Waiting 2B Scene

Category: How It’s Made Monday

  • HIMM: What’s With the 29.97FPS?

    HIMM: What’s With the 29.97FPS?

    In a world of HD and 4K – have you ever wondered why your NLE still has 29.97 as a frame rate? I have. Not enough to do my own research into it of course… but it’s always been a question. Like a small splinter in the back of my mind.

    Well, the short answer is that it was an accommodation made when the American’s introduced colour television. If you are interested in the long mathematical version (and the presentation is interesting enough to watch all the way through), then this video essay is just what the doctor ordered.

  • HIMM: How to Get Smooth Footage

    How It’s Made Monday is meant to inspire you with some of the secrets of videocraft: and today, we’re sharing a great little tip on how to get smooth footage. In short – by yourself a gimbal!

    The 3-axis gimbal market has been exploding all over the place for the last little while: and there have been some pretty cool advances since the first generation of commercially available gimbals hit the market. Little things like going from a 10-bit system to a 32-bit system. And then there is fun bits of kit like this to contend with: the CAME-TV Single!

    https://vimeo.com/146584738

    For under US$1K, you can now get a pretty sweet hand-held motorised 3-axis gimbal… with encoders! In geek speak, encoders are often used in robotics for highly accurate monitoring of motor position. Some of the benefits of using encoders include: preventing motors from losing synchronization and skipping steps, providing important information about frame and camera angles, decreasing power consumption (this is my biggest plus – longer battery life!!), increasing torque, increasing precision of stabilization, and more.

    So check out the review by Tom Antos (which includes some visuals he shot using the Came Single), and be inspired… super smooth professional looking footage is well within reach of the average videographer!

  • HIMM: How To Mess Up Your Aspect Ratio

    HIMM: How To Mess Up Your Aspect Ratio

    How It’s Made Monday is meant to inspire you with some of the secrets of videocraft: sometimes, those secrets lie in how NOT to do things just as much as they are found in how to do things. So today we’re going to share how to mess up your aspect ratio. In short, leave it unplanned!

    For those with amateur experience in videography, let me ask a question: when was the last time you planned the aspect ratio elements of your video production? In all honesty, most people simply point and shoot and hope they capture something that works (and for the record, vertical video should never be considered something that works IMHO). For professionals, as much as depends upon them, the opposite is true. Rather than simply thinking, “I hope this will look good,” they consider what they want the production to look like – and then go about planning the shoot to achieve that end. Believe it or not, this also includes which aspect ratio to use.

    For the most part, I work with widescreen footage (for simplicity, let’s call that 16:9). So when I take a look at a DVD and find the footage has a 4:3 SD ratio, I expect a visual phenomena called pillarboxing. For those who don’t know, that means when the 4:3 image is displayed in a widescreen environment, the image is displayed with added lateral mattes (usually black, though some productions have used more creative ways to add those mattes).

    Subsequently, if you were to fit a widescreen image into a 4:3 environment you could fork out cash to have a pan and scan application made (the important information in each 16:9 scene is shown in the full frame size of the 4:3 aspect ratio this way). Or – the cheaper, and far simpler, alternative would be to letterbox the image. Where pillarboxing is lateral, the letterboxed image has horizontal mattes (usually black bars) above and below it.

    So how can you mess that up?

    severe_windowbox

    While there are many things that might go wrong – my personal favourite would have to be the unintended ratio fail known as windowboxing. In this happy example (above), the source material was 4:3. Some thought went into having footage for a 16:9 audience though, so the advertisement was intentionally pillarboxed to that end. Unknown to the production house (it seems), the channel the advertisement was to air on was actually a 4:3 broadcast. So, the network took this faux 16:9 image and letterboxed it to fit. Given that people have widescreen TV’s though, these lovely people ended up with this glorious mess – a final image that was even further pillarboxed! Such fun!

    So if you want to emulate this lunacy, begin by pointing, shooting, and hoping it all turns out for the best. It’s surprisingly easy to do. Additionally, you should not consider what platform you intend your production to be shown on. Oh, and you should remain completely oblivious to what might happen if your production crosses between display platforms. If you can do these three things – then you will be well on your way to developing ratio blunders of the highest order.

  • HIMM: 4 Things to Help Get A Cinematic Look on a Budget

    HIMM: 4 Things to Help Get A Cinematic Look on a Budget

    One of the most common questions young filmmakers ask is, “How do I make my film look cinematic?” Usually the answer is “good lighting” – but what if you don’t have access to any?

    Though still in school, it is exciting to hear ideas from host and creator of DSLRguide – Simon Cade. Why? Well, when creating content on a tiny budget, you are forced to consider how to make cinematic visuals a little differently: so when a young guy who spends most of his time filming, editing, or learning about filmmaking takes the time to share some of his experiences on how he has gone about achieving that – it’s something worthwhile considering.

    Cade identifies the following four things as items that will help you make up for bad, or at least less than special lighting: locations and sets, colour, emotion, and senses. It’s by no means a comprehensive list – but it will certainly inspire you to move in the right direction.

    “I’m all about learning the meaning behind the choices we make in films, and using film as a method of communication.” – Simon Cade.

  • Blog: 3 Things to Expect from Us This Year

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    It’s great to back from our January hiatus. The proverbial batteries have been recharged, we’re ready to tackle the 2016 blogosphere – and we’re trying out a new format for our W2BS posts that clearly spells out what you can expect from us throughout the year to come.

    1. Monday’s we will share a How It’s Made Monday post to inspire you with some of the secrets of videocraft.
    2. Wednesday’s will be all about the Whatsit Wednesday posts: a series that will resource you to do video better – offering hints and tips on how to improve your videocraft. And,
    3. Friday’s will further delve into cinematography and videography with Flick Friday posts aimed at motivating you and supercharging your creativity.

    There will also be an array of ad hoc posts that cover all the other fun bits and pieces that the internet tends to offer – as well as the general blog post or two – so the future looks bright for Waiting 2B Scene in 2016.

    It’s wonderful to have you on board!

  • HIMM: A Quiet Long-Take Champion (Zhou)

    A long take – this is simply a shot that doesn’t cut away to other shots, but is a continuous shot that usually follows the action of the scene as it plays out in real-time. Even if you have never heard of the term, I’m sure you have seen one in action (anything that has top-ten style list dedicated to it is probably something which falls into the category of stuff you have seen)!

    In the early years of cinema, it was normal to shoot with long takes – it made production both a little easier, and a bit cheaper. As cinema developed cinematography became more complex, and consequently the pace of editing increased. In what seemed like almost no time, the long take was either done away with altogether, or it directors wielded it as a stylistic badge of honour.

    Let me ask you this then: what if you were able to incorporate the long take into your work without drawing attention to the fact? How would you do it?

    With 55 directorial credits spanning four decades, Steven Spielberg knows how to. The Hollywood giant has used this classic technique so frequently that it is definitely a signature move – yet many of us may not have realised it.

    While other purveyors of the long-take usually parade the shot, Spielberg has managed to have many of his ‘oners’ fly under the radar – allowing audiences to become immersed in the dramatic energy of a scene without noticing the technique being used. Love him or hate him, that is a rare cinematic skill that ought to be celebrated – if not emulated.

    So today on How It’s Made Monday, I want to share an excellent video essay on the Spielberg ‘oner’ by one of my favourite online commentators, Tony Zhou. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

    https://vimeo.com/94628727

  • HIMM: Kingsman Finale, Visual Effects (BUF)

    This morning I want to launch something new – kicking off a series of Monday-specific video-shares that explore a variety of film and TV behind the scenes clips: so welcome to the very first edition of How It’s Made Mondays!

    Founded in 1984 as one of the few pioneers of CGI, BUF has been creating content for over 30 years – providing some stunning visual effects for more than 100 films and 850 commercials. One of those films was the 2014 film, Kingsman: The Secret Service.

    This short clips highlights some of the impressive work that went into developing the visual effects for the films climatic finale. With that being said, consider yourself warned, as this will obviously make for a massive spoiler if you haven’t yet seen the film.