Hot Film & Theater Posts
How To: Choose the right mic to use with your digital camera
The mic you use will affect the quality and sound of the audio for your digital film project. The in-camera mic is usually not enough, so you'll need to buy some extras. But which ones are the best, and how to use them?
How To: Choose the right lenses and equipment for filming a wedding or special event
Filming a wedding soon? What if you can only bring one lens with you to an event? This tutorial shows you the various video camera lenses you can use, and which ones are the best to use when filming a wedding or other special event.
How To: Use an EOS stabilizer with your digital cameras
Are stabilizers worth the investment? Which one is the best? How can you get the most out of the stabilizer you already have? This tutorial provides the answers to all these questions, and more! Decide which stabilizer is right for your camera and budget.
How To: Shoot a wedding ceremony in a church
Most weddings happen in churches, and of course everyone wants to capture the moment on film. If you're going to be the photographer for an indoor church wedding, this tutorial is for you. Choose the right kind of camera and settings to make your pictures and film as professional and memorable as possible.
How To: Get the best sound when filming with a DSLR
Digital SLRs are known for their high image quality, but what about audio? This panel discussion shows you how you can set up your shots and equipment to ensure you get the best possible audio for your next film project.
News: Welcome To My Nightmare
Cyriak's latest animation features '50s stock footage remixed into a horror show. Our dark and twisted animator keeps churning them out, each creepier than the last. Be warned: "a journey into horribleness, not recommended for the faint-hearted or fragile-minded..." More by Cyriak:
News: Sit Back and Watch... 'Twas a Dark, Dark Christmas
Beautiful animation with a sinister twist by Beijing Motion Graphics house, 39 Degrees North: "We started down a rather unconventional route for our Christmas card this year and there was simply no turning back. The pull of the dark side was just too strong.
How To: Replicate the Star Trek transporter effect in your own movies
Including a teleporter scene in your science fiction movie? This tutorial shows you how to use a compositing effect so you can replicate the look of the Star Trek transporter. It's fairly easy - all you need are three separate, easy to work with layers.
How To: Use FD lenses with your high definition digital cameras
This tutorial goes over the Canon manual lenses that are produced with film cameras in mind, but you can buy an adapter to fit them to your digital cameras. This tutorial shows you how to use these FD lenses, and why you would want to.
How To: Make your own green screen for a Chroma Key test
This tutorial shows you how you can make your own do it yourself green screen out of a bed frame, some hardware (a staple gun is key) and a green blanket (or any large length of appropriately colored green gabric).
How To: Use a test card to master the focusing on your digital camera
Focusing can be tricky to get just right, but you can use the Letus mini card to help! This is a quick tutorial that shows you what a test card is and how you can use it to quickly and easily bring your shots into proper focus.
How To: Achieve a shallow depth of field effect in your films
This video shows you how to achieve the 'film look' for your digital projects by adjusting your depth of field to become more shallow. It also demonstrates the difference between the 60i and 24p modes of filming (the video says 30i, but the correct mode is 60i).
How To: Get started making awesome and brilliant films
This tutorial gives you five useful tips that will ensure your next film is utterly brilliant. Use what you've got, have a single message, entertain your audience no matter what, write a good script and storyboard, and make sure your sound and light are calibrated properly.
How To: Use the Manfrotto 394 quick release plates when shooting on a tripod
This tutorial shows you how to use the Mafrotto 394 quick release plates, which allows you to quickly move or change cameras on your tripod. This saves you a lot of time you'd otherwise spend screwing and unscrewing your camera from the tripod.
How To: Use the EX1 and Letus Extreme 35 mm lens adapter when filming outdoors
This is a quick tutorial on a few pieces of film equipment that are especially well suited to filming outdoors - specifically, the Sony EX1 video camera, and the Letus Extreme 35 mm lens adapter, as well as the hardware you'll need to be able to use it.
How To: Shoot high definition video with a Flip camera
Professional quality, high definition video cameras are now getting within the grasp of independent film makers, and this tutorial shows you how you can use the Flip camera, or other small HD cameras, to shoot your own high quality projects.
How To: Get HD quality video with your Canon digital SLRs
You can still make great high definition videos using the Canon digital SLR camera line. This video gives you quite a few tips you can use to start creating your own videos and movies - the most important one of which is to have fun!
How To: Pick up a few good tips for using your Sanyo Xacti equipment
This tutorial shows you a few tips you can use to get the most out of your Sany Xacti microphone and other audio equipment. It is a professional grade piece of equipment, so it's pricey, but well worth the investment.
How To: Hold a camera completely steady in your bare hands
No extra tripods or dollies required! This tutorial shows you the 'steadyhand' technique: a way for you to hold your video camera in your bare hands without any tremors or shaking. The trick is to not hold it too tightly.
News: Krampus, the Evil Face of Christmas
Meet Krampus, St. Nick's evil companion of traditional Alpine mythology. According to Wikipedia, the freaky tradition was particularly popular with the Austrian Nazi-allied fascists, circa mid-1930s:
How To: Make your own rolling camera dolly for cheap
This tutorial shows you how you can cheaply and easily construct a rolling camera dolly for less than you'd have to spend to buy it from the manufacturer - this one only costs about $120. It rolls as smoothly as a professional dolly!
News: The History of Life (On Acid)
After enjoying the sweet, yummy holiday cheer of the world's beginnings explained with cookie dough, enter Cyriak Harris' delightfully nightmarish acid trip alternative: "The abridged story of life on earth, as told through the medium of walking fingers." Previously, How Did He Do That?
How To: View Golden Globe Nominee Inception Via Code
Inception may not be the lead contender for the 68th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best movies and television from 2010, but Christopher Nolan's film still collected four nominations— Best Motion Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Original Score.
How To: Build the latex skin of a stop motion monster
Without teeny little clay sculptures, you'd have no stop motion movies. While you can purchase a plethora of premade monsters to star in what you believe is the next "Godzilla," you can save some hard-earned money by making these monsters yourself.
How To: Pad the body of a stop motion monster
Remember how when you were a kid you used to make bedsheet tents and act out Godzilla scenes with your toys, pretending to put on a movie? You can totally do that for a living - though, admittedly, you're going to have to step up your puppets a notch.
How To: Craft the aluminum wire armiture for a stop motion monster
Remember how when you were a kid you used to make bedsheet tents and act out Godzilla scenes with your toys, pretending to put on a movie? You can totally do that for a living - though, admittedly, you're going to have to step up your puppets a notch.
How To: Make a claymore land mine prop out of cardboard and papier-mache
The claymore is one of the most insidious weapons ever devised, responsibile for millions of limbs lost in the Vietnam War. This video will show you how to make a much safer prop version out of cardboard and papier-mache to use in a film that still looks quite realistic.
How To: Build a Far Cry 2 grenade launcher prop with cardboard and clay
Far Cry 2 set the bar for video game graphics when it came out, and it's grenade launcher is one of the best-looking in games. This video will teach you how to bring the grenade launcher into reality by making a replica out of cardboard and clay, perfect for a film or costume.
How To: Make a realistic cardboard replica M32 grenade launcher
Grenade launchers are some of the most important heavy weapons used by the world's infantry, but getting one for yourself is hard even in gun-loving America. This video will teach you how to make a cardboard replica of an M32 grenade launcher perfect for filmmaking or an elaborate costume.
How To: Make day into night, normal things giant, and high falls for films
Three disparate but useful indie filmmaking techniques, one video. One stop shopping just in time for the holidays. This video will teach you how to make day into night with editing, normal things giant with filming, and make actors fall from high places without hurting themselves unduly.
How To: Crush a head with special effects and use three-point lighting for a film
No matter how desperate they are for work, most actors will not let you crush their heads for your film. The potential for career development afterwards would be limited. This video will teach you how to crush a head with special effects for a film and then how to use three-point lighting to make your films look more professional.
How To: Use CGI in a live action film
CGI and live action shots get together in almost every big-budget Hollywood movie these days, but combining them in one shot can be challenging for the uninitiated. This video will teach you all about using CGI in live action films, including the use of 3D Studio Max, Blender, and other software to do the animation, rendering, compositing, and other digital steps to making great CGI-live action integration happen.
How To: Storyboard, make a shot list, line your script, and schedule a film production
Measure twice cut once applies to filmmaking as well as construction or any other complex process really, and that's why preproduction is they key to actually finishing your film on time and budget. This video will help you with several preproduction tasks, including storyboarding, making a shot list, lining / timing your script, and scheduling the actual production of the film.
How to Do film preproduction: budgeting, script breakdowns, and casting calls
Pre-production is a much less complex process for an indie film than a big-budget one that needs stars and permits and such, but it's still vital to shooting a good film in a timely fashion. This video will walk you through Ryan from Film Riot's entire pre-production process, including script breakdowns, free casting calls, budgeting, getting a crew and locations.
How To: Light and key a greenscreen with either Final Cut Pro or After Effects
The greenscreen has allowed filmmakers to take us to worlds they never could have otherwise, but they can ruin a movie when used poorly. Watch this video for a guide to picking a screen, lighting it, and getting a good key for it using Final Cut Pro or After Effects.
How To: Shoot someone's head off, use a jib and dolly together, and make a light ring
Three awesome film special effects, one video. Ryan at Film Riot sure knows how to make one-stop shopping filmmaking tutorials. This video will show you how to shoot someone's head off, use a jib and dolly together to get more dynamic shots, and also how to make a great cheap light ring.
How To: Build and shoot a ray gun and shrink an object for a film with effects
The shrink ray as always been one of the oddest and least-useful sci-fi guns, but alien invaders seem to love them and so we'll keep seeing them. If you want to use a shrink ray in a film you're working on, watch this video. It will teach you how to first make a generic ray / laser gun, and then how to make an object shrink in After Effects.
How To: Replace the sky and make a UFO with special effects for a film
Alien invaders are a constant threat, so it is important that filmmakers continue their long tradition of making educational films like Independence Day to ensure that we know what to do when the invasion comes. If you want to make aliens films yourself, watch this video for tips on using compositing to replace the sky and make an awesome UFO / flying saucer.
How To: Motion track, make a prop sniper scope, and dunk someone in a toilet for film
If you like to learn filmmaking techniques from internet videos fast, then you've found the holy grail right here. This video will teach you how to do four different effects, including text motion tracked to your shots, motion tracking, make a prop sniper scope, and how to dunk someone's head in a toilet. Bonus points if you can use them all in the same film.
How To: Run over an actor's head or bury them alive with special effects for film
Running over someone's head or burying them alive so that they can rise from the grave are dangerous, and not worth using in filmmaking generally speaking. But yay, there are special effects! Watch this video for a guide to running over someone's head with a car or burying them alive for your film using After Effects and some fun props.