NYC Evening Digital Editing Class

I'm starting the 3 month Evening Digital Editing class at the New York Film Academy on January 11, 2010. It runs 3 times a week until April 2, 2010. It's a hands on class for Final Cut Pro 7... which is the most popular digital video editing software for professinoals. Of course there are other editing tools like Adobe Premier and Sony Vegas but I was told by someone at the NYFA that Final Cut was the only way to go if you wanted to be a professional. I actually own Premier CS3 and I found it a bit challenging ...

Book Review: DV Filmmaking by Ian Aronson

Ian David Aronson was an Associate Professor at Ramapo College in New Jersey - my Alma Mata. As I was looking for books on digital filmmaking I spotted this and I bought it. I've read 5 other books and this was my favorite for a number of reasons. The quality of the printing is outstanding. And the material from start to finish is well written and many of the major points I learned about digital filmmaking at the New York Film Academy are explained beautifully in this book. I was surprised we did not have a text book for Evening ...

Deciding on a Camera Height and Camera Angle

Should you shoot down on your actor's face or shoot up on it? Adjusting the height of the tripod can make a dramatic difference in the presentation to the audience. When they are looking up at an actor they get a sense the actor is powerful and in control. Looking down on the actor the audience may see more of the weaker side of the character.

The 180 Degree Rule of Film Making

To maintain continuity, draw a line between 2 actors and keep the camera on one side of that line. Only break the line when there is a very compelling reason to. This is one of the basic principals of filmmaking and it's easily demonstrated during a football game. If Team A is on the left side of the screen and they are trying to score on the right side of the screen, switching to a shot where Team A is rushing into the end zone on the left side of the screen would confuse viewers. The audience would thing Team ...

The Over the Shoulder Shot – OTS

This is a fairly common shot in film making where the camera is placed above the shoulder of an actor or actress to give the movie viewer a look at what the actor sees. It creates a first person viewpoint. OTS is used a lot during interviews to help create a point - counter point exchange. Remember to keep one actor on the left side of the screen and the other actor on the other side of the screen to keep the audience from getting confused.

On Location Photo Gallery from BET.com Filming on 10-04-09

There were 550 still shots taken during the production at BET.com on 10-04-09 and 150 were selected for the first Digital Video Directors Gallery. They are in a VisualLightBox Gallery that runs an automatic slideshow once you click a thumbnail. Any of the NYFA crew or actors can email me at Mal@digitalVideoDirectors.com and I'll send you originals at 4 MB each. Just send me thje number of the photos. Cheers. Click the photo to go to the GALLERY !!

featured

NYC Evening Digital Editing Class

I’m starting the 3 month Evening Digital Editing class at the New York Film Academy on January 11, 2010. It runs 3 times a week until April 2, 2010....

Book Review: DV Filmmaking by Ian Aronson

Ian David Aronson was an Associate Professor at Ramapo College in New Jersey – my Alma Mata. As I was looking for books on digital filmmaking I...

Deciding on a Camera Height and Camera Angle

Should you shoot down on your actor’s face or shoot up on it? Adjusting the height of the tripod can make a dramatic difference in the presentation...

The 180 Degree Rule of Film Making

To maintain continuity, draw a line between 2 actors and keep the camera on one side of that line. Only break the line when there is a very compelling...

The Over the Shoulder Shot – OTS

This is a fairly common shot in film making where the camera is placed above the shoulder of an actor or actress to give the movie viewer a look at what...

On Location Photo Gallery from BET.com Filming on 10-04-09

There were 550 still shots taken during the production at BET.com on 10-04-09 and 150 were selected for the first Digital Video Directors Gallery. They...