Just thought I'd post a quick pic of my rig from a recent shoot. The footage is most definitely enhanced by the M2.
It's going to take a lot of practice but I am already pleased with the results so stay tuned...
I'll post some.
Nothing says cinema like shallow depth of field and rack focussing. Using focus control to help tell the story visually is what it's all about.
Cinematography: Image Making for Cinematographers, Directors, and Videographers
by Blain Brown
Well, I've made it all the way through. Will I remember everything the book talked about? Probably not even half. Which is a good thing. That means it is packed with useful information... too much to digest with one read through.
The book offers a nice balance of theoretical and technical information that can be applied directly to your zero budget project... or... gives you a good overview of things you are likely to run into if you somehow end up on a set with a larger budget.
The parts of the book that I found particularly useful are on light and color theory. Blain gives a decent amount of detail without completely turning off the non-technical reader. Also, Blain's coverage of blocking and dealing with the "line" is fairly comprehensive and worth the price of the book.
There does seem to be a bit of filler in the lighting section but some may find lists and definitions fun to read.
Overall, I recommend this book for anyone NOT going to film school.
Obviously learning to light is crucial for any filmmaker. The following links have some decent tutorials and tips... and yes, the information is free (though some try to up-sell you to their other products... which is fine if you're looking for the stuff).
Wow! What can I say... this guy really has some great tutorials and tips on lighting (and more). This site is especially useful for lighting interviews. His name is Nino, check out his page for some great info... EFPLighting.com (** recently changed from free to $50/year **).
The gentleman over at Blue Sky Media is hocking his tutorials on DVD or something but he also gives some good free info which is quite nice of him... Blue Sky Media lighting tutorials
Of course, every suburban-indie-filmmaker with a couple of bucks in his pocket knows of Lowel... but did you know that they have a few free tutorials on their site? Take a peek... Lowel lighting tutorials
Here is a nice long read for you theory-heads out there. The fine gentleman (Richard I believe his name to be) over at Itchy Animation lays it out for all to comprehend.
Look out Hollywood! For thirty bucks you can set up dynamic camera moves to rival the pros. All you need are some skateboard wheels, angle brackets, plywood, screws, nuts, bolts washers and a couple of pieces of 1" PVC pipe.
This is so simple you don't need plans or schematics to create this engineering marvel. Just take a close look at the pictures, then head down to your local home improvement mega-center and grab all the necessary hardware (excluding the skateboard wheels and bearings).
As for obtaining the wheels and bearings... Ebay. I suggest purchasing these prior to your trip to the home improvement center. That way you can take a wheel and a couple of bearing with you to match up the hole sizes, etc.
Once I had all of the components gathered, the actual process of building this dolly took less than an evening.
A word of caution... this is a DIY project and the dolly is kinda flimsy so use extreme caution when loading it out with your costly camera equipment.
I hope this is useful info. Enjoy.
High Def is for losers. This may not be entirely true but...
Seems as though everyone is jumping on the HD bandwagon just for the sake of HD and writing off standard definition as "old-news". Don't get me wrong, I am thoroughly impressed with well shot HD, it is amazing but...
I feel that many beginning filmmakers (other than myself) and cinematographers use the high quality HD picture as a crutch. I've seen tons of footage and film shorts shot with HD that look like complete garbage. Additionally, I have seen standard-def footage where I had to ask myself, "was that high-def?"... and it wasn't.
"... but isn't the industry going HD?". Of course they are. What you should ask yourself is "Do I really need to spend more cash to shoot HD if all I am doing is compressing my footage for internet viewing?". My answer is "probably not".
If you are going to film-out and have a professional distribution deal HD is probably a good place to start... but if this is the case, you probably wouldn't be reading a beginner's blog anyway.
Just a note: Though there are now HD cameras that shoot 24p in the $1K to $3k price range, there are some things to consider. Number one is "professional features" such as manual zoom and focus, XLR inputs for mics, fast shutter adjustment, etc. Also, the lens quality and diameter are crucial to the quality of the picture (not just more pixles).
When it comes down to it... who the hell cares! Shoot good SD and you can tell everyone it's HD and 99% of people you tell will believe you.
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