Tips/Techniques
Here we discuss different tips and techniques for your Corporate video, commercial and feature film. Feel free to search for topics that interest you.
Audition Tips from a Working Film Director
In addition to our corporate video productions we do in the Dallas, Fort Worth area, SFilms has made five feature films over the years starring Adam Baldwin, Mimi Rogers, Lou Diamond Phillips and others. In today’s post, we talk to actors about quick tips to instantly impact their auditions and give a better chance for landing that role. The Dilemma for Local Actors When I was casting for Rising Stars in New York City, the producer that hired me (as well as most producers in LA and NYC) had a bias against local actors. They were...
read moreHow to Land Name Actors for Your Film
So you want to make a feature film. You might have even heard that the biggest factor, bar none, for the distribution success of your movie is to cast name actors. But how do you do it? The Name Actor’s 4 Factors First, you need to know the four factors that weigh in a name actor’s decision to be in your movie. A director they want to work with A script they want to do A producer or producing team they can trust The money I’ve had people go into this process thinking that they can land anyone for a price and it’s...
read moreWhat Camera Should I Buy?
I get asked this by friends and family and the answer depends on what they want it for and how manual/automatic they want it. But I was asked this by someone in the industry. They are ready to upgrade to new technology and liked the setup I have for corporate video production. Camera for Corporate Video First, more often than not, I use a DSLR for my corporate work. But occasionally I need something to record long form– like a seminar or meeting. So what follows is what I recommend for corporate film– like interviews and...
read moreTwo Camera Shooting in Film and Video Production
Two Cameras in Feature Films & TV When it comes to the number of cameras on a film set, traditionally, movies are shot with one, while television shows are shot with four or five. Now that doesn’t mean movies aren’t shot with more cameras– I think at one point, Cameron had five or six on Titanic and for special effects and stunts, there might be ten or more. And more recently, Peter Jackson had something like 37 Red Epics on “Hobbit.” But he’s also shooting 3D, and for the sake of discussion,...
read moreDallas Video Production Drives Corporate Filmmaking
The Corporate Video Meets the Movie At Serendipitous Films, we have a long track record of award-winning corporate video experience. But one skillset that is being utilized more and more in corporate video is our experienced in feature films. It’s not enough to train, motivate and sell through talking heads for some corporations. So we’re being asked to create exciting canvasses to communicate the client’s content. Case in point– over the years, our most awarded and successful training video was a spoof of Forest...
read moreActing Tips for the Audition
Hey Actors! December 9 we are shooting actor demos. These are original scenes, shot on high def and made to look like it’s taken right from an indie film. For more information, check out the Seminars page. Tips to Actors from a Director As a director of five feature films, I’ve sat through a lot of auditions. We’ve cast in LA and NYC and of course local. And what I want to do here is give some advice, some cheat codes that can quickly make an impact for you as an actor going in to an audition. First– if...
read moreCorporate Video & Film — Viral Videos
The corporate film and services has been changing as the technology evolves. Here at Serendipitous Films, we’re seeing a large increase in the short corporate video, mainly for the web. Viral videos– an unknown term in the 90′s– is fast becoming the highest demand video. In addition, we’ve seen a sharp increase in the “home page” video. Usually a short, two minute or so video about the company and it’s product or services. The Viral Video can be broken down into three types–...
read moreAdapt or Die in the Film & Video Production Services Industry
Serendipitous is a turn key production company in film and video for corporate, commercial and feature productions. Check us out by clicking about us and look at our recent work. If you need a bid, give us a call at 817-371-9222 or fill out our form in the contact section. The film and video industry has been changing dramatically. From the early 1900′s through to the nineties, film production remained essentially the same. Video started changing with the advent of VHS and beta in the late seventies and early 80′s. And...
read moreThe Corporate Video Interview – Pt. 3
I’m editing a series of videos for a Fortune 500 global company. They had crews from around the world shoot these. I’ve seen some really good stuff, and some not so good. So in today’s blog, here’s some problems to avoid. Shooting subject against a window might look good to your eye, but is a very tricky lighting situation. There can be a difference of 5 or more stops between the ambient light on your subject and what’s outside that window. So if you expose for the subject, the window is blown out. If...
read moreThe Corporate Video Interview — Pt. 2 SOUND
Serendipitous Films, in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, produces corporate video, commercials, music videos and feature films. This is the second part of the series on t corporate video interview. Now let’s talk about sound in the interview. At the non-professional level, sound is simply taken from the mic built into the camera. At almost no level is this sound good and acceptable. So you get into a quiet room. You still contend with air conditioning noise, fluorescent lighting hum, and whatever other ambient sound. I don’t know of a...
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