The Digital Filmmaking Handbook , Third Edition (Digital Filmmaking Series)

Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 4
Copyright......Page 6
CONTENTS......Page 7
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION......Page 19
Digital Video and the Independent Filmmaker......Page 21
Digital Video in the Home and Office......Page 22
What Type of Equipment Do I Need?......Page 23
What Is Digitizing?......Page 24
Why Digital Video?......Page 26
Part II: Production......Page 28
Exercise......Page 29
CHAPTER 2 WRITING AND SCHEDULING......Page 31
Writing for Digital Video......Page 32
Finding a Story......Page 33
Structure......Page 34
Writing Visually......Page 36
Script Format......Page 37
Writing for Corporate and Industrial Productions......Page 40
Writing for Documentaries......Page 42
Scheduling......Page 43
Choosing a Shooting Order......Page 44
Production Boards......Page 47
Scheduling for Documentaries......Page 48
Exercises......Page 49
Summary......Page 51
CHAPTER 3 VIDEO TECHNOLOGY BASICS......Page 53
Tracks......Page 54
Video Resolution......Page 56
Scanning Methods......Page 57
Native Aspect Ratio......Page 59
Physical Characteristics of Videotape......Page 60
Color Sampling......Page 61
Bit Depth......Page 63
CODECs......Page 64
Pixel Shape......Page 68
Video Broadcast Standards......Page 71
Audio Basics......Page 73
Audio Sampling......Page 74
Types of Digital Audio Files......Page 75
High-Definition (HD) Video......Page 76
HD Pros and Cons......Page 78
Choosing a Format......Page 79
Delivery Is Everything......Page 81
Videotape Formats......Page 83
Exercise: Look at Some Video Quality Examples......Page 86
Summary......Page 87
CHAPTER 4 CHOOSING A CAMERA......Page 89
Evaluating a Camera......Page 90
Image Quality......Page 91
Lenses......Page 97
Ergonomics......Page 99
Manual Override......Page 101
Frame Rate......Page 102
Progressive Scan......Page 104
Aspect Ratio......Page 105
Audio......Page 107
Viewfinder......Page 108
Image Stabilization......Page 109
Direct-to-Disc Recording......Page 111
Use Your Director of Photography......Page 113
Tripods, Steadicams, and Dollies......Page 114
Summary......Page 116
CHAPTER 5 PLANNING YOUR SHOOT......Page 117
Storyboarding......Page 118
Shots and Coverage......Page 120
Less Is More......Page 127
Camera Diagrams and Shot Lists......Page 128
Location Scouting......Page 130
Production Design......Page 134
Art Directing Basics......Page 135
Building a Set......Page 136
Effects Planning......Page 138
Exercises......Page 140
Summary......Page 141
CHAPTER 6 LIGHTING......Page 143
Film-Style Lighting......Page 144
Video Lighting......Page 145
Three-Point Lighting......Page 146
Color Temperature......Page 148
Wattage......Page 149
Controlling the Quality of Light......Page 152
Lighting Your Actors......Page 155
Interior Lighting......Page 158
Mixing Daylight and Interior Light......Page 159
Exterior Lighting......Page 160
Enhancing Existing Daylight......Page 161
Video Lighting......Page 162
Special Lighting Situations......Page 163
Lighting for Video-to-Film Transfers......Page 164
Lighting for Blue and Green Screen......Page 166
Exercises......Page 167
Summary......Page 168
CHAPTER 7 THE CAMERA......Page 169
Using the Camera......Page 170
The Lens......Page 172
White Balance......Page 184
Lens Filters......Page 186
Other Camera Features......Page 190
Preparing Your Equipment......Page 193
Exercises......Page 195
Summary......Page 196
CHAPTER 8 SHOOTING DIGITAL VIDEO......Page 197
Rehearsals......Page 198
The Shooting Script......Page 199
Managing the Set......Page 200
Respect for Acting......Page 202
Composition......Page 203
Camera Movement......Page 211
Exposure......Page 214
Keeping On-Set Records......Page 217
Script Supervising for Scripted Projects......Page 218
Documentary Field Notes......Page 219
Exercises......Page 220
In the Can......Page 222
CHAPTER 9 PRODUCTION SOUND......Page 223
What You Want to Record......Page 224
What a Mic Hears......Page 225
How a Mic Hears......Page 230
Connecting It All Up......Page 234
Double-System Recording......Page 237
Placing Your Mics......Page 239
Getting the Right Sound for the Picture......Page 245
Testing Sound......Page 246
Managing Your Set......Page 247
Recording Your Sound......Page 248
Run-and-Gun Audio......Page 249
Summary......Page 251
CHAPTER 10 BUILDING A WORKSTATION......Page 253
Macintosh OS......Page 254
Windows......Page 255
Digital Video Interfaces......Page 256
Analog Video Interfaces......Page 259
Audio Interfaces......Page 260
Choosing a Computer......Page 262
Storage......Page 264
Accessorizing......Page 267
Building a Macintosh System......Page 270
Building a Windows System......Page 271
Portable Editing......Page 273
Edit Controllers and Custom Keyboards......Page 274
Backing Up......Page 275
Archiving......Page 276
Network Systems......Page 277
Exercise: Know What You Need......Page 278
Summary......Page 279
CHAPTER 11 NON-LINEAR EDITING SOFTWARE......Page 281
The Interface......Page 282
Editing Features......Page 284
Other Features......Page 288
Organizational Tools......Page 290
Logging, Capturing, and Importing......Page 300
Types of Effects......Page 303
Titles......Page 305
Audio Tools......Page 307
Videotape Masters......Page 308
Film Cut Lists......Page 309
Editing Applications Compared......Page 310
Exercise: Know What You Need......Page 313
Summary......Page 314
CHAPTER 12 EDITING HARDWARE......Page 315
Don’t Panic!......Page 316
Hardware Peripherals......Page 317
Tape Format......Page 319
SDI, FireWire, or Analog I/O......Page 321
Device Control......Page 322
VTR Checklist......Page 323
DAT and MiniDisc......Page 325
Speakers......Page 326
Video Monitors......Page 327
Professional Video Monitor Features......Page 328
Hardware Connectors......Page 330
Exercise: Hardware Checklist Before You Start......Page 331
Summary......Page 332
CHAPTER 13 PREPARING TO EDIT......Page 333
Create a Numbering System......Page 334
Keep a Database of All Your Media......Page 335
Use the Organizational Tools of Your Editing Software......Page 336
Drop Frame and Non-Drop Frame Timecode......Page 337
How Timecode Is Stored on Videotape......Page 338
Keycode: Timecode for Film Sources......Page 339
Logging......Page 341
How to Log by Content......Page 342
Digital Online and Offline......Page 346
Audio Levels......Page 348
Clipping and Distortion......Page 349
Equalization......Page 350
Video Quality......Page 352
Video Levels......Page 353
Troubleshooting......Page 363
Problems and Solutions......Page 364
Importing Digital Files......Page 366
Media Management......Page 368
Summary......Page 369
CHAPTER 14 EDITING......Page 371
Building Blocks......Page 372
Radio Cuts......Page 376
Master Shot-Style Coverage......Page 378
Refining Your Rough Cut......Page 380
Cutaways and Reaction Shots......Page 381
Matching Action......Page 382
Matching Screen Position......Page 384
Overlapping Edits......Page 385
Hard Sound Effects and Music......Page 386
Dissolves, Fades, and Wipes......Page 389
Solving Technical Problems......Page 390
Working with Low-Res Footage......Page 391
Fine Cutting......Page 393
Duration......Page 394
Summary......Page 395
CHAPTER 15 SOUND EDITING......Page 397
Sounding Off......Page 398
Editing Sound in Your NLE......Page 400
Dedicated Sound Editing Apps......Page 403
Audio Editing Hardware......Page 408
Unintelligible Dialog......Page 410
Are There Bad Video Edits That Can Be Reinforced with Audio?......Page 411
Are There Vocal Problems You Need to Correct?......Page 412
Dialog Editing......Page 413
ADR......Page 414
EQ Is Your Friend......Page 415
Special Filters......Page 418
Sound Effects......Page 419
Sound Effect Sources......Page 420
Editing Music......Page 421
License to Play......Page 423
Finding a Composer......Page 424
Do It Yourself......Page 425
Exercises......Page 426
Fix It in the Mix?......Page 427
CHAPTER 16 COLOR CORRECTION......Page 429
To Compress, or Not to Compress......Page 430
Color Correction......Page 434
Safe Colors......Page 435
Too Much of a Good Thing: When Color Correction Goes Too Far......Page 436
Correcting Bad White Balance......Page 439
Matching Footage from Different Cameras and Shoots......Page 444
Using Tracks and Layers to Adjust Color......Page 446
Don’t Expect Miracles......Page 448
Exercise......Page 449
Summary......Page 450
CHAPTER 17 TITLING AND SIMPLE COMPOSITING......Page 451
Titles and Simple Graphics......Page 452
Making Titles in Your NLE......Page 453
Titling Software......Page 458
Compositing 101......Page 460
Keys......Page 461
Mattes......Page 474
Pixel Aspect Ratios......Page 477
More Sophisticated Mattes......Page 485
Basic Movement......Page 489
Eliminating Camera Shake......Page 496
Summary......Page 497
CHAPTER 18 ROTOSCOPING AND MORE COMPOSITING......Page 499
Rotoscoping......Page 500
Painting on Frames......Page 501
Better Rotoscoping through Filters......Page 507
Rotoscoping an Alpha Channel......Page 510
Creating Animated Alpha Channels (or “You, Too, Can Make Travelling Mattes”)......Page 517
Building Effects with Multiple Layers......Page 523
Fixing a Drop-Out......Page 538
Compositing Elements from a 3D Animation Package......Page 540
Creating Film Texture......Page 541
Changing Video Time......Page 544
Plug-Ins......Page 546
Summary......Page 547
CHAPTER 19 OUTPUT......Page 549
The Best-Case Scenario......Page 550
Videotape Masters......Page 552
Preparing for a Professional Online Edit......Page 553
The Do-It-Yourself Digital Online......Page 559
The Final Audio Mix......Page 563
Preparing for a Professional Audio Mix......Page 564
Do-It-Yourself Final Mixes......Page 565
DVD Output......Page 566
Outputting for the Web......Page 572
Creating a Video CD......Page 577
Getting Your 35mm Film Release Print......Page 578
Film Editing and Cut Lists......Page 579
The Film Printing Process......Page 580
Getting Your Video Transferred to Film......Page 582
Archiving and Backups......Page 583
Exercises......Page 584
Summary......Page 585
ABOUT THE DVD......Page 587
GLOSSARY......Page 589
INDEX......Page 609