Overview

Written by Stu Maschwitz, co-founder of the Orphanage (the legendary guerrilla visual effects studio responsible for amazing and award-winning effects in such movies as Sin City, The Day After Tomorrow, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), this book is a must-have for all those budding filmmakers and students who want to produce action movies with visual effects but don't have Hollywood budgets. The Orphanage was created by three twenty-something visual effects veterans who wanted to make their own feature films and discovered they could do this by utilizing home computers, off the shelf software, and approaching things artistically. This guide details exactly how to do this: from planning and selecting the necessary cameras, software, and equipment, to creating specific special effects (including gunfire, Kung Fu fighting, car chases, dismemberment, and more) to editing and mixing sound and music. Its mantra is that the best, low-budget action moviemakers must visualize the end product first in order to reverse-engineer the least expensive way to get there. Readers will learn how to integrate visual effects into every aspect of filmmaking--before filming, during filming and with in camera shots, and with computers in postproduction. Throughout the book, the author makes specific references to and uses popular action movies (both low and big-budget) as detailed examples--including El Mariachi, La Femme Nikita, Die Hard, and Terminator 2. Note from the Publisher: If you have the 3rd printing of The DV Rebel's Guide, your disc may be missing the data files that accompany the book. If this is the case, please send an email to Peachpit in order to obtain the files at ask@peachpit.com

Full Product Details

Author:   Stu Maschwitz
Publisher:   Pearson Education (US)
Imprint:   Peachpit Press Publications
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 22.40cm
Weight:   0.606kg
ISBN:  

9780321413642

ISBN 10:   0321413644
Pages:   360
Publication Date:   03 January 2007
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Mixed media product
Publisher's Status:   Out of Print
Availability:   In Print  
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi CHAPTER 1: The Approach 1 Work Backward, Not Forward 2 Mis en Scene, Dans la Cuisine 4 Break It Down 5 Build It Up 8 What Is Production Value? 14 Image Quality 15 Sound Quality 19 Locations 20 Lighting 21 Effects 22 Stars 23 But Seriously, What Is Production Value? 25 Don't Make Shots, Make a Movie 26 CHAPTER 2: Planning 27 Looking for a Producer? 28 I Have Bad News for You 28 Resources 29 A Uniquely Rebel Plan 30 Your Script 31 Make Waves 31 Authenticity 32 I Am But a Shadowy Refl ection of You 34 Your Storyboards 35 Learn to Draw Badly 36 Eyelines 38 Drawing Through a Lens 41 Shoot it, Nerd it, Steal it 42 Lines of Action (Big Red Arrows) 44 Animatics 48 Turning a Storyboard into a Schedule 50 Cut 'em and Code 'em 52 Binder the Universe Together 56 Putting the Guer in Guerrilla 57 On Asking Permission 57 The Pickup Truck Loophole 58 Be a Rebel, Not a Jerk 59 THE CAMERA On the included DVD Selecting a Camera 2 24p 3 HD vs. SD 6 Widescreen 8 Wider Screen 11 Electronic 16:9 vs. The Real Thing 16 16:9 Adaptor Lenses 19 Settings 20 Crafting the Digital Negative 20 Flatten It Out 23 Cinegamma 28 Detail, Schmetail! 30 Accessories 33 Lenses 33 Tchotchkes 51 Manual Everything! 52 Exposure 53 White Balance 64 Focus 65 CHAPTER 3: Shooting 61 Making Memorable Shots 62 Slow Down 63 Think in Thirds 63 Make Triangles 66 Free Your Mind and Your Camera Will Follow 68 Tell the Story 69 Moving the Camera 72 Sticks 72 Dollies 73 Slider 77 Wheelchairs 79 Steady That Cam 81 Cranes & Jibs 92 Found Cranes 94 Playing with Time 94 Slow Motion for Me 95 Speed Ramping 103 Undercranking 110 Narrow Shutter 112 Hand-Cranking 115 Reverse It 118 Lighting 119 God Is Your Gaffer 119 Bounce It or Block It 121 Eventually You May Need, Er, Lights 125 CHAPTER 4: Effects 131 Special Effects vs. Visual Effects 132 Realism, Schmealism 134 Keep 'em Guessing 137 Treat the Fake Like It's Real 138 Some Effects Basics 143 Reference Is God 143 Matching Cameras 144 Matching Lighting 154 The Blue Screen of Death 157 Miniatures 163 Scale 164 Speed 164 Hanging Foreground Miniatures 167 Cleveland for Paris 171 Matte Paintings for Nonpainters 171 Copy Paste 172 Virtual Worlds 173 POV Shots 174 Guns Guns Guns! 175 A Little About Real Guns 175 The Electric Gun On the included DVD What Guns Do 176 Blank-Firing Replicas 176 Toys & BB Guns 177 Digital Ordnance 183 Handling the Guns, Handling the Gun Handlers 189 Guns Shoot Things 190 Light Fuse and Get Away 191 BB Guns 192 Blood Hits 193 Squib That Which Is Squibable 194 52 Card Pickup 194 Digital Squibs 195 Tinfoil Bullet Hits 199 The (Nearly) Free Blood Hit 200 Splitsville 201 Stunts 203 Avoid Killing Your Friends 203 What Professionals? 205 Cars 211 CHAPTER 5: Editing 213 Cut Like a Pro 214 Who Shaves the Barber? 215 Kill Your Babies 215 Manufacturing Reality 216 Everything Is Fair Game 217 Invisible Cuts 218 Pacing 228 Do Over 228 Sound and Music 229 Locking Your Cut 230 Prep the Effects 231 The Top Ten Percent 233 Getting a Handle 240 Accounting 241 CHAPTER 6: Onlining 243 The Rules 244 No Mastering in the NLE 246 No Recompression 246 No 8-Bit Processing 247 Be a Pixel Purist 250 Getting Your Movie into After Effects 251 Color Correction 251 Grade in Layers 253 Not So Secondary Corrections 256 Order of Operations 258 Tools of the Trade 259 Color Theory 278 A Sample Sequence 298 Output 307 The Digital Master On the included DVD Boom. 307 Index 309

Reviews

I'd been wanting to write a book for the new breed of digital filmmakers, but now I don't have to. My pal and fellow movie maker Stu Maschwitz has compressed years of experience into this thorough guide. Don't make a movie without reading this book! -Robert Rodriguez, filmmaker and author of Rebel Without a Crew

I'd been wanting to write a book for the new breed of digital filmmakers, but now I don't have to. My pal and fellow movie maker Stu Maschwitz has compressed years of experience into this thorough guide. Don't make a movie without reading this book! -Robert Rodriguez, filmmaker and author of Rebel Without a Crew

Author Information

Stu Maschwitz is a director, visual effects supervisor, renowned technologist and founding partner of The Orphanage, a leading VFX and film production company based in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Hailed byShoot Magazine as one of the Ten Commercial Directors To Watch, Maschwitz has quickly gained a reputation for his ability to tackle extraordinarily complex visual challenges while injecting his signature wry sense of humor and kinetic filmmaking style. An innovator in filmmaking technology, Maschwitz is the creator of The Orphanage's revolutionary Magic Bullet software--which gives inexpensive digital video the lush look of film. Prior to joining up with his fellow co-conspirators to start The Orphanage, Maschwitz spent five years at George Lucas' Industrial Light + Magic. He is a graduate of CalArts School of Animation.

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