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How to make award-winning videos/films...
By Hunter Todd, Chairman & Founding Director
(Winner of more than 117 international awards, Producer, Director and/or
Cinematographer of over 300 films, including Features, Shorts, Documentaries,
TV Specials, TV Commercials, Business & Corporate films.)
Please Note: This is just intended for beginning filmmakers,
students and first-time film/video makers. To all our seasoned pro's out
there, this is not really intended for you ... just the dear beginners!
The 41st Annual WorldFest-Houston - April 18-27, 2008
Get a script...
“A good story, well told - is the true beginning of any movie.
Tricks and techniques will not make a bad story better. Hollywood
manages to prove that every day. Your story needs a beginning, a
middle, and an end - with an intro, a conflict/crisis, and a resolution.
These are the very basic elements. Need a good story? Pick your
favorite short story or one by O. Henry. A story that is simple,
short and to the point.
Storyboard it.
Not a great artistic feat, simply line drawings of each scene
and every scene, so you can plan it all out. Helps in editing too. If you
have a pal that is an artist, even better.
Buy a Tripod!
One of the most basic mistakes our juries see in thousands of entries
is "nervous camera" which really detracts from the film.
Hand-held is just fine if it helps the story. But for most shorts,
a steady camera platform helps tremendously. Jiggly cameras simply
come between the story and the viewer. A good tripod can cost as
little as $25 new! Great cameras are OK, but too much shake, rattle
and roll will give your viewers a serious case of mal-de-mer!
Lose the Zoom
Lens!
Few things are as annoying to an audience
or a film festival jury as OVER USE OF THE ZOOM LENS! You will notice
that Hollywood rarely - if ever - uses the Zoom ... use wide shots, then
cut to a close up or medium shot ... never zoom! It is highly distracting
even in home movies about a cute baby! Even a crude dolly-in shot from
a wheel chair or wagon is better. Once in a rare while you can use the
zoom for impact, but we hate to see it messing up your good story. Keep
it in the bag! You will thank me later.
Choose your weapon!
Buy or rent a digital video camera that offers the highest resolution
you can find. Really good ones can cost as little as $750 to $1,000.
Professional models are coming down in price and can be rented for
small daily fees over the weekends. You can buy a used Bolex 16mm
movie camera for just a few hundred dollars, shoot on film and then
edit on tape which does give you far better quality. Shooting on
film and then digital editing on tape is the way the pros and the
big studios do it, and you can too!
Can You Hear Me Now?
Clear audio is critical. The puny built-in mike on your video camera just
won't cut it. It is a cheap, low quality mike. It is too far from the
action, too far from your actors. You can get an inexpensive wireless,
clip-on model from Radio Shack or any sound or video store. Good sound
quality is critically important. Listen to the actual scene playback!
If you use a boom mike, be very careful to keep the mike out of the shot!
Check playback!
Lights, Camera, Action!
Available light is not really good! Inside and outside it makes shadows
and hides details. You can get a camera mounted mini-fill light for just
a few bucks! Or bounce a big spot off a white foam-core sheet. Same outside,
fill-light works and gets ride of bad shadows on the face. Even a plywood
board with shiny foil glued to it helps bounce sunlight into the scene.
Hollywood does it, and so should you. Keep the light steady though. Wiggly
light is also distracting.
Take Four, Scene 32!
Rehearse, rewrite and re-do!
Try to run through each scene with your actors. A dress rehearsal of the
entire show is fine. Shoot each and every scene many times. At least three
to five takes! Shoot from different angles, use close-ups, long shots,
medium shots, establishing shots, cut-aways! Replay the takes every time.
Look at them on a big monitor; check the sound and the video quality.
Make sure you have a good take that you really like. Sometimes a re-do
is impossible later. Watch out for that boom mike in the shot! Hollywood
does that all the time!
Cut, slash, edit and re-edit!
You can buy a really good movie editing program for just a few hundred
dollars. Final Cut Pro is more costly but worth every penny. Use free
programs like iMovie or Windows Movie Maker to cut your very best takes
together to assemble the final cut. Review it, make changes, and use new
or different scenes or cut-aways to make it more interesting. Keep your
short no longer than 15 minutes. Ten is even better. Many film festivals
will not accept a short film that is more than 15 minutes, like the 900
pound gorilla - Cannes! WorldFest-Houston accepts longer shorts, but they
better be really good! Step back; take a beat … look at the video
again later. Polish and make changes until you feel it is perfect, then
fill out the entry form and send it in! Best of luck!
(We are happy to be able to share with you what our juries are
looking for in a Remi Award-winning film or video. Should you have
any questions or comments, we do very much welcome your input. Please
send me an email - hunter(at)worldfest(dot)org - and we will get
back to you. Did this info help you? If so, do let us know.)
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