In order to develop a personal reference for both picture and sound, watch movies on a standard monitor and with standard speakers and headphones. (Make sure to choose a light-weight and portable LCD monitor which will let you plug in a set of headphones perhaps.) Then use that monitor as you shoot so you can […]
When working with a limited budget (who isn’t?) consider hiring a hair stylist BEFORE a makeup artist. You’ll find most actresses can do a decent job of doing their own makeup (especially clean beauty looks) but even the best hairstyle looks awful on camera with random fly-away hairs. Have a hairstylist (or someone with a […]
Purchase a basic $10 first aid kit or two to have on set. This will cover you for the basics including bandages, antiseptics, and a chemical cold pack. Make sure to add the following 3 items however: A tube of triple-antibiotic ointment (brand name Neosporin – but who buys brand name?) Apply to all nicks […]
To match a wide shot with the medium shots and close-ups that show the same players or objects we use a very simple rule to avoid jump cuts in the final edit. For every change of view (moving from wide to medium or medium to close-up for instance) we change not just the focal length […]
Here’s a quick guide to framing shots of people’s faces using two concepts from classic photography. The first is the Rule of Thirds (or the Golden Rule) which divides the frame up into 9 equal rectangles using two vertical and two horizontal lines each 1/3 of the way in from the edges of the frame. […]
Here’s a quick guide to Walkie-Talkie Talking: John for Larry, over. – “I’m John and I want to talk to Larry” Go for Larry. – “I’m Larry and I’m listening for your message” What’s your 20? – “Where the hell are you?” 10-20 at craft service. – “I’m currently at the craft service table” Roger […]
During a take you occasionally have the urge to sneeze. Don’t. Your best bet a stifling a sneeze is to press your thump and pointer finger on either side of your nose right where you feel the bony part of your skull begin (about the mid-way between the bridge and the tip of your nose). […]
Everyone who’s done slate has done this at least once. You slate take 3 and while the scene is being shot you erase your 3 and write in a 4. Then the scene is over, you check the slate and forget that you’ve already incremented the take so you erase it again and write 5. […]
When reading the slate at the start of a take, actually READ it. Don’t rely on your memory of what it says. Position yourself slightly in front of the slate and read it’s contents out loud. This will save you valuable time not re-slating things when your memory fails you.
When using letters to denote shots of a scene on the slate, always skip the letters that can be confused with numbers: Scene 47F Scene 47G Scene 47H (Skip the letter ‘I’ – Looks like the number 1) Scene 47J Scene 47K (Skip the letter ‘L’ – Looks like the number 1) Scene 47M Scene […]