Is it worth helping to make a feature if it's intended for youtube only?

As for focus pulling, how exactly do I get away with it, since people going out of focus is quite easy to happen?

Depends on your f-stop.

Sure with a shallow depth of field, people can go out of focus very easily.

At f8, you have much more latitude. The talent has to move quite a few meters before they go out of focus. We filmed most of our masters where talent walked at f8 and did not have focus issues - though we were shooting inside an apartment, not outdoors.

Obviously the other factors are your lens and your distance from talent.

Depth of field calculator
http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html
 
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Okay thanks. There is one actor I want to work with, but it's very difficult for him to concentrate, cause the lights are quite bright at f8, and he cannot help but squint.

My talent never had an issue with that. What ISO are you using - is it too low so you have to stream excessive lighting into the shot? Obviously if you up the ISO, your camera becomes more light sensitive.

On our shoots our main lighting was by 4x soft boxes (which had 5x bulbs each). Our footage looks good and no complaints from any talent regarding too much light.
 
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Oh okay. I am using 500 watt halogen lights so far, and would like to explore more light options. I will use the ISO that is needed which was 800 last time I did a test. in a bedroom at f8 I think it was. My friends are borrowing my halogens to shoot their movie but I will explore more light options and see what's out there.
 
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I am testing it right now. It's the same thing as last time. It seems that in a master shot, if an actor walks 15 feet away from another actor, towards the camera for example, that person will go out of focus. So how is it that f8 works in mastershots, unless both actors are very close to each other, from the camera, and not moving much?
 
Can you upload this test ?

(if the camera is shaking like in a freakin hurricane, I'm gonna send someone to chop your hands off).

(also, while you're at it, tell me what Focal Length you shot at and on what camera and confirm the f/8 aperture).
 
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(if the camera is shaking like in a freakin hurricane, I'm gonna send off someone to chop your hands off).

:lol:

And hell harmonica44, how many master shots have talent walking 15 feet??? In my feature, maybe two out of 30+ master shots. And you say 'its the same thing as last time', I doubt it unless you also shot that at f8. f8 gives you more latitude, it's not a shallow depth of field. Upload the footage as TheArtist requested. I have work to do so won't be replying - yep, I'm filming.
 
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Mate I keep on telling you about creativity and inspiration and you keep on changing the subject with some technical stuff .

Yes indeed it is important but I think in this particular situation is all about creativity.

You can create a short film just with a camera ,tripod and an actor . You don't need booms , lavs or anything . Just make it dialogue free , use foley and sound design in your advantage and make a great short story .

Then do it again and again and you'll have bunch of shorts to show to people you want to work with so they might be interested in helping you out , because if someone sees that you can tell a great story as a director , your chances of someone wanting to work with you will go up.

Cheers .
 
I don't have a tripod still now, but I could upload the test. I will borrow one when my friend has a chance to lend me hers.

I know not every mastershot has characters moving around that much, but there are some that do, and I would still like to get some shots like that in. Perhaps with a little more creativity. My other friend who wants to shoot his feature says his camera has no problem keeping two feet in focus at two feet away, so I will see his.
 
Mate you keep on thinking of new excuses .

Everyone is shooting on DSLR nowadays with just a DSLR camera and no accessories ,no focus pullers ,no nothing and sometimes their shorts do amazing because the idea is clever and great .

Stop thinking of excuses please! Go outside and put the aperature to about F9 , if you can't keep your characters in focus that way then I have no idea what the heck are you doing .

Good luck yet again .
 
I don't have a tripod still now, but I could upload the test. I will borrow one when my friend has a chance to lend me hers.


You don't need a tripod. Put the camera on the ground, on a chair, on a wall, on the roof of a car, on a brick, on someone's dead body if you want to.

Now do it and demonstrate your focus problem at f8 before I slap you in the face.

Also, try to see what happens if one the actors move 15 feet AWAY of the camera instead of to the camera.
 
I don't mean to be egotistical. It's just I was told on here before that things like auto white balance and auto focus are NOT fine, cause the camera will change focus and change color at the wrong times. Color, you may be able to fix but focus you cannot. I was told on here that doing things in certain ways is the way to go. Now you're saying it's just fine and to throw that out the window? If they posted their movie on here for viewing, you would tell them all the problems and everything they did wrong, so why say it's fine, when everyone who posts movies on here is told not to do that all the time?

I don't like auto focus and auto white balance, but it works if you are shooting quickly without someone that is capable of properly pulling focus. In your original comment, you were talking about how the mistakes they make are bad, and that you know to not do that.

Sure, they are making mistakes, but it's good that they're making mistakes! You learn from your mistakes! And the only way to learn from your mistakes is by making something, which you have not done. Make something, good or bad.

v This v

It's worth you doing anything that takes you away from the computer.

I didn't know movies actually got picked up off of youtube. The reason why people aim for film festivals is because I thought it was better for business and you have to have a certain aim of quality to be accepted. When friends say they want to make a movie for youtube, it sounds like they don't care about quality at all. But if youtube is an okay place to get picked up, then I will help out. I hope later they don't tell me that whatever they do is okay though, cause it's for youtube and quality doesn't matter. Anyone puts anything on youtube, and almost nothing gets rejected, so it just doesn't sound good when you say you want to aim for youtube.

I never said features gain success from youtube. I said some directors have gotten famous because of short films that became popular on youtube and/or were seen from the right people.

You shouldn't be doing a film to get money and contacts, you need to improve as a filmmaker. You don't have a solid short you are confident about showing people.

Youtube and festivals aren't the only places to show films. There are many places to show your film around, especially on the internet.

I don't have to be the AD but I wasn't sure what else I would be, since I haven't mastered focus pulling or audio mixing on set yet. The guy who wants to direct originally asked me to help with camera and sound. Of course that doesn't mean I would be a good AD either, he as just making suggestions as to how I could help.

Maybe you should skip it, and instead pull out your camera, and make a short film with a friend or family member.

I'm not good either, you're right. But I would hire experienced DPs, who know what they are doing and experienced focus pullers, etc, for a feature. The practice shots I post on here, for doing tests, are not at all what I would do if I was making a feature. I would get a good DP and focus puller rather than them relying on themselves, risking a whole feature. But I'm not good either, you're right. I am in the same boat is them, which is why I thought they should recruit more experienced people.

Which is for my next short film, I am not going to move on, unless I find a crew that can help pull it off first.

Can't you just write a script, pull out your camera, and shoot a short film with an actor or two, edit, and post? You're being too ambitious with huge crews and gear? Just shoot and edit something! I made my short "The Game" in one day. I shot it in 3 hours, and edited it in 5 hours. It's not perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than doing nothing.

I want to direct and act. Those are my main goals.

I can get some more equipment and devote more practice to other areas. I was told on here before not to bother getting more equipment when I would just be using the money to get people already have their own stuff anyway, and are more experienced with it.

But in order to make myself of more use, I can get more, if that's best. I was actually going to get more lights and practice some lighting I was thinking.

JUST MAKE SOMETHING!

I can pay for a crew of four I have budgeted for. DP/camera operator, focus puller, PSM and boom operator. But there aren't a lot around where I live that care to make themselves that available. Maybe it's cause I don't have short films to show off on my resume. I want to get experience with my friends though, and with the other directors I have worked for this year. But everyone seems to want to jump right into features, each one of them. No one wants to just get experience first. I even talked to an actor who is really talented and has done shorts and TV, and he says he has done enough of that and from now on it's feature time. I guess I would be more up for doing things ourselves, if everyone just didn't want to dive into the deep end first.

I can do things myself, and will have to research more on what equipment I should get. How do I operate the camera and work the audio equipment at the same time though?

You don't need more equipment and a crew of four. You need a camera, an actor, and a mic with a stand (if you are shooting by yourself). Do you know what would be a good idea? Making a short film with either inanimate objects, or yourself! Just pull out a tripod and shoot a short film with just you. Since you also want to be an actor.

The short film could be you talking on the phone, or just you getting ready for an average day of work.

If you want to direct , why don't you make some short film and post it here on the forum so people can critic it ,rather than posting a million tests of white balance ,color grading etc and asking if it's good or not .

Well , to be quite honest buddy I know quite a lot of people who just show up with an actor and a camera and pull off pretty fantastic stuff !

Think of a nice ,short , clever film without dialogue . Then shoot it . Spend enough time on foley , color grading and so on and you can do some fantastic stuff without focus pullers and DP's and boom operators and all that.

There are so many filmmakers on Youtube who work with no crew whatsoever and they make amazing shorts .

Just be creative and write something that fits your budget .

AAAAAAAAAMEN!
 
I'd also request harmonica44 buys a tripod prior to filming that long-awaited short or scene from his feature screenplay. I don't think I can stand any more of his 'Paul Greengrass'-fail shaky-camera footage (no offense H44)...

I can highly recommend the $149:

Magnus VT-4000 Tripod System with Fluid Head
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/842086-REG/Magnus_VT_4000_VT_4000_Tripod_System.html

But upload that f8 test footage first. And use anything to keep that camera steady (as requested by TheArtist etc)!

And H44, do take in the advice from TheArtist, Red Rebot, ChimpPhobiaFilms et al - it's damn good advice.

You have received a huge amount of advice here on IT - probably more than anyone else! We want you to succeed at film making. Repay some of our time and energy (that we spend answering your questions etc) by actually applying that knowledge and filming something - no more test shots and 10x lighting questions or other tech questions. Keep it simple to start.
 
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I can highly recommend the $149:

Magnus VT-4000 Tripod System with Fluid Head
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/842086-REG/Magnus_VT_4000_VT_4000_Tripod_System.html

The Ravelli AVTP Tripod is good as well. Built like a tank.

http://www.amazon.com/Ravelli-AVTP-Professional-Camera-Tripod/dp/B00139W0XM

You have received a huge amount of advice here on IT - probably more than anyone else!

H44 has posted over 500 threads, each one with 5-200 replies.

We want you to succeed at film making. Repay some of our time and energy (that we spend answering your questions etc) by actually applying that knowledge and filming something - no more test shots and 10x lighting questions or other tech questions. Keep it simple to start.

:yes:

+1
 
I really don't know whether you didn't understand what I said or you just chose to ignore it.

Frankly , it's not all about the camera being shaky , it's about all these tests you're posting .

Stay in your apartment for one night . Put some inspiring music or whatever and write a simple story .

A story that can be told all outside so you can use only the sun as a light source .

Get a friend , put the aperature to F8 - F10 , focus it with your fingers ( yes you can actually focus and then shoot without a bagilion assistants ) and then shoot the film. Edit it , post it . That way you'll find more connections and this is the way to go to find more and more people to collaborate with you .

Posting white balance tests and focus tests is not going to get you anywhere buddy .

it is just an advice and you can absolutely choose to ignore it and this will be absolutely fine by me.

I just think you're not doing it in the exact right way.

Good luck.
 
I was told before on this thread to record a focus test, and that's what I did. I will do a short later on as well of course. Knightly told me on another thread that f16 is better and I am doing some f16 tests in the sun, but it's the same thing, with two objects of about 10-15 feet apart.
 
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