There isn’t much that’s more boring in film than just seeing one locked off tripod shot after another. Getting that camera moving really adds emotion to a shot. And watching just about every movie made over the last few decades you’ll spot the same four camera moves.
Breaking down how much you should charge for video work
Charging for video work, especially when you’re quite new to dealing with clients, can often be quite difficult. You don’t want to quote ridiculously high and scare off the potential client. But you also don’t want to quote far too low and risk not being taken seriously. Or, worse, them accepting it and you making no money for your time and effort.
So, how much should you charge? In this video, Caleb Pike chats with producer and director Corbyn Tyson about how to price up and quote for a video shoot. Now, every client’s needs will be different, and you’ll need to adapt this to your own workflow, but it should give you some idea of where to start with even modest projects.
Here is the craziest Steadicam shot ever from the Eurovision contest
Back in the days before gimbals were invented, we had the Steadicam. Now, I am not saying that Gimbals are easy, but getting a good shot from a Steadicam is somewhere between science and art.
Speaking of art, did you catch that Eurovision contest yesterday? it was Epic. So epic that we felt obliged to share an email we got about Eurovisions and Steadicams.
The shot above was taken at the 2009 Eurovision contest while Belarus were playing their song and it’s stellar. Before hitting the play button below, see if you can guess how the shot above was taken. Then see the clip below
This $200,000 Lamborghini is “the world’s fastest purpose-built camera car”
The Lamborghini “Huracam” is the creation of Incline Dynamic Outlet. Because a $200,000 Lamborghini Huracan isn’t excessive enough already, they decided to strap a $500,000 camera rig to it. They claim it’s the world’s fastest purpose-built camera car, and I don’t doubt it. IDO co-founders, Nathan Garofalos and Chris Fuelner spoke with Jalopnik recently to explain.
Create cinematic shots with just a tripod and a camera strap
When I was in college in the early 2000s, I still vividly remember how much I had to improvise to make my shots look like a real movie. Back when sliders and gimbals still weren’t available to the masses, we had to create makeshift rigs with PVC pipes and ride skateboards for tracking shots.
Of course, a lot has changed since then. These days, even amateur filmmakers now have access to all sorts of accessories online to achieve cinematic shots. However, I think it’s still important to instill in people the value of DIY ethos in filmmaking. You can’t always bring a carload of gear to every location, so learning how to shoot quality footage with minimal equipment will benefit you in this line of work.
How to stop making five biggest mistakes new cinematographers make
Making mistakes is an inevitable part of our learning process. Still, it’s good to learn how to avoid them, so we can grow and make our work better. Nerris Nassiri from Aputure shares five biggest mistakes all beginner cinematographers make. But to be honest, photographers will recognize themselves in some of these, too. Did you make them when you were still new to cinematography/photography as well?
DJI announces new high end filmmaker tools and becomes first to adopt ProRes RAW video
With NAB often comes new announcements from DJI. This year, there are two big ones for serious filmmakers. There’s the DJI Force Pro, offering full remote control and manoeuvrability over the Ronin 2, Ronin-S and other gimbals. Also announced today are the new DJI Master Wheels also offering remote gimbal control with high precision in a more traditional style cinema tool.
DJI have also confirmed that not only is there a new Apple ProRes RAW codec on the way, but that they’ll be the first to implement it, too. Coming to the DJI Zenmuse X7 camera, announced last October, ProRes RAW seems to be Apple’s new standard for RAW video adding to the current mix of RED, ARRI and CinemaDNG options. Of course, ProRes has a long lineage as an industry standard, so it may win out in the long term.
7 things photographers need to know about shooting video
With more photographers taking to video now, it’s good to be armed with a little information about the basics. It seems like there might not be much real difference between photography and videography, especially as we often use the same kit for both. But there are some important techniques and principles that you need to take on board. In this video, Matti Haapoja from TravelFeels talks about seven of them.
How to film yourself when nobody’s around to help
Filming myself is probably one of the more difficult things I’ve ever attempted to learn with a camera. It’s so easy when you’re filming other people when you have all of the camera’s controls at your fingertips and are able to quickly adjust. Filming yourself, though, is an entirely different set of skills. But they’re essential skills if you’re looking to start vlogging, which I have.
I’m still no expert at it, and I still have a lot to learn. But you know who is an expert at filming themselves? Peter McKinnon, that’s who. In this video, Peter provides a whole slew of advice to help you film yourself. It’s full of lots of little tips and tricks to make life just that little bit easier and get you thinking a little bit differently about how you approach it.
5 ways to tell better stories with your drone footage
I might’ve mentioned this before, but a lot of drone videos are starting to look kind of samey. It’s always the “cinematic” (basically a 2.4:1 aspect ratio) slow flyby over some landscape or other, with no real story. Just a bunch of vaguely connected clips of a location. A few people are pushing themselves and trying to come up with something different and interesting.
One such person is filmmaker Chris Castor, winner of the narrative category at the Los Angeles Drone Film Festival with his short film, Cardboard Cadet. Since then, the New York City Drone Film Festival caught up with Chris to have a chat and find out his 5 top tips for helping to tell a better story with your drone.
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