Tired of renting or buying pre-built rigs? Start creating your own custom camera rigs just like the pros. One of the biggest drains on a shooting budget is renting specialized equipment for just one of your shots. Creating your own rigs saves you money while building out your own rig set — w

While filming at dusk may look beautiful, it can quickly become problematic. Follow these tips to get the most out of “magic hour.” If you’re not familiar with the term, “magic hour” in film and video production, it is the period just before sunrise or just after sunset when the

Let’s take a look at how the filmmakers behind Thor: Ragnarok demonstrate the power of collaboration when creating a movie. It’s safe to say that Thor: Ragnarok was a massive success — in every way. The fans got what they wanted: a fresh, fun, entertaining take on a beloved char

If you have to keep costs down on your next indie film or video, properly managing your cast is essential for a successful (and enjoyable) operation. Cover image: Ed Wood (Walt Disney Studios). Low-budget filmmaking poses many unique challenges, and when members of smaller crews wear several

Struggling to get a better composition? Here are five simple ways you can take your film or video project to the next level. If you’re like me, one of the biggest challenges you’ll face as a filmmaker is making something basic look cinematic. It’s a struggle I face on most shoots, but

Eyelines direct your audience’s attention. Learn how to align expectations with the people and objects in your next video project. When you’re working in film and video, whether that means documentaries, corporate videos, or narrative features, it’s important to understand what eyelin

We sat down with Meena Singh, the DP of Netflix’s documentary series “The Confessions Tapes” for insights on how she filmed this unique show. PremiumBeat: Will you just tell us about your background and then how that led to your work on The Confession Tapes? Meena Singh: 

Working on a horror film or video project? Here are some practical filmmaking tips for creating gore effects that won’t break your budget. Cover image from Shaun of the Dead (Universal Pictures). There’s a lot of filmmaking magic you can do in post-production these days. That’s n

Take a look at the lighting cinematographer Roger Deakins designed to capture the visually stunning footage in Blade Runner 2049. In this article, we are going to take a quick look back at Roger Deakins’s previous work with ring lights — and how he built a massive lighting rig for Bla

HBO’s “Spielberg” is more than a biography, it’s a mini masterclass detailing some of the most influential scenes in the history of American cinema. Warning: contains spoilers! The opening scenes of HBO’s newest documentary, Spielberg, might leave you at a loss

Through clever tracking, panning, and tilting, David Fincher immerses his audiences by crafting characters like no other working director. With the recent release of the Netflix series Mindhunter, David Fincher returns to the world of television with a tense, oddly comedic detective tale of

The International Documentary Association supports filmmakers, and it can help you get the financing you need to bring your projects to life. The International Documentary Association (IDA) hosts an impressive list of grants and funding opportunities for independent filmmakers and documenta

Aputure releases their most powerful light ever, and the 300d comes in at a fraction of the price of similar lighting fixtures. All images via Aputure.  Building off of the success of the affordable Light Storm series, Aputure has upped their power with their brightest LED light ever. First

Running your video shoots as a one-man band? Here’s everything you need to know about shooting solo. What is a shreditor you ask? Check out this article, or dive into our earlier post to learn how to master the art of being an ultimate producing, shooting, and editing shreditor. In th

Here are four creative filmmaking tricks to make your solo-camera shoot look like a dual-camera production. Cover image via Shutterstock. Personally, there have been a couple of times in my career when I’ve needed to turn one camera turn into two. Once, I’m proud to admit, it was a spur-of-t

Let’s take a look at the post-production workflow and thought process behind the year’s biggest box office success. After the smashing debut of the recent adaptation of It, we take a look behind the scenes at the editing booth for some production tips and tricks based on piecing

In this video tutorial, learn five ways you can capture stable and beautiful footage with a handheld gimbal. Over the past few months, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to travel the world and film a wide variety of different subjects. From mini-docs to short narratives and commercia

Hollywood is adapting to decreasing profits by embracing new media outlets and production models. What should filmmakers do to adapt? The film industry has just recorded its worst performance at the box office in more than a decade, selling 400,000,000 fewer tickets than the previous year.

We take a look behind the scenes at how a Sundance Award-winning filmmaker shoots dynamic, one-take short films. All images via Jim Cummings. We sat down and chatted with the talented and funny Jim Cummings, whose short film “Thunder Road” won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2016 Sun

Tonal values are essential for communicating depth and points of interest in film and video. But many filmmakers think about contrast when it’s too late. Contrast is a term that applies to several aspects of filmmaking: contrast ratios with lighting, contrast adjustments in color corr