fbpx

DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

Search

 

Submit A Story

Filmmakers, here’s how to create a realistic war scene on a tight budget

by Leave a Comment

Last month, I’m sure that Avengers: Endgame and Game of Thrones were pretty much all that occupied anyone’s Facebook feeds. Both have inspired a massive number of memes, but they have also inspired Film Riot’s Ryan Connolly to create budget-friendly filmmaking tutorials.

After he showed you how to get the Game of Thrones look on a budget, here are some ideas on how to shoot a realistic war scene. It was inspired by Avengers: Endgame, and while it’s shot with a totally DIY approach, it still looks really good! All it takes is some dirt, fake blood, some lights and a minimal amount of special effects.

[Read More…]

How to get the Game of Thrones look when shooting on a budget

by 2 Comments

Even though the final season of Game of Thrones has been a huge disappointment for some of us, there’s one thing we can’t deny – it looked freakin’ gorgeous. In this video from Film Riot, Ryan Connelly shows you how to achieve the Game of Thrones style and feel. Of course, the HBO show had a massive budget, but worry not, Ryan’s suggestions work for all us common folk who are more into DIY than high-budget solutions.

[Read More…]

Five filmmaking tricks and techniques that you need to learn

by Leave a Comment

Everybody’s always looking for tips, tricks and shortcuts to make their lives easier. Whether it’s photoshop, filmmaking, or just about any part of our lives. With filmmaking, especially, there are a lot of different things to learn and experiment with. So videos like this one from the folks at Film Riot are always welcome.

In it, Ryan Connolly gives us five of his favourite filmmaking tips that he’s used regularly over the past 10 years. Things that every filmmaker should at least try and know a little bit about for those times when it might just be the perfect solution to a problem that pops up.

[Read More…]

These are some must-have accessories for smartphone filmmaking

by 4 Comments

Ryan Connolly of Film Riot recently gave us an example of a neat-looking video shot on a smartphone. Of course, if you’re limited only to the smartphone, it’s possible to shoot a movie, but there are certain challenges you’ll need to face.

In this video, Ryan gives you a few suggestions for improving your smartphone moviemaking with some additional accessories. They won’t only make the footage quality better, but they’ll make the shooting easier and less frustrating.

[Read More…]

Gear doesn’t matter: here’s how to shoot a high-quality movie with your smartphone

by 13 Comments

“Gear doesn’t matter.” You may agree with this statement or not, but it’s definitely the case if you have a good idea and an engaging story to tell with your photos or films. Sure, expensive gear can make the job easier, but what if you don’t have a high budget? Well, in that case – just shoot with what you have in your pockets – a smartphone.

Ryan Connolly of Film Riot gives you some guidelines how to shoot a high-quality video using nothing but your smartphone camera. He gives his own example of a very file-looking sketch he filmed with an iPhone, along with the advantages and challenges you’ll have with this approach.

[Read More…]

How to make “Logan” style visual effects in-camera using a back massager

by Leave a Comment

For anybody who’s seen the movie, Logan, there’s one scene that sticks out. If you haven’t seen the movie, then you may not want to keep reading (unless you’re not interested in seeing it but want to know the effect anyway). The scene is set in a Vegas hotel. Charles kinda loses it and Logan, quite literally, claws his way back to the room to save him.

The folks at Film Riot explore three ways to create this and similar effects. The first uses the same technique as in the movie itself. The other two, are slightly less conventional, and involve a back massager and an iPhone. Don’t laugh, that one is probably the best looking effect of the three.

[Read More…]

These are the basic lighting techniques you need to know for photography and film

by 1 Comment

Whether you’re a photographer or a filmmaker, understanding the principles of light and how it will affect your subject are important. It doesn’t matter if it’s flash, continuous LED, natural ambient, or the harsh bright sun, you want them to help tell your story. There’s a lot of different lighting styles and setups out there. Most of them, though, operate on a fairly basic set of principles.

This video from the guys over at Film Riot talks about the different techniques of lighting subjects primarily for video. But, these are the exact same principles you’d use for photography, too. So, if you don’t know your key from your rim or your short from your broad, have a watch, and it’ll all become clear.

[Read More…]

More Useful DIY Lighting Tips To Try Using Stuff You Already Have At Home

by Leave a Comment

It’s nice to have access to an entire studio full of fancy lighting, but that’s not always possible. Sometimes we just have to figure it out using a little ingenuity and some DIY skills–and for a lot of us, that’s all part of the fun, especially when it comes to lighting!. The guys over at Film Riot are masters at DIY lighting setups which is  why we always look forward to any new post they do covering the topic. In their latest tutorial, the team covers a heap of lighting tips to either fill in for or compliment an existing lighting setup. Plus, they are insanely simple to make (some of the tips actually don’t require you to make anything).

Film Riot explores ways you can make your ordinary household lighting (read: flat, boring light) and change it into more dramatic and interesting lighting simply by swapping out light bulbs or hitting them with a coat of high temperature paint to change their temperatures. [Read More…]

Recent Posts