Filming outdoors

Today I thought I would put together ideas on filming in the outdoors.  When filming inside, focus is brought primarly on the object of the photo, be it a person, living thing or still object.  When filming outdoors not only is it easier to be distracted from your main subject, but there are many more uncontrollable variables than inside such as lighting, temperature and terrain. 

The first recommendation that comes to mind are the camera settings.  Maybe you have heard a camera professional stress the importance of not using the automatic setting adjustments while taking film.  Although this setting can acheive reasonable results, you definitly have less controll over the final output when doing so.  Also, since lighting conditions are continually shifting and your camera will (brainlessly) shift settings as conditions evolve, you will end up with variable lighting on your final film. 

You may want to incrase lighting by using reflective panels, snow, or even the safety blanket in your trunk.  When doing so just remember that it is easyer to light small portions at a time and focus on those instead of going wide because just wont achieve the desired effect unless you have some serious lighting going on.  Perfection must be avoided.  Lighting conditions will not be perfect and you cant controll every aspect of it so settle for the best shot within your range. 

A good idea is to bring an external microphone for capturing voice outside.  While doings so, a muffle for the microphone is always a good plan since it will prevent the wind from creating a hissing noise on the recording. 

Anticipation is an important element too.  Your camera being a no-brainer, it cant anticipate where the action is going.  So what you see with your eyes and what comes out of the camera will not be the same.  Using both eyes to film will allow staying ahead on whats happening.  It will take some getting used to, mainly regarding adjustments on precision put following the action is where things are at. 

Hope these tips on filming outside are usefull ! Remember to have fun ! 

Film Economics

Film Economics
When it comes to financing movies a lot comes to mind. From the multi-million hollywood production to the independent film made in Pakistan, every movie worth its salt needs some sort of financing. So before you go out and max out 25 credit cards for your outdoor adventure shot, here are a few venues you might want to consider.

First of all there are many web-sites that make the link between investors and film producers. For instance the web-site Indievest is a independent film studio and financier. The idea is to regroup a network of high net worth individuals to help produce independant movies and garantee theatrical distribution .

An interesting aspect of Indenpendent film financing is the risk element. High budjet motion pictures often contain format and content that is likely to please the masses and therefore ensure revenues. Independent films tend to be independent precisely because they think out of the box. Major film financiers ; bankers, hedge funds and Major production studios, would rather reap a stable profit then to roll the dice on a movie that might cost less, but eventually could fail at bringing in audience. So there seems to be a distinction between the types of financiers for different movie categories. Indpendent films will be sponsored rather by venture capitalist type investors and major productions will have more of a banker approach to risk.

This is precisely why independent movies are so important, they are bold enough to challenge established techniques and ideas of film making, turning the projection of images closer to an art than a business. With the accessability of filming equipment and the speed at which capital flows these days, I think that the Indy industry is well off, or at least the pressure is now on for major studios.