Archive for category Roundups

Thursday Smooth Jazz DiY Roundup

Jul 8

Posted by Adam in Roundups | 1 Comment

The web never stops, it’s always moving and moving. We’re going to try and catch up with it with a little web roundup. So let’s do it.

Now.

Direct Actors for Improv

Home Film School Student has a conversation with an actress about being directed in a scene where she ab-libbed quite a bit (and they wanted her too). The content of this video is valuable if you encourage actors to improv during a scene (this may be more helpful for them, actually), but my favorite parts of this video are meta. Such as the dude asking “are we ready to go” at the beginning, and this “bored camera guy” shot.

I’m trippin! Check out the videos here.

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List of Sony HVR-A1U Resources, Tutorials, and Test Footage

May 21

Posted by Adam in Roundups, Tutorials | 4 Comments

We’ve had a lot of readers come to the site looking for information on the Sony HVR-A1U. It’s a great, affordable camcorder with a lot of great professional-end features. You can check out our review of it here, and our tips on using it for a documentary here.

To make things easier, we’ve gone ahead and scoured the net for the best HVR-A1U reviews and tutorials. Check ‘em out!

Warning: We could not find any decent tutorials on the HVR-A1U online, only test shoots and hilariously bad related videos. We’ve embedded them for your enjoyment. We’re going to make an HVR-A1U tutorial video soon. You can see my descent into madness as the post continues.

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Monday Roundup: Converting Video Babies

May 10

Posted by Adam in Roundups | 1 Comment

Another weekend come and gone. Hopefully you got to do something cool. If you didn’t there’s always next weekend. How’s that for a Monday pep talk?

To help you get to that happy weekend place again, we’re bringing you some of the coolest stuff that we found on the interwebs.

Video/Audio/Image Converter (for Free)

FCP Daily has this scoop. It’s a really amazing converter of formats called adapter. It’s free, AND you can get it for PC and MAC. It’s still technically in Beta, so you might wanna keep it in conjunction with your favorite video converter right now (like MPEG Streamclip), but it looks very promising. You can get all the deets at FCP Daily.

Adapter Screenshot

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Go Go Gadget Web Roundup

Apr 28

Posted by Adam in Roundups | 1 Comment

It’s been a little quiet around here due to our prep for this week’s podcast – all about DSLR filmmaking for DiY Filmmakers. It’s a really exciting topic, and one that takes a lot of research and pizzas. The pizzas aren’t necessary, but they help.

In the mean time, here are some cool things around the web that caught our eye that may be useful or just fun:

DSLR Film Blog

DSLR Film Homepage

I came across this blog in my research on DSLR filmmaking for this week’s podcast. (I had hoped that there was a blog dedicated to this, and I found one! I love it when the internet works like that.)

Anyways, the DSLR filmmaker blog is really great – its in-depth, technical, and gets you excited about DSLR filmmaking while at the same time bringing you the latest news on the technological advances in the DSLR world. They also highlight some DSLR short films and other DSLR-created media.

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Monday Roundup: The Worst Ever

Mar 22

Posted by Adam in Roundups | No Comments

A short time after we started and named this blog, we realized there is another site called DiY Filmmaking Sucks, so we’re getting an inferiority complex every time we open up Google Reader:

Google Reader DiY Filmmaking

Yes, we put our own blog into Google Reader, okay?

Anyways, the good folks at DiY Filmmaking sucks posted something that caught my eye: YouTube rentals. You can read all about it there and get a link to the application page (as well as a link to the private Beta Dynamo, which is doing something similar but more customizable), but the gist is you can offer rentals of your film on YouTube.

First reaction: this…is…awesome.

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Monday Roundup: #$(U#!

Mar 16

Posted by Adam in Roundups | No Comments

Okay, so the Monday Roundup is a little late today. The DiY Filmmaking bloggers have been hard at work on some other cool projects (related to film, yes), and also working on the UPCOMING DIY FILMMAKING PODCAST!

It’s going to be cool. You gotta believe me.

But first, let’s take a look at some cool things from the DiY (and beyond) world happening around the web.

That Dude Who Swears From the RV Video Had a Documentary Made About Him

Remember this guy?

Someone made a documentary about him, for real. And it got picked up by a distributor. The good folks at the Documentary Blog have got the scoop.

If that doesn’t prove you can find documentary subjects in the strangest of places, then I don’t know what does.

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Monday Roundup: Cool Stuff

Mar 8

Posted by Adam in Roundups | No Comments

Monday – hello. Hope you’re having a good one.

We’re going to start doing some Monday roundups of our favorite cool stuff from around the web having to do with DiY filmmaking, and DiY inspiration. Let’s do it!

LEGO Film is a Thing

Make’s post about this reminded me that LEGO movies – excuse me, LEGO Brick Movies – are a thing. Check out Make’s recap for some cool ones (or below). There is even an online community dedicated to this – Brickfilm.

I used to love making LEGO movies as a kid, and now thinking about it, I realize that there are a few benefits.

  • Sets are cheap
  • Actors don’t complain
  • Actors heads are removable

You can’t go wrong!

There are actually HUNDREDS of these online and they can get pretty sophisticated. Check out some stuff by Squashed Cat Productions for some nice use of focus panes and smooth animation:

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A Look Into the Seedy Underworld of Cable Wrapping

Feb 16

Posted by Adam in Roundups, Tutorials | 3 Comments

Yesterday we talked about some great tutorials on how to wrap cable. Before starting the post, I had no idea the of the sheer number of tutorial videos on this subject out there. So, I’ve gone ahead and compiled my favorites for your viewing pleasure.

Let’s just get right into it, shall we?

Wrappin It

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How to Wrap Cable – Tutorial Roundup

Feb 15

Posted by Adam in Roundups, Tutorials | 3 Comments

I wrote a post about gaffers tape last week explaining that while most people might automatically reach for the duct tape during a shoot, gaffers tape is a much better alternative universally used in the film community. Just one of those things you might not know if you’ve never come across it.

Cable wrapping techniques are another one of types of things that you automatically do one way and you eventually learn how to do the right way. I remember when I was early into my high school career I was out helping on a local shoot and started wrapping cables around my arm. An old roadie quickly noticed and verbally accosted me, kindly showing me the right way.

So here for your reading and viewing pleasure is a short guide and some great videos on how to wrap cable.

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The internet is chock full of how to guides for doing pretty much anything you can think of to make films on a budget. DiY Filmmaking is a blog that brings you the best and the worst of all that, plus great tips, tutorials, and guides of our own.

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