Steve Stockman's Blog, page 14

Great take on the “50 Ways” Exercise. Your Turn.

This video was my take on your “50 Ways to Shoot My Daughter Doing Homework” exercise. In addition to shooting from as many different angles as I could, I tried some of the other things I have been learning in your book: telling a little story, keeping the shots and the finished piece short, and editing to music. It was also my first attempt at shooting with a monopod and using Premiere to edit.

What do you think?

Mike

PS:  It would be great if you had a place like a facebook page or youtube channel for people to show off what they learned from your book (or is there a place already that I don’t know about?)

Great job, Mike!  You added a nice, simple little story to the exercise about shooting different video angles, and it works well.  And your daughter is very cute.

Have you tried this exercise yet?  Go here for my version, then watch Mike’s take below.  (Important Note:  You do NOT have to have a daughter or an art project to do this exercise!)

Feel free to post your finished video to my facebook page.  Yes, I’ll be curating, so please don’t post “50 ways to sell my multi-level-marketing miracle cleaner” or whatever the porn version of that is.

Are you a teacher? Do you know a teacher?  Did you ever have a teacher?  Make sure they know about my totally free, no-sign-up-necessary VIdeo Bootcamp PDF Download for teachers and trainers.

Steve Stockman

What about Video Classes? Can You Help?

Hi Steve,

I’ve read your book and improved a lot after reading it - thank you!

Now I have a fancy new DSLR, and want to take my home movies to the next level. Do you know anything about some of the courses that are out there, such as dvworkshops.com, or nyvs.com? I’m thinking they might be  good resource to help me work on polishing my camerawork and editing.

—Lilia

I have an extreme bias toward experiential learning in video.  Theory is nice, but practice is what makes you better– practice in both the physical job of shooting and practice critiquing your own work and the work of others.  Video classes where a great instructor leads you in exercises, then leads class critiques of student work can be really useful.

Be careful though that it’s a great group and great instructor.  Seek recommendations, read reviews carefully.  And if, at the end of the first class, you dislike the instructor or atmosphere– get out.  Video is about creativity, and nobody’s creativity flourishes in an environment that makes them uncomfortable.

I learned a lot about screenwriting from these types of experientially-driven workshops, and I teach people video that way myself– which is why the book is full of exercises.  But to be honest, I don’t know a lot about other classes or courses.

If you don’t need a formal class, I recommend looking through the great videos available free at Vimeo Video School.

For those who want more structure– Does anyone have a fave school/teacher/course you’d like to share?  Leave a comment below.

 

 

Steve Stockman

The 180 Degree “Rule” and Why You Shouldn’t Care

Did you break the “180 Degree Rule” when you shot your exercise “50 Ways to Shoot My Daughter Doing Homework”?  Not that it matters because the video looks great, but did you?

–Sohail

The 180 Degree “rule” suggests that you must keep all your cameras on the same side of an imaginary line between you and your actors when shooting. Imagine a circle split in half– the cameras go on one side of the split, the action on the other–  hence, 180 degrees. If you “cross the line” with your cameras, the audience may be confused when characters appear to move suddenly from the right to left side of the screen.

This “rule” is left over from days of yore.  In the early twentieth century, when cinema was new, audiences were easily confused by film language. They needed dissolves to understand passage of time, wavy wipes and twinkly music to clarify that a character was dreaming, and long establishing sequences so audiences knew where they were.  Our modern film language (witness, for example, the stunningly layered digital transitions in The Life of Pi) would have confused the hell out of them.

Times have changed.  It’s harder to confuse audiences now, and more sudden moves work on screen.  While which side of the line you’re on is still something to consider when shooting coverage in narrative film and TV, it’s not the “rule” it once was– see Tarantino, Paul Greengrass, and many others for examples of how to break it.

I generally don’t worry about it at all in documentary, most commercials, or reality TV.

So, yes–  I WAAAYY broke the 180 degree “rule” while shooting this exercise, and you should too when you try it.

Steve Stockman

Best Way To Learn Video: Play With Your Toys

When I was a seven, my new Kodak camera came with a thick instruction manual.  My dad sat me down solemnly told me how important it was to read the manual before I played with the camera.  After all, I could break something.

I love my dad, but what was good advice then isn’t as good today.  The major working parts of your new smartphone, DSLR, pocket camera or editing software are microchips.  Short of running over your new toy with the car, they’re hard to break.  Instead of expensive film you’re recording data.  Store the original movie in a separate folder on your hard drive and you can’t break that either.

Forget what Dad told you.  If you got something technical in your stocking and you’re still looking at the outside of its box, it’s time to dive in.  The best way to learn video production is to practice.

Go shoot something.  Start on the simplest “auto” setting and fire away.  As you play more and get more comfortable with your new toy, then it’s time to try the bells and whistles (but never the digital zoom!)

Got editing software?  Duplicate your footage, load up a copy and screw around.  You can always hit “undo.”

Much of what you start with will look awful.  Which is fine.  You expect to eat a little snow your first time on a snowboard.  You don’t get to level 3 on Call of Duty on your first day.  Why should you be a video pro from minute one?

Learn video the best way possible– Dive in!

 

PS:  You can, of course, also get instruction from a book.  Say, this one.

Steve Stockman

My Holiday Gift To You: Skip “the Hobbit”

It’s nice to see a film that confirms so much of what I try to teach people about video. If only the Hobbit could have confirmed it in half the time.

Let me start by saying that Peter Jackson can direct rings around me (pun intended). Love his work. But the Hobbit is a bloated mess of a movie desperately in search of a story and a hero.

In film, every shot must have a clear beginning, middle and end.  Shots add up to scenes with clear beginnings, middles and ends.  The scenes add up to sequences, the sequences to a film.  The Hobbit, as you might expect, has some awesome shots. Fun creatures, stunning New Zealand vistas and beautiful miniatures.  And that’s where it stops.  The scenes are nearly pointless and the sequences hopelessly unstructured.  The result is a movie with no story.  All the characters do is travel and travel and travel.  And fight occasionally.  And reminisce. Oh, God how they reminisce.

This lack of focus on story is made worse by a lack of focus on the hero. The book is about Bilbo Baggins.  The movie focuses on 16 different primary characters and Bilbo’s journey gets completely lost in the process.  Multiple lead characters work in a film (see Lord of the Rings) only if their stories are focused and compelling– you know, with beginnings, middles and ends.  Not the case here.

I wanted my $14 and 3 hours back, but I re-learned valuable lessons about story and heroes.  Keep your time and money– the lesson’s on me. Merry Christmas.

Geek note:  The film’s 48 frames per second capture and projection makes it look like badly shot HD TV.  It shines a spotlight on every flaw in the dwarf’s makeup and every bad digital match in the battle scenes.  In short, it takes the magic out of the movie. Could 48 fps be beautiful?  Maybe.  Is it now?  Nope.  Your turn, James Cameron.

Also in the spirit of the season: Ten Tips for Shooting Better Holiday Video

Steve Stockman

5 Tips to shoot better video– Instantly!

I’m a writer and director in Hollyood, and this 3-minute video is based on my book:  How to Shoot Video that Doesn’t Suck.

The video gives you 5 tips you can use right now to shoot better video.  If you like it, check out the book.  It’s about the non-technical side of video—not how to plug your camera into a computer, but how to shoot video that people will actually want to watch. It doesn’t matter if you’re shooting HD or cellphone—great video is about how you communicate with your audience.  A little practice and your video will never suck again.

Like two years of film school in 248 pages!

–Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art

The only thing missing is a time machine so I could go back and reshoot fifteen years of sucky birthday party and school play videos.

–David A. Goodman, Executive Producer/Head Writer of Family Guy.

Shoot Better Video.  Get your copy now!

Steve Stockman

Five Easy Ways to Shoot Better Thanksgiving Video

Bad Thanksgiving video can be hell to sit through.  Mom hiding her face to keep from being seen when she’s messy after cooking all day.  Ten minute shots of the steaming turkey, as if this one looks different from last year’s.  Loud dinner cross-conversations that are impossible to hear, let alone follow.

Why not make this the year you shoot GREAT Thanksgiving video with these 5 easy tips:

1. Shoot Short Shots: Dad’s carving the turkey for the 30th year in a row.  Do we need to capture all 8 minutes of the dissection process?  Is this a rhetorical question?  Try this:  Start when he stands up, catch that first slice of breast meat and move on.  Think of your shots as still photos you hold for a little longer– point, roll video, stop.  Find something else interesting and do it all over again.  The big payoff:  If you keep your shots to 10 seconds or less they’ll all be interesting– and your entire video will end up a watchable 5 minutes long.

2.  Faces make memories: That big wide shot down the table of all 20 people at your holiday table is worth shooting– for about 5 seconds.  But once we know where we are, get close to your family.  If the goal of home video is to preserve memories of people we care about, faces are key.  Nobody– not you, not your parents, not your kids– will have the same face 5 years from now.  Capture people the way they really are– let us see them close up.

3.  Zoom with your feet. Don’t shoot from across the room . Zoom lenses make your picture shaky, and distance you from what’s going on. Instead, turn off the zoom and move yourself closer to the action.  You’ll get better sound, too—the camera’s microphone doesn’t zoom.  Bonus tip:  when you’re closer to people, try asking them questions and see what happens.

4.  Try for Details: While faces are the biggest draw in a Thanksgiving video, there’s a lot to be learned from details.  Quick shots of two people talking intimately.  Someone spooning yams onto a plate.  A closeup of Aunt Elaine’s hands rolling dough or Uncle Larry passed out in front of the TV.  These aren’t long shots– think of them, again, as stills– but they bring richness to the video that will take you back when you watch it later.  Shoot them as you see them, and don’t worry how they connect.  You’ll be surprised how well they work.

5.  Don’t try to hide the camera: Kids (and many adults) may be camera-shy, but they’ll be much worse if they think you’re trying to trick them into being filmed.  Be obvious about shooting and they’ll get bored with you and start acting natural.

Steve Stockman

Capturing Emotion on Video

I bought your book via Amazon kindle.  I have my first wedding to shoot next week. My intention is to capture the momentum leading up to the wedding, the wedding itself, and party celebration, focusing on capturing as much emotion, people as possible. Any suggestions specifically tailored toward a wedding?

Kiran

Thanks for the legal download!  (Sure it’s flattering to be heavily torrented, but flattery only goes so far. Like not, say, to the grocery store.)

I’ve written here about shooting weddings and other human rituals.  There’s also a wedding chapter in the book– but I love your question about how to capture the feel of a wedding.  Capturing emotion in video is a huge challenge.

First, let’s understand that you can’t actually “capture” emotion on film.  Film has no feeling.  It’s the audience who have the feelings.  When we talk about capturing emotion, we’re really talking about making the audience feel something. The two main things you need to do that in film–  Specifics and Time.

Specifics, well captured, invite the audience to respond emotionally.  A wide scene of the “i do” moment from the back of the church doesn’t buy you much emotion.  But a tight close up on the bride’s face while the priest is asking her the question- the slight hesitation and welling up in the eyes as she pauses for a moment and looks up at her about-to-be-husband– that’s specific.  And it’s emotional gold.

The good news about weddings is that they happen in a predictable order.  As a videographer you want to plan your moments so that you’re always very close to the key players and ready to capture your specifics.

Time gives the audience the space to feel.  Think about the difference between a quick cut to the bride’s face for the words “I do” and the 30-second shot, tight on her face that shows us the whole moment.  As you watch her face you’ll feel every emotion she’s feeling.  That pause– that time– is what allows the viewer to process and feel the emotion themselves.

You don’t have to slow your whole video down to a snail’s pace to be emotional, but give us room to breathe– to feel– at key moments.  A toast is funnier and a mother’s emotions sadder if you let us watch a while, so we can imagine what it would have been like to be there.  And be them.

Teachers and trainers:  Download my Video Bootcamp PDF for five free lessons you can use in the classroom to make your students’ videos shine!  Not even a registration required!

Steve Stockman

Downloadable Video Bootcamp for Teachers and Trainers

Way back when (okay, a couple of weeks ago) I posted our new FREE Video Bootcamp for Teachers and Trainers– 5 hours of classroom lessons you can use with your students/employees to make their video better.

Since then, I’ve received more than a few complaints about posting it on Scribd.com.  I thought it made it convenient and look kind of nice on the blog, but I’m told it’s hard for people to download the original PDF.

Problem solved.  Download the PDF right here, right now.  Nothing to buy, no email address to leave.

 

 

Click this link to download the Video Bootcamp PDF.

And please feel free to share the link– or download and email directly to your favorite teacher!

 Teachers:  Questions on how to use video in the classroom?  Ask them here!

Steve Stockman

School Video that Doesn’t Suck

In my job, I’m expected to shoot school video of many programs (musicals, plays, etc.)

How can I make these videos not suck and please parents who want to see their children performing with the group?

–Kyle

Parents are tough, and any video that doesn’t feature their little Deshawn or Tania totally sucks– by definition.  And any video that holds too long on a close-up of Tania sucks for the other 58 parents in the class.

Have you considered dentistry?

But no worries– I’m here to answer the tough questions, though you may need to prioritize.

If your main goal is a complete record of the performance, the biggest mistake most people make is shooting from far enough away to see the entire stage.  The distance means you can’t see faces, which will likely rile Deshawn’s parents.

Luckily, cameras are cheap and readily available these days– use two or three.  If you have the staff to run them, great, but they can also be be on tripods.  Keep them close in and point one toward stage right, and one toward stage left. They should overlap a little just in case.  (If you have three cameras, you can add a wider shot).  Shoot the entire performance and then edit simply between the two cameras.  Nothing complicated– maybe you switch cameras for each musical number, depending on which has the best overall angle.

Use external microphones close to the stage and wired to the cameras.  Or if the show is miked, run a feed from the mixing board into all your cameras.

If your main goal is to capture the kids and make sure everyone gets seen, try interviewing them individually backstage before the show or after, and editing their comments into your performance video.  A cute shot of little Matthew talking about his role in the chorus during “I’m a Little Teapot” may make up for the fact that you only see his face for a moment behind the lead pot.  Read more on this kind of storytelling for a student recital here.

The more important and/or memorable the presentation is, the more in depth you can get.  A great high school musical with some serious talent might merit 4 cameras and an elaborate backstage story, a preschool holiday song sung in the classroom might be less elaborate.

Or not. Preschool parents can be vicious.

You can also train parents to shoot their own videos– check out my free Video Bootcamp for Teachers.

 

Steve Stockman