Hi everyone,

I have came across a 3d filmaking techinique tutorials.

http://www.hollywoodcamerawork.us/mc_sampleclips.html

To be honest I find these tutorial very beneficial - maybe becuase i am a beginer...

What is your opinion on such software?

I have another question, view the first clip titled TRACK PIVOT. You will see a track pivot shot as well as other cameras in the scene giving a over to shoulder shot an a trak pivot shot. I was curious to know, if they are both cameras shoot the scene at a different time to avoid noticing the camera in the background... OR their both shoot at the same time?

Thanks,
JOey

You just discovered Hollywood Camera Work? They're the best; you can't go wrong with their Master Course...and it's a DVD set, not a software application.

ahh yes a DVD.. sorry about that.. they seem amazingggggg...

So I take it that Hollywood Camera Work have a positive feedback...

I own it, it's amazing!

I'm actually studying the entire set with some friends, we meet each week to watch it and discuss (there's a lot of information and you could easily watch the entire set several times over and over before you could possibly remember everything!). keep in mind that this is explicitly about blocking/camera moves.

Here's a great review: http://www.dvxuser.com/articles/hollywood/

~Shawn

Shawn,

That's fantastic.... I've seen the samples on the site and found them to be extremely helpful they were just so intersting to watch. Its very rare to find some good content compiled with visual guidance such as this.

"keep in mind that this is explicitly about blocking/camera moves."

What do you mean by blocking??? meaning blocking the camera from being noticed while filming???

View this image
http://www.dvxuser.com/articles/hollywood/image006.jpg

The line going from the middle of each characters to the other is symbolizes what?

Im not to sure why there is 8 cameras as well :<

Joey :)~

Joey,

Blocking refers to the positioning and movement of the talent and camera. The "eight cameras" are the different camera positions suggested to cover the scene.

**Emre got it covered, just as I was hitting send (but his post is much more succinct!) ;-)

Blocking basically refers to the planning of the camera placement in relation to the actors movements and any other required elements/objects in a scene.

From the web/Google query:

"Blocking a shot (or scene) the process of figuring out where the camera goes, how the lights will be arranged, and what the actors' positions and movements - moment by moment - are for each shot or take; often, the specific staging of a film's movements are worked out by the director, often with stand-ins and the lighting crew before actual shooting"


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The lines in the picture represent what is called the 180 line, it's an imaginary line that (as a general rule) a camera normally doesn't cross. This concept is covered in-depth in this video series and it covers exceptions to that "rule" and ways in which you can break that guideline more subtly.


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The eight cameras in the picture represent possible camera positions for a given scene, it's not meant to imply that there would be eight cameras going at once (though I've heard of such high numbers in some films, particularly for action sequences).

Do a quick Google search for this term: "180 degree rule"

The first five or so links have some great explanations of the concept.

Ahh... THanks Shawn and Emre

I know about the 180degree rule I just didnt think to realise that they draw lines my mistake :<

I know Ozu the Japanese director always breaks that convention, its actually pretty cool to see a film which breaks the 180 rule cuz it like gets ur attention right away.

SO this Hollywood Cinema is deff worth it uhh guys???

Right now Im saving a bit of money here to buy a Canon Xl2 with some accessories and I will get this DVD also...

IT would be very interesting to watch these 6 dvds ;)
What else can you guys suggest me? SHould i look into a storyboard software or just OLD FASHION paper and pencil even though im a horrible drawer :<

Joey :>~

...

I know about the 180degree rule I just didnt think to realise that they draw lines my mistake :<

I know Ozu the Japanese director always breaks that convention, its actually pretty cool to see a film which breaks the 180 rule cuz it like gets ur attention right away.

SO this Hollywood Cinema is deff worth it uhh guys???

R...

Just FYI - one should never break the "rules" of good technique just to be "cool." Those practices came about because they work to tell the story effectively and going contrary to them usually won't. It's like writing with proper spelling and grammer - if you don't use it, no one will understand what you're trying to say. On the other hand, there are times when one might make a reasoned, artistic choice to break the rules if doing so does a better job of communicating what you're trying to get across than following them would do.

I'll second the recomends for Hollywood Camera Work. They're a very valuable training tool. If purchasing is a bit steep, you might be able to find them for rent from specialist online video rental services like Technical Video Rental. OTOH their purchase price is a lot less than a semester's tuition to film school and if studied carefully probably just as valuable.

SHould i look into a storyboard software or just OLD FASHION paper and pencil even though im a horrible drawer :<
If you don't have to share your storyboard with anyone, you can do it yourself.

Just FYI - one should never break the "rules" of good technique just to be "cool."

Steve, Yasujiro Ozu is one of the greatest filmakers of all time. I agree with you to a certain extent. Depending on what the director " auteur " is trying to represent in a film there isn't an obligation to follow a rule, in the films of Ozu he is representing " space " the amount of space between the characters and the camera therefore breaking the 180 rule is relevant.

So back to Hollywood Cinema...

I am deff going to purchase this set of dvds :) As for storyboard im not a great drawer so i will try to play with some free trial softwares

Joey :>

I am deff going to purchase this set of dvds :) As for storyboard im not a great drawer so i will try to play with some free trial softwares
My drawing ability is at the matchstick-man stage, yet I drew mine own storyboards, because they were only meant as a reminder to myself.

Steve, Yasujiro Ozu is one of the greatest filmakers of all time. I agree with you to a certain extent. Depending on what the director " auteur " is trying to represent in a film there isn't an obligation to follow a rule, in the films of Ozu he is representing " space " the amount of space between the characters and the camera therefore breaking the 180 rule is relevant.

So back to Hollywood Cinema...

I am deff going to purchase this set of dvds :) As for storyboard im not a great drawer so i will try to play with some free trial softwares

Joey :>

Absolutely, no disagreement. But I'll bet he's doing it for what are very carefully thought-out artistic reasons and it's very unlikely he's doing it just to be "cool." Unfortunately that's what seems to motivate a lot of other folks, especially students.

Crotchity geezer mode off now <grin>

Those DVDs can be rented for a week at a time from here, and sent to your house. Check it out.
http://technicalvideorental.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=109_86
Each of the links for these DVDs covers two disks that are to be rented seperately or together.
Staging high-end scenes (two DVDs)
Stationary blocking (two DVDs)
The moving camera (two DVDs)
That is the entire Master Course!!! (six DVDs)

Steve House,

You are 100% right i used the wrong term " COOL " hahah sorry about that...

Steven Witt,

Thats' amazing I just booked marked that page... I will rent these DVD's sometime next week :)

I LOVE THIS FORUM its soooo helpful and great to hear what many people have to say :)

Joey!!!! ;>

hello Joey Dee,
I hope I'm wrong but I think that website only rents/ships to the US and Canada. You may want to contact them and ask. I noticed that you are from the UK.
It looks like it will cost over $100.00 to rent the entire course (6 disks)
and you only get to keep each disk for one week. Maybe at those rates, somebody would be better off purchasing it so you can keep refering back to it.
Its not like they would ever really become outdated or useless.

Hey Steve House,

Ya thats' a good observation... however i am from Canada i am just in the UK on holidays.. I always go back and forth from US-CND-UK...

So i will rent those DVD's when i go back home in the next couple of weeks... Also here's a question... Let's say i rent these DVD... i have a DVD burner i am sure i can burn them???

What you guys think???? You would it concidered like pirating and none of you support that.. To be honest i never burnt a DVD... I just bought a brand new IMAC G5 and it kicks ass... so why not try it out???

Joey =0

So i will rent those DVD's when i go back home in the next couple of weeks... Also here's a question... Let's say i rent these DVD... i have a DVD burner i am sure i can burn them???

What you guys think???? You would it concidered like pirating and none of you support that.. To be honest i never burnt a DVD... I just bought a brand new IMAC G5 and it kicks ass... so why not try it out???



It is without question piracy and against the law to rent these DVDs and then burn copies.

If it was legal to do that, there would not be one price to rent and one price to own.

Should they ever decide to broadcast these on free to air TV then you would be free to tape the show and watch it at your leisure.

Sorry to sound blunt (I'm a teacher after all) but there shouldn't be any ambiguity on this issue.

(Unless something in the "HOLLYWOOD CAMERA WORK" DVD's licence says different, which I very much doubt...)

Hey Steve House,

Ya thats' a good observation... however i am from Canada i am just in the UK on holidays.. I always go back and forth from US-CND-UK...

So i will rent those DVD's when i go back home in the next couple of weeks... Also here's a question... Let's say i rent these DVD... i have a DVD burner i am sure i can burn them???

What you guys think???? You would it concidered like pirating and none of you support that.. To be honest i never burnt a DVD... I just bought a brand new IMAC G5 and it kicks ass... so why not try it out???

Joey =0

AFAIK, they have the same copy protection that regular movie DVDs have. I did rent the series - you save money by renting the 3 pairs of disks as sets instead of all 6 separately - I think it came to a total of about $60. Money well spent!

Dylan,

You're right it is against the law... Im a Uni student and many teachers of mine fotocopy from text books and hand to students.. isn't that also a breach????

Either way I will rent them when i come back to Canada... I am sure that I will get my money's worth, I guess i was just being ignorant when i mentioned " i never used my DVD-Burner " on my Apple...

sorryabout that fellas ;)
Joey =)

Dylan,

You're right it is against the law... Im a Uni student and many teachers of mine fotocopy from text books and hand to students.. isn't that also a breach????

E....
Joey =)

I understand that in that specific circumstance, copying for classroom use, there is an exception in the copyright law that allows for something like 10 or 15 percent of a work to be copied. I am not a lawyer so I don't know if that's true and if it applys to anything other than printed matter but contacts at the school board have told me that's the way it works for books and journals.

People on this board, of all peoples, should respect the copyright laws and respect the creators who worked to make these DVDs. Creating original DVDs and Videos is what we ourselves are more than likely trying to do off this board. Respect the creations of others.

I was reading thru the Technical Video Rental site again and they take requests.
If you look in the FAQ link it states that the obtain a whopping 90% of requested material to rent out. I have requested a Lighting series and the Camera Command DVD. Also the film school DVD series. If people show enough interest in DV/filmmaking material to them we will have it ALL at our fingertips. Contact them and show interest in videos you want too.
http://www.cameracommand.com/

http://www.power-of-lighting.com/videos.html


http://www.webfilmschool.com/

I understand that in that specific circumstance, copying for classroom use, there is an exception in the copyright law that allows for something like 10 or 15 percent of a work to be copied. I am not a lawyer so I don't know if that's true and if it applys to anything other than printed matter but contacts at the school board have told me that's the way it works for books and journals.

Steve, that's exactly how it works. We can reproduce 10% or one chapter (whichever is more) of a book, one article of a journal, newspapers, photgraphs or TV programmes we're covered by fair use - that is we can show excerpts in class as long as its for educational purposes.

That's not to say a great deal of copyright violation doesn't on in universities on that part of staff and students.