Summer Learning Community // Resources for Student Projects

The Alchemist by Chris Rallis.

Hey summer seekers! Here are some tips and links to inspire you, as you begin to experiment with some DIY cinematic magick of your own.

Basic Techniques

For starters, here are some common sense production tips which apply no matter how cheap or expensive your tools may be:

• Don’t forget the basics: steady shots, closer shots (when appropriate), good lighting, and good sound.

• Keep your camera steady! Use a tripod if you have one, but anything is better than nothing: lean on a tree, a car, a wall, etc. to steady yourself; use a stack of books on a table. Use something! If you’re shooting video with your mobile phone, you can even rig a tripod mount using a binder clip and a pair of pliers.

• Get close with your phone or camera whenever possible and appropriate. Wider shots are easier to keep smooth. Zooming magnifies the subject, but it also magnifies any jiggling of the camera! Also, zooming creates unwanted artifacts as it expands the pixels — get close and use zoom only as a last resort.

• Good audio is key! Most viewers can take bad video longer than they will tolerate bad audio. Using a second smartphone to record sound is a great trick! If you record two movies (not one movie and one audio file), it makes it easier to sync them up later — i.e., the audio of the “face movie” can be replaced with the audio of the “voice movie”.

• Finally, create good lighting using what you have. Take off lampshades; use brighter bulbs. Put the window behind the camera, not the person.

The Vimeo Video School has some brief but very useful tutorials on the basics of making movies with your smartphone:

Archival Sources

Of course, you don’t necessarily have to shoot your own video to make a movie. Many experimental artists have constructed entire films out of previously existing, “found” footage. There’s a long list of sites archiving footage which you can download for free and edit/manipulate as you like.

There are also several sites which archive music and sound effects which you can download for free and use to add some magical zing to your project:

• YouTube Audio Library

• SoundBible

• Free Music Archive

• Royalty-free music on Soundcloud

• Zapsplat (sound effects)

• BBC Sound Effects library

• SoundGator

Editing Apps

Finally, here are some easy-to-use video editors — free apps that you can download to your phone, plus one in-browser interface:

• Vimeo Create (Apple)

• Vimeo Create (Android)

• iMovie (Apple)

• PowerDirector (Android)

• InShot (Android)

• Movie Maker Online (in-browser)

Any other tips or suggestions? Any questions? Please leave them in the comments below.

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