Category: Uncategorized

How to Create a Viral Video

Author: Mike Rosen-Molina Date Published: January 2013

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Haven’t you always wanted to be famous? Well creating a viral video is one of the closest and easiest ways to become “internet famous.” A viral video is a video that has been viewed by a massive number of people in a short amount of time. These tips can help make your video as popular as possible.

Keep Things Simpler- The goal of creating a viral video is to make your audience want to share and show off your video to their friends and families. No one wants to watch a video that is overly complicated or that runs for 10 plus minutes. Make sure your video is short and to the point.

Add Music- What person doesn’t love a little music? Really, I can’t think of a single person I know that doesn’t enjoy at least SOME type of music. Add a catchy beat to your video, even if it is something completely repetitive and annoying. This will make the audience remember your video for at least the music and possibly look it up again and again.

Be Funny- Nothing gets people to look at your video more than if it has some comedy aspect in it. If you are not a witty or clever person, then maybe add some dry humor or physical comedy to it! Everyone loves to laugh, and if you get your audience to LOL then you are in good shape.

Editing Mistakes to Avoid

Author: Chuck Peters Date Published: May 2013

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Editing video projects is probably the least exciting part of the young film directors job. You spend countless hours filming and now you have to sit for who knows how long editing your masterpiece exactly how you like it. Slacking off can seem enticing to do but here are some video editing mistakes to avoid.

Poor Audio Mix- Almost every edit has two primary audio components: voice and music. Music sets the mood and can drive a feeling into the audience listening, while voice is how you communicate the point of the story you’re telling. Making sure these two match up accordingly while also not making one too loud or too quiet.

Incomplete Transitions- These can occur when you are not paying attention to how long the transitions are compared to the clips you are adding them to are. A dissolve editing transition could last 7 seconds while the clip lasts only 4 seconds, leaving the audience confused as to why this transition is still running.

Ghost Frames- When the outbound shot used in a dissolve goes to another shot before the transition is complete remains are ghost frames. The cut within the dissolve is only seen partially and makes for a bad scene.

Back to the Basics

Author: Kyle Cassidy Date Published: July 2012

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Before you can get into anything else involving filming with a camera, you must first learn the basic type of shots. There is an infinite number of possible camera angles you can film from, but some should be saved for more advanced film directors. This article was about the basics.

Shots you can do when the camera is moving are as follows: Pan- the camera stays in one spot while the lens moves left or right. Tilt- the same as “pan” but up and down. Tilt up to the sky tilt down to the ground.

Shots you can do when the operator is the one that is moving: Truck- moving the whole camera mount from left to right or from right to left. Dolly- moving the camera closer to or away from the subject.

This shots are very basic and can be mastered quite easily by newcomer film directors.

Making Physical Comedy Funny

Author: Randal K. West Date Published: November 2013

Physical comedy has been around since the first man saw a friend fall flat on his face and started to laugh at it. It is not a subtle style of comedy at all, and can be used to lighten the mood of the scene with it’s almost instant hilarity. It is one of the hardest types of comedy to stage. But if done well, can cause a large amount of laughter.

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The biggest mistake with trying to integrate physical comedy is to make it look realistic while not making it so obvious that the audience knows what is going on next. You also can’t just blindly throw in violence between to actors hoping the audience will find it humorous. You need a good balance of right time, right place, and right characters to use this type of comedy in a film.

Using Negative Space

 

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Author: Kyle Cassidy    Date Published: October 2013

A lot of students don’t realize this, but they have to use negative space in every shot they take while filming in video class. Negative space is the area in the shot that is NOT filled with an object. Whether it be the background behind a couple of people talking, or just the empty table space between a couple plates from a diner. Negative space is in every shot you take.

Your job as a director is to make your frame of the picture you are filming to as a nice balance between negative space and positive space. The way you use negative space can affect how the audience feels about a certain shot. If you make the space a certain color, say a faded blue background, that can draw the audience to thinking it is suppose to be a sad scene.

Negative space is very important to keep in mind while filming. Understanding how to use it properly can make or break your next film.

Found it in a magazine so no URL.

Foley sound effects

SOUND FX: THINK OUTSIDE THE SOURCE

Author: Earl Chessher      Date Published: 08/01/2011

"LSM Newswire." LSM Newswire. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.

“LSM Newswire.” LSM Newswire. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.

Not all sound effects have to come from a CD library or from what they’re supposed to sound like. You need the sound of a horse trotting but don’t have a horse? Coconut shells on a wooden box can make the same sound. Try looking around the house and seeing what noises you can make with household items, who knows they could be just what you need in one of your films.

I learned that crumpling wax paper makes a rain sound and what Foley effects are. Foley sounds are motion-picture sound that are made manually. For example, rattling a piece of tin to make a thunder noise. Even high budget movies like Star Wars VI used tunnels near the Golden Gate Bridge to create a unique sound. If filming and sound effects aren’t needed then it may be wise to go back and add one if it works well, you never know if it can improve your film unless you try.

Next time I need a sound I’ll look around my house before looking at other alternatives. Even if that doesn’t work it will help me to think outside the box when filming.

Article: http://www.videomaker.com/article/15102-sound-fx-think-outside-the-source

Makeup 101

"The Making of 'The Down Home Alien Blues': Making a Movie Is like a Ballet." The Making of 'The Down Home Alien Blues': Making a Movie Is like a Ballet. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.

“The Making of ‘The Down Home Alien Blues’: Making a Movie Is like a Ballet.” The Making of ‘The Down Home Alien Blues’: Making a Movie Is like a Ballet. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.

Article name: How to Successfully Utilize Wardrobe and Makeup in Your Production

Author: Bree Brouwer          Date Published: March 21st, 2014

Makeup and wardrobe, whether you realize it or not, are important elements in your film. If an actor were to wear the wrong outfit, it could cause glare and your film will not look as good. Makeup can help make an actor not look washed-out in the film. If you’re not sure what to do, then ask someone else for help or put someone else in charge of it.

I learned a little powder goes a long way. Wardrobe and makeup may not make or break your film to most eyes, but it can help it look more professional and better organized. I was also unaware that some costume color can cause glare. With wardrobe, the camera really does add ten pounds, which I always thought was a myth or something people used as an excuse.

How I plan to use this information in my video projects is by coordinating outfits better. I probably won’t do that for every actor in every film because i’m not the best at figuring out who should wear what when. However, I will try to use it when I think of it and the same goes for makeup to. I’ll also use it when a character is suppose to stand out or look like something or someone specifically.

Article: http://www.videomaker.com/videonews/2014/03/how-to-successfully-utilize-wardrobe-and-makeup-in-your-production

Tools for 3D animation: Autodesk updates it’s

GeodesicVoxel_BindingWell Autodesk is know for not being one of the industry’s giants, but for all the technology they come out with. They just announced that in 2015 they will be come out with an updated creation suit.

These new versions are designed to improve performance and are update to keep up with complex computer graphics. There are so many new tools like The XGen Arbitrary Primitive Generator which makes it easier to create detailed geometry such as hair. Also 3ds Max have a new scene explorer which makes it easier for artists to manage complex scenes.

 

Autodesk 2015 is now equipped with a plugin that allows a Microsoft Kinect to record your body movements. Maya LT 2015 allows the use of a keyboard and mouse, the common video game controls for people new to 3D animation. This is a very useful software update that utilizes new and old controls.

I could use this if and when I would create 3D animated videos, Mayan LT 2015’s WASD controls would be very useful because i’ve never made 3D animations.

http://www.videomaker.com/videonews/2014/03/autodesk-updates-its-entertainment-creation-suite

History of Effects

"How Projection Television Works." HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.

“How Projection Television Works.” HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.

HOLLYWOOD’S SECRETS REVEALED: SPECIAL EFFECTS IN THE MOVIES

Author: Scott Anderson            Date published: 10/01/1998

This article talks about the different kinds of effects from over the years and how they were done. Blood, blue-screen, rear projection, glass painting, miniatures, and effects using only computers were all talked about during the article. For computer effects, they used Jurassic Park as an example explaining how the dinosaurs were made. They used fossils to make them accurate, using those they made a computerized skeleton and finally they added muscles and skin. After thousands of frames the dinosaur was finally brought to life. Alfred Hitchcock used rear projection in many of his films, Norman O. Dawn used glass painting to help make crumbling buildings look more realistic. Miniatures are creations of things that exist or don’t exist that the filmer can’t get their hands on, like the jabberwocky from Alice in Wonderland.

I learned what a squib was and how it’s used for video. It’s a tiny explosive, often times put under an actors costume, when detonated it can give the effect of someone being shot. I already knew about blue-screen, which is basically green screen. Rear projection computer effects, and miniatures I got the gist of but I can’t see how those would be used in my filming because they seem like they use I lot of expensive equipment that I do not have. Lastly, glass painting I didn’t quite understand but the basic concept of using painted glass in front of the camera lens seems like a good idea.

In upcoming video projects I want to use fake blood, maybe for a trailer of a zombie movie or in an action sequence. I always thought it would be difficult to try to set up tubing on the actor for a bloody effect, but now I know that there are easy ways to attach it to a knife or scissors. Even though I won’t be making digital dinosaurs for my movies, I think I might take some of the basic ideas from the other examples. Like putting painted glass in front of the camera to create an effect.

Article: http://www.videomaker.com/article/3550-hollywoods-secrets-revealed-special-effects-in-the-movies

Mic Tricks

Mic Tricks for the Boom Operator

Videomaker

Hal Robertson

Using a boom pole makes this even easier. But you have to work with the camera crew more because you have to make sure they know what you are doing so you don’t mess
anything up.

322-C4-Audio_PRIMARY“Typically, the boom operator brings the microphone in, just overhead and barely out of the frame of the camera. This is something of a dance that must be choreographed with the camera operator. The microphone points down—usually at an angle—toward the mouth of the talent. This provides a clean, natural sound that mimics every movie you’ve ever seen. The boom operator monitors the sound on headphones and makes small adjustments throughout the shoot, tweaking the sound for the best quality. If the scene is shared by multiple characters, the boom operator gently twists and turns the microphone as needed to capture all the dialog. All this while holding a long pole over his or her head. This job is a workout and completely underappreciated.”322-C4-Audio_SECONDARY