This is a simple technique that will make your footage look amazing. You can do use the technique tonight!
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Here’s the first video THE FILMMAKERS PROBLEM.
Here’s the second video THE TOP 5 LIES OF FILMMAKING.
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VIDEO OVERVIEW
This past week has been really fun. I love getting to share this content with you guys.
We started out by talking about the Filmmakers struggle.
The idea that we want to create films that are beautiful. Films that make people feel. And films that others connect with.
BUT… we struggle to make this happen. The films we upload to Vimeo don’t match the vision we had in our heads.
This is a struggle. It’s tough. It’s the creative angst.
Then we talked about the ways we try and fix the struggle. These 5 lies in filmmaking are things we do to try and hit a shortcut to great films.
These lies waste our time and don’t improve our films at all. But we continue to believe them.
Our films continue to look ‘lame’ and feel ‘boring.’ And nobody seems to watch or care.
Today I want you to forget about the problem for now.
I want to show you a simple technique that can improve the look of your films x10.
I’ve used this specific technique to stick out among the crowd on youtube and vimeo.
If you do this your footage will look AMAZING.
It doesn’t matter what camera you own.
You don’t need lights.
You don’t amazing lenses.
You may have heard of this small technique before, but people don’t use it enough.
This is a technique you NEED to be using. Your films will go from looking ‘OK’ to looking ‘GORGEOUS.’
It’s something you should be using 95% of the time while shooting.
INTRODUCING “THE MAGIC HOUR ONLY TECHNIQUE.”
It’s very simple. You only shoot footage during ‘magic hour’ aka ‘golden hour.’
For those of you who don’t know what ‘magic hour’ is – it happens two times a day.
It happens during sunrise and sunset.
An hour during morning. An hour during night.
It happens while the sun is on the horizon – what happens is this is an hour where the light is extremely soft and everything looks gorgeous.
Everything outside looks amazing during these ‘magic hours’ and your footage will show that.
I recommend shooting with the sun behind your subject to create tension. Check out my blog post here on lighting correctly.
There’s one limitation: time.
You only have an hour to get shots.
But this is a $10,000 lighting setup the sun is giving you FREE!
When I use this technique I kind of feel sneaky.
People comment on my videos and always ask: “What kind of lights did you use???”
Little do they know I just took my camera out at 6:30pm.
You may be thinking, “This seems like an amateur technique Chris…”
The truth is this: guys like Terrence Malick and Robert Redford use this technique exclusively in their films.
If famous directors aren’t too good to use ‘magic hour’ neither are you.
You don’t need lights or extra frills. Shooting at magic hour will give you amazing looking images.
I didn’t invent this technique, but I definitely utilize it fully!
It doesn’t matter the camera you use. I’ve shot on a GH4, Canon t3i, 5D Mk iii, an FS700.
Honestly the footage always looks great – regardless of the camera.
Here are some ungraded screen grabs from a recent film I made.
I shot this all during ‘magic hour’ and it looks gorgeous.
Now it’s your turn!
In the next 48 hours I want you to do something.
Take your camera out and film during ‘magic hour.’ Go around your apartment or house and film grass, birds, or mailboxes – I don’t care.
Don’t shoot at Noon. Don’t shoot at 3pm. Shoot during sunrise or sunset.
You’ll start to see how great footage looks during ‘magic hour.’ It will also help you once you start using lights. Shooting during ‘magic hour’ will give you a benchmark for how your films should look!
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: CINEMATIC FILMMAKING 101 COMING SOON
This is a preview of a course I’ve been working on for the past 6 months.
This is a four week course that covers all aspects of cinematic filmmaking. I’ll cover story telling, shooting, editing, and color grading.
I’m going to be releasing this course in the next few days. It’s called Cinematic Filmmaking 101.
Keep an eye out.
There are only 5 spots open in this course right now.
Let me repeat. There are only 5 SPOTS AVAILABLE.
I don’t want 100 people in this course. I only want 5 people so I can really take time to help those 5 individuals.
I want to personally understand how each person is doing while they learn and grow as a filmmaker.
Now this course isn’t going to save anyone. I can’t force you to be a great filmmaker.
But I can give you the tools and strategies that you can use to create amazing looking films.
If you’re interested in getting in the course before anyone else. Just reply to this email and type “I WANT IN.”
Seriously,send me a reply if you want in. This thing is closing down after 5 people join!