DIY Film School – Learn from Websites with Filmmaking Tutorials

Whether you’re a novice filmmaker or a seasoned pro, there is always something new to learn about filmmaking. It could be new technology, software or just a new cutting-edge process or method that someone came up with. We live in the information age and filmmakers from all walks of life are sharing their knowledge online. Here are several filmmaking tutorials and educational sites (in no particular order) that cover the basics to the advanced.

+ The DV Show – Along with producing weekly podcasts dedicated to answering listener questions, The DV Show compiles tutorials from various video sharing sites like Youtube, Google Video, Yahoo Video, Blip.tv, and others. Here’s a great one titled, “3 Point Lighting Tips.”

+ BBC Training & Development provides online courses and tutorials in several disciplines. There are a lot of free tutorials here! Check out “Good Shooting Guide: the basic principles” and get a feel for what’s available on their site.

+ Take Zer0 is an online film school which posts filmmaking tips and tutorials twice a week. The site’s “Zer0″ name relates to “everything you need to know before take one” – which goes along with the dry wit of its two hosts. Check out “The Storyboard…And YOU.”

+ Fresh DV is another great site with filmmaking video tutorials. It educates you on the basics (“Introduction to Slating and Script Management”) to more advanced techniques (“The Art of Pulling Focus” ).

+ Studio Daily and its “online family” Studio Monthly, Film & Video, and HD Studio are a great source for production information. Here’s one of their tutorial pages.

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Online Initiative Invites Aspiring Filmmakers To Create Their Own Version Of New Film

Canadian filmmaker Bruce McDonald [IMDB info] made his latest film The Tracey Fragments available for download and launched an open-source re-editing experiment called Tracey: Re-Fragmented. All the footage from the film is available for users to download, re-edit and make their own related creations – music videos, trailers, or their own version of the entire film. This is also a Creative Commons licensed initiative which makes available the score of the movie by Indie Collective Broken Social Scene.

This re-editing initiative is also a contest (for Canadians only). McDonald and his editors will select their favorite edition and include it in the DVD release of The Tracey Fragments, plus an Apple Final Cut Pro prize pack.

Director Bruce McDonald explains the inspiration behind the project:

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DIY Filmmaking: Make Your Own Equipment & Tools

DIY (Do-It-Yourself – in case you’re not familiar with the popular acronym) filmmaking is a necessity for most indie filmmakers on a tight budget. There are several online resources available that give step-by-step instructions on how to build your own equipment and tools – for much less than you would pay from a commercial vendor. But first you should ask yourself if it’s worth spending the all the time building something that you can rent from a professional rental house. Time IS money. Another factor to consider is if the DIY rig you construct does an adequate job compared to professional equipment. Paul Harrill from Self-Reliant Filmmaking shares some insight: “An inexpensive homemade tool that doesn’t get the job done is less of a bargain than an overpriced mass-produced tool that does get the job done.” Regardless, having options to choose from is always an advantage.

Here’s a few links to DIY resources that give filmmakers alternatives to buying and renting equipment:

RIGS & MOUNTS

Perhaps the most popular online DIY film tool is the “Fig Rig.” The Fig Rig name comes from director Mike Figgis [IMDB info] who invented the camera stabilization device for small film and video cameras.

Here are some websites that have set-up instructions for Fig Rigs:

+ “Build a PVC Fig Rig” & “PVC FIG RIG” – (Instructables.com)
+ “PVC Fig Rig” – (Flickr.com by shygantic)
+ “Video Gadgets You Can Make” – (softweigh.com)

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