Telling Stories Through Film
19 July, 2010
This article is written by one of our great film editors Matt Eastwood. He'll explain what goes into creating effective videos from the equipment and software to tecnique and most importantly the story. Take it away Matty!
EQUIPMENT
I cried in Toy Story 3.
There I said it.
And I bet, behind those clunky 3D glasses, hid a glassy eye for you too.
And why exactly is that? How did grown adults sniffle when cartoon Andy said goodbye to cartoon Woody? How did these rendered polygons penetrate my emotional fortress? In front of my girlfriend too!
Film is the most effective medium in telling stories to a mass audience. It is what it is designed for.... The film industry is completely built on the art of telling good stories.
When you combine good writing, good cast and good music, you create a world where every different member of the audience is united into feeling the same emotion. No other medium is as successful as film in providing its audience with a way to explore a world through a singular characters perspective. I spent 2 hours in a cinema with Buzz and Woody, sharing all their experiences, and was totally emotionally engaged with their farewell to Andy.
How? Story is King. That is Pixar's motto. Although pioneers and masters of 3D animation, it isn't their advanced equipment that takes the crown, it is telling good stories.
But. As we nerdy film folk tend to do, we geek out on the newest, latest film gadgets and editing equipment on the market. If you are anything like me, the desire to get the best image on the screen and the smoothest workflow would keep you up all night googling every blog on the subject... Often leaving you unsatisfied with the equipment you already have...
Which reminds me of an interview I read with Randy Nelson, one of the senior exec's of Pixar. When asked about the newest animation and render systems, he reminds the reader:
"No amount of good technology can turn a bad story into a good story, and we just set out to tell a good story as well as we can."
Wham! Story is king. And the tools you have are almost irrelevant. Almost.
When I am asked on what equipment we use for our testimonies, I want to first enforce that you should learn to use what you already have, even if you only have a camcorder or an iphone, learn how to tell the story first. A bad story is a bad video, even if you have the shiniest toys to play with. Just try to sit through GI JOE: RISE OF THE COBRA and you will know what I mean.
I'll explain some of the tricks I have learnt about telling stories in another blog, but for now, power up your geekometer, because we are going techno. Xbox LIVE style.
If you are in a position to look at getting new equipment, this is the current rig that I have found works best for us:
CAMERA
- Canon 5D MkII
- f1.4 50mm
- f2.8 70-200mm USM
- f4 24-105mm
The kit changes depending on what the scene is, but that is a good indicator of what would be a good starter kit..
The Canon 7D and 550D are slightly different (and cheaper), but I prefer the image quality of the 5D... When compared to Broadcast cameras, the Canon range are extremely affordable, and capture very very tasty delicious images...
AUDIO
You MUST get a seperate audio recorder as the Canon's are not set up well for audio. The Zoom H4n is very very cheap with good onboard mics, and records at 24bit / 96kHz (english translation: very good).
Try to use a good Boom Mic or lapel whenever possible, as the onboard mics are VERY wide. You will hear everything 180 degrees.
LIGHTING
The Canons respond incredibly well to most lighting conditions, so I have found myself usually just using a window and a reflector to light my scene. But for studio work, it is handy to have something like a Kinoflo available.
They are cool and soft, and won't make anyone sweat.
CAMERA SETTINGS
For camera settings, youtube 'Eye Patch Entertainment', as this was the most help when I started using Canon's for the first time... But in brief;
- Shutter at twice the speed of your frame rate. So for PAL, I leave it at 50. For slow motion on the 7D, at 50fps, shutter is 100, at 60fps, shutter is left at 125...
- ISO as low as possible around 100, 200 or 320
- For outdoor/bright conditions, I use a variable ND filter to control the brightness...
The lenses change depending on what is available, and it usually involves borrowing from friends... I tend to favor primes as opposed to zooms, usually a 50mm or wider...
EDITING
The canon's native quicktime format records as H264, meaning it is compressed at internet quality. So when importing the clips, you will need to up-convert them to a better format. Using Compressor, or MPEG Streamclip, convert the files to Apple Pro-res 422 in order to edit with them. You can also get a free plugin for Final Cut Pro, which converts them for you through Log and Transfer.
When choosing this rig, it really came down to getting the job done as quickly and as cost effectively as possible. It is such a lightweight, portable kit, that it makes life very easy when setting up in small locations. If you aren't in a position to buy it, they are usually pretty cheap to hire, and are available at most camera rental places...
But hey. That's just the rig. Without good writing, good cast or good music, you're only making Rise of the Cobra II.
Matt.
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