Capturing Light – Episode 79 with Les Gaddis

In this episode, we talk about: * Top 6 mistakes beginner filmmakers make. Featured Director of Photography: Les Gaddis www.gaddisvisuals.com https://vimeo.com/gaddisvisuals https://www.instagram.com/lesgaddis/ twitter.com/GaddisVisuals   Bad Story This may seem like an obvious thing but it amazes me how many people want to make films and don’t take the time to build a proper story. When I was first starting out I did the same thing.  I wanted to skip to the fun part of “filming a movie” without taking the proper time for story development. Here are some things to think about when you are coming up with a story. * Take time developing your characters. * Make sure your plot makes sense for the story. * Have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Bad Sound Having bad sound is something that viewers just don’t accept.  I’m sure you heard this analogy before but just in cases you didn’t, here it is. “People will watch a movie with great sound and horrible video.  They won’t watch horrible audio with great video” -Some film-making genius. Things you can do to get better sound: * Get that mic as close as you can to it’s target. * Redundancy helps.  Use a shotgun and lavs if you can. * Get room tone.  Minimally 30 seconds. * Pick music that fits the scene. * Bonus – Cut the A/C off and if you are in a kitchen, TURN OFF THE REFRIGERATOR!!! Bad Acting Bad acting first starts with bad casting.  You want to make sure you pick people that actually look the part and has acting skills.  Don’t pick your 15 year old little brother to play the president of United States of a America. What can you do to avoid bad acting. * Hold a casting call.  Don’t just give a part to a friend, unless that friend looks the part and can act. 🙂 * Take acting classes to learn the process an actor goes through. * Learn how to direct actors.  Sometimes actors just need that little extra direction. Bad Locations Having a bad location can completely butcher your film. * If you can afford to, hire a production designer. * Avoid white walls. * Pick a location with interesting furniture and textures. Bad Cinematography It might seem strange that a cinematography is 5th on the list.  Especially coming from a cinematographer.  But, great film making is much more than great cinematography.  Learn camera work and lighting. * Pick a location with great natural light. * Use film theory to motivate camera moves. * Learn how to modify light, and have tools available to do so. Bad Editing Bad editing can cause viewers to completely stop watching.  Having a great editor can cause a story to completely come together. Editing also can make a mediocre actor look great.  Post production is where the magic happens and you should understand the process. * Have a clear vision of what you want to see * Take a few classes in editing to understand the craft. * Figure out how you can use transitions of all kind to strengthen your story.   Thank you for listening: Please let me know what you thought of the show today. Subscribe to the podcast.  For more inspiration, check out my inspiration page on my site: www.gaddisvisuals.com/inspiration. Be sure to join the Capturing Light Community on Facebook a...