Filmmaking Technique: Make Someone Fly in Your Video

Filmmaker Mat Whitecross shares his top filming tips and shows how you can make someone fly in your videos. Get hold of any filming gear, like a handycam or a camera mobile phone, and hit record.

Transcript:




Hi, my name is Mat Whitecross. I'm a film-maker, director, editor, cameraman.

I come up with ideas, I go out to a location and shoot them with a crew and we come back into the studio and edit them.

I was obsessed with making films from a very early age and when I finished college, I went to work for a local TV station. Then I came to London and started making cups of tea for famous people, being a runner. After a while I started working on films, as an editor.

I do this because it's creative, it's exciting, it's fun and you meet different people every day. Every single day is different, and you get to tell stories the way you want to tell them.
Filming Demos

Get a strong story, good idea and be original.

Once you've got your idea the best thing to do is prepare yourself for the shoot, and the best way to do that is to draw a storyboard. You don't have to be a great artist, just get the pen out and start drawing an idea of what you're going to do with each shot.

Once you've got your storyboard, you need to go out and find a place to shoot it, find your location. The best thing to do is to try and find somewhere that's slightly out of the way, so you're not in other people's way. Also, find somewhere that's quiet.

Once you're on set, the main thing is to be able to communicate your ideas to your artists, to your actor, so talk them though exactly what you're doing with the story, why you've got them to come down and what they're supposed to be doing in each shot.

Today, we were trying to work out the simplest, comical idea we could do effectively, in five minutes. So we came up with an idea that someone drinks a drink which gives them kind of superhero powers for five minutes and then they come back down to earth.

The only part of film-making which is different to all other kind of arts, is editing. That's the bit I find the most fun. You can really play about with your footage, you can try out anything. You can try making it black and white, you can speed it up, you can slow it down, do anything you like, and that's really where you get to enjoy yourself.

For my story, what we're trying to do is cut out all the bits where the actor is on the ground. We're only going to keep the bits where she seems to be flying, so the idea is, even though it's going to look very low-fi, almost like stop animation, she's going to be flying through the air.

So when you've finished editing the film, the best thing to do is get everyone round who worked on the film, the cast and the crew, and make sure you have a good time watching it.
Filming tips

When I started out making films I spoke to so many people who told me that you needed to have a special camera or you needed to shoot on film, you couldn't shoot on video . Actually there's some of the most famous film-makers in the world right now making films on handycams, just as good as the one you've got, so just get out there and make them.

It doesn't matter whether you're using a film camera, a video camera or your mobile phone.

And remember to charge your batteries before you leave.

Before you go out and shoot, close your eyes and watch the whole movie in your head.

The great thing about video technology is you can make as many mistakes as you want, it doesn't cost you anything. So have fun with your friends and family while you're making your film. Enjoy your mistakes -- they sometimes turn out to be the best bits of the film.

When you've finished your edit before you send any copies out, make sure you back-up for yourself. Good luck.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blast/

Also check: Cinematographer Style — The Art and Craft of Filmmaking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c6HSbI2Jm0

Also check: Christopher Doyle Masterclass in Cinematography
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDMRB5cCrzY

Also check: 'Film Studies: 180° Degree Rule'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4wX_dmh8_g

Also Check: The Robert Rodriguez: 10 Minute Film School (The 1st & Original)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-YpfievjSk

Category:

Howto & Style

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• Filmmaking
• Videomaking
• Filming
• Tips
• BBC
• Blast
• Special
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• marcelofilmmaker
• videography
• techniques
• movie
• making
• Cinematography

[uzland97]

You don't need a software for that. Just make sure no one is walking on your video and during edit, which could be a rough cut, cut out the parts where she touches the ground.

[lw13594]

Para-Para-Paradise!

[GuiaDInmuebles]

I really like these tips and I like the angles and ideas that you are using!

[planenka]

@Veneficuss0 just start already! :P

[TheBlackKnight22]

240p... we meet again...

[NeverEndingThursdays]

Yeah just grab any camera... meanwhile you're using Leica glass. ;)

[itsbolok]

i can't add you n FB. great video!

[guguemichaels]

As an experienced director / cinematographer with 6 full length features under my belt, there's one thing people tend to forget about making a picture. Location! A location can give a movie either low production value or high production value. My movies looks as good as studio movies but I never spent a fraction of what they spend because of my Locations, nice camera, good acting and good post production. Always use nice locations, it helps trust me!

[phillozoph50]

Mistakes are the best way to learn.