Practical DV FilmMaking
Overview
Think big
'Four years ago, if you had a video and you wanted people to see it, you had to invite them all over to your house for a beer. With the web, it's possible to produce a movie with almost no budget and get a million people to watch it.' (читать далее...)стр. 0 1
The filmmaking process
To begin with, it would be useful to get to grips with the process of making a film as a whole. What do these people actually do? Why does it take so long between thinking of the film and getting down to shooting it? (читать далее...)стр. 2 3 4 5
Low-budget filmmaking
'Thank God for FireWire and DV. The revolution will be televised after all.' Chris Allen, founder, The Light Surgeons Big money vs small money In industry terms, there is a specific level below which you are considered to be a low-budget production. (читать далее...)стр. 6 7 8 9
Inside video
What is digital technology?
To some people the so-called DV revolution spells the end of a certain kind of movie: the end of celluloid and all the associations that we have with it - projectors, rolls of film and the romance of Hollywood. (читать далее...)стр. 10 11 12 13 14 15
How the camcorder works
Before we look at the inner workings of the video camera, we need first to define what we are looking at. Not all cameras can record images; some simply pass them on to another device, which commits them to tape. (читать далее...)стр. 16 17 18 19 20
Operating the camcorder
Every model of camcorder is different, but there are certain ways of handling camcorders that make the best of what you've got. From the point of view of the filmmaker, as opposed to the tourist or home movie maker, some features need to be looked at a little closer. (читать далее...)стр. 21 22 23 24
Project 1. In-camera edit: hand-made movie
What this project is for: to learn about manual settings in shooting Time: allow about three hours What this project is for The aim of this film is to encourage you to use the camera with complete control over every aspect of what it is doing. (читать далее...)стр. 25 26 27 28
Video safety and good practice
Treat your camcorder well Water A camcorder can be irreparable if damaged with water. Protect it from rain and wipe off moisture from the casing. Salt water is especially harmful, and can do damage to the outer casing as well as the inner workings. (читать далее...)стр. 29 30 31
Video compression
Now that there are so many different ways of watching video - phones, the web, DVD, CD - it was inevitable that at some point we would have to find a way of reducing these movies to a size that our mobile devices can cope with. (читать далее...)стр. 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
Films and how they work
Types of film and filmmakers
The aim of this section is to start thinking about what sort of filmmaker you want to become. Do you want to make films with straight stories, or are non-narrative films going to inspire you more? (читать далее...)стр. 39 40 41 42 43 44 45
Project 2. In-camera edit
What this project is for: to learn about basic shooting and assembling sequences Time: allow a few hours What this project is about In this project, we are going to use the camera alone to construct a film, without the need to edit. (читать далее...)стр. 46 47 48
How films work
The shortcut to making a film that lasts in people's minds lies in understanding the nuts and bolts of movies - not just the technical side but the mechanics of how you make viewers see and feel what you want. (читать далее...)стр. 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57
Film language and how to speak it
We talk about film as being like a language but actually it is very different to spoken language. In spoken language the word is the smallest unit and from there we build it into sentences, and these into paragraphs and so on. (читать далее...)стр. 58 59 60 61 62 63
Pre-production
Logistics and crew. Working out a budget
DV is less expensive The size of your budget should be part of the decision-making process from the start of the development process. How much or how little you have will play a key role in deciding what kind of film you make. (читать далее...)стр. 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82
Project 3. Scene description
What this project is for: to recognize differences in individual imaginations Time: allow around one hour What this project is about In this project we are going to see how much other people can offer you and your ideas. (читать далее...)стр. 83 84
Project 4. Collaboration
What this project is for: to enable a crew to work collaboratively and exchange ideas Time: allow about one hour What this project is about This project is aimed at illustrating how a team can work collaboratively on a project. (читать далее...)стр. 85 86
Project 5. Developing stories
What this project is for: to generate ideas collaboratively Time: allow one hour What this project is about The aim of this short project is to see how a group can develop a story more effectively than an individual. (читать далее...)стр. 87 88
Making a schedule
In a feature film, the idea of planning how much time each part of the process will take is crucial to the smooth running of a production, and has a huge impact on marketing and subsequent profit margins. (читать далее...)стр. 89 90 91 92
Scriptwriting Story and structure
Interview 'There is no substitute for a great story. Any script or film that seeks to go deeper than mere formula and throws some light on the human condition is going to get noticed because audiences are hungry for great stories. (читать далее...)стр. 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104
Project 6. Core scenes
What this project is for: sorting out priorities in your story Time: allow about one hour What this project is about This very brief exercise is aimed at working out the priorities in your films, about which parts of it are more dominant than others, and can be done when you have a film outlined and planned up to visualization stage. (читать далее...)стр. 105 106
Project 7. Silent movie remake
What this project is for: to learn about structure Time: allow a few days to plan the movie. Shooting may be no more than one day. Editing will take around four to six hours depending on experience What this project is about As we saw right at the start of this section, screenwriting structure is like the skeleton of a movie. (читать далее...)стр. 107 108 109 110 111
Alternative script structure
The classic structure detailed above takes the audience on a journey and then returns them to a point at which the story started, albeit in an altered state. Like the protagonist, they will have learned something of value along the way. (читать далее...)стр. 112 113 114 115 116
Project 8. New movie structures
What this project is for: to figure out how alternative movie structures work Time: allow around two hours or more What this project is about In Chapter 4:5 we looked at alternative means of telling a story. (читать далее...)стр. 117 118
Devising stories for low budgets
Narrative is about telling the audience about a series of events and engaging that audience to sympathize with one or other party in those events. Questions of why, what, when, where and how are essential if the cog-wheels of the film are to turn correctly and if the audience are to stay with you. (читать далее...)стр. 119 120 121 122
Project 9. Revealing subtext in your movie
What this project is for: to learn how to get hidden meanings in your films Time: allow about two hours to view and note the movie What this project is about The aim of this project is to investigate subtext and to see how to find it. (читать далее...)стр. 123
Project 10. Symbolism in the movies
What this project is for: to look for symbols and motifs in movies Time: allow around one hour for the paper version, three hours for the video version What this project is about This project is designed to help identify where the meaning in a film appears. (читать далее...)стр. 124 125
Visualizing your film
Planning a film is different from director to director. Some will insist on a very clear idea of what they are making before production, others will opt for the more risky approach of letting some elements develop on set. (читать далее...)стр. 126 127 128 129
Storyboards and visual tools
In the last section we noted how a film needs to be visualized first on paper before you pick up a camera. In this section we need to see how to collate these visuals together into a coherent whole. (читать далее...)стр. 130 131 132 133 134 135
Production tools
A condensed guide to shooting
This chapter is going to help to get you filming quickly, taking you through the basics of filming so that you can start working on the projects detailed in this book. Refer to this chapter before you start each project so that you go shooting with more confidence, aware of the various obstacles that could arise. (читать далее...)стр. 136 137 138 139
Lighting
Digital filmmaking is a double-edged sword: on the one hand you are going to be able to make a movie for less than you ever thought possible, but on the other you are going to have to be much more creative with very basic equipment. (читать далее...)стр. 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150
Sound recording
Video filmmaking is cheap, enabling you to make movies at a fraction of the cost of those on traditional celluloid film. But for most filmmakers using basic, consumer digital equipment, picture and colour resolution are poorer than high-level digital video or film. (читать далее...)стр. 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165
Project 11. The chase
What this project is for: to get better at sound recording Time: allow a few days for planning, two days for shooting and a few days for editing What this project is about This film is going to put into practice a few ideas we have covered so far. (читать далее...)стр. 166 167 168 169
Project 12. Sound environment
What this project is for: to look at how to change a scene simply by using sound Time: allow around four or five hours for editing What this project is about The aim of this project is to find out exactly how far you can manipulate a scene by changing the sounds we hear. (читать далее...)стр. 170 171
Real world guide to location shooting
In this section we will road test what we have talked about so far and talk to filmmakers who bring their own experiences of location shooting to bear. In each case, they highlight the way that what goes on while shooting on location is different to what is expected, and how knowing this can help prevent problems large and small. (читать далее...)стр. 172 173 174 175 176 177 178
5. Shooting for compression
There is no doubt that the web opens up new possibilities for the filmmaker. But like any new medium, some films look good when shown on the Internet and some don't. The same is true of the difference between showing films on a television or a cinema screen. (читать далее...)стр. 179 180 181 182
Project 13. New format movie
What this project is for: to learn about shooting for the ultra-small screen - phone and web Time: allow one hour to shoot and another to evaluate What this project is about Until new formats of communication evolved in the web and cell phones, filmmakers showed their work in only two ways: on the big screen (theatres) and on the small screen (TV). (читать далее...)стр. 183 184
Production aesthetics
Better looking films
You've spent a while looking at how to stretch the potential of your camera without spending any cash on the film itself. Now you need to look at what kind of 'feel' you want in your film and how the overall look of it can be achieved. (читать далее...)стр. 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195
Project 14. Close-ups
What this project is for: to improve camera technique Time: allow a day to plan, another to shoot and two to edit What this project is about This project concentrates on the use of the camera and how it can help you in conveying narrative. (читать далее...)стр. 196 197 198 199 200
Continuity
Continuity in narrative filmmaking refers to the way shots go together to create a seamless chain of events. It is going to be the invisible tool that helps you bind your film together and link it as a single, whole experience. (читать далее...)стр. 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208
Project 15. Urban legends
What this project is for: to create a narrative movie Time: allow a week to plan, another to shoot and two weeks to edit What this project is about This project enables you to put into practice many of the ideas looked at in narrative storytelling. (читать далее...)стр. 209 210
Documentary
The current period of documentary is arguably approaching a kind of golden age. Factual films have earned huge receipts in the global box-office in films such as Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore, 2004), Touching the Void (Kevin MacDonald, 2003), Super Size Me (Morgan Spurlock, 2004), Capturing the Friedmans (Andrew Jarecki, 2003) and The Fog of War (Errol Morris, 2003). (читать далее...)стр. 211 212 213 214 215 216
Project 16. My obituary
What this project is for: to investigate documentary filmmaking Time: allow a few days to plan, a week to gather all the footage and another week to edit What this project is about The aim of this project is to try making a documentary which focuses on a mixture of fact and opinion and which offers opportunities to include other kinds of filmmaking within it. (читать далее...)стр. 217 218
Music video and the VJ
The non-narrative movie that we call the music promo has become a central feature of the video landscape. The idea of putting together images to market a piece of music is not new and has probably already experienced its golden age as it gives rise to other forms such as VJ-ing and viral movies. (читать далее...)стр. 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226
Project 17. Music video
What this project is for: to make a music promo and investigate non-narrative filmmaking Time: allow two days to plan, two days to shoot and three days to edit What this project is about The aim of this project is to put into practice the ideas covered in the previous section and to make a movie that relies wholly on images. (читать далее...)стр. 227 228 229 230
Post-production tools
Condensed guide to editing
As we saw in Chapter 1, editing is the most crucial stage in the film's development, since it is the time when it becomes more than just the sum of its parts, more than a collection of scenes on a theme. (читать далее...)стр. 231 232
Starting to work in digital editing
The more you understand about digital editing as a whole, the better you will be at seeing what it can offer you. Software designers do their best to make editing programs as versatile as possible, suiting every possible need but, if you look through the manuals that accompany these products, they are nevertheless aimed squarely at a large middle ground of programme maker. (читать далее...)стр. 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243
Preparing to edit
Although editing has been somewhat liberated by the arrival of the at-home, take-your-time desktop editing system, enabling the filmmaker to make infinite variations of a film, it pays to take some time before editing to consider how to go about it. (читать далее...)стр. 244 245
Editing with sound
What does good audio do? Audio is one of the areas of making a film that is often the last to be resolved. Since the nature of filmmaking is primarily a visual medium, it is often seen that music and sound are there to prop up the images; (читать далее...)стр. 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253
Understanding timecode
Timecode is one of the more complex areas of video and any explanation of it does veer into technical language. Although it is one of those tools in DV filming that you can live without, once you understand what it is you see the benefits for your production and the way it speeds up your work rate. (читать далее...)стр. 254 255 256 257 258 259
Post-production aesthetics
Editing aesthetics: editing for genre
In the style of editing we are going to take a look at here, it will seem like there are more rules, more restrictions and less room for manoeuvre than in any other kind of editing. But stay with it. (читать далее...)стр. 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269
Editing aesthetics: non-narrative
Working on a narrative movie demands different approaches from a music promo, VJ performance or other non-narrative video. Many of the ideas looked at in Chapter 8:1 are going to be of limited value when working with material where there is no attempt at continuity, where stories are absent and where the demands of the market are wholly different. (читать далее...)стр. 270 271 272 273 274 275
Project 18. Polymedia movie
What this project is for: to investigate filmmaking for cell phones or hand-held devices Time: allow a few days to plan, a week to shoot and a week to edit What this project is about The aim of this film is to create a moving image product that goes outside your expectations of video. (читать далее...)стр. 276 277
3. Montage editing
Montage is one of the most significant devices used by filmmakers in editing. Many editors see montage as a definition of editing, while others see it as just another device to bring in when other more rational ones don't work. (читать далее...)стр. 278 279 280 281
Project 19. Movie spell
What this project is for: to try montage editing techniques Time: allow about one week for planning, shooting and editing What this project is about The aim of this movie is to investigate the full effects of montage editing. (читать далее...)стр. 282 283
Careers and distribution
What's a career?
To many people, the idea of a career is something that you have for life - you move onwards and upwards towards greater financial and employment security. In the film industry, however, this doesn't fit. (читать далее...)стр. 284 285 286 287 288 289
Careers: essential knowledge
Figure 9.2 Andrea Arnold won an Academy Award in 2005 for this hard-hitting short film, Wasp. Zeitgeist We could define Zeitgeist as being the prevailing winds that affect the social, political, personal and spiritual aspects of our lives. (читать далее...)стр. 290 291 292 293
Essential qualities
Filmmaking is a multifaceted art form. It utilizes elements from other art forms, such as lighting, storytelling, music and sound, and asks directors to have at least a working knowledge of each area. (читать далее...)стр. 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307
Career troubleshooting
In this section we are going to look at the most common problems filmmakers find when they feel that their career is not going forwards. Like those irritating troubleshooting guides in software manuals, the exact question you want may not be here, but the general issues covered below may apply to most questions. (читать далее...)стр. 308 309 310 311
Where to get your movies seen
In this section we will look at the range of outlets where you can get your movies seen by an audience. In the section on distribution (Chapter 9:8) we identify which are the main routes to selling films and how to access some of these. (читать далее...)стр. 312 313 314 315 316
Guide to distribution
What is distribution? One of the most challenging tasks is to push your film out into the wider world, and it comes when perhaps all your energies are drained by the process of getting the film made in the first place. (читать далее...)стр. 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326
Strategies for promotion
These sections on promotion and distribution are aimed at pointing out the possible routes available to get your films seen more widely. Before entering into the world of publicity, press relations and profile raising, we need to take a step back and look at how to devise a coherent approach so that the time and money involved is worth it. (читать далее...)стр. 327 328 329 330 331 332 333
Project 20. Showreel: who am I?
What this project is for: to help get jobs, and to try editing for ultra-short movies Time: allow around one day to shoot and four hours to edit What this project is about Your showreel is one of the most important aspects of your promotion kit, along with your business card and cell phone. (читать далее...)стр. 334 335
Film festivals
Pushing a film around the festival circuit is described by some filmmakers as one of the most important moves they made in marketing the film. Greg Pak, a filmmaker based in New York, found it essential, as he described in this diary entry: 'I met many great people at the [South by Southwest] festival, several of whom have made distribution offers for my movie. (читать далее...)стр. 336 337 338 339 340
Using Internet broadcast sites
Submitting films to a site Getting a film accepted on a high profile web movie site has acquired some prestige, with sites such as ifilm.com or Atom/Shockwave establishing reputations as places to see the best short films. (читать далее...)стр. 341 342 343
Your rights: protecting your movie on the web
Just as you sign over the right to show a film with a particular distributor in theatres, so the Internet also works by giving all or some of the rights over your movie to a particular site. In the rush to sell a movie, you may be tempted to accept any deal, ignoring some of the finer points in a contract. (читать далее...)стр. 344 345 346
Mapping the industry
State of the art: mapping the film industry
We've spent some time looking at the main issues affecting the new world of moving images. Next, we need to look at who pays the bills, the industry itself. What kind of health is the film industry in and what are the trends that stand to affect filmmakers? (читать далее...)стр. 347 348 349 350
State of the art: expansion and convergence
After working hard on your own films for so long now, this section is going to let you take the soft seat and watch as we go through the landscape that is the contemporary film industry. On this journey we are going to see what has shifted over the last few years, plot where we may be headed and spot the possible threats on the horizon. (читать далее...)стр. 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365
Glossary of film and video terms
4:1:1 A way of measuring the ratio between brightness signal and colour signals. This ratio is the smallest and is roughly 50 per cent of the value of 4:2:2 in terms of horizontal colour resolution (vertical colour resolution remains the same). (читать далее...)стр. 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378