Music clearance Every track used in the movie must come with permission from the copyright holder - often the music publisher and/ or record company. Snippets of music heard on a radio in a scene are OK as long as it’s just a short segment. Use music from local bands - they may not be signed yet and will be glad of the publicity in your movie.
Video clips/ segments All pieces of video or film must be cleared with the owner for you to use. The “fair use” code of practice helps you use someone else’s video clips to create new works and limits how you do that. The code says that if you transform the original clip into a new work of art for a new purpose then it’s OK. But if you use it for the same purpose and value as the original then it’s not OK. Also, the length and content has to be appropriate, so don’t use excessive amounts. So a 60-second clip of a TV show with new subtitles or voices should be OK, but a 3-minute clip presented as it was will be illegal. If you are doing club visuals you should be fine.
People, actors and interviewees Everyone in the movie needs to agree to appear in it. People need to give their permission to you in writing. Use a “release form” for each person. You need different ones for minors, for actors, or interviewees. Use templates found online (try www.docstoc.com/search/video-permission-release-forms/)
Story, people You need to make sure no one — people, companies or other groups — is insulted or defamed in your movie and could sue you. It’s not enough to change names and places — you may have to go further if the characters are recognizable. Unless, of course, what your movie says is correct and the guy in your movie really is a proven low-life crook. Check the movie and look for anything that could reasonably lead to legal action. If in doubt, change it. Alter names, products (e.g., a car with faulty brakes was a certain manufacturer), and company logos.
Sales Has anyone already bought your movie — like for showing on a cable TV show, or for a DVD? If so, be open and clear about it with whoever you are trying to get the movie seen by. Most online channels have a more realistic view of rights, and assume that a movie gets seen everywhere, in lots of formats, simultaneously.
SHOOTING IN STREETS AND PUBLIC PLACES
Most large cities have a policy about filmmakers working in public streets and places. You must get permission to film, in the form of a paper permit, or risk getting trouble from the police. In some places you don’t need a permit if your team is less than 10 crew members. But this is often ignored by police who can move you on if they think you are causing congestion, or are near sensitive buildings like government offices, or they just don’t like you. Even with a permit, be on your best behavior and avoid getting in the way of the public or traffic.
Check with the city hall whether you need a permit.
If you do, download the relevant documents and get them returned weeks before you plan to shoot. Some places will say it’s fine to shoot unless you use a tripod, which can get in the way of passers-by.
Remember, many public places are in fact private – such as shopping malls, churches and schools. You’ll need specific permission from the right person – principal, mall security chief, and so on – before you start.
SHOOTING IN NON-PUBLIC PLACES
Private places such as offices, hospitals and car parks are under no obligation to be nice to filmmakers. You are unlikely to get permission to film if your story reflects badly on the place. For instance, a movie about drug dealing in a school will probably not get you through the door, nor would a movie shot in a real bank in which a heist is helped by a crooked employee.
Chapter | Ten
Working with Locations
OVERVIEW
Find locations and get the info you need to use them well.
FIGURE 10.1 Crew members working on location for a scene from a film by Armen Antranikian.
WHY USE LOCATIONS?
A few locations in your short movie make it look more authentic, and give it a bigger “feel,” a more cinematic sweep, than one which is set in just one place.
Even though some things are going to be harder when on location (using power, travel, weather) it is all offset by the realism you get and the added professionalism it brings your movie.
Many movies don’t have the choice – documentary, event movies such as sports, and music promos, all require you to leave the garage or studio and work in a busy, real setting.
HOW DO YOU LOOK FOR LOCATIONS?
If you are doing a drama movie the location might have been in your mind from the start, basing the theme around a certain place that you knew would be ideal for your movie. Movies that are based solely around locations, like road trips, are going to need you to think a lot about where to shoot – as if the location is the additional actor in the script.
Some movies need great locations more than others. Movies inspired by westerns and film noir, for example, rely on the landscape or city more than any other movie. In these movies the location setting is like a chorus line in a musical – it helps get the main theme of the movie across, by echoing or repeating or reinforcing what the actors feel or what is going on. Like, it rains on a dark derelict street in a scene when the main hero is in turmoil; or the sun beats down on a parched yellow plain as the hero stands alone and isolated. Whatever the scene, your location can emphasize it and make it more real so we feel it more fully.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD LOCATION?
When you find a possible place, think about:
Travel distance (costs). How far is the location from your home and how far from all the other locations?
Risks and problems (go to Chapter 18, Health and Safety). Is it safe to get your crew and cast out there?
Power availability. Does it have access to electricity? Outdoor locations probably won’t, so does that affect your filming?
Ownership and permission (go to Chapter 9, Law and the Movies). Who owns the land and will they let you film there?
What else can affect you at particular times like tides, or rush-hour traffic?
WHEN YOU FIND A GOOD LOCATION
Use your camcorder to look through the lens and get a feel for how a place looks in a rectangular screen.
Shoot a few moments to check the lighting – is it going to be bright enough?
Take photos. Shoot as many as you need from any angle to show what the location has all around it. If you have a geotag or a smart phone, set it to record the map reference.
Take some photos of actual shots as you imagine them, as if they were shots from the movie with people or actors missing.
Take measurements. Make a note of each part of the location such as how wide the doors to a house are, how long a field is, how wide a street is and how many floors the buildings have.
FIGURE 10.2 Check that you have access to power in your chosen location if you need extra lighting. Or improvise with other sources of light. (Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, © Image# 911398.)
WHEN YOU GET BACK HOME
Look at your photos and sketch in the people or objects that will appear in that scene.
Maybe try creating the location in FrameForge or other 3D simulation software. You can create a virtual environment and play around with how to shoot the scene. This would be really useful in sports events where you get only one chance to shoot it right (see Chapter 7, Previz).
Experts’ Tips
Derek Flagge, filmmaker, Coral Springs, Florida
“Keep the set positive; whether it’s two people or ten people in a movie, always make everyone happy. Make sure you have everyone laughing even if it’s a horror movie. If the cast is laughing the movie will turn out better because everyone is in a good mood.”
* * *
Chapter | Eleven
Brief Directory of All the Paperwork You Need
FIGURE 11.1 Using software like Celtx is an ideal way to connect all the essential documents you need for your movie.
Table 11.1
Document What It’s For Movies It’s Useful For Get Help from Chapter:
Treatm
ent An outline of your movie in a few pages, like a short story with description and dialogue. Any work of fiction, where there’s a story. Ch 3 Scriptwriting
Budget A list of what everything is scheduled to cost. Any movie where the costs extend to more than tapes/SD cards and your own travel. Ch 4 Budgets
Script The whole movie told in a specific format with dialogue, screen direction and description. Any work of fiction. Ch 3 Scriptwriting
Storyboards A visual story of the movie, like a comic strip. Action sequences, music promos, any part of a film where you need to coordinate a lot of people or props. Ch 7 Previz
Previz A mostly computer-based process of creating 3D virtual worlds of your locations to figure out the best camera moves and lighting. Action movies, works of fiction, genre movies. Ch 7 Previz
Contracts A legal document for cast or crew, to safeguard and protect rights. Any movie where you have a crew or cast. Ch 9 Law and the Movies
Location photos Still images taken at a location to help you plan how to work there. Any movie where you use locations. Ch 10 Working with Locations
Designs Ideas showing key scenes from the movie to help decide what overall colors and mood or atmosphere you want. Music promos, fiction and some documentaries. Ch 5 Designing Your movie
Costume designs Designs showing what characters in the movie will wear. Any work of fiction. Ch 5 Designing Your movie
Lighting designs Drawings of key scenes showing how you want the lighting to look. They show the intensity of light, the color of it and where lights will be placed. Any movie where you use additional lights. Ch 16 Lighting
Health and safety sheets Documents showing the results of a risk assessment for a particular location where you want to shoot. They show hazards and how to deal with them. Just about any movie. Ch 18 Health and Safety
Shooting schedule A complete breakdown of all the shots you need in the movie and where and when they will be shot, plus all the people and kit you need. Any movie except documentaries, freecording, news and sports. Sect 6 Make It Happen (Schedules)
Shot list A list of all the shots you need to shoot to complete the movie. Any movie where you can plan in advance what you want – as opposed to movies such as sports, news, freecording, road trips and so on. Ch 8 Script Breakdown and Shot List
Edit decision list A list of all the shots you want to use, based on the edit log, to help you do a complete edit. All movies. Ch 20 Pre-edit Footage Viewing
Edit log A complete list with timecode of all the takes you shot and whether they are useable. All movies. Ch 20 Pre-edit Footage Viewing
SECOND OPINION
Why bother doing any of this stuff? Does it really matter whether or not you know exactly how the camera will frame something in advance? The many great films that come out of those 48-hour film challenge competitions show that weeks of planning aren’t necessary.
Many directors feel that excessive paperwork drains the life out of a movie, as it gets planned to within an inch of its life. On the other hand, being disorganized drains the people out of the movie too, as they quit the set because no one knows what’s happening. It’s your call, but tread carefully – whether you use it all or use none of it.
Section Two: Shoot
SHOOT YOUR MOVIE
HOW DO I KNOW THIS SECTION?
Now the movie’s planned out, and you are ready to go for it. What matters most right now is that the footage you end up with looks something like the movie that played in your mind when you first thought of it. Use this next section of the book to get each part of the movie looking good, sounding right, in a safe set, and all with a happy crew. Cherry-pick the chapters you want as you need them, or roll through each one from 12 to 18 to cover all bases.
Chapter 12: Using a Camcorder. If you are new to camcorders, or just want to check you are doing the right thing, check out this brief list.
Chapter 13: Shooting. Pared-down advice on getting the very best out of your camera, this chapter shows how to get heart and soul in each image, rather than just describe what goes on.
Chapter 14: Continuity. Next, a nice and easy list of how to avoid big on-screen mistakes that hole your movie below the waterline.
Chapter 15: Manage Your Production: Be a Producer. Behind-the-scenes stuff next, with advice on keeping a happy production, and how to become a producer who means it.
Chapter 16: Lighting. Two chapters you can’t do without next. Lighting and sound are the twin lungs of your film. Lighting brings your movie emotional life.
Chapter 17: Sound Recording. It’s not just about hearing what goes on — this chapter shows you that you can make more emotional oomph with creative sound.
Chapter 18: Health and Safety. Take a break from the artistic stuff and get the real advice on how to avoid your production being memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Chapter | Twelve
Using a Camcorder
OVERVIEW
Knowing how the camcorder works is not just for technical geeks. Every part of the camera can become a new tool for your imagination, helping to put what you see in your mind onto the screen.
Table 12.1 The 20-second guide to how a DV camcorder works.
Light goes through a hole in front of the camera
passes through a first set of lenses which zoom in or out
gets focused with a second set of lenses
gets picked up by a small chip and…
…is divided into binary code for colors and light intensity, and compressed slightly
and is finally stored on tape or drive.
Table 12.2
Camera Part What It Does
Iris The front of the camera has a small opening called the iris, which gets larger or smaller according to how much light the camera needs. It works just like the human eye: smaller when it’s bright and sunny, wider when it’s in low light conditions. You can manually alter the iris to create effects, making a location seem like it’s at night by reducing the light coming in.
Shutter Next, the shutter also reacts to the light – opening and closing according to how much light there is. Don’t get shutter speed mixed up with frame rate. Frame rate stays the same wherever you are, dependent on which system your camera uses: 25 frames per second for UK and others using PAL system; 29.9 per second, rounded up to 30 fps, for the USA and others on the NTSC system.
Tip:
You can alter the shutter speed for better clarity. If you imagine the shutter opening and closing 30 times a second (on NTSC, or 25 on PAL), each of those can be relatively quick or slow, depending on the setting. Opening in 1/50 of a second is the standard for a camcorder. Increase this to 1/1000 and you get better images of fast-moving objects. The reason for this is that the fast-moving object — a fast car, for instance — doesn’t move enough in just 1/1000 of a second to make an image blurred. But at 1/50 of a second it moves enough distance to blur the image a lot. But be careful: making the shutter open for such a short time means less light gets in — which darkens the image slightly. Check it out on the LCD monitor to see you don’t go too far.
Lens The lens area at the front of the camcorder is actually several pieces of precision-made glass (or plastic in lower-end models) in two groups: one set at the front of the camcorder to zoom in or out, and the other a little behind to focus.
Tip:
You can manually use the focus, iris, and shutter speed together to get the right shot, unlocking a whole lot more from your camcorder. If you set the camcorder to “auto” each feature will pull in different ways, but when you work in “manual” mode you can make them work together. For example, if you shoot in low-light conditions, the iris will open up a little, but then you might notice that some parts of the frame are now blurred. This is because a wider iris will shorten how much of your image is in focus. Instead, try increasing the shutter speed to reduce light, allowing the iris to open a little wider — all operated manually. Just look at the LCD monitor until the image you see looks sharp (wit
hout graininess) and with good contrast, with more of your subject in focus.
CCD chip After the light has been focused through the second set of lenses it falls onto an area with a charge-coupled device (CCD), a small chip that assesses the light according to intensity and color. How well made these lenses are, and how big that chip is, will all affect the eventual quality of the image.
White balancing White balance is a feature that helps correct color of light. Every light situation renders color slightly differently. The auto white balance feature automatically figures out the best color rendition, based on the color white. But it is unreliable and can change easily within a scene leading to odd continuity errors — one minute the screen looks fine, the next it has a blue cast.
Tip:
Set white balance manually:
Set the white balance to auto.
Point the camera at a white sheet of paper, nonreflective, so it fills the frame.
Focus and let the iris settle on auto so it’s not too dark or too light.
Select white balance on the menu and wait a few seconds to find its correct setting.
Leave the setting as it is and avoid changing it while you are shooting that particular location or scene.
You might want to change the white balance to create a particular effect, or avoid a true white balance setting. For instance, if you are recording an outdoor wedding or graduation ceremony, you want to portray it as a happy event, but the weather conditions may be creating a blue color cast to the proceedings. You’ll then need to manually alter the setting to offset some of the blue.
Stand-Out Shorts Page 6
