2023 - 40 Posts

 My goal was to have 40 posts this year, an amount I consider moderate. Next year I hope to have a disciplined amount of posts. It important for me to keep a blog, because it's hard to keep track of all the tutorials of for my Sony A7III, and I find there is room for improvement.  For example, I would have never known that the correct lens to use on a close up of a face is 70-100mm.

Below are some of the most important  things I learned in 2023. I plan on filming more weddings, using my Ronin gimbal, filming with my drone  (DJI Mavic 3 Pro), getting my Part 107. So much to be excited about in 2024. Cheers to the 2 people who read this, according to my analytics. Yay!

Do not use 24 mm lens on a close up face!

use 70-100mm lens on a close up for face. 

Lighting properly makes it look more professional.

Don't use ceiling lights, makes it look amateur.

The Hangover Movie Assessment

               Never underestimate the power of a mentally ill family member and how much it can add to the quality of a well crafted narrative. I feel like this journey of analyzing films is also a discovery of every single aspect of life that you can turn into humor. But if you experience it in real life, it just is not funny at all. A movie which immediately comes to mind is Bridesmaids. Also Wes Anderson's humor, particularly Moonrise Kingdom & Rushmore. 

           In real life a convicted sex offender with a extremely poor sense of boundaries would be a complete headache, but when it came to the Hangover it made the movie. 

            The Hangover is brilliant, the first time I have been jealous of a writer after watching a film. 

We talked a lot about motivation in my advanced screen writing classes at SAIC. The motivation was to find Doug before his wedding. Slight tension and stress really added a lot to this film. It was also nice to not know how they forgot about the night before.Not everything has to be revealed, even if its one of the biggest factors of a film. I know that sounds elementary and simple, but it does wonders for the storyline.

             It's been a while since I've seen this, it was so entertaining to watch them try to to figure out what happened the night before. Looking for clues, finding Stu's tooth. Finding out Stu married a prostitute. The narrative felt very fresh and keeps your attention, you want to find out. You want them to find Doug. It's also very believable, a cunvictited sex offender (unfortunately connected by being the brides brother)

would slip roofies in his friends drink, and they would do a bunch of crazy stuff while on drugs. 

It's just so intelligently written, they think Mr. chan has Doug, but are mislead because he has a bag over his head. so many times cliches are used to mislead in a movie. 

Cliches are very powerful if used right, they can hide a lot if used right. 

Wolf Of Wall Street Movie Assesment

            The nonlinear story telling which is prominent these days can produce rich  narratives that leaves the audience wondering how the protagonist achieved success. Scorsese opens with scenes where Jordan Belfort counts off his excessive wealth and obvious unhealthy dysfunction.    A scene which I find particularly rich is his new employment at the mediocre  Investment Center. What was an important primer for this scene was view of the Wall Street offices- sleek, men in suits, skyrises.     

           The Investment Center is guys in casual wear, at what appears to be a strip mall. Jordan's mastery of selling the Pink Sheets sets the stage for a comeback after  Black Monday. It also masterfully illustrates his genius at how well he can sell junk trade with a finesse of greed, corruption & intellect. The investment center scene where he sells $4,000 of stock and everyone in the room was in awe of him, was such an important piece of the narrative. Just to show that he is a schemer. 

           One of the most important part of the narrative is the constant interweaving of creepy men in Jordan Belfort's life. Like Donnie Azoff married to his cousin, or Brad and his inappropriate jesters with his bat. Or Jordan and Donnie smoking celebatory crack together. Its important part of the narrative to convey these men are a little off. This extreme greed is a little off. 

           Enter Forbes and the FBI. Forbes does the article on Stratton Oakmont and reframes 'Jordan Belfort now pushes dicey stocks,” and "twisted Robin Hood," while Jordon yells at the top of his lungs. "This  conniving little twat.' Vice needed to be excessive. It's part of how unhealthy it was.

It's Important to Watch Cinematography From Top Wedding Production Companies :By Design Films

Chellsea & Dillon - Highlight Film from byDesign Films on Vimeo.

Hannah & Troy - Highlight Film from byDesign Films on Vimeo.

Clientele And Other Businesses I Enjoyed FIlming With My Event Videography Co.

 

Top Business Mistakes Videographers Make

 Business Mistake #1 - No vision or Plan

He highly recommends reading - The E Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work

By Michael E Gerber

- If you want your business to succeed long term or scale to high business levels then you have to learn to take brakes from working in your business and instead take time to work on your business.

The number one key to scaling your business is quantification.

Create a vision or goal

If you want to be highly successful in business you have to sacrifice what you want NOW for what you want MOST

Business Mistake #2 Poor Time Management

Biggest mistake he sees people make is most people consume more than they create. For example - People in comment section critiquing, commenting and arguing in the comment section.

He advises people to create more than they consume.

If you spend 2-3 hours consuming (social media scrolling for inspo, Youtube watching

Then spend 4- 6 hours creating (shooting, editing, marketing, networking and strategize on biz)

5:38 - Sometimes you have to get off your phone, turn off your notifications and get out and create something! -Anything! Even if you have no clients rn.

He attributes a lot of his business success to the fact that he learned how to managed his time wisely. He feel like he can get done in a day or two what take most people a week, simply because he’s learned principals like the momentum zone, the 80/20 rule, and high value activities. 

Time is money, value it and manage it wisely. 

Business Mistake #3

Cold Contacting

There are other strategies besides cold contacting. 

He also recommends walking into the business and communicating face to face. 

Studio 910 PB Are Real Estate Cinematographers That Completely Inspire Me On So Many Levels

 

BOND HOME from Studio 910 PB on Vimeo.

1040 S Ocean Blvd from Studio 910 PB on Vimeo.

6 Mistakes Beginner Filmmakers Make

Mistake 1 - people shooting and editing in wrong frame rate

-does not play back smooth

- most Hollywood movies film at 24 fps

There are exceptions, slow motion wedding shots and drone

1:58- Drone - shot at 30 fps, slowed to 24 fps, to smooth out micro jitters

Mistake 2 - Poor Lighting

@2:55 - Most rookies will use ceiling lights, which will give your subject raccoon eyes. 

@3:00 - Just blast a bunch of frontal light, making subject look too flat

@3:20 - Bigger the light source compared to your subect, the softer the light will be. 

@3:33 - Soft Light is more flattering. Important to create soft lighting.

@3:45 - Light contrast with background creates depth and looks more professional

The idea is to create a more 3 demential image with lighting

Mistake 3 - Bad Lens Choices

16- 35mm and using it for every shot - no

-good for real estate, architecture or landscape

-not good for portrait of the human face, they distort facial features 

@5:05

70- 100mm is best lens for close ups of face

@5:20 - 200 mm if you physically can’t get closer to your subject. 

@5:25 - Parker uses 16mm for real estate and landscape 

35mm for medium talking head shots

- 200mm scenarios where you can’t get really close to subjects, some wedding and sporting events

“If I could only afford to buy one lens, I’d probably get a zoom lens 24 - 70mm”

“First determine what kind of content you’ll be shooting and buy the lens that best fits that need”

“Don’t get lazy and use the same focal lengths for everything”

Mistake #4 - Bad Audio

First thing they taught me at film school was how important audio is in filmmaking.

“Audio is half the viewing experience.”

-Don’t use in camera mic.

-Don’t make the common mistake of keeping the mic too far away from your subject - 

He recommends 6-14 inches.

-Set levels in your camera to -18 to - 6 DB

Don’t neglect audio it is just as important as video

Mistake 5 - Storytelling

Lack of Storytelling weakens your video. Random clips pieced together to music does not make a good video.

If you want to create videos that attract high paying clients you have to tell a story. Think about what emotion you want your audience to feel.

Mistake #6 - Bloated Edits

5 minutes of average footage- mundane 

Depending on the Shoot - they use about 5% of what they filmed

-only use the best of the best. 

Use best lighting, best compositions, cleanest movements, ect.

Stop using mediocre clips. Sometimes videos are so long and bloated with mediocre clips - it just doesn’t wow the viewers.

Learn to create engaging concise videos 

Preplan a shot list and have a goal emotion.

Longer is not always better.

A Few Of The Best Weddings/ Events I've Filmed/ Edited

Being Thorough Never Hurts Your Craft

Tip #1 is something I’ve come to realize - stay light weight with equipment, it’s a long day of exhausting work.

@3:15 - he recommends a 7200 lens, when you can’t get close to a couple, for instance during the ceremony.

Which will happen through out the day.

Tip #2 - Lens Choices 

- He recommend 18- 35 mm - films 98% of this on this lens

- He uses 35 mm for portrait shots

-7200 lens IS version, buy used

Tip #3 - Be CRAZY fast with settings

- He’s right it is crucial

- If you’re not crazy fast, practice before you shoot a wedding, because things happen so quickly.

- He is so right, you have to be on the ball with camera settings.

Practice going by a window then going to a dark corner.

Tip # 4 Stabilize your footage

I know this already- Monopod, glide cam, gimbal 

Tip #5 Tell a story

Some ways to do this are ask the bride and groom why they fell in love with them

His advice- think about progression and showing emotions, laughing or looking nervous

He suggests not showing them not fully dressed at beginning

Tip #6 - Focus on the Emotion

I agree, this is what makes an engaging, dynamic wedding edit.

Tip # 7 - Move Around

His advice was if your standing in the same spot for more that 2 minutes your wasting your time.

It makes your edit more interesting. Can’t really say this is my m.o. during the ceremony. 

Maybe I’ll take his advice.

 

 

Different Youtube Content Creator Give Fresh Ideas

 @4:40 - he says to get a variety of shots, I think it’s important to get a handful of closeup shots, with a shallow depth of field, especially the bouquets. 

Tight shots are about 50 mm or above - important to capture the emotion. Don’t be afraid to get close to the subject and capture the emotion.

6:05 - 85 mm is the most popular focal length for talking heads in film. Good to show emotion

6:30 - macro shots - bouquets, rings, brides dress, cake details, nice to have for transitions.

Remember unique shots can be good openings, like parallax of ceiling

Tip #1 - change focal length often and get as much variety as you can.

This wedding was shot with 14 -24 mm, 35 mm, and 55 mm lens.

9:00 - manual focus has some nice effects to incorporate. Get Creative!

10:05 - add depth to your shots when possible; foreground, mid-ground, background

 

10:15 - Feels more immersive with mom in the shot, in the fore ground

11:20 - You don’t have to use 60 fps / slow motion throughout the entire film!

11:45 - 120 fps if there is some cinematic action like bride spun around.

Learned A Few New Things

@2;55 - I have to buy a 24 - 70 mm lens, I own a wide angle

@4;45 - communicate, I think I could communicate more about the wedding

Day with brides

don't use 24mm lens on face.

Use a 70mm on Faces.

Leading lines create depth