Everybody wants it, and most people are clueless as to how to achieve
it. There are a lot of misconceptions out there about what can make
your video look like a Hollywood film.
Some people think that
simply shooting at 24 frames per second will give them that look.
Others think some black widescreen bars will make it look more
professional. The truth is, no one thing will give you that coveted
film look - you have to do several things to get that Hollywood feeling.
______________________________________________________________
1.
Depth of Field - This is a key element in making your video look like
film. DSLR cameras and big sensor camcorders are the easiest way to
achieve this. If you do not have a DSLR or big sensor camcorder, try
putting as much distance between your subject and your background as you
can, and use a long focal lens. The goal is a shallow depth of field.
In other words, your subject should be sharp, while your background is
very out of focus.
2. Color Correction / Grading - This can make
or break your video. If you have good color correction and color
grading, your video will look much more polished and professional while
taking a major step towards that desired film appearance. When color
grading, I crush my blacks and usually bring up my whites, giving more
contrast to the shot. I also desaturate and give the shots a SUBTLE
blue or green hue, which is common in many feature films.
3. Frame
Rate - Most films are shot at 24 frames per second. Most camcorders
will shoot in 24p, so if you are trying to get as much of a cinematic
feel as possible, go ahead and set your frame rate to 24. 30 or 60
frames will make it feel more like a TV show than a movie.
4.
Widescreen Bars - This is a small touch that will definitely add a film
element to your video. Some editing software has an option to add the
widescreen bars to your video, but if your software doesn't have this
option, you can always just fake it. Try cropping all your video clips
until you get the desired look. Just make sure they are all cropped
exactly the same or the bars will move around and kill your effect (and
will also be very distracting). 1:85:1 is a common widescreen aspect
ration, however I tend to lean more towards 2.35:1. It is all personal
preference, so go with whatever looks best to you.
5. Shooting -
Pay attention to how scenes are shot in your favorite movies. They
rarely stay on one shot for more than a few seconds. Use lots of
various angles and lots of cuts between shots (use 5 shots to tell a
story where you might have normally only used 1 - be creative) and use
little to no zooming on camera. This is an amateur move that will
quickly show your audience you are no professional. Again, pay
attention to how the big boys shoot their scenes. You will see an
occasional dolly or trucking move, or the camera might be hand-held
following the action, however all these moves are done for a reason and
you still almost never see them zooming in or out. Oh, and it should go
without saying, but USE A TRIPOD!
6. Sound - Even if everything
looks great, horrible audio can ruin your movie. In the same sense,
great audio can take video that just looks "pretty good" to another
level. Amazing audio, sound effects, and music, can help sell it as a
much more professional product. If you can afford it, always use a
shotgun or lavalier mic. Never use the microphone off the camera.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Monday, February 11, 2013
Transparent Video
This is a subject I have seen all over the internet. People are always wondering how to get that "transparent" background, so it looks like your subject is walking onto the computer screen.
The good news is, this is REALLY easy to do.
THINGS YOU WILL NEED:
- A Chroma Key Screen (aka green or blue screen)
- Lights
- Camcorder
- Editing software
I am going to assume for the sake of time that you already know how to shoot and light a chroma key screen, so I will skip over that. I may address those steps in a future post.
1. Roll your chroma key screen out all the way so your subject can walk on it. Frame up your shot so you can see him or her, from head to toe.
2. Shoot your footage and capture it to your computer.
3. Remove or "key out" the background.
4. Next, make sure you don't have a background selected. In After Effects, for example, there is a small button in the middle of the screen that, when you hover over it, says "Toggle Transparency Grid." Make sure whatever is behind your subject has this transparency grib on. In other words, you want a checked background, not a solid background.
5. Now export your video! I'll use After Effects again as an example here, although other software should have similar settings. After you add your project to the Render Queue, click on the output module link. You will have to select a format that supports an alpha channel. Flv, Mov and Mp4 are all solid choices. Next, under Video Output, change the channels to RGB+Alpha.
6. Click OK and then click render and your video will come out with a transparent background. All that's left is finding out how to put it onto your website. Make sure to set it to play automatically and without player controls and it should work.
The good news is, this is REALLY easy to do.
THINGS YOU WILL NEED:
- A Chroma Key Screen (aka green or blue screen)
- Lights
- Camcorder
- Editing software
I am going to assume for the sake of time that you already know how to shoot and light a chroma key screen, so I will skip over that. I may address those steps in a future post.
1. Roll your chroma key screen out all the way so your subject can walk on it. Frame up your shot so you can see him or her, from head to toe.
2. Shoot your footage and capture it to your computer.
3. Remove or "key out" the background.
4. Next, make sure you don't have a background selected. In After Effects, for example, there is a small button in the middle of the screen that, when you hover over it, says "Toggle Transparency Grid." Make sure whatever is behind your subject has this transparency grib on. In other words, you want a checked background, not a solid background.
5. Now export your video! I'll use After Effects again as an example here, although other software should have similar settings. After you add your project to the Render Queue, click on the output module link. You will have to select a format that supports an alpha channel. Flv, Mov and Mp4 are all solid choices. Next, under Video Output, change the channels to RGB+Alpha.
6. Click OK and then click render and your video will come out with a transparent background. All that's left is finding out how to put it onto your website. Make sure to set it to play automatically and without player controls and it should work.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Organizing Your Video
This is primarily for the newcomers to the production world.
Keep your workflow organized. You will be glad you did.
I know the temptation. You capture video to your PC or Mac and then you drop it on your desktop, or some random folder. Then before you know it, there are dozens of video files cluttering up the place! If you have to do a 'search' to find a file, you probably need to reorganize your computer files.
Remember, you can't be TOO organized. Keeping things nice and neat will really make life easier and increase your productivity in the long run.
1. LABEL
Label each file in your editor. Whether you use Final Cut, Premiere, Vegas, or something else to edit video, you will be thankful you labeled all your files. When I started out, I just captured all the video to Premiere and started cutting video. I had dozens of video files named "Untitled1", "Untitled2", and so on. There was no way to find a specific video without double clicking on each file and previewing it until I found the one I was looking for. When you shoot events, such as weddings, music videos, or other events that might make up over 100 video clips, you are really making life harder than it has to be. It will seem long and tedious (because it is) but going through each video at the beginning and renaming them to something you can recognize will save you time and headache later on.
Label your tapes (or memory cards). A lot of people will tell you to label your tapes or memory cards before you start a shoot. Something like, "Wedding Ceremony - Cam 1", or "First Dance/Cake Cutting." This is a good idea, however can be unrealistic at times when shooting a fast paced, live event.
The premise is correct, however. If you can label them before the event, and manage to keep only that footage to the label indicated, more power to you. For me, it doesn't always work that way.
When you do run-and-gun shooting like I do, sometimes you don't have time to switch to your next tape when you want, or you want to keep capturing something unexpected, and suddenly the tape you labeled "First Dance" also has a beauty shot of the sunset, a sound byte from a guest, and an unexpected toast from the bride's father.
Side note - use whatever is most convenient for you as a label. Write on a tape label, a sticky note, a piece of tape, whatever. It doesn't have to look pretty, as long as you can read it. Also, store all your media in the same place. I put all mini dv tapes in my shirt pocket until I can get to my camera case, and then I store them all in the side pocket. All in the same case. I never put a few in one case and a few in the other. Keep them together.
Ideally, still try to label your media before the shoot with what you know you will capture, but leave room for additional notes.
So on your "first dance" tape you could quickly write below it, "sunset/toast/guest sound." This way your tapes are still labeled and organized, and stay accurate with what is on them.
2. PLAN
Whether you write a script, a storyboard, or just a rough outline of the day, having a plan of what is happening and in what order, is very important. If you are doing a commercial shoot, having a storyboard will help keep things moving smoothly and, if people are helping you shoot, will keep your crew informed and working, rather than standing around wondering what's next.
Whenever I shoot a wedding, I always ask the bride for an outline of the day. This way, I am much more unlikely to miss something important and will know when I can stop to change batteries, SD Cards, etc. Also, when shooting a wedding, it is a good idea to talk to the wedding planner and ask them to keep you in the look when something is about to happen (cake cutting, the couple's departure, etc).
3. SORT
Another helpful tip is to sort your video within your editor, in either folders or by name. Some editing software sorts your video by name. This isn't always how you want it. Of course, if you don't want to put the video into the folders most software provides, just change the name to sort your video together.
4. BACK-UP
This isn't so much an organizing tip, but can't be overstated, especially for paid work, such as a wedding. This is crucial. Someone is paying you a lot of money to shoot their one time event. They can't get that day back, so if you lose their footage, you could be in major trouble.
Forget the fact that you have just let down your clients and they don't get to see their wedding video, but you could also open yourself up to a lawsuit. Don't get me wrong, shit happens, and sometimes video disappears, whether it be from dropped frames in camera, a crashed hard drive, or you forgot to push record in time. But do everything you can to minimize any lost footage.
I save all my footage on an external hard drive and I also back up to an online storage site. Check around the internet, there are a bunch of them and worth the cost, if nothing else, for the peace of mind. Just remember to actually upload to them. If you have trouble remembering, find a site that performs automatic backups on your computer.
5. SAVE-SAVE-SAVE
This is similar to #4, but can't be over-stated. As you edit your video, save often. Few things are as deflating as losing hours worth of editing. I think almost all of us have lost most of our work writing a paper in high school or college at some point. After that happens, you probably saved every couple of sentences, just to be safe. The same idea applies here. Save your work! If you can't remember, change your settings so it automatically saves every few minutes. If your software doesn't have that option, then set an alarm to go off every few minutes (or just keep hitting snooze) to remind you to save. After a while it will become second nature and you won't need the alarm.
These are just a handful of tips that, if followed, will greatly help make your life easier and more organized when shooting and editing video.
Keep your workflow organized. You will be glad you did.
I know the temptation. You capture video to your PC or Mac and then you drop it on your desktop, or some random folder. Then before you know it, there are dozens of video files cluttering up the place! If you have to do a 'search' to find a file, you probably need to reorganize your computer files.
Remember, you can't be TOO organized. Keeping things nice and neat will really make life easier and increase your productivity in the long run.
1. LABEL
Label each file in your editor. Whether you use Final Cut, Premiere, Vegas, or something else to edit video, you will be thankful you labeled all your files. When I started out, I just captured all the video to Premiere and started cutting video. I had dozens of video files named "Untitled1", "Untitled2", and so on. There was no way to find a specific video without double clicking on each file and previewing it until I found the one I was looking for. When you shoot events, such as weddings, music videos, or other events that might make up over 100 video clips, you are really making life harder than it has to be. It will seem long and tedious (because it is) but going through each video at the beginning and renaming them to something you can recognize will save you time and headache later on.
Label your tapes (or memory cards). A lot of people will tell you to label your tapes or memory cards before you start a shoot. Something like, "Wedding Ceremony - Cam 1", or "First Dance/Cake Cutting." This is a good idea, however can be unrealistic at times when shooting a fast paced, live event.
The premise is correct, however. If you can label them before the event, and manage to keep only that footage to the label indicated, more power to you. For me, it doesn't always work that way.
When you do run-and-gun shooting like I do, sometimes you don't have time to switch to your next tape when you want, or you want to keep capturing something unexpected, and suddenly the tape you labeled "First Dance" also has a beauty shot of the sunset, a sound byte from a guest, and an unexpected toast from the bride's father.
Side note - use whatever is most convenient for you as a label. Write on a tape label, a sticky note, a piece of tape, whatever. It doesn't have to look pretty, as long as you can read it. Also, store all your media in the same place. I put all mini dv tapes in my shirt pocket until I can get to my camera case, and then I store them all in the side pocket. All in the same case. I never put a few in one case and a few in the other. Keep them together.
Ideally, still try to label your media before the shoot with what you know you will capture, but leave room for additional notes.
So on your "first dance" tape you could quickly write below it, "sunset/toast/guest sound." This way your tapes are still labeled and organized, and stay accurate with what is on them.
2. PLAN
Whether you write a script, a storyboard, or just a rough outline of the day, having a plan of what is happening and in what order, is very important. If you are doing a commercial shoot, having a storyboard will help keep things moving smoothly and, if people are helping you shoot, will keep your crew informed and working, rather than standing around wondering what's next.
Whenever I shoot a wedding, I always ask the bride for an outline of the day. This way, I am much more unlikely to miss something important and will know when I can stop to change batteries, SD Cards, etc. Also, when shooting a wedding, it is a good idea to talk to the wedding planner and ask them to keep you in the look when something is about to happen (cake cutting, the couple's departure, etc).
3. SORT
Another helpful tip is to sort your video within your editor, in either folders or by name. Some editing software sorts your video by name. This isn't always how you want it. Of course, if you don't want to put the video into the folders most software provides, just change the name to sort your video together.
4. BACK-UP
This isn't so much an organizing tip, but can't be overstated, especially for paid work, such as a wedding. This is crucial. Someone is paying you a lot of money to shoot their one time event. They can't get that day back, so if you lose their footage, you could be in major trouble.
Forget the fact that you have just let down your clients and they don't get to see their wedding video, but you could also open yourself up to a lawsuit. Don't get me wrong, shit happens, and sometimes video disappears, whether it be from dropped frames in camera, a crashed hard drive, or you forgot to push record in time. But do everything you can to minimize any lost footage.
I save all my footage on an external hard drive and I also back up to an online storage site. Check around the internet, there are a bunch of them and worth the cost, if nothing else, for the peace of mind. Just remember to actually upload to them. If you have trouble remembering, find a site that performs automatic backups on your computer.
5. SAVE-SAVE-SAVE
This is similar to #4, but can't be over-stated. As you edit your video, save often. Few things are as deflating as losing hours worth of editing. I think almost all of us have lost most of our work writing a paper in high school or college at some point. After that happens, you probably saved every couple of sentences, just to be safe. The same idea applies here. Save your work! If you can't remember, change your settings so it automatically saves every few minutes. If your software doesn't have that option, then set an alarm to go off every few minutes (or just keep hitting snooze) to remind you to save. After a while it will become second nature and you won't need the alarm.
These are just a handful of tips that, if followed, will greatly help make your life easier and more organized when shooting and editing video.
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