Opinions on Beginner Techniques

Ezra

Ezra

I start filming my first feature film in 3 weeks, and I have some questions about the techniques I feel like using.

Since there's a small production budget, I was thinking to get 4 $10 500-Watt work lamps.
*If I were to use these, would it be good for a consumer-grade camcorder?
*Should I somehow diffuse the lighting?
*Would a light on each corner of the set be good for lighting a conference room set?
*How could I adjust a light to shine on only a certain space?
I also have a couple questions about cameras
*Would a Kodak Zi6 be decent for filming when combined with good lighting?
*How can fast movements of the camera be done without shakiness, without spending a lot of money?

I will be glad if all my questions could be answered. I may post more as they come to mind.
 
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break up the scene into many shots.

Shot one: Camera looking at corner of road. Cars come around the corner... tires squealing.
Shot two: Cars Race away around the next corner in the distance.
Shot Three: Lead car enters the frame on the left. whizzes by out of the frame on the right, chase car enters and whizzes by..etc..

etc.. etc..etc..

You cut this in editing, not in the camera.

There is no need to MOVE the camera while filming. Only physical move to the next location. You'll never have the entire "chase" filmed, and you'll never actually perform the entire chase, just snippets of it that you later EDIT into a cool scene. (if its not cars, it does not matter, same technique works for skate boards, red wagons, foot race, and tea cups at Disneyland!)
 
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Here is a great car chase.. note how little the camera moves.. just a few pans..

but lots of shots..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<object width="960" height="745"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/W5eWDuCC1BY&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/W5eWDuCC1BY&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="960" height="745"></embed></object>

Some cool lens flares in this, showing that much of this was shot in later afternoon or early morning.. better light and shadows then..
 
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The link to the PDF above is a great resource for general lighting practices. The worklights are specifically Quartz Halogen work lights and difficult to work with, although I've used them frequently. They run really hot ... temperature wise, buy leather gloves for working with them.

Sound won't exist unless recorded, so find a way to record it. You can clap in front of the camera to get a visual and audible reference for synching in post.

Get some clamp lights as well and either cheap stands or build some out of some PVC pipe.

Learn 3 point lighting!

Go and do a test shoot, them come back to this thread and post images/clips of it. Ask for help/advice/critique of what you've done. Do this before you have actors and crew on the set wasting their time while you figure out what you're doing. Their time is valuable, respect it.

If it's just you, go for it - it's a great learning exercise, don't think that Monet did all of the waterlilies variation paintings with fingerpaints though, you won't get great results for the level of equipment you're using, but you can use it to learn technique.
 
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For the ultimate use of whip pans in edits to energize a film's cinematography, see "Hot Fuzz"... I can't imagine how much planning had to go into the shoot to make the edit work so well.
 
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