The importance of composition…making my mini documentary “An Amish Man” includes downloadable 4K version and native F55 raw file… Philipbloom

• Written by  Philip Bloom
• Posted in:  Lighting, New filmMy favourite type of story to tell in a documentary, be it micro, mini, short or feature, is a subject I know nothing about. When I make them, I love to be on a journey of discovery, like the viewer too. It can also often help you tell a better story as you don’t make assumptions and skip stuff, which is easy to do when you are telling a story about something you know inside and out.

I love people documentaries, just about all my documentary work that is available on my site under the films/ documentary section are personal docs, and almost all about people. People are fascinating and having amazing stories. They give us a glimpse into worlds we often know nothing about.

This is something I got from working in news for 17 years, meeting so many people with such amazing stories, and as much as I adore fiction, there are so many real stories to tell! Even if  you are dead set on fiction, take a look at the documentary genre. You can learn a hell of a lot from making them, both as a filmmaker and as a person. It’s a whole different way of working, a lot of spontaneity, and it helps you think fast and work fast.

The types of documentaries I like to make don’t have an agenda; I just present the story and leave you to make up your mind whether you like them, empathise, don’t understand etc etc…I have no problem with docs with agendas, as long as they are presented as that – they are just a different sub genre of documentary. I made a documentary about a man who loved to fire guns, I have no interest in guns and would go as far as saying I really don’t like them…but he told his story and gave us a glimpse into the mind of a man who loved his guns, not for self defense but for fun. I made no judgements, I just told his story, yet I still got attacked online for being pro guns because I made a film where I let someone explain why he loves them. Just because you don’t agree doesn’t mean you can’t listen! Utterly ridiculous. I want to make films about things and people I don’t get. Explain to me, I am not after conversion, I just want to understand!

These Static Frames from Oscar Contender 'Ida' Show Why Composition is King.

The subtle, well-composed frames of Ida prove that composition is amongst the most powerful visual storytelling tools at our disposal.

In recent years, the Oscar category for Best Cinematography has been dominated largely by flashy VFX-heavy films. Many of these films are also heavy on camera movement and incredibly complex lighting schemes. This year, somewhat surprisingly if I'm being honest, the Academy's cinematography nominations trended back towards traditionally shot films like The Grand Budapest Hotel and Mr. Turner (plus another nomination for Roger Deakins).

10 Tips for Producing a Comprehensive Video Campaign

By Preston Kanak of Cinescapes Collective

When starting a business, there are many things one needs to consider. Out of all of these decisions is the need to have a clear action plan for when the work starts to come in. With this in mind, we recently wrapped production on a project with Tourism Saskatoon and wanted to break down the process as a case study. For this project, our goal was to create a serialized storytelling campaign by structuring and connecting content through similar themes and storylines but do so through unique production styles. To help shed light on our process, I have put together a list of ten tips for producing a comprehensive video campaign.

Cannes & Maker Studios Execs Judge ScreenCraft's Short Screenplay Contest

This is ScreenCraft's first year running the competition, and they obviously wanted its inauguration to be special by compiling a jury of executives from the Cannes Film Festival, Vimeo, Maker Studios (Disney), and the Slamdance Film Festival.

4 Life Lessons for Filmmakers from Werner Herzog

Werner Herzog has dedicated his life not only to creating uncompromising films, but uncompromising filmmakers as well.

In a career that spans over half a century, the Munich-born director has made it his duty to help guide filmmakers as they navigate the wilderness of their creativity, from eating a shoe for a young Errol Morris to teaching students how to hack film at his Rogue Film School seminars.

Why i Left Art for Film-making

 

Ivi Topp

Artist — It is interesting how a word can lose value even roared by inflation after-tasting mouths.
Intro
Beginnings are always exiting — a certain dose of naivety mixed with projections and ideas of how the future will translate to present.
Today i don’t know what the word Artist means anymore. I used to think i would like to become one. What at the time seemed an exiting world full of collaborative people sharing their ideas— making works that can change the vision of how you perceive the world by also having fun doing so, was slowly and painfully replaced by a depressing vision of jealous people fighting with their own ideological excrement's to be on top of each other. Even if this description can very well fit every professional working environment, i will try to focus on the artistic career.

Trying to ditch my DSLR, what next?

I have a Nikon D800 and am trying to switch to something even more "filmy".
I've had my eyes on the Blackmagic line of products for sometime now and wanted to see what you guys thought of this:
I posted on Craigslist to trade my camera with some accessories for a Blackmagic Package.
Here's one offer I got: