Hi again, and good to have you reading my second post on how you evade a shaking camera. In the last post I did, you learned how to make a very cheap tool for making static shots. Today’s tool is used for making dynamic ones. You can easily make it for less than $2.

Tool #2:

Shopping list:

• A bolt, 1/4 inch with coarse threads, about 2-3 cm (1-2 inch) long.
• Some string that wont stretch, and is approximately as long as your height
• A small weight, like a washer

How you make it:

• Tie one end of the string to the washer, you can do this with an easy granny knot.
• Tie the string to the washer or other weight
• Clip the lose ends, and if you want to, seal the knots with a match

How you use it:

• Screw the bolt into the camera, just like you do with a tripod
• Put the washer on the ground, and step on it
• Pull up with the camera against the tension of the string
• This eliminates vertical camera shake, and greatly reduces horizontal shake

When you’re done, simply put the ‘tripod’ in your pocket

Have fun!

Thijs Vandenbussche

Source: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1041948/1_image_stabilizer_for_any_camera_lose_the_tripod/

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A long time ago I discovered a wonderful trailer to Cashback, an adaption of an 18 minute short film to a feature film. Yesterday I got time to buy this film and it is one of the most artistic films I’ve ever seen.

The story tells us about Ben Willis, a guy who’s suffering from insomnia due to a recent break-up with his girlfriend. That’s why he takes a job at a supermarket and works the night shift. There, with no sleep for two weeks, he discovers a tremendous gift: the ability to stop time and to draw and unclothe women, for he is an artist drawing still life. This may sound pornographic, but the R-rated imagery in the film is incredibly artistic.

The film is mostly about love and how love is “sometimes hiding between the seconds of your life”. It is a very poetic and charming film. The shortfilm was made two years earlier and was nominated for an Oscar. Later the same team tried to develop a feature film, and with succes. A little known fact that the 18-minute shortfilm has been put in the feature film itself, making it a sort of extended cut. If you want to see a beautifully photgraphed, lyrical and poetical film, this is the one you are looking for.

9/10!

More info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460740/

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Our first short film, The Box, has won in Ray Biddle’s Filmfestival!

The film won in the 9+ minute category with 80 participants for the whole festival.

Thanks, Ray Biddle!

Have you ever had footage completely ruined by a shaking camera?

After this series of lessons, you’ll no longer have problems with one of the main reasons why a lot of amateur movies don’t look good.

You can take your shots in two different ways: the static and the dynamic one, as i call them.

To make a static shot, you don’t need to be behind the camera. You just aim your camera at the scene, and do the acting while your camera is recording. For example, if you want to film a pursuit scene, you place the camera somewhere and just run past it. This technique is used a lot in michiel’s shortfilm ‘The Box’. I’ll show you a ‘tool’ you can make to more easily aim your camera, without buying a tripod.

To make a dynamic shot, you move your camera so that your lens follows your actors. For this you can use a tripod, or a dolly (see part 4!)

Tool #1:

Let’s start with the easy one.

Shopping list:

• A plastic bag (If possible with a press-to-close zipper)
• Flour or sand
• Duct tape or double sided tape

Fill a plastic bag 3/4 with the flour or the sand. Then, stick double sided tape on the inside of the bag and close it, fold the open side around and stick some duct tape on it or if you’ve got a bag with a press-to-close zipper, seal it and stick some duct tape on it, for double protection. If you now want to film those running feet without having to place your camera in the mud, just put your bag on the ground, place the camera on it, press it in the sand/flour and aim it to your scene.

No more cameras filled with mud.

Thijs Vandenbussche

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