digital filmmaking Archives

Use this Hollywood colour designer trick to elevate the emotion in your photographs

Apr 12, 2022 by Alex Baker Leave a Comment

The use of colour in most movies is not random. It’s actually all thought through and planned far in advance of shooting, in order to amplify and help convey the emotion and story. This excellent video walks you through the complicated theory of colour and how it’s used in the film industry.

One popular way to simplify how colour is designed is to use the 60/30/10 rule, as this video from Wolfcrow describes. It’s different from colour grading which is colour adjustment applied in post-production.

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How To Easily Get a Cinematic Look From Your dSLR Video

Aug 6, 2015 by Allen Mowery 5 Comments

Achieving a “film look” is something that most aspiring filmmakers strive to accomplish. We always want our work to appear as masterpieces, but sometimes we aren’t sure how to capture those little nuances that could help push it over the edge. The advent of dSLR video helped bring video production capabilities to the masses, but getting that classic look of film continues to be a steady pursuit of many.

But, don’t be feint of heart! With some simple tricks, from adjusting camera settings to tweaking in post-production, you can be well on your way to getting the result you want!

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Casey Neistat Smashes Canon 70D With An Ax, Fails Anger Management

Jun 12, 2015 by Allen Mowery 14 Comments

When I get angry, I like to break things. When I get very angry, I like to smash them to smithereens. It’s like therapy – stuff-shattering therapy. Granted, this hasn’t happened in a while…perhaps all that self therapy paid off in the long run. But, regardless, I can identify with the urge to smash the crap out of anything that’s not working.

That is why I have empathy towards photographer and serial vlogger Casey Neistat who yesterday released a video in which he demolishes a Canon EOS 70D that was being temperamental and kept flashing the dreaded “Movie Has Been Stopped Automatically” error, prohibiting him from continuing to record.

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Let Me Know When You See Fire: What a Video Shot at 1000 FPS Looks Like in 4K

Jul 7, 2014 by Maaz Khan 10 Comments

Whether we may think it’s excessive or not, 4K is slowly starting to become the next standard in video. It makes me think of a criticism I once heard against digital filmmaking: that it becomes too real for the viewer to suspend disbelief. Growing up, many of us have been used to movies being shot on 24 FPS film; in a way, it allows us to “escape” the real world and watch a story set in a fantasy world. The blurs, light leaks, and contrast burns – every imperfection from that film – separates the world of the movie from the reality of the world in which we reside.

Fast-forward to today’s time, and you have the Hobbit films being released in 48 FPS across theaters worldwide. When Peter Jackson filmed the trilogy, he described watching the final result as looking through a window. The problem is that many people don’t want to view movies in a world that real.

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