Film Production Equipment

With the advent of new technologies, film production equipment and the materialization of digital video as an acceptable medium for film has given anyone the privilege to become a film director virtually overnight. Even if the cost of film making is high and some of this video production equipment are easy on the budget and can be learned easily without delay. Even though the focus is more on the art of film making rather than the equipment, easy access to video equipment has kept many starters driven to try film making and give it their best shot. These recent advances in film production have made way for independent films to prosper. The first step in making yourself a Steven Spielberg is to understand completely the basics of video production equipment.

It is fundamental for you to take stock of your film production equipment as you start setting up video for the shoot to ensure that you have everything you need. In creating a professional-looking film, the most fundamental video production equipment you need to have are professional video cameras, stabilization equipment and also film lighting equipment as well as a microphone or audio system. Some camera support equipment may also be needed like dollies, tracks, jibs, lifts, tripods, cranes and booms. Furthermore, you might want to factor in the trucks and other vehicles that will transport the cameras and other equipment needed for the filming. There are also times when specialized equipment may be required for enhancing audio and video effects. In other instances, climate control machinery is also needed to come up with the appropriate effects for the film.

When you are done with the creation of film on video, there is still some more video production equipment needed to edit and finalize the video and come up with your masterpiece. With the use of pro quality editing equipment, you can create your video one that has a professional polished look that sets it apart from any home video or any amateur film production. These video-editing tools may include video editing software, sound mixing equipment, and video duplication equipment.

Today there are many providers of film production equipment like camera, video, lighting and film processing. You should research on film equipment vendors, which can offer movie production supplies that will suit your needs. Find those that can offer quality service, technical skill excellence and also fair pricing. You won’t have to buy this video production equipment now since there are many that can be rented. However, if you want your own gear, it is many used items that you can purchase as well.

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Rules of Composition in The Film Production

Position the Main Subject. Always consider putting the primary subject in the center of the frame. If there is a definite left, right, front or back to the subject it might be shifted to the right or left, but if, for example, it is a round flower vase (no right or left) possibly it had better be in the center of the frame if it is to be the only thing in the shot. As soon as you put it to one position you draw attention away from the vase and into the empty space on the other side of the frame. If nothing will ever be introduced in this space, and then your audience is left wondering what was supposed to be there when the shot ends. Admittedly, there could be many reasons for ignoring this advice, but be sure you have a definite reason.

Set the Headroom. The term headroom refers to the distance between the top of your subject (like a person’s head) and the top of the frame. When it is a human head, it’s disturbing if the top of the head is “cut off” by the top of the frame. As you tighten the shot from a medium shot to a close up to an extreme close, up you will eventually have to sacrifice the top of the head, but in a very close shot that’s acceptable. It’s better composition to keep the chin and loose the top of the head. A good way to think about this is to always have the person’s eyes on the (imaginary) line that defines the top third of the frame.

In your imagination as you view your shot in the viewfinder, divide it into thirds both vertically and horizontally. The most interesting or powerful areas in the frame are where the vertical and horizontal lines intersect. So, for example, if you’re taking a shot of a small wooden church on a distant hill out in the country, you might want to place the church on one of the two intersection points in the top third of the frame. It’ll be a more interesting shot than just centering the church, especially if you see the church in profile (that gives it a sense of back and front).

Set the Lead Room. Lead room refers to the space you should put in front of a subject that is looking or moving left to right – or right to left. This can be a person standing still in profile speaking to someone who is off camera, or a car that’s moving as you pan or track with it. It’s common to put more lead room in front of the subject, but not so much that the subject’s back is against the frame behind it. The space in front is more important to the viewer than the space behind.

Check the Periphery. The periphery is the part of the shot that is right against the boundaries of the frame. After you’ve framed your shot, but before you roll, you should quickly check the frame all the way around. After your eye has traveled 360 degrees, you should search within the frame as well. It’s sometimes amazing what you find. Often it’ll be things that should not be there during your shot (electrical cords from your lighting, a shadow of the boom mic. or maybe even a person who you don’t want in the shot). A periphery check is very important.

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How to use a green screen background in your next video production

Virtual studios are useful in a wide range of situations .  By utilizing a virtual studio for your video production, you have the ability to place your  talent in any type of backdrop and to update your background with ease. Whether you are using your video for a tradeshow, podcast, product demonstration or news, a virtual set will allow you to create an easy and inexpensive video production.

Today, I will show you how to use a virtual studio with Adobe After Effects. The techniques we examine in this tutorial can also be applied to a number of other non-linear editors that allow you to remove green screen from video footage (many do allow this).  Everything about this tutorial should be the same in various other editors, the only difference is the sequence to apply the green/chroma key effect to remove green screen from your video footage.

First, open after effects and import your video files.  You should have a video file that contains your talent shot on a green screen, the virtual set layer (this can be a still or animation), and a layer of video footage or animation to place in the virtual studio monitor (if your virtual studio has a spot for additional footage).

Now, create a composition (go to composition, new in the top menu) and drag the 3 files into your composition.  Make sure your files are in the following order from the top.  The first layer contains your talent footage shot on green screen.  The next layer is your virtual set layer.  The bottom layer will be the footage you would like displayed in the virtual studio.

Select the top layer with your talent shot on a green screen .  Next, click effect in the toolbar, scroll down to keying, and select keylight.  If you do not have keylight, you can select color key or color range to remove the green screen from your shot.  Now, within the effect controls for keylight, select the eyedropper next to “screen color” and choose the green color behind your talent.  This should remove the green color in the background of your video footage.  If needed, you can adjust the settings in keylight to remove any color spill or rough edges from your subject.

Next, lets remove the green from the news studio monitor (only needed if your studio has a monitor in it) .  Select your studio layer, and click effect, keying, keylight again to create another color key on the virtual studio layer.  Now, select the eyedropper next to “screen color” (in the keylight effect controls window) and choose the green color in the monitor on your virtual set layer.  This will knock out the green in the monitor allowing you to see the footage on the bottom layer.

Now, you can adjust the layer below the studio layer to scale it into place.  You can also edit the footage on the last layer to change what appears on screen.

  The last step is to render your video to combine all the elements into a final vido.

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