Articles & Books From Film

Article / Updated 09-15-2023
Today’s smartphones are so sophisticated, and the technology so advanced, you can shoot a professional looking short movie, or even a full-length feature on your smartphone. Your phone probably shoots 4K broadcast quality images — something that many older expensive video cameras can’t even do.Some of the advantages to shooting with your smartphone include: You just point and shoot.
Article / Updated 04-27-2023
Editing is more than just piecing together shots into scenes. Understanding the story and the best way to tell it is an art. Editing controls the feel of your film and can make or break the illusion.To edit well, you need to know on what frame to start your shot and on what frame to end it, when to cut to the reaction shot (a visual response from another actor in the scene), and when to stay on the main character.
Article / Updated 04-25-2023
The key to recording dialogue in digital filmmaking is placing the microphone as close as possible to your actor without the microphone appearing in the shot. Also, aiming the microphone in the direction of the sound helps to keep the dialogue clear. Aiming your microphone can help you get a clear sound. If you’re using an external microphone on a boom pole or a handheld, it’s important to keep it as still as possible when recording because this prevents the device from picking up any noises from the boom operator.
Article / Updated 04-17-2023
You can use colored gels and filters to achieve certain effects in your digital film. There are different colors of light, which is measured in kelvin. This determines how cold or how warm the color of light is. Daylight is in the middle of the scale. If your shot is cold or too blue in color, then you can set your camera’s white balance higher to make the shot look warmer and more natural.
Article / Updated 04-12-2023
Interviewing someone on camera can be tricky; this video gives you some tips on how to position and frame your interview subjects and how to direct them. It’s a good idea to plan your film before beginning the interview. Knowing how to frame your interview subject will help improve your digital film. First, you need to decide on the type of shot you're going to use for your interview subject.
Article / Updated 02-22-2023
The Academy Awards, casually called the Oscars, is a formal awards ceremony to honor the best achievements in filmmaking from the previous year. The Academy Awards, from the nomination and voting processes to the ceremony itself, are overseen by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.The Academy has more than 10,000 members and is a professional honorary society of people involved in all aspects of making movies.
Video / Updated 11-17-2022
In this video, you learn about the rule of thirds for framing digital video shots and gain a better understanding of the types of shots in filmmaking you can take from extreme wide shots to extreme close-ups. The rule of thirds, although not a rule that can't be broken in filmmaking, is all about how to frame a shot or where to place the subject in the scene.
Article / Updated 11-14-2022
Special effects aren’t just limited to illusions that look real only through the camera lens or after the postproduction stage of your film. Makeup is make-believe that can walk and talk without the magic of the camera but through the magic of talented makeup artists. Many people think of beauty makeovers when they think of makeup artists.
Step by Step / Updated 11-14-2022
Sharing your digital film with your family and friends is great, but you may want to reach a wider audience. Sharing the film on a video‐hosting site like YouTube is a way to do that. The library of videos on YouTube gets billions of views every day, and some videos there have been viewed hundreds of millions of times.
Article / Updated 11-14-2022
You just press Record, right? Making your digital film is not quite as simple as that. Take your time. It’s important not to rush when setting up your camera. Rushing can lead to mistakes. It’s a good idea to make sure everything is set up before you call the actors in. If they arrive early, get them to read through their lines while you prepare for the shot.