Class Introduction: Fundamentals of DSLR Filmmaking
Lesson 1 from: FAST CLASS: Fundamentals of DSLR FilmmakingVictor Ha
Class Introduction: Fundamentals of DSLR Filmmaking
Lesson 1 from: FAST CLASS: Fundamentals of DSLR FilmmakingVictor Ha
Lesson Info
1. Class Introduction: Fundamentals of DSLR Filmmaking
Lessons
Lesson Info
Class Introduction: Fundamentals of DSLR Filmmaking
Why do we shoot video? Well, I have three reasons. It's multisensory, It's emotional and it's fun. So there's always great pictures, right? I stole that from dirty dancing. Okay, so here's the thing. Sometimes you just have to see the motion Now. I was growing up and when I was growing up, Michael Jordan is still playing basketball. Famous photograph. Top of the key. Three pointer. Buzzer hitting. Zero lights on. You see that in sports highlights? You see the picture? What? They followed up with the video, right? So that's kind of like where we're at here because we take a look at something like this and you just want to make you just kind of want to see what happens. Right? So it's nice, slow. Maybe add a little bit of music to it, all that kind of good stuff. And here we are. The actual process of watching the video becomes something that's so much more engaging, right? It's got no sound. It's got no music. It's got me being really goofy and my buddy, and we're just super stoked to d...
o this right? So that's why we shoot video. We shoot video because I want to engage you On another level, a still photograph will always have its place. But a video that's perfectly timed and perfectly applied will always be better because it's multi sensory. It's emotional, it's visceral. Can you feel it? How to get started? Well, you start simple. Okay, so I have a little task that I that I give a lot of my students when I work with them. I want them to think of a simple action and capture that action in five shots. Okay, so the act of drinking a coke or opening up your mail and you get five shots, and the purpose of that assignment is to think about it in a way that allows you to edit it and understand the story. So this is one way. Here's another way. So what did you notice? The difference is right. So the bat, let's go back real quick. The first one looks like this. And so if you really think about it, a simple concept when you edit in different ways and add five different shots and just make them compelling images to start, you can really have ah, wonderful way of telling a story so we, you guys will see that movie mental, right? It's a really old movie. I'm not going to spoil it for those who haven't seen it. But that's a very nonlinear edit. Whereas something like Saving Private Ryan is very linear. They both tell really great stories, but because they kind of are told differently, it appeals to different sensibilities. Right. So when you take a look and I'm gonna try to skip a couple slides here, show that last video, okay? And I think this is less right here. So I majored in theater, and everything that we talked about in theater had something called subtext. Right. So when you look at a video like that that has no dialogue, is just images, you gotta assume the subtext, right? So maybe the guys working. And he's just having a Coke where he's having multiple coax where you put the empty glass and when you put the glasses, being picked up really has an impact on the overall subtext of the film. So as you guys start to kind of think about stuff, you're starting simple. You know, we're not even worrying about exposure or cameras or gear. Anything I actually did that in an airport, having a cook and lunch with my DSLR kind of just propped up on my back because, well, that's what I had. And I just wanted to prove to myself and prove to you guys that it was something that you could do without a lot of equipment to start. It's just about piecing together shots. It's about piecing together concepts and piecing together content. That gives you an opportunity to really look at video and think what we call in sequences and photographs we think about the moment. Oh, I got a great shot. I got a great moment in video. It's about the sequence, and it's about putting that sequence together in a variety of different angles and shots and that kind of thing. You feel me going to say what I'm doing? Any questions so far? You good, All right, so I want you to think of something and film it now. We mentioned earlier that I do a lot of workshops, and over the past year I've had the privilege of working with a lot of different people all over the country, and in some of the workshops we were actually able to like, think of a concept, film it out and, you know, edited and stuff. So what I want to show you are just some very simple ideas, and I want to encourage you to think of something and really put pen to paper, think about it and then film it. And it it doesn't matter if it's good, it doesn't matter. It's out of focus. It doesn't matter. What it will do is allow you to start thinking in shots, thinking in sequences, thinking in story. Okay, um, there's a big buzz word right now in kind of filmmaking. It's like storytelling. Everyone's telling you be a storyteller, but they're not really showing you how to do it. So the only way you can be a good storyteller is to figure out a story planet and film it. So here's one of them. Okay, Okay. Leaving it. Yes, yeah, Mhm. So really, when it comes down to it, guys, it's a really simple concept. I was running around the block and I wanna kind of accent the point here that the people who actually made that video about 80% of them had never shot video proud of that class. So they were able to come into a class with me, Sit down, learn some content at the end of it, Really put something together they're proud of. And it's fun to watch. And, you know, kind of kind of works, right? Here's another one. Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Yes! Yes! E Mm hmm. Yeah. Your home. So, what do you film something common Anyway? Come on. Tell story. Doing a lot of running. E do a lot of, you know, different shots from different angles. Okay, e think it tells a great story, especially that second one. Okay, so here's the thing, right. Was there any any record? Any any riel, audio or sound? No idea. No. So let's think about this. Back when, like, movies started, they called the moving pictures because there wasn't sound and, you know, like, there's no sound. It was just like hand cranking silent movies. Guy putting a girl on the train tracks, guys, saving the girl on the train tracks. It was all really compelling, right? Because it was something that told a story, and it didn't require, you know, the audio aspect of it. So when you start. That's your first tip. Don't worry about recording. People were required. Don't worry about recording sound. It's not. That's not important yet. It will be. It will be very important later. But when you're starting and just take it off a little bit and and focus on very specific, smaller things.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase