A quick way to make immediate impact on the quality of your picture taking or video making is to narrow your depth of field. In this part 1 we talk about what DOF is and why it’s important. In part two, we’ll discuss how to implement it. Depth of Field is the difference many times between something that looks cinematic and something that looks amateur. There are times to have a large depth of field, but better production value often means a narrower depth of field.
Serendipitous Films is a full service film and video production company, specializing in corporate video, commercials, music videos and other production services like shooting and editing. There was a time when Dallas claimed the moniker of “the third coast.” Obviously, LA and NYC are first two, and in the 80’s, movies and tv shows were coming to Dallas. The allure is clear– Dallas has a strong national commercial production industry, which provides top quality crew and equipment. So bringing the entertainment work in is a great compliment to the corporate and commercial video and film work. Since the 80’s, Dallas has been on a roller coaster of a ride– seeing the heights of Walker, Texas Ranger shoot week to week providing much in the way of jobs and rentals. And seeing the lows, like when the SAG Commercial actor strike…
“How long is a piece of string?” One of the most common question we get from potential clients is “how much would a video cost?” As you can imagine, there are so many variables that go into this answer. So what we do is ask a series of questions to figure out the elements, time frame, use, etc., that can help us give an accurate estimate. Here are some factors that greatly impact cost of a corporate/commercial video: Talent — Using a professional spokesperson, or a handful of actors, or even a voice talent can be expensive. We use both union and non-union talent and have relationships built with the talent agencies. Days of Shooting — A big cost for us is a day of shooting. So if the video requires two days of shooting, that line in the budget…
Most of us know what Slow motion is– it’s the slowing down of the movement in a video or film shot. There’s several ways to accomplish this– by just slowing down the shot in editing, or “over cranking” the shot when you are shooting. Shooting takes place at 24 frames a second, or 30 frames (or 25 for you PAL users) and some other variations as well. We won’t even get into fields. If I take 24 frames that were meant to display all in one second and I tell the clip to display those 24 frames in 2 seconds, what you’ll basically get is slo-mo that doubles up every frame. It will appear jittery or jerky. Not really ideal. I watched a movie recently and this is the slo-mo they had– it meant they didn’t shoot it for slo-mo…
One of the most frequent questions I get from friends and family not in the film business is “how can I take better pictures and video?” One free thing to instantly have a big impact on the quality of your picture taking and video shooting is to have better composition. In this installment of tips/techniques, we talk about the “rule of thirds.”
In the 90’s, when we finished the edit, we would lay off the final to tape and make a VHS client approval dub. Then when they were happy with it, we would duplicate how many ever VHS copies the client needed. Ten years later, it’s DVD. In 2005, we purchased a DVD duplicator, that printed right on the face. Our clients wanted discs, so that’s what we gave them. Now seven years later, it’s changing again. We almost made a decision even earlier this year to invest in another DVD duplicator. But out of the last ten projects, the primary means of delivering to the client was not DVD for nine of them. Clients want files. We learned the best settings for YouTube and Vimeo so that the videos are high def and yet load and play quickly. We’ve added…
Video Production for training, sales, marketing and more!. Serendipitous Films has an award-winning track record for producing high quality videos. We’ve produced national commercials, training programs, marketing videos, viral videos for web SEO, sales training, recruiting, and many others. Whatever your corporate communication need is, we deliver results. We’re deadline oriented and know how to work fast. Usually, companies will ask you if you want it good, cheap or fast, because you can pick two. Here at Serendipitous Films, we pride ourselves on our ability to deliver all three.
DIRECTOR SEMINAR *** PRODUCER SEMINAR Saturday, October 1, only $29 (reg. $49) for each class We’re going to have a Director and Producer Seminar on Saturday October 1. Director class is 9 to 11:30. We’ve dropped the price to only $29. Producer class at 1:30 to 4pm. Same price. Director Class 9am-11:30 [buy_now_button product_id=’132′] Producer Class 1:30pm to 4pm [buy_now_button product_id=’128′] For Directors, we’ll go over what to look for in auditions, how to approach the shoot, shot lists, vector lines, and the psychology of working with actors and head strong crew members. For Producers, we’ll talk about nuts and bolts of getting the project started, paperwork needed, how to raise money, how to pitch, pulling a team together all the way through to distribution. If you sign up for both, bring your lunch and we’ll…
There are two main styles for approaching interview lighting. What we’re talking about here is a single person talking head– where the interviewer is off camera. The two styles are Documentary and News. News is quick. You’ve got a deadline and no time for pretty. You’ve got to get the content and get it fast. Or, you purposely want it to have the feel of news, although you have all the time in the world. Or you need to get a bunch of interviews in a very short time. This style is usually one light, probably on the camera. There are a bunch of lights made for this. My DP Ron Gonzalez has just gotten a ring light. It’s like a circle flo. What this does is give the person a circle instead of a dot reflection in their eyes. …
Reel road lessons for actors and filmmakers. We have offered the following seminars and workshops: Acting: A Director’s POV — Not actor to actor, but director to actor– real information about what the director is thinking from audition, through shooting to the edit room. Give yourself a better shot at landing the role and not being left ont he cutting room floor. Greenlight Yourself — The 6 Phases of Filmmaking. Perfect for the writer or director looking for information on how to do it yourself. In addition to the seminar, a 3+ hour DVD is available. Screenfighting and SFX for Actors — learn to give and take punches, like falls, handle weapons like a pro and learn to take a squib. How To Direct Features — for the director in training. We go through the skillsets necessary to pull off…
Serendipitous Films is a film and video company offering services from script to screen. We started as a film and video production company (and have produced four feature films as well with actors Lou Diamond Phillips, Sean Patrick Flanery, Adam Baldwin, and Mimi Rogers) and have won over 30 industry awards for our work and consider our greatest accomplishment customer satisfaction. Whether you need a video produced for your company, or you need a camera crew or an editor, we’re ready to help with a great attitude and outstanding ability. Read More
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