Lessons

Lesson Info

Idea Development and Preparing to Shoot

Now I have had so many ideas and before I had clients who were interested, then I would write down the idea and then work out how I could do it that's all you've got to do haven't idea and think about what you want to say so it might be christmas time you wanted I did a video that was like I wanted to say thanks to all my clients for the year, so I just did a little fun video that was like, hey, it's been a great year thank you so much. Um so what do you want to say? How do you want the mate? How do you want people to feel that's really important? Like I in fact went normally when I do a film that's what I break down, how they're going to feel so like, you know, I'm just trying to think with picket fenced in so you're saying that I wanted to say this is good, but I'm longing there's longing here, but this is good and I'm I'm going to be here and enjoy it so you know it intact that might be what I first wrote and then I found a quote to go with that and I put that in the film and I put ...

all the things that were hot and I put all the things that was good in that to convey that feeling so how do you want to make the view of field feels? Why are we making this? What what do you want people to do after they see this so that you make sure they're clear on your very clear with your communication? So suze video for simone oh, she is fantastic client have actually because she for a number of reasons but one particularly is that she knew immediately what she wanted to say. A lot of people ring me in so I don't know just want to do a video, but if you know what you want to say so much quicker and better and more effective, so have an idea and work out what you want to say is it a promo video? What sam result they're gonna book you get really clear about what you want to say and maybe you just haven't idea I'm going to show you a video where I just wanted to create a giant kenyatta filled with kalitta and I want my whole family to beat the the genie is out of it and and then it rained like confetti I just want to do that no client was going to pay me to do that so I did it so idea is everything get inspired get excited find something some people are inspired by a song also to think so that's the first step the next is your mood board you need to communicate with other people in the filmmaking process and so often I create a mood board maybe of my own photos or pinterest store google or all the things I need to remind me what I'm doing on this project so if say the confetti project I would maybe pinna stack up in yard is and then I would pin like the type of confetti I want and then I would share that with the client if they were so nice to let me do that on dh actually will be doing some confetti later and um and then I put them all on a board and then we would share around and then I'd write a proper list from this and a location list from this so your mood board is actually really important let's sit so you can see it in your head get it down on paper so you can break it down and share your idea without your idea with others uh flick is also good all those sort of things okay I am passionate about this subject I cannot tell you how important music is music is so so so so so important it is how I'm telling you how to feel when you watch my film and you put music next to it the music actually is what is telling you how you should be feeling if I put a different tracking that's going to make you feel differently so pick a song that suits your brand if that's what you're going to do your own show then you need to pick a song that is saying something about your brand sue is exactly extremely good at this she has picked fantastic song for her videos well thanks to triple scoop I might say um find a song that complements your message so like in anna's video which we will be showing and for those who haven't seen it it's coming up she's running along it's all about a girl with a big dream it's the perfect senior song senior girl song uh so pick something that's pushing your message even further music tells you how they should be feeling you can look on libraries like with etiquette triple scoop song freedom and audio network I'm going to go into that a bit more in a minute but yet I think spend the hours that it takes to find a track and do it because you will not regret it on dh I do spend hours listening and writing to people about music now you can also commission a musician as well, which is fun and we'll go into that in a minute locations so important check them out go and have a look what does it look like the time you'll be filming I mean as photographers you guys but we'll do that anyway a lot of the time but um video you know is just the same you wantto know that when she runs up the hill that there are no trees in the road and distracting things that are going get in the way of your big span of run that that you're going to do and follow behind a big rig whatever you're going to do you need to know that the picture you see in your head is going to match research and often your location will help tell your story so much um the little fusion video I did actually inspired my video I was like I need the perfect couple for this location uh so locations that just is inspiring it's music talent so important talent is so important to you is also extremely good at picking talent um I love this quote starbucks chairman howard schultz with us why does everyone at starbucks smiles because he hires only people who smiley and so we want to like the character in your film so be careful who you pick and and make sure they're smiling or engaging or got a war face those sort of things are so important especially with video you can get a moment a photo off a moment with someone that's great but a video is ah lot of moments so they need to be really likable and fun do you have any questions? You're good okay which talented ease feed them some food feed them some food I figured that sometimes um yet pick your talent that matches your messages well just like music you're saying something with the person you pick their style everything about them is going to say something about your film and your work or the message you're saying what they wear everything is sending little messages to everyone make sure they all line up get release forms really important really, really important you don't want to go to three weeks of filming and editing and all that stuff and then they're like I don't know actually I'm not taking it like it being in that now um not that that's ever happened to me uh good direction be really clear when you when you're getting someone to do something you know, you could say I want you to walk this line of the carpet, but and you may feel that the first time they do it, but they'll do it like and then you're actually I wanted you to walk the line in the carpet like thiss you know, like this so many ways to do something show them, um do it yourself er I try not to ask people to do something that I can't do sometimes I do so give them a chance to a couple of times and get a few takes of everything it's worth having storytelling and storyboarding this is so rather than constructing the story and woods like a voice saying I felt really sad and lonely and being a mom was really boring I didn't say those things I said my life isn't that interesting and I sure pitches and I how the ways to tell the story that's what's so wonderful about film is that you can tell the story in so many ways with music with talent with locations with it's not just one meeting with sound everything comes together to create an amazing package so think about your story visually how will it look in the end so you know you now have confetti throwing beating and now you tell me what that looks like what lenses you going to use it? Is it going to be really close up? You're going to film the person only their eyeballs and their expressions what are you doing? We're going right draw pitches of everything all right a shot list I actually prefer the shawl is personally but a lot of people prefer to draw and I do dural but it's so horrendous and no one else can understand it that I find a shot this is slightly better my husband sometimes draws up my shot list for me and you'll see some of those later and he comes is what is this I'm like I see the stick figure is no um sometimes I play this track that I'm going to use while I'm writing my shot list it's a great way to be inspired I don't go look trolling the internet I go inside I I sit on my bed and I listen to the music and I think I see this I see this I see this here's a shot lis so you've done a little storyboard the girl is goingto walk along the line how you gonna film it? I'm going to film it from que ese position but when I get to the edit if I only film one version of that walk from that position there's nothing interesting to edit into it so when you write a shot list I might say ok he was gonna walk this line I'm goingto get her feet walking the line I'm going to get her eyes as she's walking towards the camera I'm going to get the wide of her seeing a ll that so you brake down every shot I'm going to go a little bit more into how we how I do that shortly as well on shows um sort of guides for that but that's what you shot list is for so you can take it off as you do it it's very actually that shot of put poppy my daughter um working with me on a film with her ticking my list off for me shooting it's today it's so fun it's it's you've got a shot list you've got your music talent and it's all coming together take them off, you do the shots and be inspired by whatever happens as well. Don't just stick to the shot list. You might see that her here the wind is catching her here. Grab that too, you know, um, see what else you can see on the day often it depends on the light. So before I went to power cells like, I really hope that it's sunny and beautiful weather and it was miserable, miserable, miserable, rainy weather the whole time that I was I it says, not the film I had him aren't I had him on a very sunny, beautiful person film, but no, it was a rainy one, but I cannot tell you how perfect the rain wass and how it all worked in a beautiful way. So find what works about that rain? Get the puddle with the drops of rain falling on it, get get inspired by whatever the shoot day throws you telling footage this I think, is actually your best hip. I'll probably give you is everyone film some great moments, but they put in all the bad ones and then you think it's a bad film, but actually you probably just didn't cut it short enough um, so when you going through your footage, which I'll show you how I do that later you go through and you find the perfect moment so she might have done the walk of the she did the walk like thiss and here she fell off the record button was boring cut that out I don't want to see that bit, so get really time really, really tight with your editing picked the moments that a real and natural and not forced and good expressions keep clips short and to the point that you're ready that edit and it is so fun, especially if you have an editor e but if you die, which I've had a lot of jobs with no editors, um it is it is how you pull it all together and tell the story it's it's exciting part but it's also sometimes discouraging because you're like it's not working what's wrong and you're trying new things and you pull it all in and it's a process and it's a good process so you put your music down, you put your called footage together and you piece it in to your story or montage montage if it's like a show reel type thing make the edit is tight and short as possible were still telling the story I made a whole bunch of short films and I got signed up with a production company and they said, oh great, they're all five six minutes long, these films and I sent I sent them over to them and they said I would just send them off to the editor he's going to do a short version for online preview for clients okay, great um there were one minute long my six minute films was one minute law and it still said everything I said I don't know how he did that but in one minute he still conveyed the same thing I was conveying in six this is a few years ago and it really really made me realize how you know you can you can do it really shortly amazing how a good editor khun bring it in together but you don't need to be a brilliant editor you can learn these things and practice and do films and you will pick it up really quickly actually believe it's important to at least ended a couple of your own videos before you outsource because when you film and you added it you get it you see how the puzzle goes together that's a really school great skill tohave when you're filming um use a song to guide the action and determine where the footage should go. We'll go into that and I'll show examples of that saying but it's really, really important um I feel like I don't want to see a sad part of the film in a happy but of the song you know I think match matching makes you unaware that you're watching a video and you get drawn in miss, take one hour, one way, don't do that. This looks so much better, okay, so it just looks so much better it's way. Don't put that like that. Um, you lose all this excess, and my eyes are drawn all over the place. It's not good, don't do that. Don't do that, that's, my technical tip for the day, don't booth.