Things to Keep in Mind while Shooting

While shooting your opus, there are things you should keep in mind. Footage that isn't shot correctly or isn't usable is footage that you're going to be forced to use, especially if you don't have time to do reshoots. These will not only save you frustration in post but also will help you every time you shoot.

WARP STABILIZER 

Warp stabilizer is an effect that can be found in most common editing software. What it does is analyze the footage and corrects the shakiness of the footage to make it smooth.
"Wow that amazing so I can have shaky footage and have it corrected in post!?"
Calm down, eager beaver, it's not that easy. Warp stabilizer(at least to my experience) corrects the footage by "warping" the footage and correcting the positioning and crops into the image. This, when done right, can give you really nice fluid motion. However, when it's done wrong, it can look more jiggly than Jabba the Hut. If you plan on using warp stabilizer in post, keep that in mind while shooting. It isn't some magical correction tool, it still requires some work before hand. Make sure the footage doesn't have crazy handheld movements like whips and pans. Those types of moves are what makes warp stabilizer either give you garbage or not work at all. It's also important for you to remember to shoot a little further away, knowing that the effect will crop into the footage.

COLOR TEMPERATURE 

Color temperature or white balance is the way the camera sees white. This can range from a warm orange(2000 Kelvin) to a cool blue(6500 Kelvin). Modern cameras such as DSLRs have the function to adjust the white balance manually. But what happens when you forget to change the white balance while shooting? Unlike warp stabilizer, this can be 100% fixed in post. Color correction is one of the main components to post production. However, if you don't have the knowledge of how to color correct and to change what values, you'll be in that crumbling office chair for a while. Always try and get the right settings first.

EXPOSURE

This is one of the bigger things. Exposure is how dark and/or how light your image is. The exposure is key, especially if you are shooting on a DSLR without the capability of shooting RAW video. There is barely any room to fix exposures in post. When you over expose the images, all the highlights become white. Now you may think "I'll just lower the brightness in post". WRONG! Once that exposure is white, there is no going back. All that data in the highlights are gone. What about shadowy areas? The closer you get to complete black, the harder it will to salvage the image. If you were to bring up the brightness, you'll see that you have an incredibly noisy(grainy) image. "But I was at the lowest ISO". While yes you should shoot a low ISO, that still doesn't mean there isn't any grain. Noise exist in all ISOs, even in complete darkness. Take a picture of darkness with the lowest ISO (ISO 100), leave the camera's body cap on the camera if you have to. You'll see that there is grain. When you bring those black values up you expose more of that grain. So it's very important to keep in mind that exposure is crucial in order to not make post production a living digital hell.

Editing for Free!

So last week I talked about ways of shooting video on your phone, this week I'm going to talk about 3 FREE video editing software that you can download right now(click the titles)!

HITFILM EXPRESS 4

 

This one is by far my favorite one on the list. Hitfilm Express is a free to use video editing and composting software developed by Hitfilm. Yes that right, composting. Hitfilm Express allows you to use tools such as motion tracking, masking/rotoscoping, and a whole lot of other cool and neat stuff that are also found in packages such as Adobe After Effects and Premiere CC. What I find neat and very intuitive about Hitfilm Express is that everything you need to edit a basic timeline with layers of audio and video are there with you. You don't have to go through a separate application to put the footage in or waster computer processing resources. It's all contained in one package. Best of all, whenever they make a new version of the Pro version, Express gets updated as well. A lot of Youtube filmmakers have used Hitfilm for their films(I have for mine before I had After Effects) so it's defiantly worth checking out!

DA VINCI RESOLVE LITE

This program is a powerful one, albeit tricky to master. Da Vinci Resolve is a editing tool developed by Blackmagic Cameras. They have made cameras such as, but not limited to, Blackmagic Cinema Camera, Blacmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and the Blackmagic Ursa Minis(we just got those in our school). Blackmagic has made a name for themselves in the filmmaking community with their outstanding color science and research. In every Blackmagic product comes a SD card with Da Vinci Resolve Lite in it. Da Vinci Resolve is mostly used for color correcting those rawDNG files those cameras listed before take and making them look nice. However, Da Vinci also has a timeline editor, which(and this can be said about the whole editing program) doesn't need Blackmagic cameras to edit. You can import footage right into the timeline and start snipping away. The timeline editor even has transitions and audio effects to use.And if you so choose, you can head to the "Color Panel" to color correct or grade your footage.

VIDEOPAD 

(I'd include a screenshot but they are all terrible on google images)

Last but not least, I have to talk about the first video editing program I downloaded, Video pad. This freeware company also has other free software like Audiopad and Screen capture software. For the absolute beginner(and I'm talking like a 12 year old still who just got his first Windows XP netbook who think he's cool now because he has a laptop) this is a great starting point if you find yourself being intimidated by the other programs. It has everything you need, even some effects like Chroma Keying(green screen removal for those who don't know). Give it a shot!

Smartphone Video Shooting

One of the greatest achievements in this century is the smartphone. A computer that fits in your pocket, if you were to show someone in the 1980's these slabs of glass the wouldn't believe it! The technology used in smartphones gets better and better. Faster phones mean faster hardware capabilities to utilize new processors. Such so that the camera on your phone is actually not that bad. iPhones are regarded as one of the best smartphone cameras on the market. Other phone companies like LG are starting to roll out phones that have manual camera controls and rawDNG video recording. It's safe to say that smartphones are at a point where they are capable of pulling great images out of such a tiny sensor. So how do you utilize your phone's camera to it's fullest?

There's an app for that!

First developed for iPhone, and recently on Android, "FilmicPro" gives your phone manual controls. It does cost money, 10 dollars both on iPhone and Android, but gives you full manual controls, different file formats and whatever the max resolution your phone is capable of. However, there is a catch for Android users. Not ALL the features are available. There is a free app that tells you what you can and cannot do based on your system and hardware. As of right now, the Android version is glitchy and not as polished as the iPhone version but it's still worth a look(I ran it on my LG G4 with Android Lollipop so your experience might vary depending on your phone).

"But what if I don't want to use an app?"

Use the default camera app on your phone! Some default camera apps give you the capabilities to lock focus and adjust the brightness. That's pretty much all you need if you just want to go out and shoot. However, once again, Android users beware. Some default camera apps (like the one on my LG G4) add sharpness to the image. This is why using an app like FilmicPro is useful because there are no post process effects being used. The iPhone camera app is simple to use. Just hold on what you want to focus and it'll lock exposure and focus. If you want to change the brightness, simply slide the sun logo.

So with this info in mind, it seems pretty easy to just go out an shoot video. If you have any kind of camera, go out and shoot something. You'll be surprised with how much you can create with something so little

Light that sh*t up!

Lighting is quite possibly one of the most important parts of a film. It's what really gives your films a certain style and edge that is unique to you. Today, I'm going to talk about a basic lighting setup and what you can do to use common household lights.

THREE POINT LIGHTING

Three-point lighting is one of the most common setups to light a subject. 
3 lights are used. Key, fill, and back lights. I will briefly go over the duties of each
Key Light: This is your main and strongest light. It's what ultimately lights our subject and should be off to either the right or left of the front of the subject.

Fill Light: Should be weaker than the key light. The fill light adds light to the shadow areas of the key light. Because the key light is off to the side, part of the face is obstructing the other side that doesn't have the key light. 

Back Light: This light's job is to add separation from the subject and the background. It creates an edge of light around the subject, bringing the subject away from the background.



"But Kevin, I don't have fancy pants LED panels or Kino Flos to use"

Well, that shouldn't stop you my eager beaver!

The great thing about light is that it's all around us! You already have a great source of light, the sun!  The sun can be great for any of these types of lights.

Here, I used the sun as a back light. This makes the subjects pop away from the background. But the sun doesn't have to be restricted to just backlight. It can be the key as well.

But what about a cheap way to get dramatic lighting? This is going to require a trip to Home Depot but can lights! Can lights or clamp lights are lights that you can find for relatively cheap at home depot that uses regular ol' light bulbs. For 6 - 10 dollars per light, you can achieve any basic lighting set up with ease(as long a power source is near). An example from my personal portfolio where one clamp light was hung above the actors.

Not the greatest lighting(I'm to blame for this dim footage, not the light) but I can still break it down. One light hangs above the subjects. This lights the top of his head. If his hat wasn't in the way, the light also light part of his face. However, on the table, I used a white cloth. Using anything like white posterboard or white table clothe can bounce light back. This light bounce partially lights the bottom of the subject's face, giving this dramatic and mysterious look.

Conclusion: At film school, you do have access to all these lights and can do a lot more, however, it's important to know the basics of lighting and knowing that you can achieve something even with the simplest setups. A good practice to do is to turn on all the lights in a room and see what you still need or what you don't need.

Composition is Key

I'll be upfront, I don't exactly own the newest and latest cameras. For a college student with 1.64 in his bank account at this moment of writing, I don't exactly have the luxury of owning anything of the sort. However, the camera I do own gets the job done. My trusty Nikon D7000, while it's seven years old, still gets what I want it to do. In my four years of owning it, I've mastered what it's capable of and maximized the capabilities of it beyond what it looks on the surface. All it need's to do is capture the image. While, yeah sure, it doesn't shoot RAW video, and doesn't have high dynamic range, the quality of the image rest solely on me and what I do with it.  When I say "quality" I'm not referring to the megapixel count or resolution,  I'm referring to the "quality" of the composition of the image.

Don't get me wrong, the resolution is defiantly something to consider. Of course having a 1080p HD resolution should be a standard in any video camera, but now since 4k UHD resolution is becoming more accessible, it won't be long for it to be the standard. However, it isn't everything. 

What gives your image that "cinematic" or movie quality is in the framing. Photography veterans should be familiar with these but for those beginners, there are a few rules to follow with how to compose an image. 

RULE OF THIRDS

The Rule of Thirds is a long-running rule in film and photography. Basically, the rule states to put your subject on either the right or left of the frame. This keeps the image visually interesting and engaging to the audience. Where do I put these lines? Imagine a grid, much like the one above. Most cameras should have an overlay but if yours doesn't, it's not hard to imagine them.  However, in some cases, you don't have to follow this rule. Take for example Wes Anderson's "Grand Budapest Hotel".

Most of the film is shot with center framing. Anderson does this to create a fluid and symmetrical feeling to his films that are unique to his style. 

HEADROOM and NOSE ROOM

Headroom refers to space between the subject's head and the top of the frame. Generally, you want to leave enough for the actor's head to be just a little under the frame. Too much headroom and you'll chop the actor's head off.

Noseroom refers to space between the tip of the actor's nose/face and the left or right of the frame. Too little nose room and an image can feel claustrophobic or trapped, too much nose room, the frame can feel empty and incomplete.

180 DEGREE RULE/SHOT REVERSE SHOT

The 180-degree rule refers to an imaginary axis between the camera and what is happening in front of it. This also establishes where the characters are, in relation to the setting. If one character is talking to another and looking off to the left, the other character should be talking to the right(this back and forth is also known as a shot-reverse-shot). If one were to jump this line, it would mess the orientation of where characters are in relation to the setting. A perfect example of the 180-degree rule and also the shot-reverse-shot is in Sam Rami's "Spiderman"(2002).

The shot-reverse shot goes hand in hand with the 180-degree rule. Without the 180-degree rule, the shot-reverse shot wouldn't work. Notice how the camera never jumps across to the other side of Willem Defoe talking to himself. The back and forth in this scene gives the illusion that he is talking to someone else. Imagine if the mirror's image was facing the same direction as Willem Defore, the illusion of him talking to his inner demon is lost. For a more detailed look at the 180-degree rules, click HERE for more details.

These rules, of course, don't have to be followed. If it hinders your artistic vision, through it out the window, experiment! However, these methods are what is seen in every movie in some way or another. This is basic knowledge in the film world and having a good grasp of these techniques is vital to produce quality works.  These techniques are easy to understand (although, I'm sorry if I made it seem a little vague) but to master takes time and practice. If you are a young filmmaker not sure what to do, now is the time to start experimenting and playing around with what you like so you know for the future!

An Introduction and the Beginning

Hello all who have stumbled across this blog! My name is Kevin Lin and I am Sophomore at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University perusing a Bachelor's in Fine Arts for Digital Film making. I've always had a passion to entertain people and make a good time for everyone. In elementary school, I wanted to be a magician, learning new magic tricks. However that fell flat. My filmmaking experience goes back to the 9th grade with taking a film and tv production course in my high school. I felt at home when I was behind the camera and directing people what actions to do. I live to create and love to engage a reaction whether it be joy, sorrow or shock. I've entered five film competitions with my films(while unfortunately not getting first) were screened for an audience to enjoy. My greatest achievement so far was my film "A Droid's Life" screening at the 2016 Campus Movie Fest at Rutgers. This was made within a week and I am very proud of the end product. You can watch the video down bellow.

"But I don't have a fancy camera or editing software, what do I do?"
There is a quote by photographer, Chase Jarvis: "The best camera is the one that's with you". YES! That giant slab of glass and metal in your pocket is a little movie making machine. Smartphones have come a long way and cameras on them are getting so powerful they can even rival DSLRs. The movie "Tangerine", a film that was selected for Sundance Film Fest, was shot entirely on iPhone. "Ok, so I can use my iPhone to make film it, but what about lighting and everything else?". You don't "need" fancy lighting set ups, sets, or anything of the sort, at least not right now. It's important to think on the fly and be creative with what you have. Have a scene where the subject is at a desk but have no idea how to light it? Have the subject's face lit with a desk lamp and only the desk lamp. Sometimes the simplest set ups get the most dramatic looks and feel. Things like that, these limitation, are what can give your film flare.
I love the idea of creating something from nothing. Filmmaking isn't just about the equipment, there are many components to it that people overlook when they first start off and that's what I want to bring to the spotlight. My goal is to provide insight and to hopefully inspire you to think creatively and think on the fly. So come join me on this learning experience as I share with you my tips and techniques on how to make a micro-budget film!