Videos

Videomaker's Deconstructing Cinematography examines great movie scenes known for spectacular cinematography and breaks them down to find why they're highly revered. In this segment we review a scene from an all time classic, Citizen Kane. Released in 1941, and nominated for best cinematography, many of the techniques used in the film proved to be groundbreaking changes in the way movies are made.

Even the best green screen footage can present issues that can't be corrected with standard keying procedures. Whether it's a particular movement in the scene or rough lighting, sometimes you'll need to use alternative methods to isolate your subject from the background. In this segment we demonstrate multi-layered keys, and how to use masks to rotoscope your subject. These advanced methods and can help you get difficult green screen footage looking good.

Green Screen shots with camera movement where the background and foreground are perfectly in sync really help to sell the scene. In this segment, we show you how to track motion in your shot, sync your background with your footage, stabilize shaky footage, and keyframe motion manually. Using these techniques can help sell your scene, and save otherwise unusable footage.

After the time-consuming process of pulling a good key is finally complete, placing your subject in the scene can sometimes seem like an afterthought. In this segment we talk about positioning your subject in the shot, color correcting your subject to match the background, creating a lightwrap to blend your subject into the background more naturally, and how to deal with mismatched lighting.

When you're shooting footage next to a gigantic green wall, it's not unusual to have some of that green unintentionally fall on your subject. In this segment we show you how to remove the green using keylight, spill suppressor, and curves in After Effects, as well as ultra key and the 3 way color corrector in Premiere Pro.

We've all seen the tutorials that show you a one click process to pull a beautiful key. But many times, the lighting for the green screen shot you're working with isn't lit perfectly, and has objects in the shot that you don't want. In this segment, we show you how to remove unwanted objects from your footage, and key out a background with uneven lighting. Knowing how to fix these issues is the starting point to pulling a great key, even when the footage presents a challenge.

Everyone can instantly picture the look and feel of films like Saving Private Ryan, with it's raw, gritty footage, or the Matrix, with is green-tinged digital world. Color Grading and color matching are two major components that enhance films and separate them from the look of video. Using some basic techniques, your next project can stand out with it's own unique look and feel.

In an ideal world, every shot you brought into the edit room would be perfect. But the reality is that sometimes shots you're editing aren't white balanced perfectly, or the look of one shot might not match another. In this segment, we talk about primary color correction and show you how to adjust the tonality and color of a clip. A little color correction can go a long way and help make your video, look like film.

There's no experience quite like sitting in a movie theater and watching a film. Since it's inception, film has had a special look and feel to it that many video producers have tried to emulate. In this segment, you'll learn about interlaced footage, progressive footage, frame rates, and footage conversion. A solid understanding of these key concepts will help make your video, look like film.

Achieving the film look is no easy task. And choosing the right camera is the first step to get you on the right track. In this segment, we'll discuss camera components and different types of cameras, including camcorders, DSLR's, and digital cinema cameras.

All video professionals and indie filmmakers put a great deal of effort into their final product. Many of them wish to go a step beyond and achieve that pinnacle of video nirvana known as - "The Film Look." In this segment we will discuss what "The Film Look" means, why film and video look so different in the first place and how you too can achieve "The Film Look" in your next project.

Ever since DSLR cameras started recording video, cinematographers everywhere have used them to give their videos a sleek and "professional" feel. However, quality video requires a stable shot - something that's difficult to get with the awkward design of most DSLR cameras.

It's pretty commonplace for someone to ask how a special effect shot in a summer blockbuster was done, but you don't often hear someone asking how an exterior car shot was done - though it can be just as difficult to do. The truth is, every great car shot starts with a great car mount. So to help you with your car shots, we'll be showing you how to measure, cut, and assemble your own car mount using materials that are inexpensive and easy to find in any big box retail store.

Believe it or not, audience members are more likely to forgive poorly captured video than poorly captured sound which means that capturing clear audio is an incredibly important task. But it isn't as easy as it sounds. As such, we've decided to help you in your quest for quality audio by showing you how to make your very own microphone boom pole, shock mount, and windscreen using easy to find materials from any big box retailer.

You've captured great audio and brought it into the editing timeline where you've synchronized and cleaned it up even further. For one final touch before releasing your masterpiece to the masses, we'll show you how to design a professional sound mix in post, using ducking, frequency gaps and normalization to give your audio a particularly professional polish and set it in a class all its own.

Capturing flawless video and awesome audio is certainly a crucial part of the process, but if the two aren't properly synchronized in post then the results will surely be disastrous. We show you how to bring it all together using timecodes, slates and waveforms, and synching software, to keep your project's timing on track and looking and sounding it's absolute best.