Got nothing on this scene.

[Mitter]

Ok so, i'm 17 and thinking about doing my first short movie.I'm writing a script but when i come to think of camera angles i get a little sad because i just don't know how to shoot some scenes.

(Ah, before reading please now that i wrote the scenes in the right way in Celtx, it's in portuguese so here i'm just telling how it's without much depht.)

For example, the first scene of my short i know exactly how i could shoot it.Start with Julio comming off an house (Dugão house), dizzy but agitated.There are groups of people whispering about some kind of fight that happend inside.Julio walks into this street that have the shape of a hallway, there are bums smocking crack laying on the floor.Julio walks while the light of the pole shines on him .When he is about to take a curve Dugão appears at the start of the street with his leg bleeding, exausted and furious.

I would shoot this (and i will) with a camera starting on Julio with a close.The camera moves like he moves, a little bit disoriented showing the people talking.It follows Julio untill he enters in the street.Now the camera is aimed in Julio's shoes showing the bums on the floor (the camera is going forward).Than i cut to a camera following him as the light shine on his body and showing the bums on the floor.When Dugão apears the camera will take his whole body but not too close, than i cut to Julio's face and the screen goes black.The name of the movie, Impulse, appears and we get to another scene.

But other scene i'm having trouble thinking about how i'll do it.
Rafael is having a little party in his cozy apartment.There are two girls drinking beer.He gets a beer and start dancing with them.Julio knock the door but Rafael doesn't listen.He insist and Rafael go and answer the door.The scene carry on but here is when i'm having trouble.

I have little to no budget.And when i think of shooting a little party like this i just think of it turning out like an amatour scene.If i get the camera close to him and the girls dancing i think it will be pretty empty.But now if they are moving around it may get better because the place is tiny and i can make the camera a little crazy too, maybe handheld.

Ah, the movie is about this 20-something guy that needs money to buy medicine to his sick mother, but when he realise that he is not going to get the money in the right way he get into the drugs business (the first scene is a flashforward).

What are your thoughts?I have never touched a camera to shoot scenes before, i'm just picturing how i would do the scenes that i'm writing.Sorry for my bad english, it's not my first language (i'm a brazilian) and learned english by myself so be gentle

 

[wheatgrinder]

Something like this Id do with coverage. That is Id just shoot a lot of footage and put it together in an edit.

As its a party, two guys, two girls, drugs, booze and music, I would go hand held (INSIDE the party). Lots of Close Up shots with a wide angle lens. Id also shot a bunch of inserts, shots of this object, that hand, or shoe, ash tray, empty bottle etc.

Id also set up and shoot the dirty Over the shoulder and reverse for the dialogue between Rafael and Julio. Do these from OUTSIDE the party shooting INTO the small crowd using a long lens or zoomed in to where the frame is mostly the subject.

 

[Mitter]

Something like this Id do with coverage. That is Id just shoot a lot of footage and put it together in an edit.

As its a party, two guys, two girls, drugs, booze and music, I would go hand held (INSIDE the party). Lots of Close Up shots with a wide angle lens. Id also shot a bunch of inserts, shots of this object, that hand, or shoe, ash tray, empty bottle etc.

Id also set up and shoot the dirty Over the shoulder and reverse for the dialogue between Rafael and Julio. Do these from OUTSIDE the party shooting INTO the small crowd using a long lens or zoomed in to where the frame is mostly the subject.

Thanks for the answer dude.

Now that i'm working on new stuff in the script i think i'll put more people in the party to help me in the writing later on.I think now that I have more people will be more easier to shoot it.

 

[Cracker Funk]

It's terrific if you have specific shots that you want to get, like the tracking shots you mentioned. And scripted shooting can turn out really well.

But if there's a scene in which nothing super-creative is coming to mind, I don't see anything wrong with using shots that tend to be something kind of standard. I mean, probably more than 90% of the shots that you see in the most awesome movies are rather standard.

Get the master shot. Get a two-shot from one direction. Get a two-shot from the opposite angle. Get over-the-shoulder shots. Get close-ups of each character. Get a plethora of cutaways. If you've got time, throw in some camera movement. This is kind of how most scenes are shot, and if the content of the scene is worthwhile, the camera doesn't have to be crazy creative on every single shot. In fact, when I see movies in which almost every single shot is out of the ordinary in some way, a lot of times I just feel like the director is trying to hard.

Think of it like curse-words. Curse-words are meaningless if you use them all the time. They only have real meaning and impact if used when you really mean it. Well, I kind of think creative camera techniques should be the same. Just use them when you really want to draw the audience's attention to something very important. The rest of the time, I think it's best to give the audience what they're accustomed to seeing.

Besides, you're way ahead of yourself. You shouldn't be thinking about any of that right now. Don't let your inner-director muddle up the screenwriters' work. Right now, I think you should just focus on writing a kick-ass story. Let the shots work themselves out later. Not until you finally get on set, and start blocking, that's when your shots really start to come together.

So, you're a first-timer? What kind of research have you done, so far? I really like this book for first-time filmmakers:

http://www.amazon.com/Bare-Bones-Camera-Course-Video/dp/0960371818

 

[Mitter]

It's terrific if you have specific shots that you want to get, like the tracking shots you mentioned. And scripted shooting can turn out really well.

But if there's a scene in which nothing super-creative is coming to mind, I don't see anything wrong with using shots that tend to be something kind of standard. I mean, probably more than 90% of the shots that you see in the most awesome movies are rather standard.

Get the master shot. Get a two-shot from one direction. Get a two-shot from the opposite angle. Get over-the-shoulder shots. Get close-ups of each character. Get a plethora of cutaways. If you've got time, throw in some camera movement. This is kind of how most scenes are shot, and if the content of the scene is worthwhile, the camera doesn't have to be crazy creative on every single shot. In fact, when I see movies in which almost every single shot is out of the ordinary in some way, a lot of times I just feel like the director is trying to hard.

Think of it like curse-words. Curse-words are meaningless if you use them all the time. They only have real meaning and impact if used when you really mean it. Well, I kind of think creative camera techniques should be the same. Just use them when you really want to draw the audience's attention to something very important. The rest of the time, I think it's best to give the audience what they're accustomed to seeing.

Besides, you're way ahead of yourself. You shouldn't be thinking about any of that right now. Don't let your inner-director muddle up the screenwriters' work. Right now, I think you should just focus on writing a kick-ass story. Let the shots work themselves out later. Not until you finally get on set, and start blocking, that's when your shots really start to come together.

So, you're a first-timer? What kind of research have you done, so far? I really like this book for first-time filmmakers:

http://www.amazon.com/Bare-Bones-Camera-Course-Video/dp/0960371818

I'm loving this community, here you get so much help in really short time.

I don't like when directors use creative way of shoting all the time too.Is just that when i was watching the script in my head i couldn't see anything that would look good, you know?Like, didn't know where to place the camera and start shoting from.
I think i'll shoot the most part of it with normal angles but there are 3 scenes that i already know how they should look like.Not just because it would look cool but because i would pass thoughts that i want the audience to have.

I'll follow your advice and focus on the story and leave the camera work for later.I just get too excited when i see the scene in my mind that i can't stop it.

 

[superamazing]

By the way, make sure you follow the basic rules of continuity editing! That's a suggestion that's so obvious it's easy to forget.

Man, my first short I made back in highschool... it was just utterly uncuttable. It's amazing how little I knew back then.

 

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

Most shooting scripts are not too specific to begin with. They will indicate the angle on, moving shot, etc.

You really need to get specific with your shot list and storyboards. Your storyboards will help you to better visualize your shots.

 

[Mitter]

Most shooting scripts are not too specific to begin with. They will indicate the angle on, moving shot, etc.

You really need to get specific with your shot list and storyboards. Your storyboards will help you to better visualize your shots.

I don't know how to draw

 

[Joe Citizen]

I don't know how to draw

Try comic books. You can get digital versions and cut and paste shots around. Check for artists who know their narrative art, like Frank Miller. A good narrative artist can practically storyboard your whole movie for you if you have enough material. You'll learn how to frame shots - or at least one guys take on how to frame shots - in the process. Or you could use Poser or DAZ Studio.

Oh, and you REALLY don't need to know how to draw to storyboard. Silhouettes/outlines/big basic shapes are good enough for storyboards, I think.

 

[polfilmblog]

I think you're on the right track. You've thought about the shots more than a lot of other people who post videos.

First step, write each shot into a legible script.

Second step, try and storyboard shots that aren't that obvious.

Things to consider:

1) Can you have a foreground v. background that imparts two different types of information at the same time?

2) Can you withhold information from the viewer in a way that makes them want to know more?

3) Can you reveal information in new ways, that they haven't seen before?

You may want to shoot this as a rough test, and then learn from it, go back and shoot it again more professionally.

Peace.