Top 10 Tips For Shooting Low Budget Movies
(research from useful links named 'Low Budget Film Tips 1, 2 & 3)
1) Shoot most shots at low key lighting to make it more filmic, despite using a video camera. Use more shadows to highlight the characters and objects in shot. WHen indoors shoot with all main lighting sources of, but add your own (cheap) film lights to highlight the bits of the shot you want to. When shooting outdoors when it is daytime, shoot in the morning or evening when the sun is low in the sky. At night time use whetever lighting equipment you want.
2) Try and work on a shallower depth of focus than your video camera is set at. Do this by opening up the lens and working at the telephoto end of the zoom range (low f-stop number) if working on a neutral density filter. This is harder with a camcorder so just focus on the character leaving the background slightly blurry for filmic effect.
3) Reduce sharpening on your video recorder by adjusting the settings to zero or one (low), or use a softening filter to reduce contrast and soften the image for a more film-like look.
4) Don't use zoom on a video camera as this will make the video camera aspect of it obvious. Instead, use tripods and a dolly to move the camera around smoothly. You can make your own dolly rather than buying one, by using a wheely chair, cabinet or skateboard with a tripod attatched. Just improvise with this when testing your shoot on scene.
5) Film with no sound except the dialogue picked up by camera or boom mics. Add any other sounds over the top, such as foley effects like doors slamming shut, with music and voiceovers. The dialogue is the important part of sound to catch on shoot but nothing else matters too much as you can re-record them properly to make them clearer and significant sounds stand out over background noise.
6) Colour correct footage, add saturation, extend the range of tones in the low end (shadows and blacks), then make a copy of the clip and de-interlace it. Place the copy directly over the original clip and apply a transparency of 30-50%. This will give you an effective filmic effect and only takes a short time to apply.
7) Over 90% of transitions should be cuts as most films do not use many dissolves, fades or swipes.
8) Put reliability before talent when chosing actors/actresses, as with an amature film, the acting is not so important as it is almost expected to be bad or obvious. Actors/actresses failing to turn up could cost you big time.
9) When planning, write a short sypnosis of every scene, then add more detail such as a script. Decide on actors and locations but give yourself many possibilities and back up plans as ideals often get unpicked or ruined. Give people you want as actors as a proper production plan and script as the less input they have to do (the stronger your planning) the more likely they will help you. Give them other rewards such as a DVD copy, a mention in project paperwork, an incenitive to meet up and do something after or between shoots or help them with their own projects. Write down all available equipments, costumes and props beforehand and tick them off when you know for certain you will get them. Tick them off a second time as they arrive on shoot. Follow your shooting scripts with the help of detailed storyboards to save time you maybe paying actors for.
10) Locations should be no more than 10 minutes walk from each other, as this will save you precious time. You could chose a house near an outdoor location in which to film interior shots or simply store equipment and go back for food and drink. Shooting can be very tiring so you will need a break!
(research from useful links named 'Low Budget Film Tips 1, 2 & 3)
1) Shoot most shots at low key lighting to make it more filmic, despite using a video camera. Use more shadows to highlight the characters and objects in shot. WHen indoors shoot with all main lighting sources of, but add your own (cheap) film lights to highlight the bits of the shot you want to. When shooting outdoors when it is daytime, shoot in the morning or evening when the sun is low in the sky. At night time use whetever lighting equipment you want.
2) Try and work on a shallower depth of focus than your video camera is set at. Do this by opening up the lens and working at the telephoto end of the zoom range (low f-stop number) if working on a neutral density filter. This is harder with a camcorder so just focus on the character leaving the background slightly blurry for filmic effect.
3) Reduce sharpening on your video recorder by adjusting the settings to zero or one (low), or use a softening filter to reduce contrast and soften the image for a more film-like look.
4) Don't use zoom on a video camera as this will make the video camera aspect of it obvious. Instead, use tripods and a dolly to move the camera around smoothly. You can make your own dolly rather than buying one, by using a wheely chair, cabinet or skateboard with a tripod attatched. Just improvise with this when testing your shoot on scene.
5) Film with no sound except the dialogue picked up by camera or boom mics. Add any other sounds over the top, such as foley effects like doors slamming shut, with music and voiceovers. The dialogue is the important part of sound to catch on shoot but nothing else matters too much as you can re-record them properly to make them clearer and significant sounds stand out over background noise.
6) Colour correct footage, add saturation, extend the range of tones in the low end (shadows and blacks), then make a copy of the clip and de-interlace it. Place the copy directly over the original clip and apply a transparency of 30-50%. This will give you an effective filmic effect and only takes a short time to apply.
7) Over 90% of transitions should be cuts as most films do not use many dissolves, fades or swipes.
8) Put reliability before talent when chosing actors/actresses, as with an amature film, the acting is not so important as it is almost expected to be bad or obvious. Actors/actresses failing to turn up could cost you big time.
9) When planning, write a short sypnosis of every scene, then add more detail such as a script. Decide on actors and locations but give yourself many possibilities and back up plans as ideals often get unpicked or ruined. Give people you want as actors as a proper production plan and script as the less input they have to do (the stronger your planning) the more likely they will help you. Give them other rewards such as a DVD copy, a mention in project paperwork, an incenitive to meet up and do something after or between shoots or help them with their own projects. Write down all available equipments, costumes and props beforehand and tick them off when you know for certain you will get them. Tick them off a second time as they arrive on shoot. Follow your shooting scripts with the help of detailed storyboards to save time you maybe paying actors for.
10) Locations should be no more than 10 minutes walk from each other, as this will save you precious time. You could chose a house near an outdoor location in which to film interior shots or simply store equipment and go back for food and drink. Shooting can be very tiring so you will need a break!
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