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This is the 33rd 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 2018.
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 we jump in: this is a dated archive. Cameras and software from 2018 have moved on. The business and craft questions in these links often have not — what it costs to start, how you get paid, and whether a codec is a shopping list or a conversation.
The Best Posts Of June 2018
Howdy.
It’s me again.
It’s time once again to breakdown the best filmmaking & video production articles and content from around the web!
June has passed and summer is in full swing here! It’s been so dry and one of the hottest summers I can remember. It’s made shooting outside a little tricky at time, but all good fun!
Got a busy rest of the summer coming up, as I’m getting married this summer. After the wedding, we’re going on a couple of cruises! Will be good to take some time off, travel and see some awesome places with my wife (to be)! Can’t wait!
Brief a second shooter in minutes
Shot priorities and communication habits so coverage feels cohesive when you’re not in two places at once.
Let’s get started and jump into the best from around the web this month!
Filmmaking & Video Production
FIFA wants camera operators to stop zooming in on attractive female fans. Pretty funny!
It is funny until you are the operator with a producer in your ear. What you choose to hold on is a decision. “Get the pretty shot” is not a brief. Do better than that on your own jobs, including weddings and corporate rooms, where the same lazy zoom exists.
Here are 13 podcast recommendations for filmmakers.
Podcast lists date. The habit of listening to people who actually made the work does not. Use them in the van. Steal one process, not a personality.
Good tutorial on
:
The rule of thirds is a beginner rail, and it is still a useful rail. Put the eyes on a line, leave space for the look, and stop parking every subject in the middle because the client stood there. Then break it on purpose when the frame needs symmetry or a punch. Composition is not a sticker you put on in the edit. It is where you stand before you roll.
So what did we have on Filmmaking Lifestyle this month? It was a hectic and busy month for Filmmaking Lifestyle with 9 new articles posted. This made the month one of our busiest ever!
We started out the month with an article discussing how much money you need to setup a video company.
People ask this as a camera question. It is a runway question. Insurance, a way to get paid, a backup drive, and enough days of unpaid hunting for work — that is the real setup. You cannot start if the first slow month ends the company.
Next up, we had articles on the best CF cards and wide angle lenses.
Cards and glass are where cheap shortcuts show up on the day. A wide lens that distorts a face in a bad room will cost you more than it saved. Media that drops frames is not a bargain. Buy the boring reliability and stop arguing about the rest in forums.
Following that, we had articles on the top quadcopters for GoPro and slow motion cameras. Then we looked at 8 Ways to Monetize Your Videos in 2018.
Drones and slow-mo are spice. Monetisation is the meal. If you cannot name how a video earns — client fee, licence, product, a follow-up job — you are making content as a hobby. The 2018 list of tactics will have shifted. The need to pick a path will not.
Next up we looked at some of the best E-Mount Lenses you can buy.
Lens lists are shopping. The craft version is: what do you actually shoot, at what distance, and in what light. A small kit you know is worth more than a mount you are collecting.
We finished off the month with articles on becoming a consultant and the best lens for GH4.
Consulting is selling judgement instead of days. The GH4 is a camera people used to build whole businesses on, and that is the lesson hiding in a buyer’s guide: the body is not the company. 9 articles were published this month, making it a very active month for content!
Software, Hardware & Visual Effects
Great news that the full version of Adobe Photoshop is coming to iPad in 2019.
Tablet versions of desktop tools always sound like freedom. They are useful when you are grading stills in a hotel or marking up a frame on set. They are not a replacement for a machine that can hold a timeline. Read product news as “where will I actually use this,” not as “the industry just moved.”
Scale the company without burning both ends
Client selection, boundaries, and follow-up systems that protect your calendar while you grow — pulled into one readable guide.
Nvidia can now artificially create slow motion That Is Better Than a 300,000 FPS Camera. Pretty crazy!
Interpolation is a post trick, not a high-speed camera. It can save a clip that was not shot slow. It can also invent motion that looks like soup. If the job needs real slow-mo, shoot it. Do not quote a research demo as a production method.
“My Canon C300 broke while filming in the jungle” article from Pexapixel.
Bodies fail in heat, rain, and boats. The story under the headline is prep: backups, weather, and what you do when the A camera is dead. If you only ever shoot in a studio, this still applies the day a client wants “just a few shots outside.” Redundancy is not paranoia. It is how you come home with a film.
Solid tutorial on
:
Treat ProRes RAW as a codec conversation, not a shopping list. RAW is latitude, storage, and whether your finish actually needs it. A lot of client work is happier in a solid log codec you can cut on a normal machine. Choose the format for the grade you will do, not for the forum thread.
Here’s a detailed tutorial on
covering the basics:
The exposure triangle is still the job. Aperture is light and focus. Shutter is light and motion. ISO is light and noise. Get those three honest and half the “why does this look cheap” conversations go away.
This video is a
while also providing spectacular imagery along the way.
Lists of “top” cinematographers are arguments, not science. Use them as a viewing list. Watch how a frame is built — lamp, window, where the actor stands — and then go light a real room. That is the only way the history lesson leaves the browser.
Picture Of The Month
This month’s Picture of the Month is a cool image from Reddit poster phloating_man. It’s entitled “Videographer toolkit. Human for scale.”
That photo is the honest version of a gear list. The kit looks ridiculous until you have been the human in the picture, carrying it up stairs. Take what the day needs. Leave the rest. A bag that is “ready for anything” is often ready for nothing because you cannot find the battery.
Video Of The Month
Anything else you’ve found in the filmmaking / video production world online? Let us know in the comments below!
What to read on Filmmaking Lifestyle next
If you found this roundup from search, these pages match the month:
- How much money do you need to set up a video production company?
- Starting your video production business
- How to monetize your videos
- The filmmaker career roadmap
- Roger Deakins cinematography
- Lighting your videos
Some third-party URLs from 2018 may have moved.
Catch you soon!
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