The Best of Filmmaking & Video Production June 2017

This is the 21st instalment of this feature here on Filmmaking Lifestyle, where we chart the best-of-the-best from around the filmmaking and video production world. This article covers the best posts from June 2017.

Every month, I post a round-up article featuring the best things I’ve found around the web on filmmaking and video production. If you missed one, we have a complete archive here.

We’re talking articles, videos, infographics, all sorts. Anything that stands out to me and that I think is worth keeping in an archive, I’m going to include in these reports.

I post these articles at the end of each month, along with all the regular posts you get on Filmmaking Lifestyle.

One thing before the links: this is a dated archive. Cameras and software from 2017 have moved on. The business and craft questions in these links often have not — how you cut, how you get clients, and what “shot on a phone” actually means on a real job.

The Best Posts Of June 2017

Yo.

Apologies for the later than usual update with this roundup post. Still swimming in construction work at my new place. Lots going on!

Also had an old friend come to stay with me (from the US) for a few weeks. Great to catchup and talk filmmaking stories of old (and new!)

Couple of shoutouts before we get into the meat and potatoes today. There are a few brands that are sharing my stuff a lot on social media lately (especially Twitter).

Wanted to take the time to give them a proper shoutout here in return. They are:

heckler kane

StudioBinder

Filestage

Thanks, guys!

With the general admin stuff out of the way, let’s get to the links this month!

Filmmaking & Video Production

Let’s leadoff with a pretty cool article that features Oscar-Winning Hacksaw Ridge Editor Tells Us His Editing Secrets.

Editors talk about emotion and rhythm, then they talk about organisation, versioning, and knowing when a scene is done. “Secrets” in those interviews are usually habits. Cut for the performance, not for the cool insert. A brand film with three talking heads needs the same spine as a war picture.

Want to get some stuff featured on Netflix? Here are the Production and Post-Production Requirements.

Those requirement sheets change. That is the whole warning. Do not guess the codec, the loudness, or the credits layout from a 2017 blog post. Open the current spec. “They’ll take the file” is not a delivery plan.

We’ve been busy here on Filmmaking Lifestyle. To start out the month, we had an article on productivity habits that will give you more energy and improve your video work.

Tired operators make expensive mistakes. Habits that protect sleep and a finish time are production tools, same as a backup drive. If your “process” is staying up until four to prove you care, you will miss the morning call. Treat energy like kit.

Next up, we featured a unique Case Study that I did that charts how I [got an 89% response rate from client outreach](https://filmlifestyle.com/client-outreach).

Outreach is still the job most shooters avoid. LinkedIn, email, a proper follow-up — none of it is glamorous, and all of it beats waiting for the algorithm. The number in that case study is from that experiment, not a promise. Write like a human and keep a list you actually work.

We also had articles on camera stabilizer systems and your video business energy level.

Stabilizers are another “buy the feeling of a bigger production” tool. Use them when the shot needs to travel. Put them down when a tripod would be more honest. Energy is the same conversation as the productivity piece: a business that only works when you are hyped is not a business.

To round out the month, we had a slightly unusual article that discussed future trends and technology, with particular reference to everyone’s favorite billionaire, Elon Musk.

Trend pieces date on impact. The useful habit is separating a toy from a tool that will show up on a job. If it does not change how you quote, shoot, or deliver, it can wait.

Check out Adrian Thompson’s new app Plot. As he puts it, “Got sick of Storyboard templates… so I made an app! What do you think?”

Storyboards are still how you stop arguing on the day. Paper, PDF, or an app — pick the one the client will actually look at. The point is shared pictures of the shots, not a prettier template. If an app gets a director and a DP in the same sequence, it has done the job.

The guys at Lessons from the Screenplay are pretty awesome. Here’s their

.

Dark shows are lighting shows. Contrast is not “crush the blacks in the grade.” It is knowing what you are protecting in the frame so a face still reads. If you shoot corporate in a dim office, the same rule applies: the audience has to see the person talking.

Here’s a great video on ‘

:’

If you fly for money, the licence is not optional homework. Airspace, weather, and who is standing under the aircraft are the job. The test prep video will date. The idea that commercial drone work is a regulated trade will not. Do not treat a cheap quadcopter like a toy on a paid set.

Software, Hardware & Visual Effects

Here’s an article on The Truth About ‘Shot on iPhone’-Style Ads.

Those ads are craft with a marketing caption. Lighting, production design, and a real crew are doing the heavy lifting while the phone gets the logo. You can still shoot a job on a phone. Do not promise an iPhone commercial look with one person and a lunch break.

This is pretty cool.

:

Sitting with older pictures is still one of the cheaper ways to train. You start to see how much of “cinematic” is light, costume, and where people stand, not a LUT. Steal from the frames, not from the nostalgia.

In need of a laugh? This is ‘Go make something. A PSA.’

That joke is the whole career advice, really. Waiting for permission, the right body, or a less busy month is how projects die in folders. Make the small thing. Put it in front of someone. Then make the next one.

A user on Reddit called Zushii “created over 40 graphics to use for making lighting diagrams.”

Diagrams are how you stop lighting by vibes. Even a rough overhead — key, fill, back, where the talent sits — will save you twenty minutes on site. Fill one in before you load the van.

Over exposed sky?

in Premiere Pro:

Sky replacement is a weather tool and a taste test. Used to save a blown-out interview exterior, it can be invisible. Used to drop in a sunset the day never had, it looks like a brochure. Ask whether the sky was the problem or whether you should have flagged the window.

Picture Of The Month

This month’s Picture of the Month is a meme and it comes courtesy of UrineSample69 at Reddit Filmmakers:

Memes from that subreddit are usually the job described from the inside: waiting, weather, a client who wants “the other take.” I left the image description as it was. If the file never made it into this markdown, the gag still stands.

Video Of The Month

Wondering how to get your film accepted in festivals?

Festivals are matchmaking. Theme, runtime, and whether the programmers have seen this exact short forty times this year all matter more than a famous actor in the credits. Read last year’s lineup before you pay the fee.

Find anything else out there that you feel is worth mentioning? Let us know in the comments below!

What to read on Filmmaking Lifestyle next

If you found this roundup from search, these are the pages that sit next to the themes above:

• Client outreach
• Storyboard templates
• How to slow down a video in Premiere Pro
• iPhone filmmaking and mobile video editing
• Lighting your videos
• Social media strategy

Some third-party URLs from 2017 may have moved.

Until next month’s article, make sure you stay shooting! Adios!