Lighting Links

Lighting is painting for video. Lighting direction, color and temperature, interaction, reflection, diffusion are ways a cinematographer can create just the right look for a scene. Lighting also ensures that enough light is available to get the right exposure with your camera.

"Easy light setup to improve your films" shows you how to set up three-point lighting with natural light, aluminum foil, and some household lights.

"Learn the Basics of Bouncing Light" demonstrates several ways to use a single light source to achieve different effects.

I will add more videos and articles as I find them.

Shot Lists

The "Shot List" (or "shotlist") is a list of all the shots needed to film a scene. The director, Director of Photography, and perhaps others, will comb through the screenplay to determine the best way to shoot each scene. Then they will write up a detailed list of each shot with scene numbers, shot types, equipment needs, and other information. Here are a few links to tutorials for creating shot lists and one link to some nice storyboarding templates.

Simple Tutorial on How to Create a Shot List

Filmmaking Tutorial - How To Create A Shotlist From A Screenplay

The Best Shot List Template a nice Excel template.

Storyboarding Templates. A good, short article with many nice storyboarding templates.

14 Minutes to Learn the Basics of Compostion

Thanks to the great filmmaking site No Film School for this article and link to a great video introducing the basic elements of cinematic composition.



What Is Composition from Press Play Video Blog on Vimeo.

How to Avoid Making a Poor First Impression of Your Script

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the film educational, outreach, preservation, and research organization that brings us the Oscars. New screenwriters can win fellowships of up to $35,000 for original feature-length screenplays. Of course, these must be formatted according to the industry's standards. Visit their resource page for:

• Fifteen helpful "foibles" to avoid so as to not make a poor first impression
• A very helpful sample script

Christopher Nolan Shares, Tips, Tricks, and No-Budget Filmmaking Advice

No Film School, a great filmmaking website recommended in an earlier post, posted a great 30 minute interview with director Christopher Nolan in which he shares many tips and tricks for filming low to no budget films. He embraced the limits of no-budget filmmaking and learned valuable lessons that served him well when filming his blockbusters like the Batman Dark Knight trilogy and Inception.