DIY resource for Filmmakers

A good editor can save a bad director.

diyfilm — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:59:23 +0000

I recently was hired to edit a short film titled “Remain Calm”. The script was brilliant… but the actors were not that great. The story required the main actor to be extremely emotional. When I saw the raw footage, my gut just hit the floor. There was one part in particular that really had my head spinning. The main actor was in a closet conversing with an automated operator. Remember that when you don’t have enough footage to cut to, audio can save your ass. This was the situation I was faced with. I had an actor speaking her lines really fast, but the machine speaks very slowly. Of course, during production the actor didn’t hear the actual machine. The machine was to be placed in the movie in post. So, I had no footage to cut to, an actor going through her lines too fast and a slow speaking machine to insert. NIGHTMARE!! What I ended up doing is cutting the frantic actor\visual about 75%. I just dubbed her conversation in over footage of an intruder entering the house. It’s really starting to come together now. I’ll post a piece of this nightmare once I’m done. To be continued….

Achieving DOP with a DV camera

diyfilm — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:31:42 +0000

A lot of DV filmmakers strive to create a depth of field similar to a 35mm. It’s important to use a pro DV camera with manual settings. I use a Cannon XL2. I create a beautiful DOP by opening the iris all the way and standing at least 10-15 ft away from the subject. Once your a good distance from the subject, zoom in for a mid or close up shot. Once the subject is in focus you’ll notice that the background is completely blurred out. This technique is used to create DOP for people using DV cameras. Hope you found this technique useful. If you have any other tricks you’d like to share with the Indie Filmmaker community please post a comment!

Killer Camera Rigs That You Can Build

diyfilm — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:15:48 +0000

One of the best investments I’ve made as a filmmaker is a book called “Killer Camera Rigs That You Can Build“. Specifically, the Killer’s Kiss Crane and Dark Passage Dolly combo. Originally I was pricing a Kessler Skycrane (about 5 grand for the 12ft version), and at the time I thought it was the most economic approach to getting the crane shots I needed. Then I ran into this website http://www.dvcamerarigs.com/ .

I built the Killer’s Kiss Crane and Dark Passage Dolly for less than $100.00. This crane alone is worth the $40 it costs to buy the book. Not only is the book FULL of great DIY projects like a car mount, camera stabilizer and tons of other cool stuff. But, what impressed me the most was how much the author cares about his customers. When I started building this crane I had a few questions so I shot the author an email. Within an hour or two, I had his reply. He really went far beyond what I expected. This type of book written by someone who cares about his customers is a rare find..