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Tag: Blogging

  • Article/Video Essay: Beyond the Rule of Thirds/The Quadrant

    Whether you started out in photography, or you were dumped into the deep end of video and film – you will know of the rule of thirds (RoT). It’s one of those unstoppable forces that influence every aspect of both!

    Like many “rules” in avenues of artistic endeavour, the RoT is an excellent starting point – particularly if you haven’t yet developed an instinct for good visual composition. Once you know the why and how behind effectively utilising the RoT, however, you ought to expand your visual vocabulary – developing visuals that aren’t necessarily tied down to the RoT (I can’t help but think of Barbossa here: “the code is more what you’d call “guidelines” than actual rules.”).

    So if you are willing to wade out into the deeper waters of visual framing and composition, then this article by Doddle offers a great variety of framing illustrations that go beyond the rule of thirds: the golden spiral, quadrants, diagonals, the centre, as well as playing around with the edges and intentionally unbalancing the frame.

    If you happen to want a more in-depth video essay to help you shake your RoT shackles, then look no further than this great example by the Every Frame of Painting YouTube channel – it breaks down the quadrant system of framing that was used in the 2011 film Drive. Enjoy!

  • Blog/Video: Thriller Horror on a Budget (Simon Berry)

    If there is anything that a film such as Paranormal Activity can demonstrate, it is that a creative idea doesn’t actually need an extravagant budget in order to be brought to life. I would argue that is especially true when it comes to the thriller/horror genre. And I will share a video that demonstrates that quite nicely. But first…

    For the sake of my blog space I want to touch on just two (of the admittedly many!) components that contribute to the success of a thriller or horror. If you would like more, well, Google will be your friend.

    Firstly, we need a good story. In a large majority of thrillers and horror films alike we will find a variation of this common theme: protagonist falls victim to someone/something else’s scheme – gets stuck in a moment of dread. There is a reason for that: it lends itself to being a good story. What happens to the protagonist? Do they get out? Are they overcome? Why does this other person/thing want the protagonist involved at all?  Etc etc etc. Exploring this style of thriller doesn’t need a big budget to be brought to life: just an intuitively thrilling way for the story to be told.

    Secondly, we need good pacing. This is critical. Just think about the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. Seriously. The guy was able to develop a proverbial stranglehold on his audiences! I recently read some reviews that suggested Hitchcock was slow and stodgy in his work – honestly, the effects of the reduction in attention span have clouded their judgement! Thrillers and horror are all about the suspense and the tension – and mark my words, Hitchcock was the best at that genre… and he held the mantle for a very long time. He was a maestro who knew how to effectively pace his stories in order to build the suspense. Like all thrillers, he was able to keep the audience in that constant tension of asking, “What comes next?”

    So then – let us turn our attention to the video part of today’s blog. This is fresh off the press, and is a little gem. At under 4 minutes, Simon Berry does wonders with this short thriller/horror. And more to the point – he did so with just a two day turn-around, and working with a micro-budget! He crafts a simple story, and builds tension with the pacing. Simple, yet effective. I think you will enjoy it.

  • Blog Video: Sherlock Recut As a Thriller Trailer

    Throughout this year my workload has been focused primarily on editing and producing a series of women’s self-help modules. It is necessary work, and based on the stories that have come out of it – it is seeing some wonderful results. Still, it is hardly creative work.

    Well, yesterday I re-stumbled on a great little article by No Film School on how to help get past a bit of a creative funk: so I decided to give it a go. After having a look at some of the footage I had saved on my HD, I decided to do a re-cut version of the very first episode of Sherlock. In a trailer style for a thriller. Aaaand just 2-hours later, this is what I come up with. I’m not a sound stylist, so that side of things is a bit rough. Still, it was definitely a pleasure to stretch out some of the other creative muscles.

  • Review: Smartphone Stabilisation

    Even though there are lots of stabilising options out there, today I wanted to share a recent clip by the FilmRiot team who have reviewed the US$379 iKan Fly-X3 Plus 3-axis brushless motor gyro stabilising system. Specifically for use with smartphones, it doesn’t look too bad. Even though it is probably a little on the expensive side, this seems like it might still be a nice little piece of kit: and as we all know, having the right tools for the job is as important an aspect of videography as what happens in front of the lens. Enjoy.

  • Music Video Montage: Uptown Funk (Draper)

    Okay, so what happens when a person takes 3 months to mix together a whole host – ergo, 280!!! – of Hollywood films and catchphrases with one of the hottest songs of 2014-2015? This awesome piece of mashup goodness – it’s gonna funk you up!

  • Blog: “Which Lie Did I Tell: More Adventures In The Screen Trade”

    As a young 80’s child my grandparents bought me the Little Golden Book Record Read-Along Collection (which featured 20 stories with a corresponding 33.5 rpm vinyl for each story). It sparked a lifelong joy in stories – and to this day I still love to grab a good book and wile away the hours reading.

    Having been on holidays for the last few weeks, I have been able to indulge in this favourite pastime of mine (as well as finishing the TV series Fortitude – but that is a different blog post!). So what have I been reading? A pretty great book by screen-writing maestro (and novelist) William Goldman (author and screenwriter of The Princess Bride) entitled, “Which Lie Did I Tell: More Adventures In The Screen Trade”. I picked it up from a charity shop in the London’s Hammersmith for a measly £2 last year… and it is turning into a most excellent little investment!

    Now is it all good? No – much of Goldman’s gruff humour and charm derives from emphatic statements of the obvious – and by about half way through, you start to get the feeling that the book may just be devolving into a conspicuous case of sour grapes. BUT, if you are willing to wade past his personal biases (and honestly, what writer isn’t biased? That includes you, Mr/s Reviewer!), then there is some treasure therein. I am not a screenwriter. But you don’t really need to be to enjoy it. There is some advice to wannabe screenwriters as well as some script analysis – but the book is also full of funny anecdotes, uncomfortable truths about Hollywood, and an array of personal insights which have been gleaned from over 40-years in the industry. It is well worth checking it out… especially if you can get it for £2 from a second-hand store like I did.

    And that’s it peeps. I am back on board with my blog roll-outs – and look forward to sharing a bunch of great bits and pieces over the next little while!

  • Blog: You’re Missing the Point

    Today I wanted to hit pause on my resource posts so that I could indulge in some genuine blogging. Yep, I’m spouting forth my own thoughts and ideas on this one!

    So, I saw a Facebook friend share the following video earlier this week. Given that it garnered 3-million views in its first week (and was at 44 million when I watched it) – it is the definition of viral. 2-years later, and we have to give it credit. It continues to pique the interest and ire of the interwebs. At least that is what I assumed when I watched it:

    In actuality, these days it seems to be less about interest, and more about ire. If the comments section was anything to go by, the biggest issue about this clip today is whether it is genuine or not. Honestly – from a benign “This is fake…” to a more scathing, “ITS JUST SOME GEE BAG SLUT TRAMP TRYING TO GET INTERNET FAMOUS BY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF PEOPLE’S EMPATHY…”, the negative, stupid, and outright trolling commentary on this video is mind-boggling! How could people so quickly miss the “moral of the story”?

    You know what? Yes – the video was staged. I know this because I did five minutes of research to discover that the Belgrade office of global advertising juggernauts Saatchi & Saatchi were behind the whole thing: “Saatchi & Saatchi Belgrade and Fund B92 [decided] to take action, shake the public out of the lethargy and put [domestic violence] into the focus of Serbian society.”

    At it’s heart, this video was a PSA addressing domestic abuse. It was as simple as that. The moral of the story was – and is – to raise awareness about this issue: and in its early stages, I would argue that it was a success. “Media outlets from all over the world have been reporting on this cry for help by an anonymous victim of domestic violence, which is in itself a testament of how widespread this problem is.”

    Whether it was a real person who felt that was their only way of dealing with the situation, or whether it was an actor playing a role – that question ought to have been a distant runner up to the impetus behind the video: let’s shine some light on the cowardly men who are beating up on women. If your first response was that the whole thing was fake or – worse still – that the woman involved was just a “gee bag slut tramp trying to get internet famous…” – then I would humbly suggest that you’re missing the point, and the Internet would be a better place without such stupidity clogging up the bandwidth.