Filming Masterclass
- Natalia Muñiz Blasco
- Feb 28, 2022
- 4 min read
Hi everyone!
Last week, when I was on my way to watching a particular editing video, I came across an advert for a 1-hour free masterclass from Fulltime Filmmaker, which I found very interesting.
I watched it at that same moment and took some notes; I found it very useful! Here are some of the tips that I found the most useful!
Hope you like this post!
xx Natalia
Fulltime Filmmaker Masterclass:
#1- Frame Rate
The frame rate can really make a difference when it comes to filming and editing. The most common ways of filming are 24fps and 60 fps.
Filming at 24 fps instead of something like 30 fps allows you to have the 'natural' motion blur of actions, instead of having an image that is unnaturally neat. That is why Hollywood films typically use 24 fps.
However, 60 fps can give you a ver different effect- if you film at 60 fps, when you edit and transfer all the material to 24 fps, the image that you film at 60 fps will appear in slow motion! I will definitely be using this in my music video, and take this into account.
#2- LUT feature and filming on LOG mode
LOG is a feature present in many cameras which refers to a logarithmic curve for the exposure that captures a wider range of shadows in the image, and allows for more flexibility when editing in post-production.
When in post-production, you can apply LUTs which are a type of presets that will give your image a specific style. These can be used when a footage is filmed in LOG (which will look initially very flat and desaturated) and will give the image a great wash-over of a specific colour grading and style.
In this Masterclass, I also learnt that if the camera can only film in 8-bit, it is not a good idea to film in LOG mode as when you re-saturate the image in post-production, the colours will not have the good quality that they do if the camera can film in 10-bit. Therefore, I will be careful to check if the camera I borrow can film in 10-bit, and I might film some scenes in LOG!
Here are some more educational videos on LOG and LUTs:
#3- Some Lighting Tips:
Firstly, it is important to not have your background lighter than your subject, that is in terms of colour, exposure, etc. If you are shooting in a natural landscape that you cannot easily alter, try to shoot with a lower aperture to have more focus on your subject.
Also, if you don't have an ND filter for your camera to have good shots in plain sunlight, shoot at golden hour and use the Sun as your backlight to get the beautiful light flares into your shot.
Try to use a reflector if you can, to get more light to your subject. This can come in the form of a white sheet of polyfoam or another material.
#4- Aperture and Composition:
Try to have a "foreground - subject - background" composition to make your shots more interesting and give them depth. Your subject has to be in focus, and the rest can be blurred out slightly depending on the type of shot you want.
Using a low aperture, you can bring your subject into focus out from your background- however, this depends on the type of shot you want. With the low aperture, your camera has to be close to your subject and farther away from your background- if you are shooting against a wall, have your subject stand a bit far from it.
For a better composition, use the leading lines in nature to centre your shot, such as bridges, fences, paths and buildings.
I could make a whole post on composition, but the basics are symmetry, the rule of thirds and having your shot make sense- if your character is looking in one direction, leave some empty space in that direction and not on the other side of your character.
#5- Shooting the Shot- Shots and Movements:
For every shot, use a variety of angles. He recommends the 5 shot rule, using 5 angles for each shot to make sure you can capture the action from different angles and keep the shot interesting.
Some interesting movements are the parallax and some transitions:
The parallax movement consists in moving in one direction whilst panning in the opposite one, so that your subject stays in the same place whilst the background moves, creating a very cool effect.
For the panning transitions, try to use movement, something intercepting the foreground (like in a busy street) or following a person's movement; also, use 'soft hands' for shooting handheld and try to absorb most of the shock by bending your knees to have steadier footage.
#6- Post-Production:
Try to include shots that are not repetitive- there are also transition presets available on Premiere Pro, but try to use in-camera transitions (see previous post).
If bringing up the highlights makes the footage underexposed, bring the shadows down. The whites in an image need to be adjusted until what is white in the image appears to be white, that is a good starting point.
The blue and orange LUT makes the footage seem much more cinematic, and having an 'S' curve on the whites allows you to have more contrast.
Reflection:
I found this masterclass quite useful in making me more acquainted with the world of filming and I will hopefully apply some of my knowledge when filming my music video very, very soon...!
Stay tuned to find out how it goes!
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