24057323 digital film making manual

8/12/2019 24057323 Digital Film Making Manual

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Introduction to Digital Film Making has been written solely for use by the

E. M. Hart Senior enter lass

!y Heman "ee


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DIGITAL FILM MAKING

"earn how to create great home #ideos using a Digital $ideo amcorder and

Microsoft Mo#ie Maker that comes standard with your new %indows&s '(

system. )ow you *ust need the know+how to bring your #isions to life. See how

easy it can be to create, edit, and add s-ecial effects to your mo#ies using

%indows Mo#ie Maker. dd #oice+o#er, music soundtrack, and tiles to make

your mo#ies more -olished with s-ecial effects and -rofessional+looking

transitions between scenes. Share your #ideo o#er the internet or create a #ideo

D or D$D to share with friends and family. /hey will be ama0ed on what you

can do.

Ten Helpful Tips for Shooting Great Videos

1. 2se manual focus if your camcorder has it.

3. Set white balance at e#ery location.

4. %hen shooting outdoors, kee- the sun behind you.

5. (lan your shoot. Shoot to the -lan. 2SE S6I(/.

7. 2se a tri-od or other image stabili0ation de#ice.

8. 2se -lenty of light. "earn the basics of 4 -oint key lighting.

9. !e sure and get se#eral angles both close u- and wide of the same

se:uence, then do cutaways for fill shots.

;. Mo#e the camcorder only when necessary.

ee- your a#erage shot length between 7 and 1= seconds.

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Projects for Video

!iogra-hy

E#ents @!+day (artyA

$acation

Short /ri-

%edding

Holidays

Hobbies or Interest

S-orts

Breeting ard

Insurance $ideo

Educational C How to

/echnical Information

)ews 6e-orting

Disaster

Short Film

outube

Monologue

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Beginner Mistakes

First, a#oid the beginner mistakes that nearly e#eryone makes when they -ick u-

a video camera.

The worst offender is the constant zooming and panning that pervades every

shot.

!efore you reach for that 0oom control, think about why youre doing it. Do you

really need to get a closer look at your sub*ect Gr are you *ust -laying around

with that 0oom because you can If you cant think of a really good reason to

0oom or -an, dont. >ee- in mind, some directors like S-ielberg and Hitchcock

ha#e shot entire featurefilmswithout 0ooming one single time. Instead of

0ooming, consider sto--ing ta-e and mo#ing in closer to your sub*ect. /hen, you

can edit it later. If you must -an @mo#ing from side+to+side, mo#ing u- or down is

called a tiltA, mo#e slower than your instincts tell you to. lmost e#ery beginner

#ideo has a -an that is so fast that it elicits laughter among the initiated

/ry not to 0oom in or out too much during a scene. !ut dont lose a shot by

a#oiding 0ooming altogether. ust do it as gently as -ossible. nd, once you ha#e

0oomed in or out, hold that #iew for a few seconds.

!y the way, forget about your cameras digital 0oom. Manufacturers lo#e to

trum-et how a camera has a 3==J digital 0oom on to- of the 1=J or 3=J o-tical0oom. It is hy-e. /he only thing that counts is the o-tical 0oom, which is

determined by the -hysical elements of the lens. Most cameras ha#e about the

same range of o-tical @-hysicalA 0oom lenses.

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Digital Zoom

Digital 0oom is sim-ly a -rogram in the camera that enlarges the image by

inter-olating -iJels. It looks horrible. Dont use it.

Shoot from a variety of angles.

$ary the scene. Gnce you know you#e gotten the shots you wanted, mo#e

around. Shoot from the sides, from behind, from on high and down low. >ee- the

camera running while you mo#e around. /he #ideo may be useless, but the audio

could be #aluable to us in building the scene to tell thestory.

Pan slowly.

(anning is the mo#ement of the camera from side to side. /ake it slowly. Dont

*erk back and forth during the -an. If you make a mistake, start all o#er again.

Hold the shot steady for a few seconds before you start the -an. Hold it steady for

another few seconds when you are done.

Hold shots for about 1 se!onds.

/his is -articularly im-ortant for scenic or #acation shooting. If you#e got a great

shot of the Eiffel /ower, count to ten while you are recording it. 6emember that

youre not taking a sna-shot. Gnce you#e got it, Shoot it again from another

angle. Bet a closeu-. Bet a wide angle. $ariety is a key ingredient to mo#ie+

making.

Get "establishing" shots.

Establishing shots are scenes that tell #iewers where they are. So, if you are

ta-ing on a family #acation to Disney %orld, get a few shots of the entrance or of

Mickey Mouse greeting -eo-le when they arri#e. If you forget to get them on the

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way in, get them on the way out. ny number of images can work to establish a

scene. Signs work well, but it is also fun to be a bit creati#e.

#eware of ba!$lighting.

backlit scene is one where there is a bright light behind the main action. (icturea bride and groom standing on a stairway in front of a large window on a bright

sunny day. 2ncorrected, your cameras light meter will -robably try to eJ-ose the

scene so that you can see what is outside the window. s a result, it will darken

the whole image, lea#ing the bride and groom lost in shadow.

Some cameras ha#e a -rominent built+in backlight correction button con#eniently

located in the controls. %hen you acti#ate it, you are telling the camera to

o#ereJ-ose the scene so you can see, in this case, the bride and groom @there will

be no detail in the windowA. /his is a #ery useful feature.

If your camera lacks this feature, you may want to learn from the manual how to

do it by hand. $ideo cameras are -retty easy to o-erate. Most -eo-le dont read

the manuals. 2sually, you dont need to. In this one case, it may be a good idea.

%se a Storyboard

Gnce a conce-t or scri-t is written for a film

or animation, the neJt ste- is to make a

storyboard. storyboard #isually tells the

story of an animation -anel by -anel, kind of

like a comic book. good shoryboard then

become the blue-rint for the film making

-rocess.

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&amera 'ngles

/he shot angle is the le#el from which you look at your sub*ect through the

camera.

Eye-level angle+ Gne of the most commonly used shots is the eye+le#el shot.

%hy !ecause its the -ers-ecti#e most familiar to us + we usually see things

from our own eye+le#el. /his angle also causes the least discomfort because were

used to it. If youre shooting a -erson, and you want to make it an eye+le#el shot,

make sure you shoot at their eye+le#el, not yours.

Low Angle+ In this shot the camera looks u- at the sub*ect, making it seemim-ortant, -owerful, or -erha-s larger than it is to the #iewer. For eJam-le, you

might be sitting on the ground looking u- at someone who is standing.

High Angle+ In this shot the camera looks down on the sub*ect, decreasing its

im-ortance. /he sub*ect looks smaller. It often gi#es the audience a sense of

-ower, or makes the sub*ect seem hel-less. In this case, youd be higher than the

other -erson @maybe theyre sitting, or maybe youre standing on a deskA looking

down on that -erson.

#asi! &amera (ovement

Pan+ shot taken mo#ing on a hori0ontal -lane @from left to right, right toA. If

you want to show a frisbee flying across a field, you might use this shot to follow

the frisbee from one -erson to another.

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Tilt+ amera mo#ement in a #ertical -lane. @u- or downA If you want to show a

tall building but you cant get it all in your shot, you might start at the bottom of

the building and go u- to the to-.

Zoom+ /his shot mo#es you closer to the sub*ect, into a Medium Shot or loseShot. If you are looking at the Bolden Bate !ridge, and you want to see

indi#idual -eo-le walking across it, you might 0oom in.

6e#erse Koom + /his shot mo#es you farther away into a Medium Shot or a %ide

Shot. If you ha#e a close u- shot of a flower, and want to see the entire field that

the flower is in, you will re#erse 0oom.

&omposition and )raming *our Shots

/here are many ways to com-ose a shot, de-ending on your goals. ou want to

be aware of what is in the shot and what isnt. sk yourself, can I clearly see what

I intend for the #iewer to see

6ule of /hirds + this classic rule suggests that the center of the cameras attention

is one+third of the way down from the to- of the shot.

Headroom+ term used with shots of -eo-le. /his refers to the s-ace abo#e thesub*ects head. oull see different amounts of headroom left, de-ending on the

intent of the creator of the #ideo. In general, if youre standing right in front of

someone, youll see that they ha#e s-ace all around them + they arent cut off by a

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frame. !y lea#ing headroom, or s-ace beside them, you are imitating what you

see in real life.

Talking!alking "oom+ If you are inter#iewing someone or ha#e #ideo of

someone talking, you generally do not want them looking directly at the camera

@again, de-ends on your goals + certain situations may call for thatA. Benerallyyou want the -erson to be looking off to the left or right of the camera a bit,

towards where the inter#iewer is sitting. %hen you do this, frame your shot so

that there is some talking room. /hat is, you want to lea#e some eJtra s-ace to the

side of their face as if you were going to draw a dialogue boJ in for them. /his

s-ace is talking room. If the -erson is talking to another -erson on camera, this

is shown as s-ace between them. %alking room, if the -erson in motion, gi#es

them s-ace to walk to. It lea#es s-ace in the shot for the action, whether it be

words or walking.

Tripod %se

/o use a /ri-od, or not to use a /ri-od that is the :uestion

nd the answer de-ends on what you are trying to do. If youre chasing your

sub*ect or want to imitate an earth:uake you -robably wont use a tri-od because

you need to be mo#ing. Gr if you want to gi#e the #iewer the im-ression of

walking or running, then you may not want to use a tri-od.

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!asically, if you want a stable, smooth shot, use a tri-od whene#er -ossible. If

you do not ha#e a tri-od, in#ent one. our body is a natural tri-od. ou can also

lean u- against a tree or a wall or sit on a chair for stability.

Proper set #p+ use a wide foot-rint. ou and I ha#e two legs. /ri-ods ha#e

three. %hen our legs are se#eral feet a-art, creating a wide foot-rint you and I

are more stable, harder to -ush o#er. Its the same for a tri-od. /he farther a-art

the legs are, the more stable it will be.

Tripod $otion+ when you use a tri-od, you securely attach the camera to the to-

of it. /he camera can now be mo#ed in two ways + -an @side to side mo#ementA

or tilt @u- and downA. See the amera Mo#ement sheet for more information on

-ans and tilts.

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E!i"#ent

DVD +'(

Instead of writing to a #ideo ta-e, this ty-e of

camcorder uses a Mini D$D+6 disk. /he

ad#antage is that you can transfer the #ideo to your

home com-uter sim-ly by taking the D$D out of

the camera and inserting it into your com-uter&s

D$D dri#e. )oteL Most D$D dri#es will acce-t the Mini+D$D+6 disk.

(iniDV

/his is the most common format for most Digital camcorders still use #ideota-e

@most use a format called MiniD$A

Hard Drive or DVD +'(

/he ty-e has a built+in hard dri#e *ust like a com-uter. /he ad#antage is s-eed

and ca-acity which can range from 1= C 13=B!. lso, n o ta-e or disk to buy.

Howe#er, you must use 2S! or Firewire in order to interface with your home

com-uter.

HD

/he new High Definition format gi#es you enhance -icture :uality that can be

dis-layed on your new HD /$. /he -roblem with this format is the lack

standardi0ation for HD #ideo format @HD$, 'DM, $HDA. I would wait a

few more years before deciding to buy this ty-e of camcorder.

)lash (emory

/he faster growing ty-e of camcorder is the Flash Memory

ty-e. /his ty-e of camcorder is small, usually the si0e of an

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--le I-od or com-act digital camera. /his ty-e is good for short :uick #ideos

to send #ia Email or u-load to outube. /he disad#antage of this ty-e is that the

#ideo :uality will be less than a full si0e camcorder.

'nalog

$HS, $HS, ;mm?Hi;?Digital ; + More ineJ-ensi#e than D$ camcorders, ;mm

camcorders record at a high resolution and can usually record u- to 3 hours of

:uality recording on each ta-e. Sony introduced the Digital ; series of camcorders

which records data digitally onto Hi; ta-es. /his ty-e will re:uire additional

hardware to con#ert analog video to digitalformat, so it can be edited by digital

editing software. See Gther Hardware list below for list of analog con#erted.

on#erters can be iinternal @(I ada-terA or eJternal boJ that can be connected

#ia standard 2S! 3 cable. Most internal ca-ture de#ice also has /$ tuner in-ut.

%amcorder Type %a&le Additional

Hardware

Additiona

'oftware

nalog /a-e 6?S+$ideo es 2S! Dri#er

Digital /a-e 14


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&,--&T/-G *,%+ D/G/T'0 &'(&,+D+ T, *,%+ P&

/he digital camcorder is one of the most -o-ular home -roducts of all times.

amcorders ha#e made shooting #ideos sim-le, :uick and fun. ou can make

your home #ideos e#en more en*oyable by co-ying them to your (, editing

them, adding titles and remo#ing those unwanted scenes. $ideo editing software

like Video Edit Magiccan hel- you edit your home mo#ies to make your memories

last fore#er. ou can also con#ert the edited #ideos to an a--ro-riate format and

create a D$D or u-load them to an Internet ser#er and share your memories with

family and friends.

&he!$list for !onne!ting a &am!order to your P&

To connect yo#r camcorder to yo#r !indows P%+ yo# re0#ire3

Fire%ire 14


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-ort accommodates both Fire%ire standards, while a b+only -ort acce-ts only a

Fire%ire ;== connector.

(hysically connecting your camcorder to your %indows ( using a Fire%ire -ortis easy. (lug the IEEE 14


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the Fire%ire card. @/hese instructions are for %indows '(. /hey will #ary

slightly for other #ersions of %indows.

,ther Software

%indows Mo#ie Maker 3 @$ersion 8 on $istaA .is only one of

many software a#ailable for the home #ideo editing market.

Here are a few to look atL

(innacle Studio 2ltimate 13 @Highly 6ecommendA

yberlink (owerDirector 9 2ltra

dobe (remiere Elements 5

orel $ideo Studio 11

orel D$D Mo#ie Factory 8

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Hardware 4 'nalog Video &onverters

Da00le $ideo reator (lus @EJternalA

(innacle Mo#ie !oJ (lus @EJternalA P17=

DS $ideo EJ-ress P7=

DS D$D EJ-ress '3D + P;

24057323 digital film making manual

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