Stand-Out Shorts

by Russell Evans

  No need to edit with really short news clips. Just upload to news sites or social network or video sharing sites as soon as possible. If you send it to YouTube tag it with the name of your preferred news network (for instance, “VisionOntv”). Getting it seen on the same day the event happened guarantees maximum viewing. Some TV news networks will buy your footage of an event if it is newsworthy enough.

  If you are doing a longer report with several parts like interviews and action shots, follow this template (thanks again to VisionOntv):

  Open with an establishing shot showing the whole scene or situation

  Cut to an action shot showing people doing stuff

  Then cut to some interviews you recorded, interspersed with cutaways of more action

  End with a summary of what has happened

  Edit tips:

  Edit with long cuts rather than short; 3–4 seconds per shot is a good length to see what’s happening

  Don’t use effects

  Avoid use of music

  Use your steadiest shots

  Keep voiceover or taking loud and clear

  LEGALESE

  You are pitting yourself in the firing line so make sure you are joined up to likeminded people. If you attend an event where you think you might be vulnerable, link up with others and work in small groups.

  If you do interviews, always get signed permission from the interviewee.

  Upload It

  Best site to upload to:

  YouTube for immediate events or http://tv.oneworld.net for other videos

  Best communities to join:

  Join the site community of VisionOntv showing activist and news videos

  Best channels to watch:

  Various channels at www.undercurrents.org

  * * *

  CITIZENS NEWS SCHEDULE

  There’s no specific schedule to a citizens news video, since you are responding to a sudden event. If you do get the chance to plan in advance, do a recce of the location to check out the best places to shoot from. Also, research into previous similar events.

  Chapter | Forty-One

  (Extreme) Sports Movie

  FIGURE 41.1 A skater does a trick while being filmed. (Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, ©deanmillar, Image# 4077913)

  WHAT IS IT?

  A movie of a sporting event. Extreme sports involve some danger or risk.

  Sports movies are big business, attracting huge viewing figures. Most video sharing sites have large sections with extreme sports movies – skating, freerunning, biking or other high-risk sports. But they almost never capture the thrill of the action, instead making do with a distant spectators-eye glimpse of what happened, or a first-person white-knuckle ride where you can’t make out too clearly what is going on. Extreme sports movies go further; they tend to get right to the heart of the action, resembling real action thrillers, but the element of actual risk makes it an even more tense viewing experience.

  Sports movies mix a range of shots so we get to experience the action, while also seeing the overall picture from several angles. These movies are widely seen online, but there is a thriving TV market for all extreme sports, from kite surfing, to zorbing to base-jumping.

  MY KIND OF MOVIE?

  You love the thrill of speed, and just want to share your enthusiasm for it. Why shouldn’t everyone get a taste of the adrenalin rush you feel when you pull off extreme feats on the waves, up a sheer wall, or out of a plane? If you don’t take part yourself, these real-life stunts are what you have been waiting for – they are what movies should be about. You’ll enjoy having to play around with extreme camera angles, catching speed, depth, height and movement. You don’t mind the challenge of not knowing where the action is going to lead, and adapt quickly to new situations.

  You’re addicted to the outdoors, you know where to meet extreme sports devotees, and you can gain their trust in activities that are just about legal.

  WHAT’S IT FOR?

  This is pure escapist fun, designed for sheer spectacular enjoyment, the wow factor embodied in video. And it has the history to back it up; this sort of spectacle movie has been around since the earliest days of cinema, when shorts of fast trains, horseback acrobats and death-defying stunts were the norm in movie theaters, way before sound and color took hold.

  Expect to see your clips shared widely – viewing hits for extreme sports are far above many other tags. If you shoot on higher-quality cameras you might want to start pitching your movies to cable or satellite TV channels such as Extreme Sports Channel (www.extreme.com).

  Extreme sports attract diverse audiences, from participants to spectators. Assume you will be watched by thousands, and remember to use commonly used tags as part of your movie title to aid browser searching.

  HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE ME?

  You can create a simple record of the events in just a half-hour session, but for the stunning footage you are seeking, you need to allow some time to make a movie that hypes up the stunts, builds up slowly, and allows a degree of mystery to get into the movie. Put aside a few hours, but then return to the project the next day to tweak it some more, increasing the cutaways, and checking that it’s clear what is happening.

  HOW HARD IS IT?

  Difficulty level:

  Simply freecording the whole thing is OK (see Chapter 43, Freecording), but drains the action of real adventure when you watch it on a small screen – too much shake and not enough editing. Instead, take a moment to plan out the shots you need, and improvise heavily on the day you shoot, gathering cutaways to add in later.

  You need:

  To use the camera for action and speed – using shutter speed and iris controls

  To be fast – you’ll be confronted with a moving target and need to be able to follow it wherever it goes

  To be able to see the events from the view of the bystander – is it actually clear what is happening at all?

  To think ahead, gathering the right shots to use later

  To be physically adept at moving around and following the action

  To know your camera well so you work with it quickly

  WHO ELSE DO I NEED?

  You can work solo, but your movie will step up to a whole new professional level if you can share the shooting with another camera operator. Find someone to shoot from a distance, gathering master shots of everything. Get someone else to get into the awkward places, allowing you to get the action shots.

  WHAT KIT DO I NEED?

  Camera × 2

  Tripods

  Shotgun mic

  Practice making do with very little: just a camera, a shotgun mic and a tripod. To avoid heavy gear, try a monopod, and you could try a long range parabolic mic. These have a semispherical collar which helps pick up sound from a hundred meters away or more. You can build your own version for less than $10£20. Google “build your own parabolic mic” and you’ll get several cheap ways to do it yourself.

  IF YOU LIKE THAT WATCH THIS

  EPIC America is a TV series from 2004 which followed various extreme sports enthusiasts; off air now but still available on YouTube. For paragliding, try Into the Wind, a feature-length documentary from 2006.

  Weirdo director of Being John Malkovich (1999), Spike Jonze codirected a hugely inventive and unmissable 40-minute movie of skate stunts, Yeah Right! (2004). Also check out National Geographic’s Extreme (1999), a collection of on-the-edge stunts by the world’s top extreme athletes, from snowboarding, to surfing to climbing. It’s available in IMAX, but also on DVD. Online, tune in to www.extreme.com for up-to-date clips.

  PREPRODUCTION ESSENTIALS

  Release forms; budget; permission forms for locations; health and safety sheets; copyright release for music.

  Go to Chapter 11, Brief Directory of All the Paperwork You Need, for help with all of these.

  Check out the scene before the event kicks off. Use the camera to view how things look at the aspect ratio you are shooting in. Take a range of shots to figure out how the
camera responds to light in the location. You may need to have sudden pans of the camera, from ground level to mid sky, or side to side, producing problems with light. Set up an aperture that works for all eventual places you need to point the camera.

  Experts’ Tips

  Leo Dickinson, action sports filmmaker, UK

  “If you are not sure when something is going to happen then leave the camera rolling. Having a camera off a tripod makes it more flexible but it starts to hosepipe all over the place and a tracking shot gets the whole thing much more animated. Be aware that parachuting or base-jumping, where you fall at 125 miles per hour, causes problems with the video tape going round the heads because of the air pressure, so simply tape the case in with insulating tape.”

  * * *

  USING THE CAMERA

  Declutter the background, leaving as much empty space as possible around the area where the action will take place.

  Focusing on just the area of action will be almost impossible, especially if you want to let it move around a lot within the frame, where it will go in and out of focus continually. So enjoy the blur and let it happen now and then – it will look authentic.

  Check for problems with anything that can get inside the camcorder casing, including damp. Most extreme sports and action shots tend to either thrive on or create their own mess in environments where dust, sand or other corrosives can cause havoc with your precious kit.

  Check out your shutter speed. Filmmakers vary in opinion about shutter speed but the general wisdom is that a high shutter speed is essential for high speed action. The standard 1/50 setting will produce blurred results, while an ultra-fast setting such as 1/1500 will not only produce strobed images but will significantly darken the image too, with less light getting past the lens.

  It helps if you can shoot your footage using two cameras – a master getting the overall show, including sound, and a more free-wheeling one gaining shots that will act in the edit room as the dynamic backbone to the film. Rules used to be that the master shot was the main one and the cutaways were cutaways.

  FIGURE 41.2 Shooting public sports events means getting close to the action. Arrive early to test out the best places to shoot. (Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, ©mountainberryphoto, Image# 4634072)

  Experts’ Tips

  Jason Bell, filmmaker, USA, www.vertical-visions.com

  “Light: The light on your subject can’t often be changed when shooting extreme sports. Therefore, recompose your shot to allow for the most possible light. Keep the sun and other light sources toward your back and carefully adjust your shutter speeds accordingly.”

  “Framing the subject: Learn when to center your subject and when to use the Rule of Thirds. Keep your viewers interested in your presentation and don’t be afraid to try something new. If you’re following your subject, don’t concentrate on the shot too much to the point of risking your safety.”

  “Following the action: Practice, practice, practice. Hold your breath to minimize body movements. Learn to shoot video with both eyes open in order to track your subject better.”

  “Shutter speeds/frame-rates: If your camera supports higher frame-rates or shutter speeds, use them.”

  “Using good tripods: Spend the extra money on a good tripod with smooth panning and tilting fluid motion.”

  “Camera protection: Your camera is often a big investment, so don’t skimp when it comes to protecting it. House it in a carbon fiber shell or waterproof enclosure if your activity is deemed hazardous to electronics from shock, vibration, or impact. If you don’t have a lot of cash, bend some sheet aluminum into a protective housiNg or wrap a fiberglass repair kit over a foam replica of your camera to make a cheap but effective housing.”

  “Be innovative: Use high-speed cameras, and mount them in innovative locations. Everyone loves a unique, innovative camera angle. Mount cameras on your head, leg, wrist, or belly for unique POVs.”

  “Backing up your work: Make backup copies of your tapes or DVDs and keep them at a different location in the event of theft or fire.”

  “Wide angle lenses: Work with wide angle lenses because they reduce camera shake and provide amazing images with extreme sports.”

  * * *

  EDITING

  The action depends on seeing cause and effect, a stream of events going one after the other. Get this by grouping shots together in patterns. Each short event or part of the action, lasting around 20 seconds, can be a chain of five clips:

  1. Master opening shot (e.g., group of cars approaching bend on the track)

  2. Closer shot showing which part of that master shot we are going to home in on

  3. A succession of close-ups, lasting less than a second each with a rhythm created in editing that matches the speed or pace of the event. (e.g., tires, hands on the steering wheel, shots from inside the car)

  4. Intersperse the close-ups with cutaways from the action to elsewhere in the scene – keeping to close-ups (e.g., faces in the crowd, pit stop technicians)

  5. End with a suitable exit shot (e.g., showing the skater exiting the bend and approaching the next corner)

  You then create a way of signaling to the viewer that a new chapter in the event is happening, by starting and ending each section with wider, master shots.

  SOUND

  Unless you have dialogue involved, be prepared to record sound separately and add it to the edit later. But always record what you can using a catch-all boom or omni-mic to add to the track, to create a more natural track. Depending on the action being recorded, supercardioid mics can effectively pinpoint the sound. These mics are good at long distances but their sideways range is small, so any slight shifts in position and you suddenly drop out of range.

  Go to Chapter 17, Sound Recording for more help.

  LEGALESE

  You’ll need permission to film at the venue of the sporting event if it’s indoors. If it’s held at a beach, park or other outdoor location, check in advance whether you need permission. Large events will allow spectators to film on camcorders, but if you need to get among the action right at the frontline you’ll need clearance first.

  If you do interviews, get a signed release form for each interviewee.

  Upload It

  Best sites to upload to:

  YouTube or Vimeo or Metacafe

  Best communities to join:

  www.vimeo.com/groups/extreme

  Best channels to watch:

  Sports Extreme Channel on YouTube

  Sports and Extreme Channel at www.dailymotion.com

  * * *

  SPORTS MOVIE SCHEDULE

  This movie is ideal to make in just 7 to 14 days.

  Table 41.1 Add these extra jobs to any of the template schedules in Section 6, Make It Happen: Schedules.

  What to Do Who Needs to Do It How Long This Will Take Chapters in This Book to Help You

  Before you shoot:

  W atch sports movies that are similar to what you are doing. Ask yourself how yours can avoid their clichés and how it can stand out. Ch 4 Budgets

  Practice shooting fast-moving objects or events. Try out how the shutter affects the image, and what shutter setting works best for you. Try 1/1000 for a start. But a bit of blur in the image can make it look more natural. Director/camera Allow an afternoon session Ch 13 Shooting Ch 12 Using a Camcorder

  During shooting

  Arrive well bef ore the event is due to start. Find the best places to shoot and practice working so you can check how the weather and light looks on screen. If there are warm-up sessions where competitors practice, take the chance to record sound for background tracks and cutaways shots to include in the edit. Director/camera Throughout the warm-up session Ch 12 Using a Camcorder

  Check you get release forms signed by everyone involved as you shoot. Producer As long as necessary Ch 9 Law and the Movies

  Get enough extra shots – close-ups, cutaways, shots of the crowd, shots of the preparation and if possible backstage or behind the s
cenes. Director/camera Throughout filming Ch 13 Shooting

  After shooting

  Upload quickly to sharing sites or contact companies you can sell the video to. Mobile phone content providers buy short sports videos and sell them to phone networks. Director 1 hour Ch 26 Create a YouTube Hit Ch 28 Your Web Plan

  Chapter | Forty-Two

  Drama : War Film

  FIGURE 42.1 Close-ups capture the human drama in a war movie. (Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, ©Johncairns, Image# 8909261)

  WHAT IS IT?

  A drama based around events during a conflict – real or imagined.

  The twentieth century was nonstop war, from Arnhem to Zagreb, Baghdad to Ypres, big wars and small wars, hot war and the cold war. No wonder then that the war film has become so popular as we try to get our heads around why all this goes on at all. But what about the twenty-first century, now that wars are kept hidden in far-off countries, with an invisible enemy? Rather than disappear in this fog, the war film is back with a vengeance and with a heat-seeking need to find and destroy – but this time it’s not the Japs or the Vietcong in the crosshairs. The twenty-first war film is about lies, deceit and global cover-ups.