Innholdsfortegnelse for The Digital Video Book i The Digital Video Book

Videography has been a staple in the development of popular culture, from big blockbusters like Avengers Assemble and classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey, to the humble home videos on Super 8 and smartphones. The capability to create home movies has been around since the 1930s with the introduction of 8mm film by Kodak, but it wasn’t until the introduction of Super 8 in 1965 that the idea of home videos really caught on, as the film was supplied in cartridges. The higher-end Super 8 had synchronised audio with an additional magnetic audio track. The only downside was the cost, as you had to pay for the film to be developed. The home movie revolution was sparked in the mid 1970s with Beta VCR and VHS being released. This format,…

Are you dreaming of becoming the next Spielberg? Or do you just want to document family occasions in style? With all the recent advances in technology, there’s never been a better time to start getting to grips with video. It’s irrelevant whether your budget is a few hundred or a few thousand pounds: there’s now a huge variety of affordable equipment on the market to help you to realise each and every creative idea. Gone are the days when only the BBC could produce breathtaking aerial footage. Consumer drones are intuitive and capable. There’s no need to use massive rigs for shake-free motion shots – handheld gimbals are now both portable and cheap. Such a change is just the tip of the iceberg: we’re in filmmaking’s most accessible age, so…

Say the words ‘video camera’ and at best it conjures images of The Blair Witch Project and at worst, a clichéd 80s wedding film with too much zooming. Fortunately, the technology has improved exponentially in recent years thanks to DSLRs and CSCs fighting for the hard-earned cash of filmmakers. Nowadays, dedicated video cameras boast features like full sensor 4:2:2 recording, built-in ND filters and progressive slow motion capture alongside versatile rigging options and a wide range of compatible lenses. If you’re a solo run-and-gun filmmaker, purpose-built video cameras make shoulder shooting a cinch. XLR inputs add audio efficiency with rolling shutters a thing of the past. As for quality, with 14 stops of dynamic range, sensors up to 5.7K and 10-bit colour recording, you’ll understand why these cameras carry the…

Video files, by their nature, are a lot bigger than JPEGs or even RAWs, and that’s before you even consider shooting ultra high-quality 4K footage or producing 8K timelapses. With multiple video clips being placed on an editing track at the same time, there’s a huge amount of data that video editing computer’s are asked to process. Working on a standard computer not optimised for this kind of work can result in simple adjustments in Premiere or Final Cut Pro taking absolutely ages to complete, slowing your project down to a snail’s pace. In fact, if your computer has limited RAM, there’s a good chance it may simply crash when it comes to working with the software, let alone when adding those all-singing all-dancing graphics. Ultimately, the better your computer,…

While you may have spent plenty of time focusing on composition, light and audio, until you edit the footage together, all your movie consists of is a bunch of clips on a memory card. Video software is the magic ingredient that brings your footage to life, so you can tell the story in your way. With software you can not only cut your various clips into one film, but you can also improve the look of that footage by colour grading and enhancing elements such as contrast, saturation and sharpness – the same as you would with a stills photo. What’s more, with video editing software, you can add an extra dimension to your movies, overlaying soundtracks, additional audio, graphics and effects to your productions. Video editing programs are specialist…

When it comes to creating videos, lighting is often overlooked until the shooting actually begins. For many new filmmakers, it’s easy to be distracted by cameras and all the other pieces of fancy equipment, with lighting being largely neglected. It’s a common situation for less experienced creators to arrive at their desired location and spend valuable daylight trying to make the best of the available lighting. Lighting is a shared responsibility. Often the director will outline their desired effect and then it falls to the Director of Photography (DoP) to figure out how best to create that effect. On larger scale productions, there’s also a Chief Lighting Technician – also known as a Gaffer – who executes the plan created by the DoP. In filmmaking, lighting is an invaluable tool…

Unlike producing a feature film, where you can shoot a scene in as many takes as you want, film from as many different angles as you like and can stop proceedings in an instant, a wedding is completely different. It is happening live, so if you miss something you can’t just ask for the ceremony to stop and reset. There’s no strict script to follow and no second chances. You will most likely be restricted to certain positions, you might be faced with awkward guests that don’t want to be filmed, and you’ll have little control over lighting. Everything will unfold quickly – blink and you might miss it. Filming a wedding is such an intensive and highly stressful thing – you have been trusted to capture a couple’s happiest…

You’d be forgiven for thinking that sci-fi is all about the future. But the simple truth that has sustained the genre, ever since Fritz Lang’s Metropolis gave audiences their first taste of futuristic social commentary, is that sci-fi is – paradoxically – all about the present. No genre tells us who we are, what we fear and what we crave more than sci-fi. When the world is at its most concerned about what is happening in the present or what may be lurking ominously around the corner, up pops a host of sci-fi films, like an x-ray of the zeitgeist. Despite sci-fi offering one of the most escapist trips to the cinema, it produces some of the sharpest insight into today’s big issues. The best sci-fi combines visceral thrill with…

It is a fantastic – and not to mention cost-effective – time to get into movie production, and it’s all because of the latest digital technology. It’s become easier and easier over recent years to be ablt to create finished, polished films with a camera bought on the highstreet and a laptop. We’re now able to produce something to the standard that previously would have required a team of skilled people and hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of equipment. Take cameras for example: for several decades, the standard camera system for making a wildlife film (especially for television broadcast) was an Arri 16mm film camera (and later a Super 16mm camera – the widescreen version). The picture quality was superb, the colour contrast luxurious, and time-lapse and slow-motion shots…

19 June 1873 Maybridge photographs Sally Gardner sequence Eadweard Muybridge photographs a horse named Sallie Gardner in fast motion using a series of 24 stereoscopic cameras. The photographs were adapted to a zoopraxiscope for short, primitive projected ‘movies’. 14 October 1888 Earliest surviving motion picture created The experimental film Roundhay Garden Scene, is filmed by Louis Le Prince in Roundhay, Leeds, and shot on paper film. This motion picture is the earliest surviving example. 23 April 1896 Edison unveils Vitascope projector Across the United States, people visit Vaudeville and Variety theatres to view Vitascope movies. Bills on the Vaudeville become dominated by motion pictures. 22 May 1897 The Corbett-Fitzsimmons fight This was the longest film ever released at the time at 100 minutes, and also the first feature to be…

Since the arrival of the Nikon D90 and Canon 5D Mark II in 2008, DSLRs have shaken up the world of filmmaking. They increasingly boast video capabilities that make them a solid choice for small independent productions, as well as traditional stills photography. It’s now possible to find DSLRs that can record 4K at up to 60fps, and Full HD footage at speeds of up to 120fps. Unlike some dedicated video cameras, they’re relatively compact, can produce attractively shallow depths of field, and have access to a wide and affordable lens range. They do, however, require users to monitor what’s happening on rear displays rather than through a viewfinder (their mirrors have to remain up during recording). They lack inputs for external accessories and offer maximum continuous record times of…

Produce a video in low light that’s filled with ISO grain and exposure issues and people will overlook it. Hell, they might even feel it adds authenticity to the piece. Construct action scenes for a film with overly shaky B-roll and again, people won’t mind too much. But match your footage with poor quality sound and no viewer will hang about beyond a few seconds. Audio, more than any other element in videography, can make or break a production. For that reason, it’s vitally important that you capture audio in the highest quality possible whenever you’re working. If people can’t hear dialogue or are distracted by distortion, hiss, crackles and assorted background noise, no amount of amazing camera angle work is going to stop it from seeming amateurish. In this…

With so many choices and so much jargon in the storage market, it can be a minefield to understand what you need and whether or not you’re compromising your production if you don’t buy the most high-end product in every category. We all want the fastest editing solution but often the fastest drives aren’t also the largest, so there are always trade offs to be made. Most filmmakers’ workflows will involve some degree of removable storage (e.g. SD cards, CompactFlash, CFast), a combination of hard disk drives (HDD), solid state drives (SSD) and a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) system, so there’s a lot to consider. Our handy box-out provides some useful information relating to memory cards, but when it comes to drives there’s even more variation. A HDD…

Having a fast performing desktop workstation at home or in an office with a large display for editing and plenty of storage capacity is an essential for many videographers. But don’t forget there’ll also be times where you may want or need to edit out in the field. Maybe an international project needs a super fast turnaround, maybe you’re vlogging on the go, maybe you just want a change of scenery for the day. Whatever your reasons, you’ll be pleased to hear that there’s a good selection of laptops now available suitable for use as video-editing workstations. Of course you’ll want to choose a device with plenty of processing and memory power, but you’ll also want to consider factors such as screen size, battery life, storage capacity etc. Do you…

CREATE THE FILM IDEA This is by far the most important step in the pre-production phase of your film as it’s going to be the foundation upon which everything else sits. You should have a clear, well-defined concept for your film to make it easier to move onto the subsequent stages of filmmaking. However, the majority of filmmakers have to work from the ground up. Coming up with ideas can be tough, especially when hoping to create something original. A routine can help generate ideas. Setting aside time like this can be fruitful in generating content for your film, but it’s not the only time that creativity sparks. Carry a notebook with you wherever you go. That way, if you’re out and about and an idea strikes, you will be…

So you’ve read your manual and set up your technical information in the camera ready to make your first movie, but perhaps you’re stuck on how to actually shoot it? Shooter’s block comes to us all at some point, but with a few simple techniques you can transform a lacklustre home-movie style project into something artistic, creative and interesting. We’ll take you through the process of moving your camera, angling it to reflect details in the storyline and even talk about how and where you may want to focus. Not only will we discuss how to use these 10 tips for being more creative with the camera, but littered throughout are examples of modern film and TV making good use of them. So whether it’s lens filters, adjusting colour temperature,…

The next time you watch a movie on DVD or streaming video, close your eyes for the first five minutes and listen carefully. Try to picture the images in your mind. What does the space look like? What’s the mood? What kind of people are in the scene and what’s going to happen next? Then open your eyes and watch the scene again. You’ll be surprised at how much the sound helps you to actually understand the scene. Or you could try it the other way round: watch a dramatic scene with the sound muted and see just how much it loses its emotional impact. Feature film soundtracks are carefully constructed from many different audio tracks. They can include different kinds of music, spoken dialogue, voiceover, sound recorded live or…

It’s often said that you learn by doing, and it’s frequently true but, as any brain surgeon will tell you, it’s usually better to do a bit of studying before you dive in. The wonderful thing about studying films is that while you can learn a lot from watching other people’s mistakes, you can learn an awful lot more by watching the movies that have been made well by talented professionals. Given that in most cases a well-made film is also a good film, studying up on your technique is also a very enjoyable experience. You already know how to calculate a film’s average shot length, how to set up a three-point lighting arrangement, how to use a filter and adjust your depth of field, but mastering the skills isn’t…

Film noir isn't a genre - it's a malady. Not the sort that kills you. but the sort that grabs you by the lapels and gives you a wake-up call. If glossy Hollywood happy endings or cheery moral tales leave you unconvinced. then the chances are you need a dose of a noir hard-boiled movie, reminding you that the glass is very much half empty, and laced with arsenic. Film noir is not just surface style, all shadows and fog - it's to do with an inner darkness. Writers like Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver)prefer terms such as"dark expressionistic cinema" or "psychological melodrama". Taken like this, it means just about any movie can have this heart of darkness and transform itself from action spectacle or cheap western into something that takes…

Currently there are many different cameras being used for video production, but there are some versions that are more popular than others. Amongst the most popular cameras for Youtube and basic level video is the Canon 800D. Its small size and user friendly handling make it an ideal model to establish the basics of video on. It records up to 1080p at 60fps, which is perfect for platforms such as Instagram and YouTube. The more professional options for DSLRs include models like the Canon 1DX Mark II, which is the favourite of YouTube filmmaker Peter Mackinnon. This level of camera offers a greater level of high end features. For more specialist use, camcorders become more applicable. Popular models for independent production range from the mid-level Panasonic HC-VXF990EBK, to the professional…

You could be forgiven for thinking that the impressive low light capabilities of modern cameras make lighting less relevant but there really is no replacement for a professional lighting setup when it comes to having full creative control over your projects. Lights for filmmaking are mostly continuous (unless you’re doing something particularly creative) and typically fall into one of three categories: incandescent, fluorescent or LED. An old-school favourite, incandescent or tungsten lights offer the smoothest spectrum of artificial light, which are perfect for soft, natural skin tones. The downsides are that they get have a high power draw and therefore get very hot while operating – so much so that you need gloves to adjust even the barn doors. In comparison, some models of fluorescent lights draw just 1/10th of…

RULE OF THIRDS Structuring an image using grid lines is the first approach for many photographers and cinematographers wishing to improve their compositional technique. One of the first frameworks to study and put into practice is the rule of thirds. This technique works by splitting the vertical and horizontal space in a frame into three parts each. Two lines placed vertically and two lines placed horizontally will intersect at four points in your frame. Using this grid, you can then place subjects of interest on the intersection, or anywhere else along the lines. You will see this structural device used in many films and TV shows, especially those shot in widescreen format as it helps to regulate the elongated frame. In Jurassic World (Trevorrow, 2015), the lead dinosaur trainer Owen…

Colour is an essential part of film storytelling. If you want a bride to look radiant, or a fitness instructor to look healthy, you’ll need to get their skin colour in the right tone. Many filmmakers use very specific colours as part of the feel of their movies. The 1960s Batman TV series used vivid, cartoonish colours, but the modern movies use much darker and considerably more sombre palettes. Colours have specific meanings. Strong reds can mean passion or danger: blues can show alienation, technology or cold. For a hyper real effect, use intense, saturated colours; weak, washed-out colours suggest poverty or alienation. Colours can also suggest time and season. A blue cast can mean that the movie is set at dawn, at dusk or in winter. Warm orange tones…

Although the word documentary has been associated with filmmaking since the roaring Twenties the genre itself was, until recently, cinematically moribund, primarily a television format. In recent years that’s all changed – Leon Gast’s When We Were Kings (1996) brought the genre back to cinemas with a bang and set the ball rolling for the rebirth of documentaries. Since then there have been more cinema releases for documentaries than you could shake a Nick Broomfield boom mic at. Michael Moore treated serious subjects with a touch of parody and satire in Bowling For Columbine (2002) and Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), Errol Morris obtained surprising candour when interviewing Robert MacNamara for Fog of War (2003), while former US Vice President Al Gore has made a whole new name for himself with the…

Sad but true, of all the competing genres that command the filmmaker’s attention, war has the strongest claim to being the true face of 20th Century film. From Arnhem to Zagreb, warfare has provided inspiration for some undisputed cinematic classics, and continues to inspire. The methodology of warfare may have changed, but the fundamental components remain the same for the filmmaker, and the knock on effect for the digital filmmaker on a budget is considerable. As the nature of war has changed, the war film has found a new purpose. Hollywood is breathing new life into the genre, inspired by the post-Vietnam days of the late 1970s. Gone are the table top tactics, missions and fanfares. Now it’s about darkened torture cells, civil war and corporate killing. Cynical, sharp and…

Forget all other movies, the western is the original genre. It is the Native American of the movie world: once everyone made shoot-ups about lonely heroes, west of the Mississippi, north of the Rio Grande, south of heaven. Then the corporate confederate hit town with his high-concept, big-budget blockbusters and soon the western was reduced to its own reservation in small film festivals for the faithful. No more. The genre that arguably came first, and was the first to be studied seriously by film academics, is re-grouping and hitting the theatres, ready to clean up Tinseltown – at least until next time. Now everyone wants to make a western. And movies such as 3:10 To Yuma are cropping up to give new life to this most conformist of genres. So…

Boo! It’s possibly the most powerful moment in filmmaking – the split second when we jump from the seat, faced with an image that takes us into a brief nightmare. So powerful is a horrific movie moment that we don’t so much suspend disbelief as hang it up, disembowel it and burn the remains. No other genre can take us out of reality so quickly and bring on such physical effects. No wonder it has become one of the biggest genres of the last century, making reliably big bucks in the box office. Despite the high cost factor of producing zombies, corpses and assorted separated limbs, it is arguably the single most popular genre for amateur filmmakers and emerging no-budgeteers in the UK today. For fans, there are dedicated festivals…