You have no money. You have limited locations. You have very little equipment. How, in the world, can you make a movie? For starters, you have to be realistic about what you can actually do. If you don’t know many people, have limited resources, and the only gear you have is an old phone that…
Actors, Actors, Actors! Great performances from your actors can transform an average scene into something magical. While it may seem like directing only occurs on set, the process actually starts long before you begin the movie, during a tiny little thing called casting. Casting Actors Your first thought during casting should be to find the…
As a cinematographer, your mission is the capture the most visually pleasing image the location and equipment will allow. Location scouting is essential. You need to know where the magic will happen before each and every shot. Granted, things can change and sometimes an angle just doesn’t work the way you anticipated. That is okay,…
There are many file editing platforms. They range from very simple to quite complex. Your job is to do most of the work before you ever open the editing software. Organize Files Your files should be organized according to the project name and file types. The first folder you create will be the project file….
Audio is often the most neglected part of indie cinema. Creators will spend time and money crafting the best image they can, but very little of either to record excellent audio. Think about the last time you saw a movie with a great image, but the lip-syncing was just a little bit off or perhaps…
What is noise? Have you ever seen a poorly lit video with grainy randomly moving particles in the dark areas of the image? Perhaps the particles were even visible in the brighter areas as well. These particles are visual noise. They are the by-products of poorly exposed shots. The less light a scene has the…
Camera: Do the best you can do with whatever camera you have or can get. A camera is essential, but don’t obsess over it. It can be analog or digital. It can be Standard Definition, High Definition, or even Ultra High Definition. It doesn’t really matter as long as you can tell the story. High…