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Digital Filmmaking for Teens Book Review |
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Written by David Thompson
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Saturday, 16 August 2008 |
Digital Filmmaking for Teens by Pete Shaner and Gerald Everett Jones can help get your teen up to speed on the latest
techniques and technology that they can utilize to get started in
filmmaking. With digital video hardware and software becoming more
affordable for the average consumer, this is a great time to learn how
to bring those movie making dreams to life.
This 236-page book and the additional DVD offers a good overview of filmmaking in general as well as the use of various video capturing and editing programs to help you get the job done.
What's Inside
Chapter one begins with the very basics of filmmaking by asking about the kinds of things you would want to do a project on. Even though you've probably had to sit through a number of bad Hollywood films, you have to realize that the filmmaker always had a vision for the project and this is where you develop that. You also learn about some of the tools that you will probably want to use for your very first project. You got to get started somewhere, right'
Chapter two instructs you on how to choose your film's direction. Do you want it to be a narrative, perhaps a documentary or maybe a performance film' Learn the elements that make a good story such as a drama. Can you think visually' Learn how to translate your thoughts into film. The chapter finishes up by teaching you about the basics of a camcorder.
Chapter three is the longest chapter in the book and probably the most important. Let's face it, you can't film unless you know how to use your equipment and this is where you get hands on with your hardware. Learn more about your camcorder, how to use techniques such as depth of field, zoom, focus, digital effects, three point lighting, color balance, audio production and last but not least'learn to shoot.
Chapter four shows you how to plan your movie project properly. It's tough figuring out where to shoot, what kinds of things you will need to film, the quality of the shots you're looking to capture and how long will all this take' In chapter four, the authors show you how to make these kinds of determinations.
Chapter five is the moment you've been waiting for'time to shoot the film. You've done all of your preliminary work and you have all of the details down. Now the project falls squarely on your shoulders. You now have the ability to control every aspect of your film. Things like how you want each scene shot, the lighting, the visuals, the audio from a distance shot or up close and the always important techniques in dealing with your film's talent. Whether it's Hollywood or your Grandma's backyard, guiding and nurturing talent to perform the way you want them is a difficult task but the authors provide some nice tips when working with actors.
Chapter six covers the editing of your film and how you can add music to the project. The authors show you editing techniques using Apple's iMovie. Techniques such as the always popular Ken Burns effect, trimming, organizing clips, working your way around the timeline, making edits, editing your audio clips and importing music from programs such as SonicFire Pro (on enclosed DVD), Apple's iTunes and Garageband are covered thoroughly in chapter six.
Chapter seven covers how to shoot a fight (well, not a real one of course). It shows you how to make a fake fight look real on camera. It's all an illusion but you have to sell your audience on it. Even a bad actor can fake a good fight on screen if you know the proper techniques. One of the cool parts of this chapter is the preparation towards the use of a green screen background. The end of the chapter briefly touches on the use of special effects in your projects. There are a lot of very useful effects techniques throughout this chapter, which is good information to learn if you don't plan on spending money on sets.
Chapter eight is the glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Now that you have captured your footage and edited it down to the footage that you want to utilize, it's time to add some audio and visual pizzazz to your work. Now you've seen some great action scenes in the theaters and sometimes you forget that without the soundtrack and effects, the scene doesn't seem so great. Here in chapter eight, you learn how to create and implement audio soundtracks into your movie. You will notice immediately how your scene will come alive after you've put some music down.
Chapter nine is a quickie covering topics pertaining to your completed masterpiece. Here the authors demonstrate how to print to tape, burning a CD, creating a video CD, how to create your files for the internet and how to author and burn your project to a DVD disc.
Chapter ten shows you how you can take the next step in the filmmaking business. Learn the techniques that the pros use, camera operations, various types of filming techniques, what exactly is HDV and where to go to get the kind of training you will need to succeed at the next level of filmmaking.
The Final Word
Instead of just lounging around this summer, take all those ideas that you've been thinking about and begin shooting footage. Nothing ever got accomplished by just thinking about it. The digital filmmaking tools are becoming even more affordable as time passes.
The book contains a DVD that has a number of cool things that you can learn from as well as utilize. There are a number of demo programs such as SonicFire Pro, Gee Three Slick Sampler and Final Draft. The demos for SonicFire Pro and Final Draft are Mac and PC compatible while the Gee Three Slick Sampler is for the Mac only. The DVD also contains a seven-minute film called Neo's Ring.
After watching that clip, there's plenty of additional information that pertains to the making of Neo's Ring such as a Director's commentary, the Neo's Ring script and some video clips from the film that you can practice with. The DVD also contains some production forms so you can begin your filmmaking career on the right and legal note.
You can click HERE to purchase a copy of Digital Filmmaking for Teens.
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