Badmovies.org Forum

I don't know if we have a thread like this, but it could be interesting, so here it goes: this is a thread tor, as the title sayss, tips & tricks. Since this is the Pros & Novices sub-forum, the tips & tricks should be about film making.

If you know anything about film making, something that might help others, be it simple or complex, post it here. If you discover a good article or video about film making, something useful or enlightening, post it here.

Cool video about animation water in stop motion:

! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Cw8xeWYaUA#)

In honor of Jurassic World: ! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1YkzzDxFXM#)
Note: He smooths out the epoxy with water. (From the comments.)

! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xEf3djRLg8#)

A method for creating motion blur in stop motion when shooting/editing digitally.

Best tip off hand: learn the keyboard shortcut keys. Time spent dragging the mouse to places is time you could be spending editing.

! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAbmp7qmsYQ#)

Overview of the stop motion process.

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/ideas-commentary/here-is-the-ultimate-guide-to-distributing-a-short-film-online-162022.html (https://www.cartoonbrew.com/ideas-commentary/here-is-the-ultimate-guide-to-distributing-a-short-film-online-162022.html)

Marketing suggestions for short films.

I'm not sure I agree with their "release it everywhere" strategy; a lot of services ask for too many rights. ("We can use your video for any business related purpose," terms like that.)

! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbvX4wJqPHg#)

Been watching science experiment videos. Some of the techniques may make for interesting special FX.

WARNING: Fire is dangerous, & some states require someone with a pyrotechnic license to handle it.

! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YD2Pw9R7jY#)

I think this one has instructions for making sugar glass.

http://www.microfilmmaker.com/tipstrick/index.html (http://www.microfilmmaker.com/tipstrick/index.html)

Micro filmmaker Magazine has a nice Tips & Tricks section on their old site.

! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiYF9PDixTY#)

How to make parallax backgrounds on a flip book.

http://hand-drawn-animation.blogspot.com/2014/08/inbetweening-for-traditional-hand-drawn.html?m=1 (http://hand-drawn-animation.blogspot.com/2014/08/inbetweening-for-traditional-hand-drawn.html?m=1)

A collection of hand-drawn animation tutorials, for inbetweening & clean up.

Sorry... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7lhFWinBTg#)

A Youtuber tried to make a feature film. He goes over reasons it failed.

Not Really any tricks, but a good tip at the end. (Be Nice!)

A bunch of YouTube vids. I'll link to them; embedded videos take up a ton of bandwidth.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpIreHxa_o4&t=114s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpIreHxa_o4&t=114s)

A guy gives a tour of a set he built in his garage, with set-construction pointers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNWpMMbo43s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNWpMMbo43s)

Another tour of the set, with a few more decorations.

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Two videos, one about making a cheap model city, another about videoing it:

Making it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuFBrVaeUAc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuFBrVaeUAc)

Videoing it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyDvCzxcKhs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyDvCzxcKhs)

Turned out surprisingly well.

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And here's one about making a model spaceship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5NzxDsWfDY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5NzxDsWfDY)

Sorry... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZF3RiMFInI#)

Tips on British & American accents.

Sorry... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM64ycm7tz4#)

Rules for composing shots.

Sorry... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH8TWTt51W8#)

20+ minute video on green screens. Watched part of it; has some good info on lighting.

Another series of videos about making model space ships:

Sorry... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvJ5VUzgPSI#)

Sorry... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDU7mczequY#)

Sorry... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaIse4pZ7AU#)

Haven't watched these yet, but they look interesting.

Silent Film FX

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBSpuZDKaKI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBSpuZDKaKI)

This has been my "watch later" que for a few months now. I should've watched it earlier! A lot of the techniques are very basic, but they work well, & still hold up today.

I've read verticaly-oriented videos are becoming more popular with marketers who want to reach people on cellphones, & that it's hard for cinematographers to adjust their thinking, to produce videos in anything but a landscape orientation. So here's some inspiration: old book illustrations. http://web.archive.org/web/20140109022054/http://www.violetbooks.com/plates-index.html (http://web.archive.org/web/20140109022054/http://www.violetbooks.com/plates-index.html)

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOTxsRTjkNM#)

Delete stuff from photos with Photoshop. Probably useful for digital matte paintings.

30 Day Film School:

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-sBvBBi6MY#)


I did not type this up; I copied it from the comments:

Day 1: Search composition and framing on YouTube.
- Watch 3 videos twice.
- Pick up your camera and go take 100 pictures practicing what you learned.
Day 2: Composition and framing.
- Go take 50 more pictures around a park or somewhere interesting practicing framing and composition, rule of thirds, etc.
Day 3: Search three point lighting on YouTube.
- Watch 3 videos twice.
- Use lights around your house to replicate what you saw.
- Take 50 pictures lighting a subject, if you don't have a person to use practice on a toy or a big teddy bear.
Day 4: Framing and composition and 3 point lighting.
- Take 50 more pictures practicing framing and composition and 3 point lighting, take 20 of those pictures with a subject.
close to a window and use window lighting.
Day 5: Search depth of field on YouTube.
- Watch 3 videos twice.
- Take 50 pictures using your kit lens, experiment with different focal lengths, mess around with your aperture, and watch how both of them affect your depth of field.
Day 6: Look up how to get the film look.
- Watch 3 videos twice.
- Record a two minute clip of anything using the proper settings you learned.
Day 7: Camera tests.
- record a few sample videos playing with just the shutter speed, then record a few videos playing with just the iso.
Day 8: Editing
- Watch 3 videos on how to edit in the application you have.
- Import on or two of the camera tests you did.
- make two edits and then render it out.
Day 9: Lighting excercise.
Tell a story using light, find six interesting shots that have something to do with light: lightbulb, sunset, dark room with light pooring in etc
pay attention to your camera settings and composition.
Day 10: Edit the light excercise .
- Edit it, render it out, take note of any mistake.
Day 11: vlog your day.
- Pay attention to your camera settings and composition.
Day 12: Edit vlog.
- Edit, render, take note of mistakes.
Day 13: Search types of shots and camera angles on YouTube.
- Watch three videos twice.
Day 14: Scene.
- Shoot a scene with a couple of friends with a simple script, focus on camera settings, framing and composition and camera angles.
Day 15: Cut the scene together and render it out, review it and take note of any mistakes.
Day 16: Shoot another one scene film.
- Try lighting with household light, use the same script but in a different location, learn from the mistakes you made in the last video.
Day 17: Cut it, render it out, review it and take notes of any mistakes.
Day 18: Shoot another one scene film focusing on framing and composition, camera settings.
- Shoot the whole thing next to a window using available light this time.
Day 19: Cut the scene, render it out, take note of any mistakes.
Day 20: Go buy or borrow sound recorder.
- Vlog your adventure getting it.
Day 21: Look up how to use whatever sound recorder you got.
- Watch 3 videos .
- Play with the sound recorder, record 3 sounds around your house with the sound recorder.
Day 22: Record 50 sounds with the sound recorder.
- Play with the gain, over-modulating a few sounds..
- Import them in to an edit project, drop them on the timeline, crossfade between each one of the clips and export.
Day 23: Sound excercise.
- Record 20 sounds and try to tell a story, record your morning routine.
- Import the sound clips, trim them down, render them out.
Day 24: Interview.
Interview a friend, if you need light use it, make sure your sound recorder isn't further than 3 feet from your talent.
Day 25: Look up how to sync sound on YouTube.
- Watch 3 videos.
- Take video of a friend.
- Put it in an editing application, cut it down so it flows nice, render it out.
Day 26: Look up the 180 degree rule on YouTube.
- Watch 3 videos twice.
- Practice with toys.
Day 27: Search how to write a script on YouTube.
- Watch 3 videos twice.
Day 28: Write a very simple 2 page script.
- Make sure there is some conflict, couple of people in one location.
Day 29: Record the scene with 2 friends.
- If they can't remember the lines exactly then have them improv around the lines but just keep the spirit of the dialogue you wrote.
- Remember your framing and composition, your angles, 180 rule etc, and when you record sound keep it at least 3 feet away from whomever you're recording (depends what microphone, just test couple times and see what sounds best if you can monitor your audio).
Day 30: Edit it and render it out.

Writer's Block

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X43huh6sAh4#)

Another video on set building using flats:

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNTjnpndxbg#)

How to build sci-fi sets & props: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLQUcG2Cg83PB4JAbu_pAdQ (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLQUcG2Cg83PB4JAbu_pAdQ)

So the British Film Institute is posting filmmaking guides to YouTube. Here's one on cheap sci-fi props & sets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Culgg6Mws (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Culgg6Mws)

Advise on how to start a game studio, legally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK0SDfAvOTg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK0SDfAvOTg)

I'd guess the tax/liability information would be the same for a movie or TV studio.

An animator gives tips for completing a short or trailer:

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCumKbr1rPY#)

Tips for storyboarding:

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyDbN1hpFzA&t=43s#)

Stan Winston School's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/StanWinstonSchool (https://www.youtube.com/user/StanWinstonSchool)

Puppet, makeup, miniature, & animatronic information.

List of resources for independent film makers: https://www.sagindie.org/resources/states/ (https://www.sagindie.org/resources/states/)