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.
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
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)!
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!
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.
(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!
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
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 us
ers. 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
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
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
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.
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.
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