PRACTICAL DV FILMMAKING

Practical DV FilmMaking

• Overview
• Inside video
• Films and how they work
• Pre-production
• Production tools
• Production aesthetics
• Post-production tools
• Post-production aesthetics
• Careers and distribution
• Mapping the industry
• Glossary of film and video terms

Storyboard

The storyboard is used to explain the detail of the visual side of the film to a crew and allow those people working on a film to plan essential equipment and work schedules effectively. Working on a low budget with just yourself and a few friends does not excuse you from this process; it offers a chance to refine both the look and structure of your film and pare it down, stripping it of elements that divert from the idea, making it a project that fulfils the specific aims you had in mind right at the start.

In preparing a storyboard, you will draw frames on one vertical column of the paper with correspond­ing dialogue, notes or sound written next to it. This document is the most detailed visual and written description of the whole film, the single blueprint that you try to stick to throughout the shooting process.

Although storyboarding was rigidly adhered to by directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, for the most part it is simply the most accurate plan you have at this point, ready to be challenged and altered during filming.

In films where you have a story, a script is going to be the only way to prepare it and iron out the incon­sistencies. Even in films where there are no speaking roles you may find it useful to prepare a script show­ing only director's notes, as it gives yet another opportunity to hone your idea, add to it or subtract.

The importance of each stage of planning is relative to the sort of film you are making. Abstract, theme-based movies will demand more consideration of visual aspects, while character studies with intense dialogue will need more attention paid to the script. All films, however, need to go through an intense period of planning in order to emerge fully formed before a camera starts showing up the faults. Know your film.

Stage 2: Shooting

Shooting is to some a time where the film takes on a whole life of its own, to others a simple regurgita­tion of a paper storyboard. In practical terms, it seems simple enough: plan out a series of shots, go and shoot them just as you planned on paper, tick off the scenes one by one and go home. In an ideal situ­ation this is more or less what happens, but since this is an art form it is natural to assume that the cre­ative process continues throughout the project, through planning, shooting and editing (even through to marketing, but more of that in Chapter 9). So, you should expect to encounter obstacles and temptations along the way