Every Frame a Painting

The Ultimate Introduction to DSLR Filmmaking

Top 15 Mistakes Beginner Filmmakers Make

Canon T3i – External Buttons Tutorial

3 Mistakes All Beginner Editors Make

Dialog in a Screenplay Student Samples

• Natalie’s post
• Drew’s post
• Calvin’s post

Required Elements

• Research
  • Read For the Sake of Conversation: On shot reverse shot
  • Watch Joel & Ethan Coen – Shot | Reverse Shot
  • Watch the other video tutorials
  • Review Marking The Shooting Script (PDF)
• Screenplay
  • Write a simple 5 part dialog interchange
    • Each person should have about 5 lines of short dialog
  • Keep each line short because the actor will need to ADR their lines
• Storyboard
  • Draw each shot from the camera’s point of view
  • Include the specific position of the main character in the frame
  • Use the rule of thirds or other cinematic guides
• Camera, Actor, and Light Blocking Map
  • Create a map of the camera, actors, and lights placement
• Shot List
  • List order the shots will be filmed
  • Shoot each person’s lines together
    • Example: shoot person #1’s lines all together with a slight pause between them to aid editing
• Lighting
  • Watch Canon DSLR Video Tutorial – Portable Light Tips
  • Find a place that has natural light
    • The Commons works well, just sit close by a window and have the light fully cover the face
  • Have the actor face the window and the camera have it’s back to the window
  • Be sure to light each side of the face equally
  • Use a reflector or bounce to reflect light back onto the face, if there is not enough light on one side
• Camera Position
  • Have the camera about eye level

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  • Remember the 180 rule for shot reverse shot
    • Review  How to Shoot Dialogue Scenes from VideoMaker.com if you need a refresher
  • Use a tripod or set the camera on a stable surface when recording
• Camera Settings
  • Rewatch the Canon T3i best DSLR movie settings tutorial, to re-acquaint yourself with settings
  • Set camera to manual settings
  • Set the white balance
    • Watch Canon DSLR Video Tutorial – White Balance
  • Set the picture style for the lighting you want
  • Set the shutterspeed to 40 or 50, lower left hand corner of the settings menu screen
    • Watch Canon DSLR Video Tutorial – Setting Shutter Speeds and Frame Rates
  • Set the lens aperture with the Av button and the finger dial
  • Set the ISO to the needed setting to properly expose the shots, do not switch this from scene to scene, be consistent
• Lens Settings
  • Select a wider angle prime lens or the 25mm setting on a zoom lens
    • Watch Canon DSLR Video Tutorial – Using Prime Lens
  • Select MF on the top of the lens
    • Be sure to check your focus for every shot
  • Set the focal length to about 25mm by turning the zoom
• Audio
  • Watch Canon Video Tutorial Recording Audio with a DSLR
  • Watch Canon DSLR Video Tutorial – Using a both Using Single and Double Sound Systems
  • Use the camera’s built in microphone for production sound
    • We don’t care about the quality of this sound because we are going to replace it with ADR sound in post production
  • Collect ambient sound with an audio recorder for post-production
• Editing
  • Plan the edits
    • Are you going to just cut back and forth from dialogue lines or are you going to have another edit in between like a close up of an actor’s hands in between the shot / reverse shot sequence?  Maybe a pause to build tension?
    • How long will each edit be?
      • Edit timing is what will make the flow between actors work