THE DIGITAL FILMMAKING

HANDBOOK

THIRD EDITION

BEN LONG

AND

SONJA SCHENK

C H A R L E S R I V E R M E D I A m

CHARLES RIVER MEDIA, INC.

Hingham, Massachusetts

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION I

Digital Video and the Independent Filmmaker 3

Digital Video in the Home and Office 4

What Type of Equipment Do I Need? 5

What Is Digital Video? 6

What Is Digitizing? 6

Why Digital Video? 8

What This Book Covers 10

Part I: Pre-Production 10

Part II: Production 10

Part III: Post-Production 11

Exercise 11

CHAPTER 2 WRITING AND SCHEDULING 13

Writing for Digital Video 14

Finding a Story 15

Structure 16

Writing Visually 18

Script Format 19

Writing for Corporate and Industrial Productions 22

Writing for Documentaries 24

Finishing Up 25

Scheduling 25

Breaking Down a Script 26

Choosing a Shooting Order 26

v

v i Contents

Production Boards 29

Scheduling for Documentaries 30

Exercises 31

Summary 33

CHAPTER 3 VIDEO TECHNOLOGY BASICS 35

What Is Video? 36

Tracks 36

Frames 38

Video Resolution 38

Scanning Methods 39

Native Aspect Ratio 41

Physical Characteristics of Videotape 42

Digital Video Primer 43

Color Sampling 43

Compression 45

Bit Depth 45

CODECS 46

Data Rate 50

Pixel Shape 50

Types of Digital Video Files 53

Video Broadcast Standards 53

Audio Basics 55

Mono, Stereo, and Surround Sound 56

Audio Sampling 56

Types of Digital Audio Files 57

High-Definition (HD) Video 58

Frame Rates and HD 60

HD Pros and Cons 60

Choosing a Format 61

Delivery Is Everything 63

Videotape Formats 65

Quality Isn't Everything 68

Exercise: Look at Some Video Quality Examples 68

Summary 69

CHAPTER 4 CHOOSING A CAMERA Evaluating a Camera

Image Quality Lenses

Camera Features Ergonomics Manual Override Frame Rate

Progressive Scan Aspect Ratio Audio Viewfinder Image Stabilization Direct-to-Disc Recording Special Effects Batteries Use Your Director of Photography

Accessorizing Tripods, Steadicams, and Dollies

What You Should Choose Summary

CHAPTER 5 PLANNING YOUR SHOOT Storyboarding

Shots and Coverage Less Is More Camera Diagrams and Shot Lists

Location Scouting Production Design

Art Directing Basics Building a Set

Effects Planning Exercises Summary

CHAPTER б LIGHTING

Lighting Basics Film-Style Lighting

Video Lighting

v i i i Contents

The Art of Lighting

Three-Point Lighting

Types of Light

Color Temperature

Wattage

Controlling the Quality of Light

Lighting Your Actors

Interior Lighting

Power Supply

Mixing Daylight and Interior Light

Using Household Lights

Exterior Lighting

Enhancing Existing Daylight

Video Lighting

Video and Low-Light Situations

Special Lighting Situations

Using Lights to Create a Scene

Lighting for Video-to-Film Transfers

Lighting for Blue and Green Screen

Exercises

Summary

CHAPTER 7 THE CAMERA

Using the Camera

The Lens

White Balance

Lens Filters

Other Camera Features

Know Thy Camera

Technical Tips

Preparing Your Equipment

Exercises

Summary

CHAPTER 8 SHOOTING DIGITAL VIDEO

Preparing to Shoot

Rehearsals

The Shooting Script

Putting Plans into Action

Contents ix

Managing the Set 182

The Protocol of Shooting 184

Respect for Acting 184

Shooting 185

Composition 185

Camera Movement 193

Exposure 196

Keeping On-Set Records 199

Script Supervising for Scripted Projects 200

Documentary Field Notes 201

Camera and Sound Logs 202

Exercises 202

In the Can 204

CHAPTER 9 PRODUCTION SOUND 205

What You Want to Record 206

Microphones 207

What a Mic Hears 207

How a Mic Hears 212

Mixing 216

Connecting It All Up 216

Double-System Recording 219

Setting Up 221

Placing Your Mies 221

Getting the Right Sound for the Picture 227

Testing Sound 228

Managing Your Set 229

Selecting an Audio Mode on Your Camera 230

Recording Your Sound 230

Room Tone 231

Run-and-Gun Audio 231

Exercise: Gear Checklist 233

Summary 233

CHAPTER 10 BUILDING A WORKSTATION 235

First Things First 236

Choosing a Platform 236

Macintosh OS 236

Windows 237

Contents

Choosing a Video Interface 238

Digital Video Interfaces 238

Analog Video Interfaces 241

Audio Interfaces 242

Choosing a Computer 244

CPU 246

RAM 246

Storage 246

Computer Monitors 249

Accessorizing 249

Building a Macintosh System 252

Building a Windows System 253

Portable Editing 255

Edit Controllers and Custom Keyboards 256

Backing Up 257

Archiving 258

Network Systems 259

Exercise: Know What You Need 260

Summary 261

CHAPTER 11 NON-LINEAR EDITING SOFTWARE 263

Editing Software Basics 264

The Interface 264

Editing Features 266

Other Features 270

Organizational Tools 272

Logging, Capturing, and Importing 274

Effects and Titles 277

Types of Effects 277

Titles 279

Audio Tools 281

The Final Product 282

Videotape Masters 282

Digital Video Files 283

EDLs 283

Film Cut Lists 283

Editing Applications Compared 284

Exercise: Know What You Need 287

Summary 288

Contents xi

CHAPTER 12 EDITING HARDWARE 289

Don't Panic! 290

Hardware Peripherals 291

Video Decks 293

Tape Format 293

SDI, FireWire, or Analog I/O 295

Frame Accuracy 296

Device Control 296

Audio Features 297

VTR Checklist 297

Audio Equipment 299

Audio CDs 299

DATandMiniDisc 299

Audio Mixers 300

Speakers 300

Video Monitors 301

Professional Video Monitor Features 302

Hardware Connectors 304

Exercise: Hardware Checklist Before You Start 305

Summary 306

CHAPTER 13 PREPARING TO EDIT 307

How to Organize Your Project 308

Create a Numbering System 308

Make Sure All Your Videotape Has Timecode 309

Keep a Database of All Your Media 309

Log Each Tape Thoroughly 310

Use the Organizational Tools of Your Editing Software 310

Timecode 311

Drop Frame and Non-Drop Frame Timecode 311

Timecode Standards 312

How Timecode Is Stored on Videotape 312

Keycode: Timecode for Film Sources 313

Logging 315

How to Log by Content 316

Capturing Quality 320

How Good Does Your Project Need to Look? 320

Digital Online and Offline 320

xii Contents

Audio Quality 322

Audio Levels 322

Clipping and Distortion 323

Equalization 324

Video Quality 326

Video Levels 327

Troubleshooting 337

Problems and Solutions 338

Importing Digital Files 340

Getting Audio from a CD 342

Media Management 342

Exercises 343

Summary 343

CHAPTER 14 EDITING 345

The Invisible Art 346

Building Blocks 346

Building a Rough Cut 350

Radio Cuts 350

Master Shot-Style Coverage 352

Refining Your Rough Cut 354

Cutaways and Reaction Shots 355

Matching Action 356

Matching Screen Position 358

Overlapping Edits 359

Matching Emotion and Tone 360

Pauses and Pull-Ups 360

Hard Sound Effects and Music 360

Transitions between Scenes 363

Hard Cuts 363

Dissolves, Fades, and Wipes 363

Establishing Shots 364

Clearing Frame and Natural "Wipes" 364

Solving Technical Problems 364

Missing Elements 365

Working with Temporary Elements 365

Working with Low-Res Footage 365

Fine Cutting 367

Editing for Style 368

Duration 368

Contents x i i i

The Big Picture 369

Exercise 369

Summary 369

CHAPTER 15 SOUND EDITING 371

Sounding Off 372

Setting Up 374

Editing Sound in Your NLE 374

Dedicated Sound Editing Apps 377

Audio Editing Hardware 382

Editing Sound 384

Unintelligible Dialog 384

Changes in Tone 385

Is There Extraneous Noise in the Shot? 385

Are There Bad Video Edits That Can Be Reinforced with Audio? 385

Is There Bad Audio? 386

Are There Vocal Problems You Need to Correct? 386

Dialog Editing 387

ADR 388

Non-Dialog Voice Recordings 389

EQ Is Your Friend 389

Special Filters 392

Sound Effects 393

Sound Effect Sources 394

Music 395

Editing Music 395

License to Play 397

Finding a Composer 398

Do It Yourself 399

Exercises 400

Fix It in the Mix? 401

CHAPTER 16 COLOR CORRECTION 403

To Compress, or Not to Compress 404

Color Correction 408

Safe Colors 409

Too Much of a Good Thing: When Color Correction Goes Too Far 410

Correcting Bad White Balance 413

Matching Footage from Different Cameras and Shoots 418

x i v Contents

Brightening Dark Video 420

Using Tracks and Layers to Adjust Color 420

Don't Expect Miracles 422

Correcting Color for Film 423

One More Thing 423

Exercise 423

Summary 424

CHAPTER 17 TITLING AND SIMPLE COMPOSITING 425

Titles and Simple Graphics 426

Making Titles in Your NLE 427

Titling Software 432

Creating Titles in Photoshop 434

Compositing 101 434

Keys 435

Mattes 448

Pixel Aspect Ratios 451

More Sophisticated Mattes 459

Moving Pictures 463

Basic Movement 463

Eliminating Camera Shake 470

Exercise 471

Summary 471

CHAPTER 18 ROTOSCOPING AND MORE COMPOSITING 473

Rotoscoping 474

Painting on Frames 475

Better Rotoscoping through Filters 481

Rotoscoping an Alpha Channel 484

Creating Animated Alpha Channels (or "You, Too, Can Make Travelling Mattes") 491

Building Effects with Multiple Layers 497

Special Effects 512

Fixing a Drop-Out 512

Fixing Lost Video 514

Compositing Elements from a 3D Animation Package 514

Contents x v

Making Your Video Look Like Film 515

Creating Film Texture 515

Creating Film Color 518

Changing Video Time 518

Plug-Ins 520

Summary 521

CHAPTER 19 OUTPUT 523

Mastering Your Outputs 524

The Best-Case Scenario 524

The Big Decision 526

Videotape Masters 526

Preparing for a Professional Online Edit 527

The Do-It-Yourself Digital Online 533

The Final Audio Mix 537

Preparing for a Professional Audio Mix 538

Do-lt-Yourself Final Mixes 539

DVD Output 540

OutputtingfortheWeb 546

Creating a Video CD 551

Getting Your 35mm Film Release Print 553

Film Editing and Cut Lists 554

The Film Printing Process 555

Getting Your Video Transferred to Film 556

Archiving and Backups 557

Exercises 558

Summary 559

ABOUT THE DVD 561

GLOSSARY 563

INDEX 583