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Pre-production: How cinematographers should prepare for a shoot

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Shooting a video production, whether it’s for a Hollywood blockbuster, a YouTube video or anywhere in between isn’t as easy as you might think. Especially if it’s not something you’ve done before. Or maybe you have, but things didn’t go as you expected and you’re not sure how to fix it.

Well, have a watch of this video from the folks at In Depth Cine. The channel is dedicated to going in-depth into filmmaking and cinematography and the various processes that are part of that world and workflow. In this video, they talk about how a cinematographer prepares for a shoot.

Viewers “raging” over camera’s dead pixels in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead

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For movie watchers, there’s nothing more upsetting than settling in to watch the latest overhyped movie only to turn on your fancy, way-too-big, expensive TV to discover you’ve got dead pixels on your screen. They just sit there, taunting you, spoiling your viewing experience.

That’s the experience felt by quite a few people who sat down to watch the new Zack Snyder Netflix movie Army of the Dead. At least, it was until they realised that those dead pixels weren’t on their TV, but in-camera, recorded for all time in the movie itself, turning their dispair into “rage”.

How to shoot a no-budget horror short film

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Shooting short films is one of the greatest creative outlets for many video shooters, especially those that might otherwise be trapped in the corporate world, always shooting to a brief. But shooting a film, even a short one, can be quite expensive, depending on what that story is, and how you think you need to tell it.

This short film above, Whispers, shot by filmmaker Joris Hermans, however, was shot on no budget at all. Of course, there are some prerequisites. You need to have a camera (Joris used the Canon EOS M50) and other basic gear, but they’re things that almost all those interested in shooting with video will have already.

Watch to see the evolution of chase sequences over the last 100 years

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Chase scenes have been a staple in movies for almost as long as movies have existed. And boy have they changed over the years! Car chase scenes from the 1920s look practically comical now, yet were at the pinnacle of on-screen drama back in their day. With Fast & Furious 9 set to hit our screens this year, Insider decided to take a look at how they’ve evolved over the last 100 years.

From 1924’s Sherlock Junior, through Bullitt, The French Connection, Ronin, Drive and more, through to the latest Fast & Furious movies, it covers a lot of ground in not only how the filming of the scenes has evolved, but how new technological innovation has allowed them to kick things up a notch every so often.

This is how they make fake drugs for movies

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There are a few methods to make fake blood for the movies (or you can simply buy it). But what about drugs? Of course, the actors won’t use the real thing on set, but it’s not that easy to find substitutes as one may think. Fake drugs need to look and act the same as the real ones, but they also have to be completely safe to ingest. So how do they do it? In this fantastic video from Insider, prop master Joel Barkow shares some tricks of the trade and reveals how fake drugs are made for movies.

The brilliant use of complementary colors in “The Queen’s Gambit”

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByLgbBgqXwE&ab_channel=aboutphotography

I recently finished Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit and I have so many great impressions. It’s not just the story and characters I liked, but this TV show is a real treat for photographers. Martin Kaninsky is also enchanted by it, and in his recent video, he guides you through the brilliant use of complementary colors in The Queen’s Gambit.

This is why anamorphic lenses have oval bokeh… It’s nothing to do with the aperture

After something of an at-home hiatus, John Hess at Filmmaker IQ is back and he’s dropped a doozy with his new video. Have you ever wondered why the bokeh in anamorphic lenses is oval-shaped? Have you ever wondered why it’s oriented in the wrong direction relative to the de-squeeze that anamorphic footage has to go through?

Well, it’s nothing to do with the aperture, as John explains in this video. Well, put into its simplest explanation, the reason is that you’re effectively shooting two different focal lengths simultaneously when you use an anamorphic lens. One for the horizontal field of view, and a different one for the vertical.

Seven composition techniques you can learn from “The Queen’s Gambit”

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYW6hEb42_A&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=aboutphotography

Watching movies and TV series is not only a great pastime activity on cold winter days but also a great way to find inspiration for your photography. Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit has become insanely popular, and it’s one of the shows photographers definitely should check out. In this video, Martin Kaninsky analyzes the series from a photographer’s point of view, giving you seven composition rules you can learn from it.

Follow these filming tips to nail those difficult rain shots

Filming in the rain is very tricky if you shoot in the natural rain and on a tight budget. But, it’s not impossible. Shutterstock Tutorials and Lewis McGregor bring you a bunch of useful tips that will help you to capture magnificent rain shots even when you’re shooting on a budget.

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