00.000-07:00

Indie filmmaker Paul Zadie has a list of free resources for filmmakers. Most of the forms are useless for day-to-day video work, but the software, storyboard sheets, and screenplay templates could be pretty useful. (Warning: He uses those annoying Snap previews on all his links):

Being an indie filmmaker is pretty tough sometimes. The tools required to get the job done can be a little bit pricey, so here’s a list of software, screenplay templates, storyboard sheets and production forms for your use. The important list here is the forms. Keeping proper records and getting the required releases is a must if you are making a film. From pre-production to post-production, forms are some of the most valuable tools in independent filmmaking. Feel free to download these forms for use on your project. They are all in MS Word format. If you do not own Microsoft Word, you can check the software list below for free, open source alternatives.

More Online Resources

2007-03-12T18:52:00.000-07:00

Sonnyboo.com, the site of micro-filmmaker Peter John Ross, has a few pages of free downloads for filmmakers (also relevant to video producers). He features music, articles, forms, and a video tutorial, all free for the clicking. There's also a page of stations and shows looking for short films. Some of the information seems a little dated, and some of the article links just go to the Amazon page for his book, but there's plenty of good stuff. If you like what you find, splurge and buy his book about filmmaking or the DVD of his short films.

After Effects Tutorials

2007-02-22T18:48:00.000-08:00

Video Copilot, a maker of stock footage and training videos, has a bunch of free AE video tutorials. Topics include simulated light effects (like muzzle flashes or explosions), "iPod Nano" light streaks, and simulating depth of field.

2007-02-13T14:19:00.000-08:00

Boing Boing mentions a review by David McKnight of the Spiderbrace Shoulder Support. It's for small cameras like the PD-150 or the Sony HVR-FX1 and is only $70. The review calls it a stabilizer, but Spiderbrace calls it a shoulder support, which is more accurate. I don't think it looks too stable, but it does get a favorable review. The article is from the Cool Tools newsletter and apparently isn't online, so here is Boing Boing's quote from the review:

This stabilizer fits most any video camera and makes all handheld shots steadier, as the weight of the camera is distributed across your body. It is made out of lightweight PVC and the handles are covered with a thick foam cushion, so it's very comfortable. The unit is also machined, as the tubing is strategically bent and shaped at the correct angles. Some devices advertised online are cobbled together 100% from the Home Depot plumbing aisle -- and they look it. This sharp-looking device doesn't draw any attention to itself. It also costs less than any other comparable unit I've seen, and works just as well. While there are many plans on the Internet for making your own stabilizers and mounts, this one is manufactured well enough and at a cheap enough price to not have to build something that looks, well, like I built it. My wife and I run a small video company doing mostly weddings and other events and about half of our shooting time is spent in less-than-ideal conditions. Using the Spiderbrace 2 really helps keep the camera steady for long periods of time, and you are not burdened with a tripod or other unwieldy device should you need to move positions.

A Boing Boing reader added this link to a homemade stabilizer in the comments.

Plotbot

2007-02-07T14:03:00.000-08:00

Plotbot is a free on-line collaborative screenwriting tool:

As film school graduates who both work on the web, we thought it would be a lot of fun to have a site where people could write a screenplay together. At first, this was going to be a small, simple application. And then it got out of hand.

We do think that we're on the way toward making a great collaborative screenwriting tool. The public projects are a lot of fun, and the private projects allow people to write together more productively than traditional screenwriting tools.

I don't write with other people, so I haven't tried it yet, but I can see where it could be very useful.

YouTube to Pay You

2007-01-31T12:32:00.000-08:00

Chad Hurley, co-founder of YouTube made a vague announcement this week that said they will start sharing revenue with its users. No details were given, but despite the fact that it sounds great at first, all sorts of problems need to be worked out. ConsumerGeneratedMedia.com had this to say:

Looking ahead to the new YouTube model, if a Super Bowl contest-winner's ad find second life on YouTube, who gets the compensation? The original content creator? The brand? The agency? All of the above? Trust me, this will get really complicated, and even if brands us "fine print" to exempt themselves from compensating consumers, original creators will find a way to raise a stink...or create a viral protest.

And this from Streamingmedia.com:

First is the question of how to value content. The simplistic answer is that value is determined by the number of views; a slightly less simplistic answer is that it is determined by the number of advertisement views or even click-throughs. But if the latter two models are used, consumers will at some point argue that YouTube is shortchanging their content by putting lower-ranking (and lower revenue-producing) advertisements side by side with the consumer's content. Besides the quality of ads versus the quality of content—which isn't currently an issue because revenue sharing isn't in full swing—think of the conundrum facing a church group posting an abstinence video that might be generate revenue from people clicking on ads that have as much in common with the church's message as does a global warming warning video with the polar opposite political opponent who might choose to manipulate particular keywords to get his own message across.

Cost of Music Videos

2006-08-07T19:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a rundown of the 10 most expensive music videos ever (as of whenever the article was written).
I'd settle for the budget for Michael Jackson's makeup on "Scream", the #1 video on the list.
On the flip side, this Sarah McLachlan video was made in '04 for $15 - the price of a DV tape. They had a $150,000 budget, but gave it all to charity, as outlined in the video. I guess if you're not getting paid, there's no point in practicing your camera moves (or getting out of the way before the playback starts).
This blog gives a rundown of where it all went, in case you don't think you can sit through a Sarah McLachlan video.

Panasonic HVX200

2006-08-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

After reading a few things about Panasonic's AG HVX200, it has become the latest Camera I'd Most Like to Play With. It provides an almost ridiculous number of shooting options, including DV, DVCPro, DVCPro50, and HD. This is from DV.com's review by Adam Wilt:

The HVX200 "Manycam" offers unparalleled flexibility, shooting four image sizes in two aspect ratios at three different bitrates with 11 frame rates plus true single-frame. It records on tape and solid-state P2 cards...

A company in Chicago called Zacuto has developed some custom accessories for the camera. They rent and sell it in 5 different configurations, including a tricked-out "Studio" version for $26,000 (four times the camera's list price). It still has the limitation of two 8GB P2 cards, though (for now, anyway).

Banddot

2006-08-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

I've started a new project. It's called Banddot and features interviews with and performances by indie rock bands. Check it out at Banddot.com. Jon Schwab is my co-producer/editor and designed the web site.

Cable Rolling

2005-06-22T18:25:00.000-07:00

If you ever shoot any events with a big-time crew for a company like ESPN, one of the most important things to know is how to roll cables using the "over-and-under" method. This helps avoid the cable getting tangled up and makes the next set-up easier. It's not easy to learn without seeing it, but here are two articles that may help.
This one is about audio cables, but the same principles apply.
This one is from Pro Lights and Staging News, which is a little off topic, but it looks like it could have some other interesting articles. I'll check it out further when I have more time. Here's the gist of the article:

How you take it up is important too, for your sanity and the life of the cable. Learn how to over and under cable. It’s really easy. Create a loop a foot and a half to two feet or more. Keep looping the cable again and again, letting it roll underneath itself when it wants to, usually every other loop. To most people this sounds incredibly elementary, but most stagehands around the world don’t do it, either because of ignorance or apathy. That’s why I also suggest that you wrap your own cable. Don’t let a stagehand do it unless you know him or have seen him do it. Usually a quick lesson won’t help either. You can, however, let a hand help you pull or untangle wire. Wrap you own stuff and it’ll last a lot longer. You’ll also keep your sanity the next day when it just flows off the roll as you load in. My experience with triax and BNC cable is that if you wrap them in a larger three-foot or so loom, they last longer and roll out better.

Proper cable rolling might seem like a minor thing, but if you work with a crew that loads and unloads equipment every day, at best, you'll look like an amateur if you don't do it right, and at worst, you'll really piss some people off if they have to re-do all your cables at one in the morning when they're trying to pack up.

AIVF

2005-06-16T20:58:00.000-07:00

The Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers has a pretty good site with a lot of resources (mostly for docs or feature films, rather than shorter projects like commercials or music videos). There's some good fundraising info there and if you join, you're eligible for discounts on important stuff like health insurance. I'm not a member, but it might be worth joining if you're a freelancer.

Disposable Video Camera

2005-06-15T07:18:00.000-07:00

CVS pharmacy will start selling the world's first disposable video camera at the end of the month. It will shoot 20 minutes of video and cost about 30 bucks. But it has no outputs or tape, so if you want to actually do something with the video, it will cost another $13 to burn it to a DVD.

The new camera from San Francisco-based start-up Pure Digital Technologies, doesn't use videotape. Instead, it saves images to internal memory -- like the video mode of a digital camera.

Using just three buttons, consumers can capture up to 20 minutes of digital quality video and sound in either separate segments or clips, CVS (Research) have said.

The video camcorder's 1.4-inch color playback screen lets users watch their home videos and delete unwanted segments. Once they finished shooting, consumers will have to pay an additional $12.99 (£7) for processing the footage onto DVDs at their local CVS store since there's no other way to watch the footage recorded.

It could be handy for emergencies, I guess. I don't think too many consumers will be using these for almost fifty bucks a pop, though. It might be cool for some sort of community video project - give a bunch of kids cameras and let them shoot their own stories, but with only 20 minutes of footage, they'd have to be selective with their shooting.

Home-Made Equipment

2005-06-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

Here are a few links with plans for equipment of various sorts:

Do It Yourself Video

Stick to What you Know
go to the "Behind the Scenes" page for some interesting stuff

HomeBuiltStabilizers.com
A bunch of different stabilizers, jibs, and dolly plans

Ron Dexter

2005-06-09T18:05:00.000-07:00

I came across Ron Dexter's site today. Wow! There's something for everyone- shooting tips, how to build equipment, even tips on using drywall screws. There's probably 200 film and video related articles here, and all the ones I read were interesting, even if not immediately useful. There are a few typos here and there that caused me to re-read a line or two, but that's a small price for this much info. Check it out.

Free stock photography

2005-05-26T18:02:00.000-07:00

Morguefile has a decent selection of free stock photography available for download. The images I checked out are just as good as the stuff you'd pay for.
From their "About" page:

1. Are the images really free?
Yes, all images are really free and they can be used in your commercial projects without permission or credit from the photographer. Although selling prints, selling the images directly or claiming the photo is yours is prohibited.
Note: You are responsible for the content of the photos you use. It is very much the same as if you had taken the photograph yourself, you must still obtain proper permission for property or people depicted in the photos if any.

Copyright issues

2005-05-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

DV Info Net has a good 5-part article on copyright law by Douglas Spotted Eagle.

As a reasonably successful artist, I’m constantly walking a tightrope because as an artist I wish protection for my musical works. As a videographer/editor I often want to have access to musical works that are not affordable, accessible, or sometimes even possible. I do know that it’s the single biggest issue to face the video and audio world in the coming years. I usually express the meaning of copyright with the phrase “My Voice, My Choice” in that the author, composer, creator of the copyrighted work is expressing their artistic voice in the process, and should always have the choice as to where that work is displayed or heard.

Lighting article

2005-05-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

Still photography sites are a great resource for lighting tips. Here's a portrait lighting article from Popular Photography that shows how to create different looks with just one light.

Before signing on with MGM in 1930, Hurrell worked out of a humble studio near Los Angeles and owned very little lighting gear. Most of the Novarro portraits are lit by a single light plus reflector. By changing relative positions of subject, background, and light, and by altering the light’s character with diffusers and reflectors, Hurrell transformed his subject into a glamorous icon. You could do it for your subjects, too.

The full article is a downloadable PDF file.

Video/Film Dictionary

2005-05-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a pretty comprehensive dictionary of film and video terms. They also have a pretty long links page.

Great links page

2005-05-21T18:09:00.000-07:00

Ned Miller, a Chicago videographer, has a great links page on his site with all kinds of resources for video people.

Online Television Course

2005-05-21T18:02:00.000-07:00

Cybercollege has a pretty comprehensive on-line course for television production, and it's all free. It's written for beginners, but there's useful technical info there for everyone-
http://www.cybercollege.com/tvp_ind.htm

Cool After Effects tutorials

2005-05-18T20:44:00.000-07:00

Here are two tutorials by Bill O'Neil on Creative Cow. They involve using AE to create convincing 3D camera movements on a low budget.
Depth of Field
Shooting for 3D Post

Video hosting on Google?

2005-05-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

I haven't bothered to read all the fine print, but this sounds interesting:

We're accepting digital video files of any length and size. Simply sign up for an account and upload your videos using our Video Uploader (please be sure you own the rights to the works you upload), and, pending our approval process and the launch of this new service, we'll include your video in Google Video, where users will be able to search, preview, purchase and play it.

https://upload.video.google.com

Good camera setting overview

2005-05-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

This video tutorial from DV.com requires free registration, but there's some good basic knowledge here that every shooter should know.

Maximizing Success with DV Cameras, Part 1
Adam Wilt, Video Systems Engineer
Length - 42:26

Learn how to get the most out of DV cameras. This half-day session offers tips and tricks for using prosumer cameras like the Canon XL1S, Sony DSR-PD150, and Panasonic AG-DVX100, as well as high-end cameras like the Panasonic AJ-SDX900 and Sony DSR-500WS. Through real world examples and live demos, you'll learn how to achieve high-end results by using custom settings and filters, and tricking preprogrammed settings to allow for better-looking images. Other topics include how (and when) to use slow shutters, fast shutters, sharpness controls, skin detail, gamma adjustments, zebra settings, and setup levels; when(and how) to shoot 60i, 30p, or 24p. In addition, you'll learn how to record better pictures and cleaner sound.

Adam Wilt has his own site that's a great source of DV info: www.adamwilt.com

Welcome

2005-05-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

I'm new to blogging and web design, so this will be a work-in-progress. Hopefully it will soon morph into a useful resource for video producers, shooters and editors.