BASICS OF FILMMAKING

CONTENTS

FIRST THINGS FIRST 2

CHARACTER 3
STORY STRUCTURE 3
THE SCREENPLAY 5
STORYBOARDING 6
EVERYONE IS KUBRICK THESE DAYS 7
GLOBAL SETTINGS: ASPECT RATIO, RESOLUTION AND FPS 8
LENS CHOICE AND FIELD OF VIEW 10
EXPOSING YOURSELF 11
DEPTH OF FIELD AND FOCUS 12
WHITE BALANCE AND COLOUR CORRECTION 13
PREPARING TO CAPTURE SOUND 14
MICROPHONES 15
LIGHTING (“YES, IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE IN YOUR EYES!”) 16
YOU’VE BEEN FRAMED (NOTES ON COMPOSITION) 17
CROSSING THE LINE (THE 180° RULE) 19
CAMERA MOTION 19
THE STUFF YOU’VE FORGOTTEN 20
“ACTION!” 21
POST-PRODUCTION (HOURS IN THE DARK, WITH A COMPUTER) 22
WORKFLOW IN NON-LINEAR EDITING 23

Jon Wood, May 2019

 BASICS OF FILMMAKING
FIRST THINGS FIRST

Filmmaking is more accessible than it ever was. The availability of equipment is not the issue is used
to be. Films like Tangerine were captured on an iPhone. No matter what you decide to record, you will
follow the same process as has been done successfully for over a century. Your work will be divided
into three stages.

Pre-Production

Your story is the most important aspect of your film. A poor story cannot be rescued by beautiful
images and stunning music. All the time you spend in pre-production, the research and writing phase,
will be pay back so much more when you are at production stage.

Rather than try to summarise volumes of texts written about storytelling, you could do no better than
glean from the resources at Pixar in a Box, who produced a massive wealth of experience when
partnered with the Khan Academy. You can find their lessons here: www.khanacademy.org/partner-
content/pixar. Some aspects of this resource that are most useful to this guide are summarised in this
section.

Production

These are the nuts and bolt of capturing all the components making up your film. You have planned
the theme, story, scenes, and emotions and now it is time to commit them to memory. This section
covers all the basic aspects of accurately capturing sound and vision that tell your story.

You will switch our cameras to manual to provide the best production value possible. How can we use
lighting to enhance the telling of your story? What types of methods can you use to record the sound
you need? Not rushing this stage will make your job that little bit easier in the final stage of making a
film.

Post-Production

“It’s in the can” is only the start of this section. You’ve captured all your components and mow you
need to stitch them together. This last stage is a VERY quick lesson in using iMovie on a Mac, managing
green screen techniques, tweaking clips and adding those small touches you want for your film.

Let’s tackle the first of these sections, perhaps the one requiring the most work: Pre-production.

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CHARACTER

Characters should be fully developed, drawing on their inner

Mythbusting #1
personality and the external environment. What are their
beliefs? What do they enjoy? What do they dislike or fear? How
are these reflected in the way they dress and style themselves? While we talk of storytelling,
When you are trying to figure out your character, put them in an never forget that with film, we
elevator and extrapolate how they would behave. Nobody is are more ‘storyshowing’. To
perfect and neither are your characters; they will be flawed. depict a character on film, find a
How does that exercise flesh out the description of your way to show that personality
character? Give your character human traits. When faced with rather than having someone tell
the challenge presented, what desire of the character will drive us about them.
them through it.

What your character wants will drive the story by their actions. How are their wants at odds with their
needs? These may differ greatly, causing a conflict. Conflict is an example of an obstacle that needs to
be overcome by the character. These obstacles may be external barriers such a long journey, but can
also be our personality, such as fear, or generosity.

The choices your character makes as they succeed

and fail at overcoming these obstacles will portray
their character arc. They need to work to reach their
goal. If they achieve their goal easily, they won’t
value it. The stakes of making their choices present
the reason of why we care about the characters and
the story. What is at risk if the character fails? For
instance, will they be infected with a debilitating
illness if they don’t take adequate measures? Stakes
add drama. External stakes are what is physically
going on in the world; e.g. life or death. Internal
states are psychological or emotion; e.g. broken
heart. Philosophical stakes are what will impact on
the world, its values and beliefs; e.g. good versus
evil. Balance the scope and scale of these in your
story to add the right depth.

STORY STRUCTURE

What do you want the audience to know and when? With a joke, the punch line has to come at the end
with the build-up in the middle. Every other order would ruin the joke. The emotional impact of your
story demands the same attention to structure. It requires more than just a start, middle and end.

Begin by coming up with the most important moments in your story; the ‘story beats’. Beats are the
kind of things you would mention if you described what happened yesterday in thirty seconds. Avoid
going into the details, but focus on cause and effect, or choices made by the character. An example of
how to do this is to use the improv tool of the story spine that follows.

3
With your story, step back and try to say what connects all the 1. Once upon a time…
separate events in the story. Simply put, what are you trying to 2. Every day…
say in your story? This is getting to the theme, often connected to 3. Until one day…
the moral, or lesson that the main character learns at the end of
4. Because of that…
the story. A month after seeing your film, what would people say
5. Because of that…
it was about? Ideally, you should know the theme before you
6. Because of that…
begin a film, but you may discover a different one while working
on it. Allowing your theme to grow during the development 7. Until finally…
stage is essential, but you should be clear of what that theme is 8. And ever since then…
by the time you’ve finished writing. The moral of the story is…

The story spine can be broken up into three acts, the most common form of story structure. Act one is
the hook that makes us want to go on the journey with them and the filmmaker. Mapped onto the
story spine it looks like this:

1. We meet our main characters, protagonists and antagonists, and when and where the
story takes place.
2. This is where we learn more about how the world works, and the characters place in it.
3. An event, which leads to a key obstacle, setting the story in motion. Also known as the
inciting incident.

The inciting incident should happen at the end of the first act and launch you into act two. You will
begin to analyse television episodes, whole series and movies, to come to expect the twist or inciting
event that happens at the end of both the first and second acts.

Act two begins the journey to achieve the goals of the protagonist. It is more than just a series of
events strung together. The protagonist will encounter a series of progressive complications during
steps 4 to 6 of our story spine. The choices and actions of the main characters as they attempt to
overcome these escalating obstacles is the substance of the second act. The more they are beaten up,
the more of an opportunity for growth they will have, and learn what is most important; the theme of
the film. As a result, act two may contain the lowest point of the film for our character.

The low point should happen at the end of act two, so that in act
three the main character is forced to confront the things that
they didn’t want to confront at the end of act one. The
point of no return may occur half way through act
two, but the permanent change in your character
should occur at the end of act two.

Act three is the build up to the final crisis and

inevitable climax and delivers the moral of
the story. The character will face the
ultimate test of making choices they
weren’t capable of in act one. They were
driven by their wants in acts one and two.
Are they now ready to accept their needs.
When they do, they attain resolution and
world returns to normal and your audience
are satisfied logically and in an emotional way.

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THE SCREENPLAY

A screenplay is the script of your film, including any instructions for actors and scene directions. They
tend to have very specific guidelines on formatting, font size and even font. Combined, these
guidelines ensure that one page of a screenplay usually takes up one minute of film. A ninety page
screenplay plays out in about an hour and half.

The good news is that you can get a software package to do most of the formatting for you. Visit
www.storywriter.amazon.com to see how a simple screenwriting software package works. Other
brands are available and many are premium priced with many analysis features.

5
STORYBOARDING

A storyboard is a graphical route through your narrative, highlighting the shots you want to capture. It
isn’t necessary for you to be a proficient artist. You concept can quickly be captured very quickly
indeed, ensuring YOU stay in the moment of the images in your head as scene plays out.

The pictures in this example start with a wide shot, then introduce Sarah in closeup. This is also time
to put to good use all those composition abbreviations, such as XLS and CA, etc. More on these later.
Any fine details are omitted from the drawing, but would likely be indicated in the screenplay. For
example, while frame 1 shows what looks like a barbeque, indicating an external (EXT) shot of a patio-
garden, it might be a badly drawn table in a living room, clearly an internal (INT) shot. Similarly with
the other descriptive markers in the scene heading of the screenplay, such as DAY or NIGHT. Rather,
let the screenplay do the hard work of drawing those aspects for you, while letting the storyboard take
care of the actual images you plan to film. Any notes beneath each frame can capture any action in the
shot, any camera motions as well as any dialogue spoken it.

Each scene may have its own storyboard. This may help not only Top Tip #1
when you come to stitch it all together in post-production, but
also at the time of filming. If you know that you will return to a Remember that films are never
scene later in your film, you should be planning to film both filmed in the order they are
scenes at the same time. Why would you move camera, lights, kit shown. So why would each
and crew twice, when you can film all the shots from both scenes scene be shot in the same way?
in one go. Set up the kit to film all the
closeups, and then capture the
If you really are not sure where to start, try dividing the sheet up wide shots at the end. Just
into separate panes that you can reorder and move around the beware of any continuity of
page to get a feeling for the flow. Does it change the emotion? props and the like, when you
reorder them.

6
EVERYONE IS KUBRICK THESE DAYS

With a mobile phone in your pocket we have all got used to being able to capture video whenever we
want and yet we get so much of it wrong. We often use the wrong aspect ratio, the wrong frame rate
and lack the basic controls and kit we need to be able to capture quality footage.

However, we’re likely to use a mobile phone at some point so it’s worth covering some basics that are
specific problems for phones and how we’ve got used to using them.

• Firstly, you absolutely MUST hold it correctly; landscape

not portrait! It’s ok for news reports to include rubbish
footage of events submitted by the public appearing as a
vertical strip on the screen. They have no choice but to
use what they’ve been given. It all looks the same; vast
amounts of unused space above and below the tiny action
in the middle, squashed into 1/9th of the screen. You have
the whole screen, use it! No excuses!
• Secondly, the audio from a phone will inevitably sound
like it is recorded in the kitchen so you will want to use an Mythbusting #2
external microphone. Choose one that’s either plugged
direct into the phone or into an external device such as a “Video is all about what you see”
digital recorder. Either way, get the microphone in the
right place to get the best sound. No, it’s about what you hear.
Television was born from radio and
• Finally, hold the camera still. You may simply be able to
carries many hangovers from that.
rest it on something, as long as it is at the right height for
For instance, if you watch an
the subject of your scene. With larger cameras, use a
external broadcast on the news and
tripod, but this isn't so easy with phones. For small action the image is terrible, they will
cameras, a rig that provides a little weight to stabilise remain with the link if the audio is
them is very useful if you need to bring motion to your integral. If the audio is poor, they
shot. Even then, in-built stabilisation will bring some will kill the link even if the image is
control and some shaking can be fixed ‘in post’, but if your perfect.
footage looks like outtakes from the Blair Witch Project,
you’re going to struggle.

These principles apply to everything you are going to film in most projects, whatever camera you are
using. There are also many problems common to phones and all cameras and these largely relate to
them being set to ‘automatic’. We’re going to solve many of these by setting our cameras to manual as
much as possible, to take control of them.

To make life easier later on, agree on some of the global settings that you want to use for a project.
These settings will apply for every scene you will be filming. Set these first before worrying about
those settings you will have to set differently for every scene.

How you navigate to these settings will vary depending on what camera you are planning to use. Get
to know your camera well and never be afraid to get the instruction manual out.

7
GLOBAL SETTINGS: ASPECT RATIO, RESOLUTION AND FPS

Set the aspect ratio of your camera to record in 16:9. This is

the shape of your typical HD television and your picture will
fill the screen. Old televisions used to have a 4:3 ratio, but
not many people use them anymore.
There will always be exceptions when you want to use a
different aspect ratio, such as when you are targeting
specific users on certain social media platforms. However,
fashions change and what looks good tomorrow will not
always do so.
For instance, after many years of only allowing square (1:1
ratio) videos, Instagram is now allowing videos that aren’t
square. However, it is still cropping standard 16:9 video to
fit their own ratio. If you plan to upload to Instagram,
expect to lose some the video you took time and effort to
frame. Also imagine how those old, square videos now
look dated when compared with the new videos.
For most projects, stick with the 16:9 ratio as it looks
good pretty much everywhere and still allows you to get
plenty of things in your scene without having to add
motion to your shots.
On many modern cameras, you will not be able to find
the aspect ratio setting, but it will be a product of
other settings related to video resolution. They may
appear as an option below:

720p HD at 30 fps
1080p HD at 30 fps
1080p HD at 60 fps
4k at 30 fps

These can be translated as the amount of

lines of pixels down the vertical side of the
screen, and are generally in a ratio of 16:9
(see fig. 2). Most modern HD televisions
are 1080p 1 , the highest resolution that
Blu-ray video is stored at.

Fig. 1. Common aspect ratios in relation to

each other.

1 Incidentally, the ‘p’ means ‘progressive’, suggesting each frame in the video is made up of all the lines in the picture. i.e. All

1080 lines are captured. The alternative is ‘i’ or ‘interlaced’ where each frame is made up of alternating lines of the image.

8
Fig. 2. Common settings for resolution set on
cameras and screens (Not to scale).

The last number (fps) is ‘frames per second’ or

how many single images are going to be
captured in one second of filming. The higher the
number, the smoother it will look, but the larger
your files will be.

On an iPhone, the following file sizes are for a minute of footage at the resolutions above:

iPhone video setting File size of 1 minute video

720p HD at 30 fps 60 MB
1080p HD at 30 fps 130 MB
1080p HD at 60 fps 175 MB
4k at 30 fps 350 MB

Your camera may have different ranges of numbers for fps, a legacy of the differences between the
speeds at which television pictures are shown. In the UK, this is typically 50 fps, while the US uses 60
fps. Older televisions struggle with switching between the two settings, while newer televisions are
able to change automatically. 60 fps is smoother and often evident in videogame play. 30 fps is
considered to be a standard for web-based video.
You may find you have 25 fps and 50 fps 2, maybe even 24 fps.
Traditionally, 24 fps provides the cinematic look of movies Top Tip #2
(alongside other means), so ignore that for now. As 50 fps is twice
If you plan to do post-production
as smooth as 25 fps, go with the high setting.
editing using iMovie then record
However, you are likely to be doing all post-production editing in at 60 fps as it will output your
iMovie on a Mac. While brilliant, because it is free software it work at that. If you import 50 fps
comes with some quirks (see the box opposite), so if you can set footage, it will only export your
your camera to record at 60 fps, then do that. Also remember that finished file at 25 fps and it won't
the very first clip you drag on the timeline of iMovie will set the fps look as smooth as your original
for the whole project. If you film at 60 fps, make sure you drag one footage did.
of these clips into the timeline first.
You always have the option to step it down to a lower frame rate using free software like Handbrake,
but you will never gain any extra smoothness converting it from 30 fps to 60 fps later. Film at the
higher frame rate and you have options. The only exception is if you want to output to 24 fps.
It is possible to use much higher frame rates on a camera via a slo-mo mode. For instance, an iPhone
will shoot 720p footage at 240 frames per second. So when the video is played back at a normal speed
of 60 fps, everything appears in slow motion; silky smooth yet at quarter speed. It is possible to
further slow things down in post-production but if you can capture it at the right speed to begin with,
you should do that. Slowing clips ‘in post’ will not retain the smoothness of the rest of the film.

2 If this is the case, you may have your camera set to PAL rather than NTSC. There is nothing wrong with this, but to get the

best quality video output from iMovie, you will want to set it to NTSC to get the alternative numbers of 30 and 60 fps.

9
LENS CHOICE AND FIELD OF VIEW

If you are filming on a phone, this is not something you can really control, but there will still be things
you need to consider. If you are using an action camera like a GoPro, then while the lens choice is not a
physical thing, you do have options over the field of view (fov). These cameras can shoot a ‘superwide’
frame that captures a wide field of view, or something more ‘linear’, both in a 16:9 ratio. These are
demonstrated in fig. 3 below.

Fig. 3. GoPro shots in ‘superview’ and ‘linear’ fields of view from a fixed point.
The wider field of view captures more of the scene and makes
fuller use of the sensor the image is captured on. It looks good but Top Tip #3
slightly distorted. This distortion is much more pronounced when
Select a field of view closest to the
filming close to the camera and when camera motion is included in
look of a DSLR as possible so that
the shot. However, The ‘linear’ fov digitally focuses on the central the footage you take on either
part of the lens and sensor to prevent the distortion at the edges of camera blends nicely when
the image. With a high quality action camera, you won't notice a edited.
drop in quality by using this ‘digital zoom’.

On a mobile phone this digital zoom is what happens when zooming into the scene using your fingers.
Rather than a physical change in your lens, the zoom is accomplished digitally. At some point, you
maximise the resolution of your camera sensor and just make your pixels bigger. Try to avoid using
digital zoom if you have the option to move the camera closer to what you want to film.

With a DSLR, you can be swarmed with options regarding lens choice. You will see filmmakers with
huge collections of lenses to attach to their camera. They will favour a selection of ‘prime’ lenses,
which will have a fixed focal length, such as a “fast 50mm prime”. It will be a lens that does not zoom,
so it requires fewer glass elements between the world you are capturing and the sensor in the camera.
This means that a prime lens lets in lots of light and you can film in lower light conditions without
relying on bigger and brighter lighting rigs. Incidentally, this is also the reason the simple lens systems
of action cameras and mobiles can film quite well in low light, despite such tiny lenses and sensors.

However, you are likely to have a zoom lens on your DLSR. While it blocks more light than a prime
lens, you won't have to physically move the camera so much to frame your shots. To increase the light,
you can adjust the ISO value, or sensitivity of the camera sensor; but be aware that higher ISO numbers
increase noise in your images and can make them look grainy. For now, set it to 800, we can tweak it
later.

10
EXPOSING YOURSELF

For iPhones and Mobiles

On an iPhone, you can set the exposure and focus simultaneously, and then tweak the exposure. Point
your phone at a scene and move it about between bright and dark areas to watch it darken and
brighten automatically. This frustrating wandering of exposure isn't what you want so hold the phone
still and tap the screen on whatever subject you want to be correctly exposed, such as the person
talking. The phone will temporarily set exposure and focus for that subject.

You’ll notice that the slightest movement and the

camera will reset both focus and exposure again.
To lock the auto-focus and auto-exposure hold
your finger on the subject you want to exposure
for. After a short while, it will tell you it has
locked both. You can now tweak the exposure by
sliding your finger up and down the screen to
fine-tune the brightness of your shot. Hit record
when you are happy and action!

For DSLRs

On a DSLR there are other ways of increasing the amount of light coming in, other than adjusting the
ISO or sensitivity of the sensor, with it’s incumbent drawbacks of increasing grain in the film. It is
through opening the aperture, the mechanical equivalent of the iris of your eye. To let more light in,
open up the aperture until you can capture video at the brightness your subject deserves. If your
image is still not bright enough, go back and increase the ISO or consider some additional lighting.

On a Canon camera switched to movie mode you

will see the following settings. From left to right
these are shutter speed, aperture, exposure
compensation, ISO and a zoom tool. Whichever
setting is currently active is adjusted using the
thumb-wheel. Ideally, you want to set the shutter
speed at twice the fps you have set. Check the
picture, does it look nicely exposed? If not, adjust
the next value of aperture; the lower the number,
the wider the aperture. If the picture still is not
exposed right, use the Av button and thumb-
wheel to adjust the exposure compensation
setting. Hopefully, it should now be looking good.

If you are struggling to get enough light into the scene, you can either set up some lighting or go back
to change your global settings to 30 fps. You can then go back to setting your shutter speed to 60. That
gives you more latitude with shooting in a darker room.

11
DEPTH OF FIELD AND FOCUS

Now you are looking at the scene, you may notice that it is not all in focus. This focus is obvious on an
iPhone, but you may need to press a button on the front of your DSLR to preview what is in focus and
what isn’t. To achieve a cinematic look you want only a single point to be in focus, with the
background nicely blurred so we won't be distracted by it. This is how your eyes focus. Even if you’re
not after ‘cinematic’, you want to influence where people look on screen when watching your video.

This effect is achieved by opening the aperture.

The wider the aperture, the shallow the depth of
focus will be, but the harder you need to work to
get your focus pin-sharp.

On one hand, it can be very effective, such as in

the example opposite. However, very narrow
depths of field can mean that the slightest change
in distance between the camera and the object
being focussed will result in the object falling out
of focus. Even when you try hard to stand still
when talking to camera, but you will still be
surprised how much you move forwards and
backwards when being expressive.

If you are thinking that this is what auto-focus is

supposed to address, think again. You want to
switch it off. You’ve already done this by locking
it on your iPhone, but DSLR users may find it on
the side of the lens. Switch from AF to MF and
you are then able to use the small ring at the end
of the lens. On the screen you will see the
difference. It’s not easy to see what is exactly in
focus using the viewfinder or the screen at the
back of the camera. That is what the zoom feature
is for. Navigate to that and move around the scene
to find the subject of your critical point of focus.

Don't be tempted to rely on the zoom on your lens to get close to the subject and then focus. It may
help a little, but there is no guarantee that it will retain that focus at a different focal length on your
zoom.

What do you want to zoom into when you are setting the focus of something large like a person
talking? Usually, it is the eye of the person speaking, yet this may mean that any gestures in front of
them are blurred. If they are, revisit your aperture setting to close it down and widen your depth of
field so that all the important aspects are in focus.

Focus, like sound, is something that when it is done correctly, nobody will notice it. Unfortunately, if it
is done badly, it will stand out and distract hugely from the production value of your film.

12
WHITE BALANCE AND COLOUR CORRECTION

As we’ve moved from old filament light bulbs, through fluorescent tubes to energy efficient bulbs and
now LED bulbs, you might have noticed how they affect the colour of objects in your environment.
Some bulbs will have a warm colour, while others are described as cool. Even daylight will have a
variable colour temperature. Light on a cloudy day is not the same as a bright sunny day. Even times of
the day will present different temperatures. Consider the warm glow of a sunset painting the
landscape with oranges and yellows, compared to the blue-grey light of early morning. Cameras don't
try to adjust for these different light conditions and need to be setup to tell them what sort of light you
are shooting in. To do this we use a setting called white balance.

White balance allows the camera to record a scene without unwanted colour casts by providing
weighting to the three primary colours it captures; red, green and blue. Fortunately, this is easy to do.

1. Set your scene, including any lights you

have decided to use. Make sure they are
warm and have reached the desired
brightness.
2. Get an aide or subject to hold up a white
sheet of paper in front of them. It needs to
be big enough so that when you fully zoom
in, it fills the frame of your camera.
3. Navigate through your cameras settings to
set the white balance to the current view.
4. You can then zoom back out and get ready
to tackle the next set up.

Most mobile phones don't give you control over white balance and you will have to adjust it in post-
production. Therefore, it is very useful to record a short clip of you preparing for this before each
scene is shot. Whenever you move the camera, the light visibly changes, or a camera setting is
changed, you should include this in your shot list. A further problem can arise when you import all
your footage into iMovie to find they are all mixed up.

How do you make sure you have the right white

card reading for each shot? Yes, it’s time to start
feeling like a filmmaker! Mark up your slate using a
wipe clean marker and don’t forget to keep a
written record of what scene number and take you
are filming. The back of the slate is also perfect to
set your white balance on.

When you get into post-production, phone camera

users will also use this white card in each shot to set
the white balance when colour-balancing. This card
will consistently be the same colour under all
lighting conditions and the software knows that.

13
PREPARING TO CAPTURE SOUND

The slate also serves another purpose. That ‘clapping noise’ Mythbusting #3
allows an editor to sync the images with any sound recorded on
any external devices such a microphones linked to digital “Filmmaking is needlessly ritualistic”
recorders. This is essential if you are using an action camera or
phone to record images. Inevitably, the sound quality recorded The use of the slate in front of the
natively by these devices will be terrible without the use of camera while speaking the words,
external microphones. “Scene [whatever]; take [whatever]”
[CLAP!] is done for reason. Film was
When you import sound files and video into the iMovie timeline, always recorded separately to the
you will want to line them up exactly so that speech is in perfect sound because film was just that, a
sync with the movement of the face. You can physically see stream of still images. To sync them
where the sound of the clap is as well as the exact frame where up, the information about each take
the slate closes, allowing you to line them up perfectly. Later you needed to be marked on both
can then choose between the best audio out of the two feeds; images and sound recording. Hence,
that from the camera or that from the external device. One can both the closing slate is used and the
words spoken. [CLAP!]
be muted as you are editing.

Even when it comes to the setup of your DSLR there aren’t many settings at your disposal. The first
thing to do is switch off any automatic settings. What these do is boost quiet moments and normalise
the audio you want to record. Sounds useful, but isn’t. A result of this is that when you want things
quiet, it boosts sensitivity to capture all the background noise in the room, which you don't want. Then
when you start talking, you can hear the sound dip as it switches from high sensitivity to low, before
rising back to normal. Set it to manual and then you set the slider to the right amount.

A very useful feature of DSLRs is the ability to see the sound bars bouncing up and down when you test
your microphones. You are looking for them to peak around the mark specified on your camera. On a
Canon DSLR, this is between 12dB and 0dB. Keep the audio peaking between these when people talk
and all should be good.

It would be best to be able to hear it at the same time. A decent pair of headphones is very useful as
they present a good range of sound to the ears. Not all cameras allow you to do this, so if you are
looking for a camera to shoot film on, this is a big consideration.

14
MICROPHONES

You will realise that most in-built microphones on cameras and phones are poor. You need either
something else to record sound on alongside your on-board audio, or to upgrade the microphone used
on your camera. Each type of microphone has strengths and weaknesses.

It focuses on the sound it is pointing at, so doesn’t pick up

Shogun too much background noise from the sides. Great if only
one person is speaking, but not so good if you need to
record two people talking in close up. Very sensitive, and
often has a boost function.
Has to be clipped or taped to the person speaking, which
Lavalier often makes them visible on camera. They are also sensitive
to rustle from clothing.

These are very useful to capture ambient audio around a

Boundary space. Place in various places where action is going to
happen. They are omnidirectional so pick up sound from all
around them.

These microphones tend to have the usual 3.5mm jack plug which
Top Tip #4
plug nicely into most DSLR cameras. However, to use one on an
iPhone or GoPro you will need to use an adaptor and there will be Sometimes, these microphones
no option to be able to monitor the sound you collect live. These require separate power. Replace
adaptors can be quite expensive, sometimes more expensive than the batteries regularly and don't
buying a small digital recorder you can plug a microphone into. forget to switch them on. Always
Later you can compare the native audio with that recorded from the check before you shout ‘action!’
external device.

It is worth playing back your audio to ensure there is nothing untoward, such as fridges switching on,
mobile phones clicking, people coughing, crackling from loose cables, or popping as percussive sounds
are made down a microphone placed too close to a person speaking. Look out for ‘p’ and ‘b’ pops.

Remember the more mics you set up in an environment, the more recorders you need to have running
or you need to invest in a mixer, which you will need to balance and monitor. This is the work of a
whole other person. Don't expect to pay attention to the video, the audio mix and getting the best from
your presenter all by yourself. Filmmaking is a team effort.

Other equipment can help you get close to the source of the
sound. A boom, attached to a shotgun mic will get you close to
the speaker. Again, you want another person to hold it. If there
is any wind, you will want to use a ‘dead cat’ too. This doesn’t
solve the challenge, but does limit the amount of wind noise.

15
LIGHTING (“YES, IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE IN YOUR EYES!”)

The good new is that DSLRs are very good at capturing scenes in a good range of lighting conditions,
everything from candlelight to bright sunlight on a snow scene, but only if you set the camera up right
for it. However, you will soon realise that you need to give it a hand, highlight a subject in a certain
way, or create an emotional cue in a scene.

Two things are essential when you consider lighting: the colour/temperature of the light you are using
and where you place those light sources. The first of these we’ve covered when we set our white
balance Beware how colour casts from certain lights dominate on camera without being balanced
(fig.4). But using this colour cast can be useful to achieve a look you want. If you want something else,
consider using gels of coloured films in front of your lights. Just be careful of how hot lights get!

Fig.4 Uncorrected colour cast from sodium streetlights and fluorescent tubes.

Placement of lights can add depth and dimension as well as reflect mood and emotion. Depending on
how what type of lights and how many you have will enable you to create the feel you want. Typically
you will use three light sources; a key light, back light and fill light. There are no hard and fast rules for
placing them. The example below is a textbook example of the three-point lighting setup.

Each light will create definition to the

subject and will be presented at
different intensities. Not all lights allow
you to adjust the brightness with the
turn of a switch. To create a lower
intensity you may move a light further
away from the subject, attach a soft
box, or bounce the light off a reflector
or wall/ceiling to get the balance right.
If you bounce off a coloured wall then
the light will take on some of the
characteristics of that colour. There is
no law about these lights not being
seen in the frame, but expose your shot
for the subject, not the bulb of the light
or everything will turn out dark.

16
YOU’VE BEEN FRAMED (NOTES ON COMPOSITON)

It’s ok to break the rules on composition, but you must first learn those rules and at least attempt to do
them justice. We’re talking about where things sit in your camera frame in relation to other things,
even in the third dimension. Luckily, a simple framing guide is built into your cameras, and it’s called
the rule of thirds. You will find these grid lines will help, so switch them on.

Note in the image opposite how key aspects of

importance to the shot are at the junctions of the
lines on the screen. We read emotion from eyes at
one junction and action from the hand at another.
Also note that the camera is usually at the same
height as the eyes! Avoid framing your subject
centrally, but along one of the lines that dissect the
screen instead. The same applies to the horizon.
Think about positioning this along either the
upper or lower third lines. The subject in focus will
dictate which of the two is more appropriate.

How close you position the camera to the scene

will affect the placement of objects visible on the
screen, relative to each other in the third
dimension. Positioning the camera close to the
action and using your zoom lens at the shortest
focal length will ensure distant objects are placed
further away in the frame. If the camera is moved
back and the zoom lens used to the maximum,
then distant objects in the frame will appear much
closer the front of the scene.

The example opposite shows how this relation of

distance to subject and use of zoom interact to
change the compression of the scene. The distance
between the subject and the background is greatly
compressed at the upper end of the zoom.

One further issue of using the zoom at the longer

focal length is that you need to hold the camera
very still or use a tripod. The slightest motion will
be amplified in the frame of the camera.

As well as this, you need to ensure that microphone booms don't drop into the top of the frame, or
lighting equipment and crew don't appear at the edge of frame. You are ideally looking for nothing
that distracts from your subject.

If you are using a green screen or plain backdrop, ensure there are no shadows cast on it. Move the
subject forward, the camera back and use the zoom to bring the two closer, just like you see above.

17
Let’s take a look at the main types of shot often filmed. How you storyboard the order of the shots you
film will help the audience follow the narrative of your story. For instance, the first shot may be the
Extreme Long Shot, which sets the scene; sometimes called the ‘establishing shot’. It allows the
audience to become immersed with the players, in the environment that the action is to take place in.

Extreme Medium
Long Shot Closeup
(XLS) (MCU)

Long Shot Closeup

(LS) (CU)

Medium Big
Long Shot Closeup
(MLS) (BCU)

Extreme
Mid Shot
Closeup
(MS)
(XCU)

Insert Cutaway
(I) (CA)

The bottom two are extremely useful for highlighting details but also allow you to make sneaky edits
between different takes. Keep the audio running over the cutaway or insert and nobody will notice.

As well as the shot at eye level, you can alter the angle of the camera to change the emotion of the shot,
perhaps to portray intentions or some aspect of narrative, known or unknown to the protagonist.

Canted or
High
Dutch
Angle
angle

Low Over the

Angle Shoulder

18
CROSSING THE LINE (THE 180° RULE)

It may be that you want to film a conversation between

two people, capturing the natural flow of dialogue. You
have three cameras, each positioned as in the bottom of
the picture opposite. That way, the pink subject is always
on the left side of the frame; the blue subject is always on
the right. We are used to reading the world in this way, so
don't break the 180° rule by putting a camera on the
wrong side of the dialogue. Crossing the line would swap
the speakers around on screen and leads to confusion.

CAMERA MOTION

For many shots you will be using a tripod and capturing a static shot, but that doesn’t mean you can’t
smoothly, and purposely move the camera. Ask yourself: Do I want movement in this shot? What type
of movement do I want? What equipment do you have to create that movement? Then you will need to
pre-visualise and block out the movement you are planning to make!

Movement may show perspective, add emotion or direct the focus

of the audience. The speed, angle and type of movement can cue Top Tip #5
the emotions of the audience and we are attracted to motions. The
Most camera movements should
real world exists as moving in our eyes. Also, our eyes don't exist
mimic real life movements, such
on tripods, so you may be able to introduce movement by as pan and tilt. However, we don't
handholding the camera, even on the end of a selfie-stick. Care naturally zoom into objects and it
must be taken that the camera shake is VERY subtle as it can be disorientates the viewer, taking
terribly distracting. Try to mimic real life movements, such as them out of the real world feeling.
walking alongside the subject, keeping them in frame all the time.

On a tripod, we can use these examples.

You may not have equipment to be able
to accomplish all of these but a decent
tripod will not only be able to provide a
stable platform, but also allow these.
But not all tripods are created equal.
There is a reason tripod heads for
filmmakers are more expensive; they will
have fluid dampening systems that cause
the movement to be extra smooth.
Cheaper versions may be jerky and
create noisy vibrations that are picked
up by the on-board microphone.

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THE STUFF YOU’VE FORGOTTEN

There will be lots of things that go wrong when you are filming, but the trick is to work as a team. The
runner is the person that is sent to get the one essential item you need immediately. To ensure you
don't run short on runners, prepare the following:

Gaffer tape Useful for holding kit together, securing loose cables, but not for
sticking lavalier mics to skin.

Batteries Not just spares for the camera, but also a range that fit your mics
and digital recorders.

Chargers For all phone makes, cameras, monitors and possibly lights.

Extension leads Because you are taking over a large space, cables will inevitably
never reach the wall.

Umbrellas and plastic bags Because you live on earth and it rains here. Use a large umbrella for
the camera.

Whiteboard marker For the slate.

Notepad You need to record every shot and take, together with any
comments made by the director about each take.

A printed copy of your script Because batteries on your tablet will fail during the day.

Cash Because you want tea right? Yes, and so do your crew. Treat them
well and they will work better!

While on that last note, you are going to want patience; lots of it. Filming takes much long than you
imagine, but take solace in that fact that the longer you spend getting the preparation right and the
filming right, the easier your editing will be. You’ll be glad you left that beat in before calling “Cut!”

You need to be able to communicate clearly with everyone involved, including your subject. Be kind
and clear. Let people know why you think another take is needed.

Finally, remember that your film can never be rescued from a bad story, no matter how technically
brilliant it is. Writing your script is the cathartic process of refining your understanding of the material
and organising the research you have done. Your story will develop during this process. When the
director is ready to call action, the pressure turns over the subject. If you are the subject then you need
to relate to your audience, even though you can't see them beyond the people behind the camera. Your
job is now to throw away the script and talk to the camera like you are sharing the wonderful things
you want your audience to hear.

Never forget, filmmaking is all about telling a story, so tell it well!

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“ACTION!”

Only when you are ready does the Director get to say these immortal words. For most people, that’s
not you. This document is training you for the position of Assistant Director. The Director is
responsible for getting the best out of the performers; the right messages delivered in the right way,
with the right emotion. Your job is to ensure that the sound and vision of what the Director sees is
captured accurately. Are you ready? Run through your checklist:

• Lights are on and warmed up.

• Camera settings: Top Tip #6
• Correct resolution, aspect ratio, frames per second,
shutter speed, ISO and white balance. As soon as you have set audio
• Script to hand and you know what you’re capturing. levels, press record and ask your
subject for their name; how they
• Any camera movement is blocked out.
spell it and what their job title is.
• On-board sound is live and within correct levels. That way, when you come to add
• Any external microphones are on and recording. the ASTONs in post-production,
• Slate is marked up and ready. you will be able to spell them
• The composition of the shot is framed. correctly.
• Your subject is comfortable and ready to start.

If all the departments are set, the following commands are how you call a shot as an Assistant Director.

Assistant Director “Ready for take?”

Director “Let’s do it.”
Assistant Director “Quiet on set!” (Gets people quiet so you can call for attention and
check for background noises.)
Assistant Director “Roll sound!”
Sound Recordist Starts recording. When recording begins, replies, “Speed!”
Assistant Director “Roll camera!”
Camera Operator Starts recording. When recording begins, replies, “Speed!”
Assistant Camera “Scene 1, [production], Take 1” or whatever the slate count is at.
[Claps the slate.]
Camera Operator Sets the frame.
Director “Action!” (The scene happens now. Ensure to leave a beat at the end.)
Director “Cut!”
Assistant Director “Another one, or move on?”
Director “Let’s do another”
Assistant Director “Back to one!”

Feel like a filmmaker? Excellent start. When you’ve got everything ‘in the can’ it is time to go to ‘post’.

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POST-PRODUCTION (HOURS IN THE DARK, WITH A COMPUTER)

The following guide has been put together using iMovie as it’s free on a Mac and is pretty good for
most simple projects. As the software is updated, features change and buttons move so we will focus
more on your workflow rather than a detailed account. However, the general layout is as below:

The top half of the screen shows the media you have imported (C), whether clips, still images, or audio
with the preview screen to the right. As you skim your cursor over any clip you will see it played in
that window. You’ll also hear the audio as you skim so a set of headphones will help you here. The
preview window is also where you can playback your work so far. The top window (A) also hosts any
titles (D), transitions (F), and stock audio and foley 3 elements (G) you may choose to use in your film.

Any sections of clips or other elements you want to use are dragged from (C) to the timeline window
at the bottom. Here is where you construct your film in order. When a clip is in position you can make
changes to it using the editing tools (B). From left to right, these are Colour Balance, Colour Correction,
Cropping, Stabilisation, Volume, Equaliser, Speed, and Clip Filter and Audio Effects.

Keyboard shortcuts are very useful to speed up your editing experience. The Help section in iMovie is
very useful, but some common ones are: cmd+x (cut) cmd+c (copy), cmd+v (paste), cmd+b (split clip),
m (add marker), and the space bar will start and stop playback from your position. Other useful
shortcuts are cmd+z (undo), cmd+y (redo) and ß (delete selection).

3 Foley is the word used to describe sounds you add to the film, such as telephones ringing, rain falling, and other noises.

22
WORKFLOW IN NON-LINEAR EDITING

Begin by dragging clips you want into the timeline. To rearrange them, just click and drag sideways.
You can add a cutaway (E) by dropping a clip into the space above the main timeline. Notice how the
audio from the cutaway clip has been lowered to zero so that it doesn't interfere with the audio over
the lower clip 4.

To adjust the volume of audio within a clip, hover over the audio waveforms and you will see it change
to tiny up and down arrows. Click and drag to increase or decrease the volume of that audio. You can
also select and adjust just a region of the audio (G) by clicking and holding on the audio until a
selection window can be dragged sideways.

The edit tools (B) contains the Colour Balance tool which allows you to
select the white of the slate you filmed so that iMovie can recognise
the temperature of the light shining on it. It will adjust any colour cast
on that clip. If you want to adjust contrast, brightness or add tint, then
use the Colour Correction tool instead.

This window is dynamic and if you select a cutaway clip, it will add a
Video Overlay button allowing you to choose how you see that second
clip. Options include Cutaway, Green Screen, Split Screen and Picture in
Picture. If you have filmed against the green screen, you will be able to
crop the area so you tune the image till it looks correct. Imagine that
you don't have to just use footage you have filmed to be your
background when filming green screen; you can also create
animation5.

When you are happy with the order of clips, you can add music, foley,
titles and transitions. Titles can also be used as ASTONs in the Lower
Third. How you use sound effects and transitions is up to you, but
don't go mad. It’s like using all the animations in PowerPoint in one
presentation. The stock audio does contain some jingles and musical
themes of different lengths. These are royalty free so imagine how
many people with a Mac have used them to death.

Other than the stock media in iMovie, you have options for licensing other royalty-free images and
music. Websites like www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/music are great sources. In the credits of your
film, you should include all attributions as directed in the instructions provided by the library used. In
fact, you have a responsibility to ensure that even brands visible in your film are cleared for use!

When everything is finished, use the Share button in the top right corner to export as a File. Check your
resolution and quality settings. You’ll never need to export in Pro-RES setting by the way, so select
Medium but go with your maximum resolution. Finally, let iMovie put it all together. Well done!

4Audio for this clip has also been detached to show how it looks when audio has been imported from another source.
5PowerPoint is good for creating animation and exporting as a movie. Make sure you set your video size correctly so it
exports correctly. If you use a Mac, Keynote is MUCH smoother at exporting animation in presentations as video.

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