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Alleviate business, office and tech image fatigue by following some of these cues to remain competitive and stand out from the crowd.
Welcome to our new “Making The Fourth Wall” tutorial series. Each week, our video team will be helping you learn more about how to tell stories with video. Episode 1 focuses on the basics of filmmaking and is a great resource for those of you that may be transitioning from photography to video (or have been thinking about it but don’t know where to start).
Shot in Atlanta, GA during the production of a short film called “Homme” — written and directed by one of our Senior Artist Relation’s Associates, Matthew Addington — our team braved the winter cold and worked together with an amazing team of creatives to bring you something we hope will entertain, educate and show you how simple it can be to create engaging video.
Also known as “frame frequency”, frame rate is the frequency (rate) at which an imaging device displays consecutive images called frames — expressed in frames per second as FPS.
If you’re shooting in bright light, you might be thinking, “How do I get this exposure right when I have to shoot 1/50 as my shutter speed?” The answer is to use an ND (neutral density) filter. This is like putting sunglasses on your lens — they basically filter the amount of light hitting the sensor. You can get variable ND filters that will give you a multitude of darkness options, or just stick with single darkness options.
Welcome to episode 2 of our new “Making The Fourth Wall” tutorial series. Each week, our video team will be helping you learn more about how to tell stories with video.
In this episode, our guide, George Georgeadis and the team dive into the world of composition and focus, two of the most important aspects of any good looking video. Touching on technical and creative aspects, we get into the techniques like “The Rule of Thirds”, “Leading Lines” and changing focus intentionally to help direct an audience and tell a compelling story.
Composition is how one positions different elements inside a frame — what to show, what not to show, how and why. Balance, framing, staging and depth are all key to how you present “space” in a scene. Some composition principles to take in:
For a lot of people, the first lens they put on their camera is a 50mm 1.8 or 1.4 to create depth of field. However, you don’t necessarily want to do that as it can cause some technical issues or make you hunt for focus a lot more, so instead follow these tips:
Welcome to Episode 3 of our “Making the Fourth Wall” tutorial series from Stocksy. In this episode, our guide George Georgeadis and the video team dive into the world of lighting, be it indoor or natural and the best practices for how to use both.
NATURAL LIGHT
Natural light can often be the best light and sometimes is really your only option — so it’s great to know how to use it to your advantage. In this episode, we cover principles of bounce and diffusion and well as blue hour and magic hour techniques that can set the tone or mood of your shot. Be sure to scout your location and plan in advance — optimal blue and magic hour moments are fleeting and can result in missed opportunities if you aren’t prepared.
INDOOR LIGHT
3-point lighting systems are relatively standard in filmmaking but can seem daunting at first. Here we cover the simple principles of setting up your Key Light – your main light placement that usually highlights your actor, Fill Light – usually less bright and set opposite your key light, and Back Light – set behind and higher than your subject to provide definition and subtle highlights.
Also, don’t be afraid to experiment with practical lights like lamps, TVs, phones, candles etc. They can set a mood and convey intention to support your storyline.
In this episode, we take a look at the principles of motivated and intentional camera movement. A still or locked-off video shot can be powerful within a certain context, however, if you really want to elevate the quality and cinematography of your videos, knowing when, why and how to use camera movement techniques are some of the most important things you’ll ever learn about video storytelling. Let us show you how!
Camera movement should always have a purpose for supporting your storyline. If movement isn’t something you’re looking to do, investing in gimbals or shoulder rigs will help to keep your camera steady while filming. Remember, a small movement while filming will always show up larger on screen. Your lens focal length can also help to keep things steady — the shorter the lens, the less the camera movements will have a shaky impact.
When speaking of intention, think about what you want your audience to feel. If they are meant to be more of a spectator, then panning can be a useful tool. If you want your viewers to feel more like they are “in the shot”, try focusing on a subject like a person and follow them through the shot. You can also try “push in” and “push out” techniques to add importance and emotional depth to a scene.
Have you wondered why certain shots in movies “feel” a certain way? Or how one shot can communicate a director’s intention? That’s the magic of lenses. Knowing what lenses to use, and when and how to use them, is one of the most impactful storytelling skill sets you can have in filmmaking. Learn more about how to tell your story with lenses and BONUS get some info on the very necessary step of obtaining releases in our final Making The Fourth Wall video tutorial episode.
Using this type of lens can create shots that showcase the size/vastness of the scene that’s captured by making the horizon seem further away. A wide-angle lens is perfect for landscapes and is commonly used for establishing shots. It can be a great tool for creating a sense of awe and wonder at the vastness of a scene.
Using a 50mm can achieve what your eyes typically see, capturing everyday life and a realistic perspective. This lens works best for subjects at a close-to-medium distance — when you don’t need to zoom in on something far away or get super close to a small object. A normal lens will do wonders for bringing your viewer into the scene.
Get close to a distant subject using a telephoto lens (they have a focal length of over 70mm typically). If you’re trying to craft an image that’s filled by the subject, a telephoto or a zoom can make the viewer feel very close to the subject. Shorter telephoto lenses can be great for portraits, as they tend to make your subject really stand out from the background. Keep in mind, your subject doesn’t need to be very far away to use a zoom or telephoto lens. You just have to decide how close you want to get. 😉
Macro lenses are used for capturing close-ups that draw attention to the magic of the ordinary, showing details, textures and important story elements otherwise missed by the human eye. Many of them produce a 1:1 image — which means that your subject is reproduced on the camera sensor at life-size, allowing for huge amounts of detail. Macro lenses also excel at creating images with a shallow depth of field, leaving only the foreground in focus.
✨Thanks for being a part of our tutorial series. Click here for more on Grading in Resolve, Ungraded Footage, and the Best Pro Video Cameras. Always shoot what is true to you, keep trying, keep failing, take risks, experiment and raise the bar higher and higher. You got this. ✨
Peruse Stocksy’s Video Collection for some filmmaking inspiration >>
As a filmmaker, director, game designer and podcaster, George Georgeadis is always looking for opportunities to embrace his love of storytelling. In his free time, you’ll find him designing board games, lost in the world of VR, travelling with his husband, stargazing or enjoying his home theatre and movie memorabilia collection.
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