alexschwindt.blog

test your color skillz

So just how good is your ability to recognize colors? What about matching color sets? For anyone involved in the visual arts the ability to see and handle colors is a crucial skill set. Remember, professional don't really get paid for their abilities, they get paid for their taste, for knowing the difference between "perfect" and "almost".

Enter the "Color - Method of Action" game that's making the rounds on the internets right now. While it's a lot of fun to play, it can also help you understand your strengths and weakness as a colorist. In addition, it can help you begin to grasp some advanced color theory concepts. Check it out after the jump...

shooting usable dslr footage

A few weeks ago I wrote that one of the most common mistakes DSLR shooters make is using the auto-exposure function on the camera, but I didn't actually explain how. As I said, it's not an easy art to master, but if you want to be an effective visual storyteller it's crucial that you put in the time to really figure it out. After a converstaion last night with an aspiring filmmaker who's been learning this the hard way I figured it was time to finally knock this post out.

So what are the basic guidelines for shooting usable footage..?

rez downtown 2012 - behind the scenes

Last month I had the chance to create a new short film for the RezDowntown campus. (you can check it out after the break) The community recently moved into a new venue, formerly the Crosstown Station, which provided some wonderful visual opportunities. I especially loved the different kinds of available light found there.

One of my favorite things about this project was that it gave me the opportunity to experiment with a number of different post-production techniques I'd never attempted. As a result, this might well be the first project I've ever created that I'd be really happy to see on a 40-foot screen. A big part of that had to do with some major software finessing of the footage in post...

10 common mistakes DSLR video shooters make

One of the big things I enjoy in life is helping aspiring filmmakers figure out their craft, and over the past two or three years that's really meant helping people figure out how to shoot with DSLRs. After doing this for a while I've started to see patterns of mistakes that many aspiring cinematographers make. I'm probably quick to notice them because their mistakes I've made as well, some of them more than once.

Of course you're free to figure these out on your own, but wiser artists are usually quick to try and learn from other artist's mistakes. In that spirit, I thought it might be helpful to put together a list of the 10 most common mistakes I see DSLR video shooters make...

filming weddings with DSLRs

Last Friday I had the chance to film a wedding in downtown KC. As you can imagine, shooting weddings is something I've done quite a lot. What I've never done, however, is shoot one exclusively with DSLRs.

Those of you who are regular readers of the blog know that I think DSLRs are an absolutely revolutionary technology. Having said that, they have some severe limitations. For this particular wedding the client was a friend and didn't have the budget for the cameras I would normally rent for these kind of events. So we decided to use my Canon 5D Mark II and T2i instead.

So how did it work, you might ask...

using natural light

One of the best aspects of using large-sensor cameras is the ability to shoot projects using natural light exclusively. But making the decision to shoot without lighting reinforcement doesn't mean you just forget about light. In fact, you usually need to think about it more to really pull of beautiful compositions.

For instance, a couple of weeks ago I had the chance to shoot the story of a pastor's fall from grace and his road to recovery. Given the context of the story I immediately began planning to shoot it using only natural light. And shooting that way takes some serious planning.

So how do you "plan" to use only natural lighting..?

greenscreen work with no greenscreen

Sometimes you need to shoot something dynamic and colorful, but you have very little time and zero budget. Often the solution is to try and shoot on greenscreen and pull a great composite later in AfterEffects. But that can take a lot of time and effort in order to create a well-shot and well-composed effect. Pulling a great chromakey takes tons of effort and practice. What if you don't have that kind of time, or expertise, or equipment?

You go old school. When I first saw the end result (after the jump) I was really impressed with how clean his greenscreen keys were. Turns out they weren't keys at all! The shot above was done entirely without a greenscreen or compositing software. How..?