Tag: advice

OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 4TH

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

It’s that time again when we gather together the most esteemed of our filmmaking experts and put them in the spotlight to answer your questions about our noble pursuit.

Filmmaking isn’t an exact science since the advancements in technology and ways we can capture and share or footage and the methods in which they are edited and presented are changing constantly, so it is natural that these changes will be a mystery to those of us out of the loop. Conversely, there are those tried and tested traditional practices that will never go away so learning about them from the past masters is always a boon too.

Whether you have a query about filming, sound recording, editing, or post production techniques out panel of brainiacs should have an answer for you and maybe open up a debate on the subject if there is a difference of opinion or procedure, which should be of benefit to all of us. We do ask however that your questions are contained to the subject of filmmaking and not about computers as seems to be the way these discussions head which ends up in heated arguments over what is a subjective topic.

These sessions are designed to help and not humiliate so remember there is so such thing as a silly question – we all had to start learning from the beginning. If you don’t ask, you don’t learn.

So get your thinking caps on, or make a list if you have to, and be at the meeting on Tuesday with your questions with you where our panel will do their best to answer them for you.

OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY JUNE 26TH 2018

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

We have another practical evening lined up for you for this meeting but this one is different. Instead of learning about filmmaking we are going to hone a different set of skills – our judgement of films.

Opinions are like bottoms – we’ve all got one – but it is how we express them that matters and in the world of judging or reviewing films (must resist temptation to plug my own film review site) this is no different.  A brusque or snootily delivered comment can make all the difference in deflating the confidence of a filmmaker whilst excessive praise to disguise any obvious mistakes won’t help someone learn from them and improve in the future.

So, how can we all learn from this and distinguish the difference between brutal honesty and constructive criticism? Our chair Jane Oliver has this in-depth explanation as to what this evening is about:

 

The Purpose of the Evening
We all need to learn the art of giving and receiving constructive criticism and acting on it if we hope to improve our filmmaking skills. We need to learn how to mark films consistently and fairly across the board, irrespective of the filmmaker
Part 1
Show a short film (about 4 minutes)
  • Get club members to rate it in accordance with most of the points on the Top Ten entry judging form
  • Filmmaker provides explanation of how they went about asking for constructive criticism, accepting or disregarding that criticism and whether or not it resulted in the filmmaker re-editing the film.
  • Show film again, split into groups, expand on comments together through discussion and to make constructive suggestions as to how this film could be improved upon.
  • Feedback to whole club
  • Filmmaker commenting on the actions they took throughout the process
  • Show revised film if there is one.
Tea break
Part 2
  • Show a film that was entered into a number of different competitions resulted in extremely diverse results from the judges
  • Break into groups to discuss how this film could be improved upon
  • Guess whether or not it won any awards
  • If club members think it did, can they suggest which competitions it would have done well in?
  • What does this teach us about judging and judges?
  • Provide the judges comments to the groups
  • Filmmaker to make any additional helpful comments.
We hope that by the end of the evening, club members will;
  • feel confident to give appropriate marks fairly across the board
  • feel confident to comment constructively on other member’s films
  • be able to receive constructive criticism to assist in developing their filmmaking skills
  • be able to discard any criticism that is not constructive and helpful
  • be able to decide whether or not it is worth re-editing that particular film
  • have an understanding of how their film could have a better chance of winning awards
We want OVFM to grow, not just in numbers, but in confidence, with an understanding of how we can develop the quality of our films so that in time, OVFM will stand out from the crowd as a club that produces award winning films.  Bring on the next Triangle competition.  It’s about time we brought home the silverware!

 

I hope that is clear, so be sure to join Jane, John Epton and David Laker for what will be an interesting and worthwhile evening for us all.

FILMING GUIDELINES

Posted on by Lee Relph

Directing and On Set Instructions

Here at OVFM one of our primary aims is to share our knowledge of filmmaking to help everyone improve their skills either in front or behind the camera, pre-or post production.

In a recent double practical sessions of making joke films, some club members found themselves stepping into the role of director or camera operator for the first time and it opened their eyes to what these duties entail and their impact on the filming process. One helpful factor was the crib sheet our chair Jane Oliver created in a Word document, which you can download and print off to use yourself for future reference HERE.

John Epton also compiled the following points guide which expands upon the suggestions in Jane’s crib sheet in how to respond and comply accordingly to the director’s instruction, be it on single or multi-camera shot, detailing the roles and expectations of those participating in key roles:

 

Cameras

In the event it is going to be a long day be prepared and bring your :

Heaviest/Best Tripod

Spare Batteries

Blank SD Cards

External Battery Charger

 

Set your cameras to:

Maximum quality

Interlaced

Stereo sound

Automatic everything

 

If the action is mostly static shots, it will be important to capture facial reactions and body language so:

Frame the shot beforehand

Do not pan or zoom during the take (unless absolutely necessary or instructed)

Allow plenty of ‘nose’ room when filming an actor from the side, (ensuring that he is talking to the centre of the screen and not to the edge of the screen).

Keep rolling  (if something is going wrong with your shot whilst filming, wait until the Director shouts CUT and then explain what has gone wrong).

There may be a film shoot with more than one cameras. However, not all scenes will require every camera to be used so please be patient if you are not called upon. Perhaps whilst waiting, you could:

Capture some relevant cutaways.

Assist with related tasks like creating shadows or wrangling the dolly.

 

Sound

The boom mic will be used and in some instances fed into a separate sound recorder. The boom mike should be as close to the source of sound as possible and is directional so that it must point towards the source of sound .  However, it does pick up unwanted boom movement.  So it must be:

Close to the sound source

Not in the shot (above heads or below belt depending on the shot)

Kept as still as possible during the take.

 

Clapper

This is the most important job. The Clapper Board provides the synchronising signal which is used in the edit to lip sync the 3 cameras and the sound system. So ensure:

That the clap is loud

That  you announce the Scene and Take information loudly.

That the board is placed close to the main actor’s face so it can be seen by all cameras.

If necessary clap after the Director shouts CUT but just before the cameras are stopped (should there be a problem with the Scene and Take details ).

 

General Instructions

When the Director has ensured that everyone is ready he will shout CAMERAS and then SOUND to initiate the start up of the equipment.

At your instruction :

Press the record button on your equipment.

Wait until your record indicator is steadily on

Then shout ROLLING to confirm.

The Clapper operator should wait until all active cameras and the sound recordist has confirmed they are ROLLING before clapping. The Director will shout MARKER to initiate the Clapping. Once the Clapper person has moved out of shot the Director will call ACTION.

When the action is complete the Director will shout CUT. At this point, everyone should stop the recording and shout CUT.

The Clapper operator should ensure that each person has stopped recording.

 

Hopefully this makes things clearer for those of you who have only worked on small shoots and may one day expand to something bigger, or have only worked alone. It is amazing how something so small can make all the difference and the benefits will be felt during the shoot, in the editing process and in the final cut.

Thanks again to Jane and John for their efforts in providing these articles for us which I am sure you will all put to good use.

OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY APRIL 3RD 2018

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

COLOUR CORRECTION/GRADING

You lucky people as Tommy Trinder used to say. We have a second Workshop evening planned for you this week to help improve your filmmaking skills.

Jim Morton-Robertson returns to the presenter’s podium, joined this time by John Epton for a session concerning an overlooked part of the post-production process for amateur filmmakers, Colour Correction/Grading.

There is a difference between the two and if you aren’t already aware of this then Jim and John will explain to us in detail what they are and how to go about applying it to you films with live demonstrations.  John already has three clips and images sent to him by club members to use in these practical showcases but the offer is still open to anyone else who has a problem clip or images that would like to see improved.

Please use the FILEZILLA service to send your clips to John or bring them with you on the night; if you choose the latter it is preferred to be on USB stick, and we ask that you please let us know by replying below so we have enough to fit your clip, otherwise if we end up with a surfeit of clips some of you will go home disappointed.

Also, ahead of the AGM on the 17th, please ensure to bring in your completed nomination forms for the committee election if you have one.

I’m sure John and Jim will be tickled pink to see plenty of keen and green faces on Tuesday for this session, so don’t leave them feeling blue or red faced by being yellow and staying away, leaving a black mark against your name!

OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY MARCH 20TH 2018

Posted on by Lee Relph

EDITING

 

Editing. It’s one of the most important parts of filmmaking as our films won’t have a narrative without it!

It’s also one of the trickiest parts of the filmmaking process-  not to mention time consuming – but its rewards are – plentiful once the film is finished and we share it with others who are able to follow your creative vision on screen instead of looking at a slideshow of disparate images.

Heading this session are chairman/woman/person Jane Oliver and Jim Morton-Robertson who by way of a description for what is in store proffered the following:

“We’re going to examine ‘the edit sequence’ of a well known Alfred Hitchcock film, master of filmmaking, and discuss the language of editing (and as James won the trophy for the best edit this year, we thought he ought to share his secrets with the rest of us so that we may have a chance to take the award from him next year.)”

Club members are also asked to please have their nomination forms for the club committee completed ahead of the AGM next month.

And that is what we have to look forward this Tuesday evening! See you then!

OVFM and VIMEO

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT?

As you should all by now be aware, the club has a Vimeo Plus account which will be used to store many of our available films online in one handy place. A selection of these films will be shared on the club website – permissions pending – by way of giving visitors a small sample of our output as a club, in the hope it inspires them to join us.

In addition to this and the video tutorials, it has been proposed that we upload our competition films to the Vimeo account to make them accessible for club members to view, since many miss out seeing them at the regular meetings through absence for a variety of reasons. The first beneficiary of this is the Annual Competition, which traditionally has featured films some club members have chosen not to screen for the rest of us, yet have submitted them for judging by an external panel.

Again this will be at the approval of the film maker themselves but it would be nice to have as complete a representation of the entries as possible. Perhaps later on we can extend this to the Top Ten or the Triple Competition Evening (Kath Jones, Mike Turner, Vic Treen) but let’s see how this goes first.

 

THE BASICS

Being a new endeavour for the club it would appear that some of you have concerns about how this works and there is even some confusion over the privacy options available in safeguarding our work. It is really quite straightforward and the best thing for all of you is that you don’t have to do anything except keep making films and allowing us to share them – David Laker and myself will take care of the rest.

First and foremost, we won’t upload any film to Vimeo without the full consent from the film maker. Secondly, the films will initially only be available to view on the OVFM website in the Members Only section. By selecting this option in the top Menu bar you will see two new additions to the sub-menu to reflect this:

 

So far we have just two Tutorial videos but we hope to expand on this in due course. In fact, watching THE FIRST ONE about Filezilla is encouraged as this file sharing system will play an integral part in transporting the videos we upload to the Vimeo account (which is another issue for another time).

On the Annual Competition Films 2017 page we hope to host as many of the films entered into this year’s competition as possible, as they make up the bulk of the winners at our annual Oscars night in March. Since we don’t get the chance to see all or many of the films on this particular evening, having them available to view online and at one’s own leisure is a positive boon.

 

HOW TO VIEW A VIDEO

There is really no magic trick involved, you simply scroll down the page until you find a film that takes your interest then click the PLAY icon in the video player window!

And to expand the picture to make it full screen, click the FULL SCREEN icon!

You can also select the video quality depending on your bandwith and broadband speeds by clicking the QUALITY icon or just leave it on “Auto” if you’re not sure or your speeds aren’t up to much.

 

PRIVACY

As already explained all videos will be embedded onto the club website on pages that are in the Members Only section thus require club members to be logged into the website via the unique passwords they have been given, either by Chris Coulson when he started the site in 2011 or by me in recent years.

In other words, you DO NOT need to do anything new or different to view these videos, just ensure you are logged into the site as normal, just as if you were accessing the address directory or the Viewfinder archive. It’s that simple.

 

VIMEO PASSWORD PROTECTION

However, there might be an occasion when somebody outside of the club (due to copyright permissions on certain amterial, etc) wants to limit the viewing of the video to just us in OVFM, or maybe a club member wants to enter their video for an external competition like BIAFF, SERIAC, etc. or wants to share it with family and trusted friends but doesn’t want every Tom, Dick and Harry seeing their work, only these select few people. We can help with this.

On Vimeo, David and I have the ability to assign an additional password exclusively to a specific video in order to keep it hidden from unwanted eyes. Once the link to the video has been shared or embedded on another site (see below), only people with the password can view the film.

A film that is password protected will have the following display in the video player window:

 

To view the film, one will have to enter the password supplied by David or myself on request in the white space provided on the player screen. No password, no video – it’s that simple – but it is very unlikely that you’ll encounter this on our site unless requested by the film maker.

 

EMBEDDING RESTRICTIONS

If you don’t want your film to be embedded (i.e – linked directly to or publicly featured on) another site we can restrict the permissions for this by nominating only the OVFM website for this function to be enabled for. A film which we have applied this limitation to will display the following message to anyone trying to view it:

You’ll notice that the message in the player window directs the viewer to watch the clip on Vimeo. Because of the privacy restrictions we have on our videos this part of the message won’t appear on video on this site and potential viewers will NOT have the option seek the video out on Vimeo.

But, if you are happy to share you video on another site (like the IAC/BIAFF site), please let David or myself know and we can alter this permission to accommodate that, whilst keeping the other privacy settings like password protection intact. In addition to these measure, sharing and download permissions have also been restricted on Vimeo so your videos are completely safe from being shared without our say so.

Just to reiterate, this will likely be a rare occurrence where club members will require the second password to view a film, but hopefully by this time in the calendar year, most of the films will already be familiar to you so you won’t need to see them again.

Once competition season is over, we can go back to limiting the access to the films exclusively to the OVFM website, unless expressly requested by the film maker to keep the passwords in place or if they wish to share them externally again.

Remember, this WILL NOT affect regular access to films shared on the OVFM site.

 

I hope that has cleared up any confusion about this new venture of ours and that you will all now feel more confident and willing in supporting us in this and making it work to the club’s benefit.

Thanks for reading!

OVFM CLUB MEETING – Tuesday July 25th 2017

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

Knowledge is power and in filmmaking, knowledge is as important as artistry and imagination. Sure, making a film may look as easy as pointing a camera at someone or something and hitting the record button, but as we know there is so much more to it than that.

Therefore our resident club brainiacs will one again hold court and share their years of knowledge and expertise with us and encourage discussion about any facets of filmmaking that may be troubling you, and give you the advice you need. Be it filming, camera issues, editing, scriptwriting, lighting, music rights or even advice on what software or camera to buy, our panel are ready to help you.

Newcomer or veteran, one never stops learning in this fine hobby of ours, and after this session we hope club members will be feel inspired go forward and  apply this newly gained knowledge to their own filming projects, and with the TOP TEN competition having just started and two upcoming themed projects, the opportunities are plentiful.

So, be there on Tuesday and have your questions ready!

OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY MAY 30th 2017

Posted on by Lee Relph

This week’s meeting is a filming project with a difference and requires participation from you, dear club members.

In order to get people comfortable with filming and to propagate the understanding of what goes into the preparation and making of a film, the concept for this mini-project is to strip the process down to its barest form make a film with a narrative but without any edits!

How will this work? Well, the idea is you film a number of scenes (either prepared and scripted or shot extemporaneously) that accumulate to no longer than 3 minutes in length that tells a story but you are not allowed to edit them in any way shape or form, and that includes using the in camera editing functions to.

If you wish to provide a voice over narration or musical accompaniment then that has be done whilst filming or be diegetic, although the former is rather ambitious, hence this is not compulsory – you know what they say about pictures and the amount of words they paint. It doesn’t have to be shot in the same day or in the same location, just as long as a tangible narrative is present in the footage.

For some of the more experienced filmmakers in the club, this will be a throwback to the old days of shooting holiday films long before the idea of editing and composition was a primary concern, where we would wander about somewhere, capturing whatever we saw then bore our friends and family with the warts and all results afterwards!

Conversely, we hope that this will also reignite the simple joy of filming for some of you and maybe inspire you to start your next big project having got your mojo back so to speak.

We appreciate that the notice for this is rather short (that’s down to the committee not me) so if you don’t have a film ready for us then we will divide the evening into two parts – first we’ll use the last of the evening light (weather permitting) to film outside for anyone short on time or ideas, then in the second part we shall playback all the results of our endeavours.

No need to burn a disc or anything, we shall play straight from the cameras or via an SD card were possible

If you are bringing footage or would like to film at the club meeting then PLEASE reply to this post below, otherwise we shall see you all, cameras in hand, next Tuesday for this exciting project evening!

OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY MAY 16th 2017

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

Well, actually it is only a part practical evening but we promise you that everything is completely congruent.

In a two part session, we shall first have a “making of” presentation from John Epton, Sam Brown and Barbara Walker, talking us through the filming of Barbara’s award winning comedy Commute, which featured some nifty green screen work to create the illusion of being on a train.

The second part is where we get practical, cracking out the green screen to go into depth a little more about using this technique and applying it into a little bit of filming to give everyone a first hand experience of seeing it in practice.

It’s been a while since we did some practical green screen filming at a club meeting (six years if memory serves me correctly), so make sure you are there on Tuesday to see how it is done and get involved yourself!

FAQ – Music Copyright

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

Music is an important part of a film and while finding that one song or tune to perfectly fit the imagery and mood of your latest masterpiece can be a Herculean task, usually one of three options present themselves as a viable solution.

One is create the music yourself. With the technology readily available these days, anyone with the talent and know how can record their own noodlings be it via guitar, keyboard or nose flute.

Another is to seek out non-copyright music on the internet, created expressly for projects such as short filmmaking. There are many such outlets offering quality copyright free tracks, some of which have been listed in the LINKS TO OTHER SITES widget on the left hand side of this site.

Finally – and arguably the most popular method – is to sift through your record collection and find that classic hit which will add that final layer of magical texture to your project.

It is this last choice that comes with the most legal hurdles to overcome. As much as we might like to think so, it really isn’t as easy as sticking your favourite Elvis song onto your film in the name of art, there is the small matter of copyright and ownership to consider first, which can lead to a lot of trouble and your film being taken down from public sites like YouTube, etc for infringement.

So what are the rules and regulations? Lady Annabelle of Lancaster has – without a hint of irony – lifted the following guidelines from the IAC site to help explain in great detail the ins and outs of copyright, usage and how to stay on the right side of the law.

1. Are my ideas protected by copyright?

There is virtually no copyright in ideas. This has been challenged in the British Courts but remains broadly true.

2. Is my original footage copyright protected?

Yes unless you have assigned the rights to someone else. If you are working on commission check the contract small print.

3. What about copyright on other material I may use?

Almost any other material you use may well be the copyright property of someone else. This applies to photographs, paintings, statues, record covers, book covers, advertisements, packaging, scripts, music etc. In general no objection is made if such things appear fleetingly in the background of the action but they should not be featured.

4. What is the copyright position in competitions?

Virtually all movie/photographic competitions require you to clear copyright on your entries. This particularly applies to music.

 5. What is music copyright all about?

It seems easy and is technically simple, to dub a piece of music from a CD, disc or tape onto your soundtrack. BUT …

  • The composer, lyricist, arranger and their heirs have copyright on music and songs until 70 years after their death.
  • The company which made the recording has rights in its recorded form.
  • The performers, playing or singing, have rights.
  • The public performance of the work requires special permission.

It is worth noting that it is an offence to make a recording of copyright music even if that recording is not played back!

There are stiff penalties for infringing ANY of these rights. Obtaining all of these permissions is possible but normally difficult and expensive.

 6. Who can and cannot us the IAC Copyright Clearance Schemes ?

  • All IAC members can obtain the special copyright licences (MCPS, BPI, PPL) for music that they may wish to use in movies or slide tape presentations.
  • IAC Affiliated Clubs can obtain the licences for CLUB productions that are in fact credited to the club.
  • Members of Affiliated Clubs cannot use the club’s licences for their own productions. Conversely, a non affiliated club cannot use the personal licences of one of its members for a club production!

7. What about downloads?

Music downloaded from the web is subject to exactly the same copyright issues as CDs you buy over the counter.

8. Can I put my movies on the web?

If your movie contains anything whose copyright belongs to others, you must have permission from the copyright owner/s. In the UK an agreement between the music trade and YouTube means material used under IAC licences is usually – but not always – permitted on that website.

We hope that addresses and answers any concerns you may have if not post a comment below and we shall try to answer them in depth for you.

Thanks for reading!