Let the bells ring out and the banners fly. I know it's too good to be true, but it's here!
The textbook, "Mike's Textbook of Digital Video Production" (formally available as a pdf file on my website) has now been updated, improved with new graphics and released as a printed edition by McGraw Hill Publishing - one of the largest publishers of technical textbooks in North America.
The new book is titled, "Digital Filmmaking for Beginners: A Practical Guide to Video Production".
For those (like myself) who love to read their book electronically it will also be converted to ePub format in a few weeks and should be available at major bookstores on-line.
This comprehensive book is aimed at everyone from the beginner wanting to learn all they can to get into the digital filmmaking business to professionals who want to know about areas of filmmaking outside of their specialty.
Featuring clear, concise instruction - accompanied by online video demonstrations - this comprehensive guide covers the best methods and techniques to plan and script projects; set up lighting, microphones and cameras; and shoot, edit and apply postproduction effects and other finishing touches.
Whether you're an amateur film buff or an aspiring professional videographer, this is the source for everything you need to bring your ideas from the page to the screen.
I've been teaching filmmaking for well over 30 years - beginners and professionals alike - and have filled this book with the course material I've honed over the years as well as a ton of extra material.
If your local bookstore hasn't stocked it yet you can order it by it's ISBN number 978-0-07-179136-1.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Monday, June 20, 2011
The Three Stages of Production
The Three Stages of Production
There are three stages of the production process:
1. Pre-Production (the planning stage) in which you might expect to spend approximately 1/3 of your total time.
2. Production (the shooting stage) in which you might expect to spend approximately 1/6 of your total time.
3. Post-Production (the editing stage) in which you might expect to spend approximately 1/2 of your total time.
These time estimates are very loose and will vary depending on your production.
Good planning ensures that the expensive production stage runs smoothly and that all the footage that is required gets shot.
Post-Production is a highly creative stage and you must have time to edit, screen and re-edit where necessary.
Pre-Production includes:
Creating the planning paperwork, choosing locations, hiring cast and crew, booking equipment and post facilities, dealing with legal paperwork, creating a budget, accounting for ancillary rentals and services, etc.
Production Includes:
Shooting the required footage, reshooting where necessary and recording location sound.
Post-Production includes:
Screening and logging your footage, recording or accessing music, recording voice and sound effects, creating animations, illustrations & text graphics, editing the various visuals and soundtracks, adding transitions and effects, mixing, color correcting, creating time coded copies for preview, creating masters and sub-masters.
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There are three main production documents:
- The proposal
- The script
- The shot list, scene list or storyboard.
The Proposal contains: The working title, medium, scenario (incl. story outline and treatment), technical considerations and the budget. Treatments can be commercial, dramatic, documentary or educational. It is used to educate potential investors or production companies on what your project is about before reading the script.
The Script contains: A detailed story development, written for screen action, with dialogue and visual information. Various formats exist, but usually the script does not contain camera angles, lighting information and other technical information. It’s just a description of the story.
The Shot List / Storyboard contains: An area for noting shot/scene number, visual content, technical descriptions and approximate time for the shot. In a storyboard a diagram augments the written shot description. This is where the technical shooting information is.
Shot Distances listed in the shot list relate to the perceived distance between camera (audience) and subject. While there are often many definitions for shot distances there a really only five basic ones:
1. Extreme Long Shot (ELS) where there is a significant area of space around the subject. The subject appears to be distant.
2. Long Shot (LS) where the subject comfortably fills the frame from top to bottom with adequate head room and room underneath the subject).
3. Medium Shot (or Mid) Shot (MS) where approximately 2/3 to 1/2 of the subject is seen in the frame. Make sure to never allow the bottom of the frame to cut a person off at a natural joint.
4. Close Up (CU) where approximately 1/3 to 1/4 of the subject is framed. This might be your typical “head and shoulders” shot.
5. Extreme Close Up (ECU) which is usually a head shot of a person. As long as it shows the eyes, nose and mouth in the frame it can still be considered a shot of a person (as opposed to a medium shot of an eye, for instance).
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Sequencing
Basic sequencing means that we design a series of shots for one scene or sequence in our movie. They must be designed so that the audience is shown the action in a way that is easily understood, visually stimulating and that no subject is shown that is not intended to be part of the scene.
For this reason several shots will be designed and each should be slated for ease of editing.
While each sequence of shots is designed based on the action to be shown to the audience (action sequences, monologues, multi-camera stunts, etc.) a dialogue scene between actors will often be shot using the Master Scene technique.
Shooting a dialog sequence in the Master Scene technique includes several camera angles, shooting overlapping or repeating action so that the editor has several choices.
If, for example, we are shooting two people facing each other while holding a conversation we would shoot the entire sequence in a master two-shot. Then we might shoot a close up of just one of the people for the entire sequence. Lastly we might shoot the other person in close up for the entire sequence. Thus, we have a two-shot to introduce the scene, close-ups of each person when they speak and also close ups of each person just listening as the off-camera person is speaking (these are called reaction shots). The two shot can be used any time bouncing back and forth between the close ups might become tiring to the viewer.
This sequencing should be included in your shot list.
Learn more at:
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Good Reasons for Using a Slate
I’ve been making training videos for companies for over 25 years. I have my own method for making most training videos which includes structuring the script in a particular order so that the learner witnesses a process in a manner that makes sense to them, using graphics and animation to help show that which cannot be easily seen in the live shots and relying on a professional voice over to narrate all or most of the program.
I like to be organized, with a well developed script when shooting begins.
Unfortunately some of my clients are rather stubborn about being organized with the information they provide me for the script . . . and also agreeing to follow the script once shooting commences.
While everything gets shot, it can be confusing later if new information has been added during the shoot.
Once everything is “in the can” it goes to the edit suite where I log and capture the relevant footage. A good camera report, meticulously written by the production assistant during the shoot, is critical in helping to understand what’s been shot as we rarely make all the shots in script order and the log and capture session might happen days later.
Then, while screening, logging and capturing footage in the post production suite, I find it highly convenient to have a slate clearly visible at the beginning of each shot. This allows me to whip through the shots quickly and always know what I’m looking at.
A professional film slate is usually made of white plexiglass with the various information fields screen printed on to it. There will also be a clapper stick hinged to the top of the slate board. It will be painted black with white stripes (or is it white with black stripes?? . . . one of life’s great mysteries). This simple device could set you back $60 or more.
A film slate with the hinged clapper stick is used to help re-synchronize picture and sound in the edit suite. It comes from motion picture technology where the sound is recorded on a separate audio recorder and not on the camera’s audio track. True “film” cameras have no sound capabilities.
By marking the exact frame on the picture film where the clapper meets the slate board and also marking the exact frame where the sound can be heard on the sound media, the editor can interlock the picture and sound together in sync.
In video production, when we are recording sound directly to the videotape, hard drive or static memory device, a clapper is not necessary. Synchronization is automatic as it’s recorded with the picture.
While many people use a dry erase marker to fill in data for each shot on the plexiglass slate they eventually find that not all of the marks made with these pens will scrub off as the plastic breaks down and becomes somewhat porous after a while. That’s why professionals in the film business tend to use numbers written on small strips of white camera tape which they keep stuck on the back of the slate.
Here’s how you can make your own slate very inexpensively and not have to worry about the slate becoming permanently marked or having to use bits of tape:
1. Just use a piece of stiff card stock, a thin piece of plywood or whatever you think will make a good solid surface. Cut it to fit a standard piece of letter sized paper (8 1/2” x 11”).
2. In landscape mode set up a slate design in your favorite word processor or paste-up program and print it onto the paper.
3. Tape or paste the paper onto the slate board you’ve made.
4. Lay a sheet of clear plastic over the paper and tape it around the edges. I use overhead projector transparency film which is available at most stationary stores, but any 8 1/2” x 11” acetate plastic will do.
Now you can use a dry erase marker as much as you want because it’s easy to replace the acetate plastic when it wears out.
And, because we don’t have to worry about re-synchronization you won’t need a clapper stick. My slates are printed with an image of a closed clapper stick at the top, but it’s strictly for decoration.
If, however, you are going to shoot with two cameras you might want to build your slate out of plywood and incorporate a real clapper to help synchronize the soundtracks from both cameras in post production.
A couple of tips on usage:
1. Slate each take at the beginning of the shot.
2. Make sure that the slate is well lit, well focussed and fills the camera’s frame.
3. Run the camera for only about 5 seconds on the slate. You can always freeze frame later to read it. Also, you can stop the camera to re-frame and then take your shot as we needn’t worry about losing synch between the camera and the audio recorder as with film.
4. If you forget to slate - or have misinformation on the slate you can put a “tail slate” on the end of the shot which is differentiated from the head slate for the next shot by being held upside down (c’mon - you can read upside down!).
Getting used to using a slate for scripted productions will save you tons of time in the edit suite.
Check out my video production eBook at:
http://www.mikesdvp.com
I like to be organized, with a well developed script when shooting begins.
Unfortunately some of my clients are rather stubborn about being organized with the information they provide me for the script . . . and also agreeing to follow the script once shooting commences.
While everything gets shot, it can be confusing later if new information has been added during the shoot.
Once everything is “in the can” it goes to the edit suite where I log and capture the relevant footage. A good camera report, meticulously written by the production assistant during the shoot, is critical in helping to understand what’s been shot as we rarely make all the shots in script order and the log and capture session might happen days later.
Then, while screening, logging and capturing footage in the post production suite, I find it highly convenient to have a slate clearly visible at the beginning of each shot. This allows me to whip through the shots quickly and always know what I’m looking at.
A professional film slate is usually made of white plexiglass with the various information fields screen printed on to it. There will also be a clapper stick hinged to the top of the slate board. It will be painted black with white stripes (or is it white with black stripes?? . . . one of life’s great mysteries). This simple device could set you back $60 or more.
A film slate with the hinged clapper stick is used to help re-synchronize picture and sound in the edit suite. It comes from motion picture technology where the sound is recorded on a separate audio recorder and not on the camera’s audio track. True “film” cameras have no sound capabilities.
By marking the exact frame on the picture film where the clapper meets the slate board and also marking the exact frame where the sound can be heard on the sound media, the editor can interlock the picture and sound together in sync.
In video production, when we are recording sound directly to the videotape, hard drive or static memory device, a clapper is not necessary. Synchronization is automatic as it’s recorded with the picture.
While many people use a dry erase marker to fill in data for each shot on the plexiglass slate they eventually find that not all of the marks made with these pens will scrub off as the plastic breaks down and becomes somewhat porous after a while. That’s why professionals in the film business tend to use numbers written on small strips of white camera tape which they keep stuck on the back of the slate.
Here’s how you can make your own slate very inexpensively and not have to worry about the slate becoming permanently marked or having to use bits of tape:
1. Just use a piece of stiff card stock, a thin piece of plywood or whatever you think will make a good solid surface. Cut it to fit a standard piece of letter sized paper (8 1/2” x 11”).
2. In landscape mode set up a slate design in your favorite word processor or paste-up program and print it onto the paper.
3. Tape or paste the paper onto the slate board you’ve made.
4. Lay a sheet of clear plastic over the paper and tape it around the edges. I use overhead projector transparency film which is available at most stationary stores, but any 8 1/2” x 11” acetate plastic will do.
Now you can use a dry erase marker as much as you want because it’s easy to replace the acetate plastic when it wears out.
And, because we don’t have to worry about re-synchronization you won’t need a clapper stick. My slates are printed with an image of a closed clapper stick at the top, but it’s strictly for decoration.
If, however, you are going to shoot with two cameras you might want to build your slate out of plywood and incorporate a real clapper to help synchronize the soundtracks from both cameras in post production.
A couple of tips on usage:
1. Slate each take at the beginning of the shot.
2. Make sure that the slate is well lit, well focussed and fills the camera’s frame.
3. Run the camera for only about 5 seconds on the slate. You can always freeze frame later to read it. Also, you can stop the camera to re-frame and then take your shot as we needn’t worry about losing synch between the camera and the audio recorder as with film.
4. If you forget to slate - or have misinformation on the slate you can put a “tail slate” on the end of the shot which is differentiated from the head slate for the next shot by being held upside down (c’mon - you can read upside down!).
Getting used to using a slate for scripted productions will save you tons of time in the edit suite.
Check out my video production eBook at:
http://www.mikesdvp.com
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Good Basic Lighting for Video
Lighting is one of those areas of film or video production that can be thoroughly frustrating if you don’t have the right equipment or a proper understanding of the basics of how to light correctly.
If you wish to light a person in close up and make them look their best you’re best off understanding what is usually termed, “portrait lighting”.
In portrait lighting we use a minimum of three light sources to create an attractive image of the human model. The main tenet here is to attempt to create a three dimensional look.
Yes, I know, most people do have three dimensions to their physical form . . . height (up and down), width (left and right) and depth (further or closer). But remember, the screen we’ll be looking at on playback has only two dimensions - height and width. The third dimension , that exists in reality, must be created artificially for the two dimensional screen using proper lighting.
Imagine a white sphere against a neutral grey background. If we light it evenly from both sides we will likely see what appears (on a two dimensional screen) to be a flat, round disk, like a coin.
If, however we make the left light brighter than the right light there will be a shadow on the right hand side of the sphere that gradually diminishes as it approaches the center. The resultant image on a 2 dimensional screen will appear to be spherical rather than flat. That’s what we want to achieve with our human model.
The usual formula for portrait lighting is that the light on one side should be half the intensity of the light coming from the opposite side. Also, the brighter light, which is called the “key light”, should be a good one third higher up, shining down on the subject, than the less intense “fill light”.
Then there’s a third light called a back light . . . not because it is meant to light the back of the subject. What good would that be from the camera’s point of view? It is meant only to highlight the top of the head and the shoulders. This highlighting will separate the subject from the background to enhance the appearance of depth in the scene. The backlight’s intensity should be the same as the bright “key light” and positioned slightly behind, but high over the subject. The extra height is meant to diminish the possibility of lens flare as it is pointed somewhat in the direction of the camera.
Using this ratio for the key, fill and back lights can help provide a very pleasant portrait appearance.
For wider shots, often encompassing more of the setting and perhaps more subjects, a simple “broadcast lighting” arrangement is often used. This set up involves equally spacing several lights of the same intensity so that the lighting is consistent across the set. While not as pretty as the portrait lighting for close ups, it is much easier to set up and works quite well for wide shots where detail is not so important.
I encourage you to purchase and use a good incident light meter which reads the amount of light coming from individual lighting fixtures. This will help balance intensities for either portrait or broadcast lighting.
Want to learn more?
http://www.mikesdvp.com
If you wish to light a person in close up and make them look their best you’re best off understanding what is usually termed, “portrait lighting”.
In portrait lighting we use a minimum of three light sources to create an attractive image of the human model. The main tenet here is to attempt to create a three dimensional look.
Yes, I know, most people do have three dimensions to their physical form . . . height (up and down), width (left and right) and depth (further or closer). But remember, the screen we’ll be looking at on playback has only two dimensions - height and width. The third dimension , that exists in reality, must be created artificially for the two dimensional screen using proper lighting.
Imagine a white sphere against a neutral grey background. If we light it evenly from both sides we will likely see what appears (on a two dimensional screen) to be a flat, round disk, like a coin.
If, however we make the left light brighter than the right light there will be a shadow on the right hand side of the sphere that gradually diminishes as it approaches the center. The resultant image on a 2 dimensional screen will appear to be spherical rather than flat. That’s what we want to achieve with our human model.
The usual formula for portrait lighting is that the light on one side should be half the intensity of the light coming from the opposite side. Also, the brighter light, which is called the “key light”, should be a good one third higher up, shining down on the subject, than the less intense “fill light”.
Then there’s a third light called a back light . . . not because it is meant to light the back of the subject. What good would that be from the camera’s point of view? It is meant only to highlight the top of the head and the shoulders. This highlighting will separate the subject from the background to enhance the appearance of depth in the scene. The backlight’s intensity should be the same as the bright “key light” and positioned slightly behind, but high over the subject. The extra height is meant to diminish the possibility of lens flare as it is pointed somewhat in the direction of the camera.
Using this ratio for the key, fill and back lights can help provide a very pleasant portrait appearance.
For wider shots, often encompassing more of the setting and perhaps more subjects, a simple “broadcast lighting” arrangement is often used. This set up involves equally spacing several lights of the same intensity so that the lighting is consistent across the set. While not as pretty as the portrait lighting for close ups, it is much easier to set up and works quite well for wide shots where detail is not so important.
I encourage you to purchase and use a good incident light meter which reads the amount of light coming from individual lighting fixtures. This will help balance intensities for either portrait or broadcast lighting.
Want to learn more?
http://www.mikesdvp.com
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
White Balance Explained
When I teach my film making course it’s always necessary to explain what white balancing your camera is all about and why you must do it. Many of my students are beginners whose only video camera experience is with a consumer camcorder that does not allow for manual white balance. Over the years I’ve honed my explanation down to the essentials.
Consumer cameras and many professional models as well will have an automatic white balance feature which is very handy when you are quickly moving between different lighting situations and haven’t the time to manually white balance (eg. when moving from outdoor sunlight to indoors tungsten or fluorescent lighting during a documentary shoot). While auto white balance is great under perfect conditions it’s never bang-on accurate and under difficult lighting conditions can often give you a weirdly colored picture.
The color of light is measured in degrees Kevin. Outdoor, bright sunlight weighs in at about 5600° Kevin while indoor tungsten light (standard light bulbs) is around 2700° K.
Fluorescent light is somewhere between 3600° to 4000°.
In practical terms this means that outdoor light has a blueish tinge (caused by the way light is scattered through our atmosphere), tungsten light is somewhat orange or red and fluorescent light is kinda green.
If you do not properly color balance your camera before shooting you might end up with tinted pictures which do not mimic the colors as seen with the naked eye in that setting.
Color balancing is usually quite easy. Simply fill your frame with a white image such as a proper white card or a white piece of paper - which is positioned to reflect the lighting in your setting - and press the camera’s white balance button until the display says it’s done. However, the eye can be tricked into thinking that something is white when it’s really a few shades off from pure white. So, avoid using the side of a “white” car, a “white” wall or the front of a “white” refrigerator. These things are rarely pure white. Best to invest a couple of dollars in a proper white card from your local photography store.
The camera uses the color white (which is really an even mixture of the red, green and blue spectrums) to determine the proper tonal shift for all colors from one lighting situation to another.
Many of my students either forget to white balance at all - or - white balance every time the camera is moved from one position to another. This is not always necessary. You need only re-balance the camera when the lighting is different. If you just move around within the set and the lighting has not changed you do not need to re-balance.
Although, if your shoot is outside and spans early morning through to the afternoon or afternoon to early evening you might be wise to re-balance every hour or so. The reason for this is that when the sun is high in the sky we’ll have our blueish 5600° Kelvin. But when it’s nearer to the horizon it will be redder. You’ve probably observed that sunrises and sunsets cast a red hue on the clouds.
All in all, color balance whenever you think the light has changed significantly.
Tweaking the overall color a bit in post production is possible, but certainly not the preferred method of matching the color of your shots.
Color balancing is explained in more detail in my book at:
http://www.mikesdvp.com
Consumer cameras and many professional models as well will have an automatic white balance feature which is very handy when you are quickly moving between different lighting situations and haven’t the time to manually white balance (eg. when moving from outdoor sunlight to indoors tungsten or fluorescent lighting during a documentary shoot). While auto white balance is great under perfect conditions it’s never bang-on accurate and under difficult lighting conditions can often give you a weirdly colored picture.
The color of light is measured in degrees Kevin. Outdoor, bright sunlight weighs in at about 5600° Kevin while indoor tungsten light (standard light bulbs) is around 2700° K.
Fluorescent light is somewhere between 3600° to 4000°.
In practical terms this means that outdoor light has a blueish tinge (caused by the way light is scattered through our atmosphere), tungsten light is somewhat orange or red and fluorescent light is kinda green.
If you do not properly color balance your camera before shooting you might end up with tinted pictures which do not mimic the colors as seen with the naked eye in that setting.
Color balancing is usually quite easy. Simply fill your frame with a white image such as a proper white card or a white piece of paper - which is positioned to reflect the lighting in your setting - and press the camera’s white balance button until the display says it’s done. However, the eye can be tricked into thinking that something is white when it’s really a few shades off from pure white. So, avoid using the side of a “white” car, a “white” wall or the front of a “white” refrigerator. These things are rarely pure white. Best to invest a couple of dollars in a proper white card from your local photography store.
The camera uses the color white (which is really an even mixture of the red, green and blue spectrums) to determine the proper tonal shift for all colors from one lighting situation to another.
Many of my students either forget to white balance at all - or - white balance every time the camera is moved from one position to another. This is not always necessary. You need only re-balance the camera when the lighting is different. If you just move around within the set and the lighting has not changed you do not need to re-balance.
Although, if your shoot is outside and spans early morning through to the afternoon or afternoon to early evening you might be wise to re-balance every hour or so. The reason for this is that when the sun is high in the sky we’ll have our blueish 5600° Kelvin. But when it’s nearer to the horizon it will be redder. You’ve probably observed that sunrises and sunsets cast a red hue on the clouds.
All in all, color balance whenever you think the light has changed significantly.
Tweaking the overall color a bit in post production is possible, but certainly not the preferred method of matching the color of your shots.
Color balancing is explained in more detail in my book at:
http://www.mikesdvp.com
Monday, January 10, 2011
5 Tips for Better Sound
When you’re shooting your video the on-location sound is often very important. I say “often” because sometimes the sound doesn’t matter - the shot is to be made MOS. This literally means “mitt out sound”, from long ago on a film set when the crew were making fun of the German Director’s accent.
When, however, the sound IS important here are some tips to help ensure the best quality.
1. If you must use the camera’s built in microphone (mic. for short), working on a wider angle lens to allow you camera to be closer to the subject is usually better than having the camera (and its mic.) further back and using a zoom in to compose the shot. You want the mic. as close to the subject as possible.
2. If your camera has a headphone output always use a good quality set of headphones. The ones with plush ear cups are far better to screen out ambient sounds than ear buds. If the camera operator is also responsible for sound he or she should wear the headphones. If you have a dedicated sound person (boom operator, etc.) then that person should wear the “cans” if possible. Someone has to listen for mic. pops, wind or other stray sounds that would ruin the sound track.
3. If your mic. is on a boom pole the camera operator and the boom operator should agree on how close the mic. can be without getting in the shot BEFORE the camera rolls. This is not always possible (especially in documentary shooting), but if your shoot is scripted and carefully blocked (as in dramatic, commercials and some corporate videos) it’s a good idea.
4. Running your microphone cord parallel to electrical cords can often cause a hum in the sound. Where possible lay your cord so that it crosses electrical cords at right a right angle. That way there’s less contact with the electrical radiation coming from the electrical cord.
5. Use wireless microphones where possible. If there is no radio interference and where wires would be a hinderance it is a great convenience not to have to lay wires. It will also make for a cleaner wide shot to have your subject wearing a wireless mic. as there will be no cord in the shot.
OK - there’s probably many more tips to come, but that’s it for now.
More info on this topic at:
http://www.mikesdvp.com
When, however, the sound IS important here are some tips to help ensure the best quality.
1. If you must use the camera’s built in microphone (mic. for short), working on a wider angle lens to allow you camera to be closer to the subject is usually better than having the camera (and its mic.) further back and using a zoom in to compose the shot. You want the mic. as close to the subject as possible.
2. If your camera has a headphone output always use a good quality set of headphones. The ones with plush ear cups are far better to screen out ambient sounds than ear buds. If the camera operator is also responsible for sound he or she should wear the headphones. If you have a dedicated sound person (boom operator, etc.) then that person should wear the “cans” if possible. Someone has to listen for mic. pops, wind or other stray sounds that would ruin the sound track.
3. If your mic. is on a boom pole the camera operator and the boom operator should agree on how close the mic. can be without getting in the shot BEFORE the camera rolls. This is not always possible (especially in documentary shooting), but if your shoot is scripted and carefully blocked (as in dramatic, commercials and some corporate videos) it’s a good idea.
4. Running your microphone cord parallel to electrical cords can often cause a hum in the sound. Where possible lay your cord so that it crosses electrical cords at right a right angle. That way there’s less contact with the electrical radiation coming from the electrical cord.
5. Use wireless microphones where possible. If there is no radio interference and where wires would be a hinderance it is a great convenience not to have to lay wires. It will also make for a cleaner wide shot to have your subject wearing a wireless mic. as there will be no cord in the shot.
OK - there’s probably many more tips to come, but that’s it for now.
More info on this topic at:
http://www.mikesdvp.com
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Planning Your Production
If you’re shooting family holidays, speeches at a seminar or legal cross examinations in a lawyer’s board room to be played in court later - you don’t need a script. For just about anything else you definitely need a plan of some kind. Often a full set of paperwork.
To plan a production there are several types of documents you might need and each of these can take any of several forms. A proposal outlines the project and is usually used to attract investors. A script . . . well, that’s covered below. And a shot list (or breakdown) breaks the narrative script down into individual shots or scenes.
Technically any written document that outlines your story line in the order that it will progress on the screen is a script. Many film makers adopt a format that they are comfortable with, and that is usually determined by the genre and how many other people have to look at the script.
If you are writing for the feature film or television market you need to adopt the proper format for the industry to have your script considered by those who might buy it, but for most smaller productions you can write it any way that it suits you.
While writing scripts for corporate videos (as I have done for over 25 years) I usually adopt the “commercial” format of 3 or 4 columns denoting the shot number, the action to take place in the scene, the sound track (Music cues, narration script, etc.) and perhaps, in the case of a TV commercial, the time each shot is intended to take in the finished production. These columns are just named “#”, “Visuals”, “Sound” and “Time”.
In the case of a corporate video that’s mostly narrated it really helps to put the “Man sawing planks of wood to length” visual in the “Visuals” column right next to the, “The planks are now cut to either 8 or 12 foot lengths.” narration in the “Sound” column.
Documentaries can be somewhat different in that some are fully scripted before hand - like historical documentaries or any subject where all the fact are known ahead of the production.
Conversely, shooting the behavior of bears in the woods is difficult to fully script before hand as we might not know what the bears are going to do while our cameras are rolling.
I had an opportunity to create two documentaries where I did not use a written script but because I knew ahead of time exactly what was going to happen I was able to put the “script” together in my head and follow through with shooting exactly what was needed. When you do this, of course, you must be able to visualize the whole story line and then stick to that vision right through shooting and editing to finish the project.
Each doc. was about 15 minutes long and in each case I was able to create successful products because:
1. I’m good at pre-visualization.
2. I stick to my plan once it’s fully formed in my mind.
3. On both occasions I didn’t have to answer to anyone for my decisions.
4. I was the director and editor of both projects which put me in full control (I also did all the camera work on one (a regular one man band) and had two Ba camera operators on the other.
5. They were both short docs.
6. No elaborate shooting equipment or situations were required.
If you cannot lay claim to all six of these criteria you really need to write you script out on paper (laptop, iPhone, whatever).
At the beginning of this rant I said you don’t need a script for shooting your family on holidays, but when I shoot family holidays I use an “in my head” plan to make sure I have establishing shots, cut-ins and re-establishing shots of places we go, enough scenery shots and enough shots of my family members enjoying the events and attractions. I will sometimes “stage” something with my wife or daughter to purposely add a humorous moment. It all makes the edited version more interesting to watch.
Planning is important!!!
A full chapter on pre-production planning can be had at:
http://www.mikesdvp.com
To plan a production there are several types of documents you might need and each of these can take any of several forms. A proposal outlines the project and is usually used to attract investors. A script . . . well, that’s covered below. And a shot list (or breakdown) breaks the narrative script down into individual shots or scenes.
Technically any written document that outlines your story line in the order that it will progress on the screen is a script. Many film makers adopt a format that they are comfortable with, and that is usually determined by the genre and how many other people have to look at the script.
If you are writing for the feature film or television market you need to adopt the proper format for the industry to have your script considered by those who might buy it, but for most smaller productions you can write it any way that it suits you.
While writing scripts for corporate videos (as I have done for over 25 years) I usually adopt the “commercial” format of 3 or 4 columns denoting the shot number, the action to take place in the scene, the sound track (Music cues, narration script, etc.) and perhaps, in the case of a TV commercial, the time each shot is intended to take in the finished production. These columns are just named “#”, “Visuals”, “Sound” and “Time”.
In the case of a corporate video that’s mostly narrated it really helps to put the “Man sawing planks of wood to length” visual in the “Visuals” column right next to the, “The planks are now cut to either 8 or 12 foot lengths.” narration in the “Sound” column.
Documentaries can be somewhat different in that some are fully scripted before hand - like historical documentaries or any subject where all the fact are known ahead of the production.
Conversely, shooting the behavior of bears in the woods is difficult to fully script before hand as we might not know what the bears are going to do while our cameras are rolling.
I had an opportunity to create two documentaries where I did not use a written script but because I knew ahead of time exactly what was going to happen I was able to put the “script” together in my head and follow through with shooting exactly what was needed. When you do this, of course, you must be able to visualize the whole story line and then stick to that vision right through shooting and editing to finish the project.
Each doc. was about 15 minutes long and in each case I was able to create successful products because:
1. I’m good at pre-visualization.
2. I stick to my plan once it’s fully formed in my mind.
3. On both occasions I didn’t have to answer to anyone for my decisions.
4. I was the director and editor of both projects which put me in full control (I also did all the camera work on one (a regular one man band) and had two Ba camera operators on the other.
5. They were both short docs.
6. No elaborate shooting equipment or situations were required.
If you cannot lay claim to all six of these criteria you really need to write you script out on paper (laptop, iPhone, whatever).
At the beginning of this rant I said you don’t need a script for shooting your family on holidays, but when I shoot family holidays I use an “in my head” plan to make sure I have establishing shots, cut-ins and re-establishing shots of places we go, enough scenery shots and enough shots of my family members enjoying the events and attractions. I will sometimes “stage” something with my wife or daughter to purposely add a humorous moment. It all makes the edited version more interesting to watch.
Planning is important!!!
A full chapter on pre-production planning can be had at:
http://www.mikesdvp.com
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