I'm exhausted, but happy at the same time. Today I launched my website, FreedanStudios.com. It's taken months of building, tweaking, and sorting out details, but it's finally done. Not only do I have my own website, but it is also connected to a custom email domain (link in the "Contact Me" tab of the site) and features a fully functional photo gallery. I won't say anymore; go see it for yourself!
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Friday, October 11, 2013
BTS of my First Short #3
I can almost feel criticism
seeping out of fellow moviegoers when returning from a trip to the theater.
People often have terrible things to say about movies that may have been fairly
good. What causes people to hurl insults so freely? I think a part of it is
that they don’t see everything that goes into a film.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s
long or short, the length of any film pales in comparison to the time spent
making it. Unless it’s a Vine, but I really don’t think that those count as
“films” ...
The storyboards for Beckoning took
about an hour to make, and the DIY camera gear was built over a period of two
days. That’s already 2 days and 1 hour. Then there was the shooting. I found
out just how important actor morale was, because my little sister (the main
character) quickly lost interest in the project and just wanted to see the end
result. That made getting good shots somewhat difficult at times.
After being spread out over two
days, the shooting was finished. Thankfully, the final video was only about two
minutes long, so there wasn’t a great deal of footage to shoot. That’s 4 days
and 1 hour so far. Once all the footage was shot, it was time for post –
production.
That’s a whole other beast in
itself. Post – production finalizes the pacing, color, and sound of the film.
In general, this is the most tedious part of filmmaking, because post –
production determines the final product. Whatever comes out of post is what
viewers will be watching. I spent about four hours on post – production,
including the creation of custom sounds.
Thus, all in all, my little 2 –
minute video was created over about four days and five hours. It’s no wonder
blockbusters take years as well as hundreds of people to create!
I hope that this gave you some perspective
on the time commitment required of filmmakers. I’ll certainly be busy in my future
career, but I know it’ll be worth it!
The final video will be posted on
Monday! Cheers!
~Sign Out~
Monday, October 7, 2013
BTS of my First Short #2
Filmmaking is expensive. With all of the gear, software, and
time commitments required to produce a good piece, even short, low – budget
works can really burn holes in the pockets. So, what’s a filmmaker to do!?
There are many tips and tricks to shrink a budget, one of
them being do it yourself (DIY) gear. These are cheaper alternatives to more
expensive gear, built out of home materials such as wooden planks and PvC
piping. DIY gear can be either terrible or fantastic.
Considering that I have no job and live with my parents
(Okay, at the time of this writing, I’m only 17, but STILL ...) I need every
bit of budgeting help I can get. So, I made two pieces of DIY gear from
templates I found online.
The first of these was a PvC dual shoulder mount. While it
seemed too simple to be of much use at first, it actually was a huge help in
steadying my shots. I was able to fake stable camera work, whereas if I had
shot handheld, the footage would have shaken terribly.
My only complaint was that the camera had to be attached and
detached using a screw, because I couldn’t afford an expensive quick release
plate. This was a nuisance at times. All in all, however, the mount proved to
be a valuable tool considering the price.
Here’s a video demonstrating how to construct the mount
(Courtesy of Film Riot):
If you are into film making, I would highly recommend visiting their channel. They also have some cool short films.
The next piece of gear was a camera slider. I did not like
it nearly as much as I did the shoulder mount. It did not produce smooth
movement, and it was more cumbersome to use than the shoulder mount.
I’ll post the video for it anyway. The guys at Film Riot
somehow managed to get theirs to work well, so maybe I was missing something
...
That’s all for now! Go out and build something of your own
;)
Daniel Freeman
Sunday, October 6, 2013
BTS of my First Short #1
The first step in developing any story is getting the concept together. I created a storyboard as the first part of the project, to help me get the composition and feel of my shots right. Storyboards are basically like comic - book versions of the movie (At least, that's how I like to think of them).
Here is my storyboard [SPOILER ALERT]. Right click on an image and select "View Image" to zoom in:
Here is my storyboard [SPOILER ALERT]. Right click on an image and select "View Image" to zoom in:
[SPOILER ALERT]
Basically, I wanted to create a movie that was both terrifyingly creepy and poignantly sad. I achieved this effect through the use of careful cinematography. For example, I never show the ghost's face until some time later in the film, giving the ghost an impersonal, and, consequently, a sinister feel. Other techniques which I employed in the final work included the dutch angle, color correction, and custom sound effects!
That's all for now. Tune in next time to hear me talk about (or rather for you to read about) my experience with DIY gear!
~Sign Out~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)