Negative space is an important video element for making characters stand out. Horror movie directors use it all the time, as did film greats like Stanley Kubrick and David Lean. Film and video share a lot of concepts with painting. After all, your video is just a series of 30 or 24 still images ever

The zoom control is probably one of the first buttons you pushed when you picked up your brand new camcorder. After all, it’s mounted in a prominent spot on the camera, right there where your finger rests. It wants to be pushed. So, we hit record and we start zooming. We zoom in to get closer

180 Degree Rule Highlights –  When two characters interact in a scene, keeping the camera on one side of an imaginary line helps the audience keep track of the narrative.The 180 degree rule–not to be mistaken with the 180-degree shutter angle, a

In photography and filmmaking, shutter speed and shutter angle are used to calculate exposure time.Whether you’re shooting photos or videos, digitally or on film, the exposure is the foundation of the process: how long you expose your film or se

Shooting a movie on iPhone or iPad Highlights: An iOS device can be used to shoot almost any type of film. However, if you intend to shoot and edit the video on your phone, keep it short and simple. It’s difficult to watch a long, complex film o

Video Sound is important because it engages audiences: it helps deliver information, increases production value, elicits emotional responses, emphasizes what’s on the screen, and is used to indicate mood. However, bad sound can ruin your video.C

Highlights: Higher ISOs allow you to shoot in darker or dimmer conditions, but they add grain or noise to your images.ISO is a measure of light sensitivity. In photography and filmmaking, it is part of the exposure triangle. Knowing what it is,

Highlight: Even if you want to convey a sense of chaos and confusion in a handheld shot, it’s best to plan ahead of time.Selecting and employing the appropriate camera movements in your videos is a skill that will improve and elevate your filmma

Highlight: Shallow depth of field means that only a small portion of your scene is in focus, while the majority of the background is blurred.The depth of field. It’s a term used frequently in both photography and filmmaking. But what does it mea

Highlights: Manual focus gives you more control and is essential in low-light situations and when working with a shallow depth of field.If you examined “manual focus vs autofocus” until recently, you’d always be told that manual focus is superio

Focal Length Highlights: Wide-angle lenses can create a very intimate feeling, whereas telephoto lenses magnify your subject and create blurred backgrounds.Picking a focal length for each scene you shoot is a significant creative decision. It de

Stay Productive In Between Filmmaking Jobs Highlight – Keep a positive attitude and look for inspiration in the films and videos of other filmmakers. If you’ve ever worked on a film set, you know that eventually the production will wrap and you’

Instagram has had its fair share of controversy lately, so deleting your account may seem more appealing than ever. Maybe you’ve decided that your privacy isn’t protected or respected enough by the social media company. Or perhaps you’re worn down by the constant barrage

Self-timers have been common on cameras since the early film days. Modern cameras, including the one built into your iPhone, still offers a timer function and it can be extremely useful for various photography situations. It can open up more opportunities to use your camera and even help y

This article originally appeared on Popular Science. Stop-motion is an animation technique with a storied history that may stretch back as far as the 19th century and has made its mark in more recent decades with franchises like Wallace and Gromit. If you’ve ever felt inspired to make

Last weekend The New Yorker published an essay by Kyle Chayka with a headline guaranteed to pique my interest and raise my hackles: “Have iPhone Cameras Become Too Smart?” (March 18, 2022). Aside from being a prime example of Betteridge’s Law of Headlines, it feeds into the idea that co

Good photos can come from bad relationships, so, if you have a few great snapshots lying around that could be much improved with the removal of a certain someone, we’re here to help. No scissors necessary. Before we begin… There are quite a few different techniques you can use to rem

I’m often asked, “What’s the best way to learn photography?” to which I tend to reply, “Pick up a camera and go shoot!” After all, you’ll learn more about photography from the act of doing it than you will from studying it on its own. But what if you could do both? Adobe’s new intera

The Kansas City Royals—it’s a baseball team, I had to look it up—posted a dark, moody preview photo of the new team uniform. You really can’t see much but enterprising fans who brightened the pic were met with a secret message: “nice try”. Hidden details This isn’t the first ti

So often, we use Adobe Photoshop just to fix pictures—to correct white balance, add contrast, or remove elements that don’t belong. But sometimes it’s fun to do something wacky, taking an image to an entirely different place. One quick and easy trick: Make an ordinary photo look like it wa