Jordy here for cinecom.net! And it is Tuesday,
which means tips and tricks for better filmmaking.
Now, we all make mistakes, but that's a good thing, because...
...most things that we learn come from such mistakes.
Take a look at some of the most successful people, like Elon Musk,
who made some awful mistakes in his life, but he learned from those mistakes
and brought him to who he is today.
Not sure if I will ever be that successful,
but at least I'm learning from the many mistakes I've done as a filmmaker.
The first mistake is in the storyboard
and it costed some serious damage to my very first short film that I produced.
For some reason, we wanna take a shot of every detail.
I had around fifty shots for a three minute short film.
During the shoot, we came into a serious time issue.
The day was already over and we only had shot about 10% of the storyboard.
So, we had to came up with a solution, for the other two production days.
But making changes to a storyboard during the production is never a good thing.
We ended up with too many shots and the final edit
eventually didn't became what we hoped for.
So, here's a general rule that I came up with over the years.
Always calculate at least 30 minutes per shot
if you're doing feature films, short films or commercials.
It will give you some time to setup the lights, and shoot multiple takes.
Of course, some shots will go easier than others,
so that's why it's a general rule.
Usually per minute of story time I try to stick between 7 to 10 shots.
Just try it out on your next film and you'll see that it is possible
and it will benefit your production quality.
The second mistake I learned from is that I always wanted to do everything myself.
And to a certain degree that's actually a good thing,
but, if you need to create a special effect that you've never done before
it will consume a lot of your time to figure it out.
But you'll also learn something new.
However there're boundaries in the field.
Sometimes it's better to ask someone for help,
so that you don't lose too much time
that you can otherwise spend on other production tasks.
I was once asked to create a 3D animation.
A new field for me, so I spend days working on a small animation
that eventually wasn't even good.
What I should have done is ask someone for help and spend my time
in the editing, sound design and music of the project.
You can achieve greater things by working together with other people and trusting their skills.
That is eventually what filmmaking is all about,
it's a team sport.
Find your niche and learn new things within that niche,
so that you can become better and be a great team player.
And this idea also extends to today's sponsor
which is Videoblocks.
When I started out, I was a little against using templates or stock footage.
But it can actually help you and your work a lot.
If you need a drone shot of a beautiful landscape,
it will at least cost you half a day of work to get that shot.
And if you're working for clients, you'll probably not be even able to sell them
an extra half day for just one shot.
And if it's a personal project,
you're probably better off to spend that half day on other tasks.
Now, there are many stock websites out there,
But Videoblocks is definitely one of them that I can recommend,
and that's not just because they're sponsoring, it's because of their price setting.
You pay just $149 per year and you can download as much as you want.
And I find it great having such a year subscription
as that doesn't hold me back from downloading different video assets.
The first link in the description below will bring you to their website
and you can even start a seven day trail for free.
The third mistake is a big one.
Don't spend all your money on a camera,
you'll eventually regret that, or actually any other film tool.
I've heard this regret from many people.
The drone. Do I love drone shots?
Yes, the drone shots add a lot to my videos.
Yes.
Does this slow me down when I'm filming with it?
Yes.
Do I use this on a lot of projects?
No. I only have a small handful of drone shots
and videos with drone shots in them.
Drones are also like smartphones, they're not very future proof.
And that was Aidin from Digital Blast.
A great guy who also shares many filmmaking tips,
so make sure to check out his channel as well,
there's a link to it in the description below.
Now, electronics like cameras or drones, get obsolete very fast.
I almost bought a RED camera and I'm actually very glad that I didn't.
It would take a huge chunk out of my budget,
meaning I would need to use that camera for several years
and there wouldn't be much room for lighting, audio or other equipment.
If you're looking into buying a new camera,
make sure that it is a small part of your budget.
If it will eventually be something you regret buying, or it gets broken too soon,
then it wouldn't weigh up that much.
The fourth filmmaking mistake is to forget about the details
and saying "we'll fix it in post".
After a long day of shooting or when you need to be fast as a cameraman,
we often overlook certain things.
Like the white balance, being slightly out of focus,
having things in the shot that shouldn't be there.
And the easiest way out is to think that we can make it better or fix the issues during editing.
But in most cases, we regret that a lot.
Or you need to spend hours in post to get it fixed,
or it's nearly impossible to fix.
So, the moral of the story: don't fix things in post.
Double check your camera settings and the scenery that you're filming.
If something went wrong, make another take.
Something that I always do for crucial shots is taking a safety.
And that means having at least two useful shots of an action.
If there's something in your shot that shouldn't be there or the audio had a glitch,
you always have a backup shot.
Now, unfortunately I learned this after making the mistake of not shooting safeties,
so, I do hope that I help you guys with this tip
before you're making the same mistake as I did.
And the last filmmaking mistake...
...I sure did made a lot mistakes here,
is not to ignore the competition.
There's always someone in your life who does the same as you, but better.
Whether that is in film school, another cameraman in your neighbourhood
or perhaps a Youtuber you really dislike, but runs away with all the views.
And the biggest mistake is to ignore those people and letting your jealousy take over.
Even if he makes your business look bad.
If that person gets the jobs, the views or the points in school,
it means he or she is doing good work.
Try to figure out their success and learn from your competition.
And this applies to everything in life,
not only filmmaking.
Now, thank you for watching,
and stay creative.
I sure do hope that this is not going to be a mistake...
Almost a mistake.
The cable was in the way.