How to get Smooth Handheld Video Footage

To get smooth video footage from DSLR's there are a few techniques that don't require any additional money.

• Use in-camera stabilization. Many cameras (not Canon and Nikon), including Sony and Panasonic mirror-less DSLR's have in-body stabilization that can really improve hand-held footage without any additional editing or software
• Walking like a ninja. Step on your toes and heels lightly to avoid getting excessive up and down shake in your footage.
• Process footage with Warp Stabilizer. Use the Warp Stabilizer effect in Premiere Pro set to 5-20% to make your regular footage smoother.

Negative Fill | Cinematography lighting technique

Negative fill uses non-reflective material like black cloth or Duvetyne to reduce the amount of light hitting one part of the subject. See another video example of how negative fill works to add more contrast to a subject.

Professional LED Light Panels for under $300

Neewer LED 500 Ultra High Power Dimmable Video Light with Built-in LCD Panel with Remote Control
$130-140
Mounts to a tripod
Color temperature is adjustable from
Remote control operation
Adjustable brightness (light output) from 10-100%.

Neewer Dimmable Bi-color LED with U Bracket Professional Video Light

$95-110
Mounts to a light stand with the included U Bracket.
Tilt adjustments
Color temperature adjusts from 3200-5600k
Includes a travel bag
CRI 96+ (provides truer color than cheap LED light panels)






Softboxes for LED lights
Use these reduce harshness and provide a high-end look for video interviews on a low budget.

Kamerar D-Fuse Large LED Light Panel Softbox: 12"x12" Opening, Foldable, Portable Diffuser
$30
This is "Amazon's Choice" for LED softboxes as of October 2017.
This LED softbox was a related item when looking at the above LED panels.
As of 10/24/17 it has 4.1 star rating and 28 reviews on Amazon.
A customer review from 8/27/17 confirms that this fits the Neewer light with the barndoors.




There's also a larger LED softbox made by Neewer that fits their 600 and 650 LED light panels.

Neewer LED Collapsible Softbox for LED 650 600 Light Panels, Foldable, Portable Diffuser
$27
Outer dimensions: 20 x 20 inches
Inner dimensions: 11 x 11 inches

Better Workflow with Timecode Stamps on B-Roll

To allow clients and team members to give you precise edits on where to change cuts and music, place timecode on your footage.

The easiest way to do this without having to nest footage or calculate an offset, is to create a Transparent Video clip with the timecode effect on the clip and place it on the highest layer above all your clips.

Go to File > New > Transparent Video.

Place the Transparent Video clip on your timeline in a new layer above all of your other footage and extend it for as long as you would like the timecode to appear.

Select the clip, and from the Effects pane, drag on the Timecode effect.

Change the Source dropdown to 'Clip' and your timecode should match up with the whole sequence.

High End Realtor Introduction Video - Chip James

Chip James Features

• - stabilized camera movement (1:05 Chip walking into his office)
• - only shows Chip for brief moments
• - just under 2 minutes
• - slider shots
• - title branding
• - shows his family and kids laughing
• - ECU shots of his face
• - over the shoulder shot
• - two shot (mom wraps her little boy in a towel and then it cuts in closer, completing the action)
• - branding at the end is layered on above an out of focus shot of Chip working at a coffee shop.

Technical:
- starts talking at 2 seconds
- branding at the end shows for 6 seconds

Slow storytelling and human B-Roll

360 Church Story with Darci Banter

360 Stories: Darci Banister from 360 Church on Vimeo.

Features: Low Drone shots showing Darci running (multiple angles to allow several cuts) Slow motion drone shots Cross fades (1:00, 4:26) Tilt camera from high to low. Two cameras during the interview Left to right camera movement (2:27) Beautiful wide environment shot (3:54) Circular camera movement (4:40) Slow tempo music matches the length of the shots (some are 4 and 5 seconds long) Technical: - Branding is 5 seconds long (has audio branding) - First voice audio does not come in until 11 seconds. - no branding at the end - Almost all transitions are cross-fades (except one or two) - Cross fade style seems to match the music

Original Questions to Ask During Author Interviews

50 Brilliant, Original Questions to ask an Author - Bookfox

Start with Why....then:

Who is your audience and why will they care about the story and the characters? How has the book evolved during the creation process? How has writing this book changed your life? --- 11. Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly? 14. If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be? 26. What does literary success look like to you? 29. Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice? 46. What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

Learn How Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO Work Together in Photography

A Pocket Guide to Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO in action.



Using Manual Mode: Exposure Lesson #4
- why manual mode is important for landscape photography and long-exposure photography

Getting off Auto - Manual, Aperture and Shutter Priority modes explained

• what each of the A (Av), S (Tv) and M modes are, a definition of each
• what types of situations I would choose each of them and why
• some advantages of A (Av) and S (Tv) over manual
• some advantages of Manual and when it’s the only choice

John Freeman's Guide to Slow Shutter Speeds

Metering Modes Explained

5 Tips for shooting better Beauty Videos - Boom Video

Today's Best Cinematographers

Emmanuel Lubezki

The Revenant

Birdman

The Tree of Life

Children of Men

Rodrigo Prieto

Silence

Argo

State of Play

Babel

Brokeback Mountain

Amores Perros

Greig Fraser

Lion

Rogue One

Foxcatcher

Zero Dark Thirty

Killing Them Softly

Bradford Young

Arrival

Selma

A Most Violent Year

Pawn Sacrifice

Ain't Them Bodies Saints

Linus Sandgren

La Lan Land

Joy

American Hustle

Upcoming films with these cinematographers

Song to Song
Directed by Terrance Malick and cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki
Ryan Gosling, Natalie Portman, Rooney Mara, and Michael Fassbender

Mary Magdalene

Directed by Garth Davis (Lion) and cinematography by Greig Fraser (Lion).
Rooney Mara, Ariane Labed, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Joaquin Phoenix

Best DIY Video Gear and How to Build It

$15 DIY steadicam in 15 minutes!

by Indy Mogul

5 minute video

For a $15 build the footage is very good and would allow you to get running shots and other moving shots that are otherwise impossible without a stabilizer.

How to Make a Professional Camera Slider

by DIY Perks
15 min. video
(more professional and flexible than the $10 Film Riot DIY Camera Slider.)

Animation on the Cheap from Fiverr

AeDaddy on Fiverr
25 Animated Titles for $10 (Final Cut Pro or Motion 2)

Lmworld on Fiverr

Song lyric video (1 minute for $5 / 3 minutes for $15)

enjomagcalen on Fiverr
Song Lyric video ($30 for 100 words/$60 for 200 words with unlimited revisions)