The Movie Making Process
Producing and Directing
A producer’s job is to deliver a project on time and under budget. In a nutshell! To do that, a plan is essential. You must organize your information, your objectives, your team and your story before you can head into production. As Producer, you’re often tasked with keeping your eyes on the big picture and making sure you’ve got a talented – or at least highly enthusiastic – team to help bring the vision to the screen.
That’s where the Director comes in! A Director works with the Producer and Writer to bring the vision from their minds to screen. The Director works directly with the crew on the set and is responsible for capturing the best performance from not only the crew, but the cast. The set keeps moving and the takes keep coming until the Director yells “Cut!” or “That’s a Wrap!”
back to top »
Scripting
A Writer is the person who either generates the story from his or her own imagination or adapts the story from an existing property – book or play, for example. Creating a script is the best way to develop your story and refine the story. A script goes through many rewrites and sometimes, many writers. But for this video challenge, look at creating your script as an exercise in not only getting your ideas on paper, but also as creating a roadmap for your actors. It’s fun to improvise on set – in fact collaboration and spontaneity are elements that can create magic!
If your script includes dialogue, take the time to rehearse with your cast! It will be well worth it in time and materials saved doing take after take because an actor doesn’t know his or her lines or doesn’t understand what the Director is looking for. This lets you save your production time for creativity – changing angles with the camera or getting interesting variations on line delivery.
Just remember what “they” say – “if it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage!”
back to top »
Casting
The job of casting roles goes to the Casting Director. He or she looks for the look and ability to emote for each role in the project. Can you imagine anyone else playing Jack Dawson besides Leo DiCaprio? Or what about Edward Scissorhands? No one but the mighty Johnny Depp could have become that lonely character. The point is, a lot of magic happens in finding the right guy or gal to become each character. When you’re casting for your movie – don’t eliminate people because they’ve never done anything…if Hollywood did that we never would have met Brad Pitt, Drew Barrymore and any other actor that had to get their first job! So, go ahead, ask Mom, Grandma or the neighbor to audition for your video!
back to top
Audio
You may have a great video with inspired dialogue, but if we can’t hear it, it’s all for nought. Make sure your camera has a good built-in mic and if you’re shooting dialogue, position the camera to a close up of the subject who’s speaking. Get a wide shot of the whole scene, too, but go in for close-ups of each actor, for sure! In a perfect world, you’d have access to a good external microphone that your Audio Guy or Gal can actually control outside the view of the camera.
When you’re editing, make sure to mix your audio tracks so that the music isn’t overriding the spoken word. The music should support the narrative!
back to top »
Lighting
Lighting is to a scene as paint is to the canvas. That’s the truth. Use light to your advantage. If you have windows, consider letting your subjects be silhouettes; if you have lights, use them to paint your shot. Everything isn’t illuminated in real life –there are dark areas and light. One thing to pay close attention to is the lighting on your Talent (actors). A basic lighting scheme is a three point scheme:
- a back light – that casts light onto the subject’s hair and shoulders – this separates them from the background.
- a key light – this is the primary light on the subject’s face, it comes from just off center to their face – from either side.
- a fill light – literally is a soft “fill” of the side of the face/subject that’s not getting hit by the key. It should not be as bright as the key, though, because some “modeling” is desirable. A flatly lit face or shot is uninteresting.
back to top »
Cinematography
If you already have a digital camcorder (one that captures in Digital8, MiniDV, DV, HDV, or any of the DVD formats - there’s no reason you can’t use your computer camera, too), then you're ready to start shooting your masterpiece.
Cinematography - or what your camera shoots – conveys your story. Don’t be afraid to use a tripod to stabilize your images…unless you want to create a feeling of frenzy or a stylized point of view. Do your shots have a point of view? -- a high-angle shot communicates superiority…consider WHERE you put your camera!! Is your composition telling us something about the character or story? A close up communicates emotion – a wide shot or master shot – sets the scene…if the camera is angled, or “dutched” on the tripod, it tells us something is out of sync in the scene – that you want your viewer to know something isn’t “right.”
A camera PAN involves moving across the shot side to side – “Pan Left,” for example, means slowly (or quickly – depending on the shot!) turn the camera toward the left. A pan mimics the way your head would turn if you looked to your left or right. A tilt is another type of reveal – a TILT is a vertical move from top to bottom or vice versa – it’s literally your camera looking up or looking down. It’s a great way to go from looking at your actor who suddenly looks down, to the ground where the camera sees a shiny penny the actor just spotted. The next cut might be a close up, with the camera on the ground by the penny, as the actor’s hand comes into frame and grabs the penny.
A DOLLY is an awesome camera move that is akin to your whole body moving forward, backward or left or right…when a camera dollies the whole camera is moving. It’s usually done on dolly tracks, but a skateboard and duck tape or a camera person in a wheelchair make great dollies on a budget!
Last but not least is the mighty ZOOM. A slow zoom in or out either focuses our attention on a person, place or thing, or reveals a person place or thing. Use zooms judiciously!
back to top »
Post-Production
Once your video is “in the can,” the next step is Editing your video. Take full advantage of the software that’s loaded in your computer – like Windows MovieMaker (included with every Windows installation), or Apple iMovie. These are terrific consumer programs that let you edit, add music, transitions and output your master.
Your camcorder will need some kind of direct connection to your computer; either to the USB or FireWire ports or by inserting the DVD you've recorded. Once you've loaded the video you’ve shot into your computer, you’re ready to upload to ymiLIVE or better yet, make a stop in your editing program.
Consider tempo – it reveals the mood – a fast paced scene with lots of cuts creates a sense of urgency, while longer shots with long slow dissolves suggest the passage of time. Do you use effects judiciously? Resist the temptation to go effects crazy! If you’re using actors, remember that if someone has a long piece of dialogue, it’s interesting to “cut away” to see a “reaction shot” of the person or group to whom he or she is speaking.
Ultimately, we want you to have FUN making your video – we know you’re not an expert – YET! Viewers will VOTE for the video that makes an impression!!! Use your best skills in story telling!
back to top »
Upload
Uploading your video is easy! When you export your final movie, just make sure to export it from your edit program as a WMV, MOV or MPEG – and make sure the file size is less than 100 megs. Don’t make your size any smaller than 320x240.
back to top »
