Hot DIY Filmmaking Posts
THE FILM LAB: Prime Vs. Zoom
Mike breaks it down for you: zoom lenses have their advantages, and prime lenses have their advantges. It's just that prime lenses have more of them...
THE FILM LAB: Bingo's Lingo - Mise En Scène
Today Bingo barely scratches the surface of what 'Mise en Scène' is, but you get the idea. It's the sum total of all the parts that make up a film's meaning. Something about a spaghetti shirt...
THE FILM LAB: Festival Deadlines
Got a film in the works? Why not finish it up and submit it to an upcoming festival?
THE FILM LAB: Gaffer Tape
MIke waxes poetic about his favourite kind of, uh, tape. Gaffer tape: better than duct/duck in almost everyway save for its price. Don't go to set without some.
THE FILM LAB: Stop Motion Part 02
Rajo shows off his new favourite iPhone app, the incredibly cheap and easy to use Stop Motion Recorder from bitween. Holy cats is it ever cool...Watch this quick and easy tutorial!
THE FILM LAB: Stop Motion Part 01
Mike explains stop motion animation, which is incidentally the coolest kind of animation out there.
THE FILM LAB: Intro to Final Cut Pro - 03
Rajo takes you through the final installment of our ridiculously basic series on non-linear editing with Final Cut Pro. Now you go try it...
THE FILM LAB: Shadows on the Wall (and how to get 'em off)
Making a film? Is it your first time? Have you got your actors pushed right up against the wall? Can you see their shadows? BIG MISTAKE, rookie... Here's Mike with two quick tips to help you out.
THE FILM LAB: Our Latest Equipment Upgrade: iPhone 4
Mike's luck has finally turned around as he was finally able to snag an iPhone 4. But what does this mean for the future of THE FILM LAB?
THE FILM LAB: Intro to Final Cut Pro - 02
Continuing his series on the very basics of non-linear editing, Rajo finally gets to the fun part: editing with Final Cut Pro.
News: 1 MINUTE FILM FESTIVAL - Call for Submissions
Our buddy Matt Brown is involved with the One Minute Short Film Festival, whis is pretty cool! You should watch this video and then work on your submission...
The FIlm Lab: Jacob Medjuck talks Film Raiser
Not only is Jacob Medjuck the talented writer/director of Summerhood, but he also came up with a brilliant way to get his film seen in theatres...
The Film Lab: Interview - Jacob Medjuck Pt. 02
Our interview with Jacob Medjuck (writer/director of Summerhood) continues as he spills his trade secrets re: working with children and allowing authenticity to emerge.
THE FILM LAB: SUMMERHOOD - Jacob Medjuck Interview #1
Jacob Medjuck, writer/director of SUMMERHOOD talks to The Film Lab about his writing process and the collaboration of his cast and crew in making his film (Part 1).
THE FILM LAB: Motion Tracking
This particular chunk of our Gareth Edwards (Monsters) interview contains this message: grab your camera, install some commercial post-production graphics software on your computer and start motion tracking!
THE FILM LAB: MONSTERS - Gareth Edwards Interview!
Gareth Edwards has made a miracle of a film: cheap, gorgeous, smart, super entertaining and, effects-wise, on par with a lot of Hollywood's more expensive sci-fi projects. He talked to Mike at this past TIFF...
THE FILM LAB: Fake Blood
Happy Hallowe'en! Mike shows us how far a little corn syrup, warm water and food colouring can go, especially if you're looking to save a few bucks in your SFX budget. Fake Blood!
THE FILM LAB: Non-Linear Editing Basics, Final Cut Pro - Part 01
Here's a quick and dirty little series on the very basics of non-linear editing. If you're not using FCP, don't worry, every non-linear editing software package functions in more or less the same way.
THE FILM LAB: Pre-production Scheduling Basics
Mike runs down the whys and the what-fors surrounding pre-production scheduling. Surprise: a lot of it has to do with keeping your cast and crew happy.
News: The V.I.D.A.D.I.F.H. Biography Show: Wes Craven
Wes Craven is a very important dude in film history primarily because of his role in shaping the modern horror genre into what it is today. Plus he has a really badass sounding name.
THE FILM LAB: Ode to Production Coordinators!
Hail to the hardworking facilitators in the production office!
THE FILM LAB: Bingo's Lingo - Cucalorus
What the heck is a cucalorus? Maybe Bingo can explain it, if he calms down a bit first....
News: THE FILM LAB - Attending Film Festivals
Ok, so your new film got selected for the fancy-pants film festival. Now what? Kris Booth, director of AT HOME BY MYSELF WITH YOU talks about going to Cannes, and sharing his passion..
THE FILM LAB: Submitting to Festivals
Just in time for TIFF, we chat with AT HOME BY MYSELF WITH YOU's Kris Booth about applying to festivals as a canadian director..
How To: THE FILM LAB - HOW TO GET FILM FEST 'RUSH' TIX
Forgot to buy tickets for TIFF? All your favourite movies sold out? Well put away those razor blades, because you've still got a chance...
How To: THE FILM LAB - How 3D Movies Work
Rajo lays out a fairly basic primer on 3D film technology. Show of hands, who's going to Pirhana 3D this friday?
News: The Film Lab - Above The Line Budgeting
Exactly how did Sly manage to collect all our favourite 80s action stars in one super-movie? And why couldn't such a movie come out IN the 80s?
News: THE FILM LAB - Pulling Focus
Pulling focus is a neat trick that you should definitely try sometime! It's a great filmmaking technique, and it's not that hard to pull off.
News: THE FILM LAB - Pulling Focus
Pulling focus is a neat trick that you should definitely try sometime! It's a great filmmaking technique, and it's not that hard to pull off.
News: Good do-it-yourself micro budget video lights
Professional video lights are great tools. They are color balanced, versatile, and offer great control over the light they give. There is a wide variety of video lights made for different situations. Unfortunately, they are also very expensive. The cheapest ones cost you easily hundreds of dollars.
THE FILM LAB - On Location #4: Lighting Gags
THE FILM LAB - We're back on set with our favourite grip department. This time around they let us in on a trade secret: Lighting Gags.
News: THE FILM LAB - Dutch Tilt
THE FILM LAB - Bingo's back to explain just what the heck a Dutch Angle (or Dutch Tilt) is! Ha ha!
News: YouTube, Ridley Scott Crowdsource Feature Documentary
On July 24th, producer Ridley Scott and director Kevin Macdonald will open their inboxes to the YouTube filmmakers for their groundbreaking, or at least rule-breaking documentary "Life in a Day".
THE FILM LAB - On Location #3: Grips
ON LOCATION #3 - The misfits, the long-hairs, the toughguys with the tough job. They hold flags, they hold scrims, they hold your life in their hands... come spend a few minutes on the grip/electric truck on location in the Film Lab & see what's what.
News: Cheap Ass Videocameras and Citizen Journalism
The idea that you could buy a cellphone sized video camera that shoots 720p for a hundred bucks would literally seem like nonsense to me five or six years ago, as I sat trying to get a shot worth looking at out of my old Sony pd150. They're here, though, the Flips and iPhones and Kodaks and whatever else and while most of their impact can be measured in the increased frequency of Bieber-tribute videos hitting youtube, having a $100 hd camera also puts me in a mind to go - me a regular old idi...
Cyrus: The Puffy Chair meets Money and Famous People
Cyrus comes out tomorrow, having wowed people at Sundance and at SXSW where the directors, the Duplass brothers, had earlier success with their mumblecore feature The Puffy Chair. It's very funny, and very well made and it should be of particular interest to lo/no-budg filmmaking dudes and dudettes because it is literally the model of what can be done with talent and hard work.
News: Why would I buy a video camera. Tell me, Canon, please.
So the Canon 5d mkII, iirc, can shoot video that looks like 35mm film, due to its huge sensor and ability to use all of the Canon still lenses. The Canon XH-A1 can't do that. The Casio Exilim ex-f1 can shoot up to 1200 fps looking... ok well not so hot but seems to look good at slightly less fast framerates, letting moms and dads shoot slo-mo video in their backyards. The Canon XH-A1 can't do that. Of course folks have to go through a big rigamarole to get sound synched with the 5d and it has...
LEE Filters Gel Swatch book: A Rad as Hell Thing
We made a video about the basics of ND gels the other day, and given that we don't have a grip truck to haul stuff off of we had to go actually buy gels from the photo supply store. I took the opportunity while there to grab another of my favourite things on the earth, a little sample-book put out by Lee Filters (Rosco makes them, too) containing little swatches of all the gels and scrims and reflectors that they make, which is a lot of different gels, scrims and reflectors.