The Fargo Filmmaking Wiki

Can be found at http://fargofilmmaking.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page.

Why is this site so great?  Organization, organization, organization!  Recently, I've had the pleasure of exploring multiple wiki's on a multitude of topics.  If you have explored other wiki's , you will find that a lot of them are a mish mash of words and entries that leave you looking at the computer screen, frustrated!  Fargo Film making does two VERY important things right.  First, they display the rules of the land on their landing or home page.  In other words, how to post or edit the material on their site.  It's not overwhelming, but it makes certain that everyone's input is going to be orderly, understandable, and helpful.  Secondly, there is an easy to find catalog of subjects and articles.  Of course there is also a search bar, but the list of categories helps you narrow into what you are looking for - or discover what you didn't know you wanted! 

While the information on the wiki is somewhat limited, the interest of the wiki is to continue growing.  I enjoy using this wiki and want to spread this out so that it can become the collaborative pit stop for movie making that I want it to be.  The ground work is there.  Let's support it.

Lighting the cheap way

Lighting, to me, is one of the  most frustrating parts of making a movie or video.  Even if I were using a $2,000 lighting set up, I would still find it difficult to make it look good.  I don't use a professional lighting set up.  I use three halogen lamps from Home Depot.  Two of them are on a telescoping stand and cost me about $30 a piece.  The last one is a single hand held one that I can place just about anywhere.  Getting the halogen is important because it casts a white light on the scene, instead of yellow.  For each of these lights, I have a white, cotton sheet that I can hold up in front of the lights.  This softens the lights when I need it.  So that is my light set up... Cheap and useful.  

What I am doing is making sure that I am lighting everything that I can, minimizing any shadows that may appear, and making it very easy for me to adjust the lighting in the editing software during post-production.  Camcorders under the $2500 dollar range often have problems in low light situations.   The auto focus doesn't work right, the picture gets grainy or digital looking and there is nothing you can do to make it look better in post production.  Even if the scene is suppose to be at night, I suggest shooting it in good lighting and adjusting the light levels in your editing software. 

The reason I have the three lights is so I can do a traditional three point lighting set up.  One for the key light, one for the fill light, and one for the back light.  See this website for a tutorial that can explain it much better than I can.  http://www.izzyvideo.com/three-point-lighting/ 

Using this technique will keep your movie looking professional and keep you from having to reshoot a scene later on. 

Scripting

You have the equipment.  You have an idea.  You may even have a few friends to volunteer acting and helping hold the microphone.  Great!  Now let’s organize your thoughts down on paper.  Do you have to run out and get some specialized software to get it down?  No, not at all.  What you need is some organization and a few things to keep in mind.  This part will become easier with practice, but for now, here are a few rules.

Rule 1. 

Keep it short.

Unless you have seasoned actors, do not make your dialogue too long.  What you are going to want to do is give each actor no more than three lines of dialogue before you cut to another camera angle.  This way your actor won’t worry about memorizing all their lines and you can discuss how best to deliver them.  So write short dialogue for your story.  If you want a long monologue, there are some tricks , but that's something we’ll discuss later. 

Rule 2.

Use what you’ve got.

Use locations that you know you can secure for hours on end.  Most of the time spent while shooting a movie is spent setting up equipment and making sure the lighting is right.  Actually filming your actors takes a small amount of time by comparison, so create your story in areas that you can be at for hours on end, like an apartment, or even a single room (think Reservoir Dogs).  

Rule 3.

Keep it inside.

Filming inside is best for these types of projects, because you won’t have to worry about filming at the same time of day, every day, and its easier to control the lighting.  If you film a long scene outside at sundown, then you’ll have about 15 minutes of light to get it just right.  If you don’t, you’ll have to wait till the next day around sundown to have another 15 minutes to get it right.  If you can set your movie inside, then you can shoot almost any time of the day or night and it will look the same.  The reason Clerks starts off with the shutters not being able to open is so that the crew could shoot the movie at night, but make it appear to be day time.  

If you can modify your original idea within these rules, you’ll have a lot easier time shooting your movie.  Since you’ll probably be the director, making a script using these rules will give you better control and organization when you have actors on set and looking to you for instructions.  Good Luck!

On the topic of sound

The way your film sounds is more important that just anything else.  The way to prove this is to watch a clip of someone talking.  If you unsynch the sound by just half a second, the clip becomes unwatchable because the lips are moving out of synch with the voice.  It is confusing and makes it almost impossible to enjoy.  While this is an extreme example, the point is that you need a clean and full sound with your film. Even without a soundtrack this will instantly upgrade your film from complete amateur to being taken seriously. You don't want your film to sound like a webcam clip from YouTube, even if you will only be showing it to friends and family.  Think of sound of your film in layers.  It begins with the actors voices, then the sound effects in the scene (like a car horn honking), and ends with music (if you are playing any during the scene).  The second and third layers are important, but these can be added and adjusted later on during editing.  The actor's voices will be what you are most concerned about recording.  This is why a mic input is so important for the camcorder.  If you don't have a mic input, then you need another way to record the voices of the actors.  Keep in mind that sound effects and music will be added later on.  For now, we want to make sure that each actor gets his or her voice on the tape.  A cheap method is to buy a digital voice recorder like a $50 Olympus VN-8100PC with an external microphone.  You'll want two types of microphones.  The first is a lavaliere mic and the second is a shot gun mic. The wired lavaliere is designed to be placed very close to the actor.  I will explain later on the best times and ways to use this, but for now keep in mind that this is the best way to get a clean voice off of the actor because it is placed the closest to their mouth.  It is limited in its abilities and so the shot gun mic is needed.  This is a microphone that can be placed above the actors (but not in the shot) and will record multiple actors talking instead of just one.  I have found that most budget microphones have their own "problems", but most can be worked with.  Figure out a budget for your microphone and stick with it.  For those with a large budget, a multi-track recorder is the best way to record sound and voices on your actors.  This machine will record from multiple microphones all at once and keeps them on separate tracks.  They are great and will save you time, but the cost is restrictive.  If you have interest in this type of recording, please send me an email and I can recommend my favorites.  For now, I will stick with the budget method.  Keep in mind, it may be budget but a few tricks and methods will elevate your film greatly.

Where to begin?

Let's start with the camera.  We're dealing with low budget filmmaking, and that means digital camcorders.  Here are some important things to look for when purchasing a camcorder.  First, you have to know how the camcorder is going to connect to your computer.  Make sure the connection is compatiable with your computer, as you may need to either find another camcorder or purchase additional hardware to get the footage you shot onto your computer for editing.  I made this inital mistake and ended up having to spend $150 on an adapter.  Secondly, you want to ensure that the camcorder has some sort of microphone input.  This is especially important with camcorders that record to tape or onto dvd because the sound of the motor will end up on your film.  By having a microphone mounted away from the motor you won't have to deal with that 'extra' sound once your film is shot. The microphone input will give you a great deal of other advantages, which we can discuss later on. Anything else that your camcorder can do will be great, but this is a good place to start.  Something as simple as a Creative Vado, http://www.creative.com/myvado/, will work good for quick and simple shooting.  In the middle price range, Canon's VIXIA line of camcorders are excellent options.

Creating a World

One of the greatest things about making movies is that you get to create a world.  I want this blog to be a world too, and I hope some people will help me in creating it.  In this blogging world I want to share a few of my experiences with making films as a hobbyist.  I certainly used every resource that I could when I began video taping the world around me and I hope to pass some of the information that I have tested.  I also look forward to talking to others who have a similar interest in making movies.  There are plenty of short-cuts, solutions to problems, and creative "out of the box" thinking that I hope to pass on here, and I hope to learn things too.