Indie filmmaking tips and tricks for new creators. By a guy who has made / will continue to make a lot of mistakes. From gear reviews, to editing tutorials for beginners, to the basic concepts of filmmaking, we're covering the gamut of filmmaking.
New podcast "Out of Frame" out now on RU-vid, Apple Podcast & Spotify! beacons.ai/thenerdyfilmmaker
Director, editor, photographer, actor, but most importantly, geek. Born and raised in Montreal. Co-Founder / Creative Director of Beanduck Productions www.beanduck.com/
Thanks for the great info! If a film needs some VFX and compositing work, on which step it needs to be done? After cutting and before music? Or before cutting?
Oh man how could I forget VFX??? I think I forgot it because I've actually only once had VFX / compositing on a project. But doing some quick research (cause now you got me curious), I've seen some people saying that VFX should be done before colour and some saying after. The answer I liked best is they're happening simultaneously on the raw footage, and then eventually the colour grade can be copied from what the colourist did on to the composites / VFX as well. At indie level, I feel we're always looking for the simplest way to not add to people's budgets or time. So I would assume it'd be after picture lock (cutting), and started pretty soon after that, as sound design needs to be done to whatever the VFX is. I feel like when that is introduced to the timeline, there's probably gonna be lots of rough versions flying around so people can get started and tweak when things started finishing. I dunno if that answered your question well tho lol...
This was a wonderful video, and ditto what @annekoolen5619 said. Please make a video about incorporating eyelines with more than two actors! Thanks for making this video!
@@PianolasonMars working on another 4part series right now, but then I’ll give that video a shot! It’s weirdly simple and complicated at the same time lol so just gotta find the right way to showcase it. Thanks for watching :)
I am a RU-vidr who edits in Premiere. My latest project contains over 100 hours of raw footage. I have created a bunch of sequences inside a single project to get past the 24 hour sequence limit, but this results in slow loading. Do you make a new project per video or keep going until the 24 hours is full or use multiple sequences to keep all your work together?
Holy moly! Thats a lot of footage... Normally I'd make it in a single project with multiple sequences like you're doing. And only have 1 sequence open at a time. Are you working with proxies? That may help...
Very wise advice in this one. We have to take our shots no matter how critical we can be on ourselves. If it doesn't go our way, we at lease have tangible feedback to improve off of. However, it just might be exactly what someone out there is looking for. Thank you so much for sharing.🙏🏽🙏🏽
That's it: take your shot, confident in the choices you've made and your point of view. Worst case its a no, best case it opens up a new world of opportunities.
Thank you so so much you have no idea. I am in the process of making my first feature so this so helpful. Spend 2 year developing the story finally finished it. It will be self finance, I will be directing as well as the lead actor with female co lead along with 6 supporting main cast. 2 principal cast, few extras. Total of 3 main location and rest may be steal it :) I am in the very early stage. The whole think is driving me crazy. Right now in the process of looking for a budget friendly producer. I am in U.S. Seattle but I been thinking maybe shoot in Toronto because of the large Tibetan population campared to any in the US. Any advice? Do you think it will be cheaper to shoot in Canada....thanks.
Hey thanks so much for the kind words! And congrats on the upcoming project, that sounds pretty exciting. One of the big benefits for you filming here is you're essentially extending your budget by 33% with exchange rates. As for the actual costs, not sure what the differences would be necessarily. I do know Quebec has some incredibly talented cast and crew at all stages in their careers, and thus, budget levels. My one piece of advice (though I'm sure its too late at this point lol): are you sure you want to star in your first feature film you're directing? That sounds like it may add a lot of complexities. I know someone who did that and... well... he shouldnt've lol. It not only affected the quality of the film, but it got on the nerves of the crew who felt they didnt have the full attention they needed from their director. Anyway! Something to consider :) Either way, good luck!
Hey bro, great video, I'm glad to find your channel. I'll be watching all of your vids. I'm a Final Cut Pro X guy for ever, and am having to jump into Premiere Pro for some clients. . thanks for sharing your knowledge .
Thanks so much! Hope the rest of the videos were a help too. I stopped pursuing the editing vids mainly cause it seemed like people were resonating with the directing ones more, so I’m happy to see someone benefit from these :P
@@TheNerdyFilmmaker well I hope you keep making these kind of vids, because you are straight to the point, no BS. something most others don't do. Good luck at your business.
All my worst ones have always been doing background work, and not just on small indie sets (where I find they tend to actually treat you better), but on huge big budget sets. A 3rd AD who doesn't want that job but took it for the money, can be a living hell for all the extras in their care.... But like you said, trauma bonding makes for really good and long lasting connections between artists on sets. 🙂
I’ve never understood people treating background performers poorly. Like, yo. They’re there for you. They’re an important part. Why yall being dicks???
I shot a student film in the basement of a warehouse, literally a hole in a concrete floor, during which a guy was being waterboarded and he only had a tiny tube to help him breathe under the actual towel drenched in water. There was a drain in the floor, but when the owner of the place came by to check on us, he got super angry about all the water on the floor, because the whole room was like a locker for his many many guns. I was just speechless and of course I have never been paid, lol (I also doubt we got any food)
What’s a student film without literal torture? That’s insane. Boy do I hope that the filmmakers actually learned from that experience and work with a bit more safety and consideration. For actors and, you know, gun collectors whose house they may be damaging…
I've had a lot of tough times on set, but the longest, most annoying days have always been made better with respect. And plenty of food :P But seriously, I can't think of a TERRIBLE experience I've had on set because at the very least my craft has been respected. Well, except for one project in particular :P
Awesome review….I’ve just purchased the 660 Pro 2…..waiting for them to be delivered, I was mainly going to use them for some RU-vid videos in a small studio & maybe occasionally at small lobby/ restaurant style gigs, would these be ok for a live performance just to give me some ambience? Do you think they maybe fixed some of the small issues you mentioned on the Pro 2 version? Thanks 🇦🇺
Heyo! Thanks so much for that :) Honestly I didn't even know they came out with a Pro 2, and I cant seem to find any decently made reviews lol. So it's a bit unclear what's new. Unsure about the colour accuracy, but if they made the diffusion stronger than the one you see in my review, hopefully it fixed that jagged edge problem. Which anyway, is something that doesnt really interfere with my more interviewy setups, since I dont see the wall in-camera that the light is splashing on if I'm using it to light a subject. Would it add ambient light? Depends on the how large the space is, and the exposure you have your camera at. If you're fighting stage lights which are usually pretty bright, may be hard. But if you're using both and doubling the light in a smaller room, maybe? But I think it'd be perfect for your lobby gigs for your subjects, and your resto gigs for your subject or background lights (if you're not fighting sunlight). Anyway, hope you enjoy em! And here's hoping Neewer randomly decides to send me the Pro 2's to review...
Hey thanks for your reply, hopefully Neewer will send you some of the updated pro 2 version & you can do one of your awesome reviews on them, after watching your review on this modal I was sold on these, they seem a decent package for the price as you get the full set up!! Cheers
Hi - but what you do with the dialogue-Audio when you shoot coverage with one cam? When you shoot mediums or close ups from different angles, with the same one cam, the audio quality must be exactly the same, and you must not have some atmosphere noise on the mics, or everyone will notice it, that this is the audio from another take. Ok, when you shoot the speaker from over the shoulder or behind, t h e n you can use the audio of the wide shot, when the actors played through the whole scene, but what if you have a cut where the mouth of speaking actor should be visible from another angle? - t h e n you have to record the audio of this angle new, o r the actors speaks e x a c t in the same rhythm and timing so that you can synchronize the white shot audio over the coverage...I'm about to shoot a dialogue short with one cam, that's why I ask...Thanks
Hey there! What a great question, thank you for this. So the actors are both mic'ed up with lav mics that are hidden in their clothing. Most film is shot with those, and that way the sound is consistent from shot to shot, ESPECIALLY the wides. Then on the closer ones, you can add in the boom mic as safety (plus sometimes the boom just sounds better). And then the sound mixer works to make it sound consistent, and make it sound further away in the wides. This obviously requires gear, and a sound person. If you dont have those, a boom mic is minimum requirement for good sound. And then try to not use the sound from the wide at all if possible (theyll just be too far from the mic, and it wont be clear), or dont have as far as a wide as I showed in this video. Make it closer for better sound. Hope that helps!
@@TheNerdyFilmmaker Many many thanks for the quick response! - Yes, we shoot with Lavs, there is also a sound man. I've also shot a few things, but never a dialogue film, neither did my DOP. HE said that if we shoot with o n e cam, we couldn't cut in the scene, at least not at an angle where the actor's mouth can be seen, because then we have to take the audio from the coverage, regardless of whether we The actors also have their respective parts spoken completely through during the coverage shots, or do a pickup in the middle, because the actor won't be able to repeat his text with 100% of the same melody, rhythm, style and phonics and you'll notice it when you do takes the respective audio recordings of the scene (wide, mediums, close ups etc) and the sound man then puts them together... I said to him don't believe that, because if you don't synchronize the audio in the studio, that's probably the way the professionals go, right? These the different audios from the different coverage on the coverage shots and the audio from the wide shot on the wide shot, right? Because it is very unlikely that the lav audio of the wide shots can be superimposed on the coverage scenes, because for that to happen the actor would actually have to speak at e x a c t l y the same speed in the coverage shots so that the wide-shot audio can reach them Mouth movements of the coverage shots fit, you know what I mean?
@@dandelgado11 i think I understand, and I’ll respond like this: when I cut from one angle of an actor to another of the same actor, if it is while the actor is talking, I try not to do it smack in the middle of a sentence. Maybe in a pause between sentences, and I’ll cut on the first or last word or two. For one word, you can easily match up the audio from the new angle over the last word of the old video. So that way you’re not switching audio files in the middle of a sentence, you know what I mean? Yikes this is very hard to explain via text! lol. Maybe I’ll make a video on it one day :P
