How to get awesome tracking shots with any tripod
Every indie filmmaker dreams of the perfect tracking shot and has to realize that using a steadicam or a jib needs a lot of training. Another factor is space and mobility: If you are all alone travelling through the nature or just don’t have the muscles to carry around a camera crane that kind of […]
Great filmmaking bloggers and websites
These are exciting times for everyone who wants to make films: You can learn pretty much everything online from how to write a script to how to color correct and export the final film. There are a lot of great and especially professional websites I visit every day. They are in no specific order so […]
Grading with LUTs Cinema Colour II by Rocket Rooster
We have been using color look up tables (LUTs) for over 18 months now. Using LUTs is an easy and fast way to grade footage. You can read more about color grading plug-ins and look up tables HERE. While there were only a handful LUTs available on the web 1 ½ years ago the number […]
Gimbal for small cameras Zhiyun Crane-M review
The Zhiyun Crane-M is a 3-axis hand-held gimbal and supports cameras that weigh 125g to 650g which makes it useable for poin-and-shoot-cameras as well as other small and lightweight cameras such as camcorders, phones or action cams. If the used camera is either too lightweight or too heavy the motors will not be able to […]
Filming with the GH4 at a street festival
While we were testing the Panasonic GH4 we filmed at a street festival in Frankfurt called “Bahnhofsviertelnacht”. The festival takes place in the famous redlight district that has become a melting pot of different cultures and artists. Since it takes place in the evening it was the ideal test for us to see how well […]
Filming at 120fps in 1080p with the Sony A7S II
The Sony Alpha 7S II is not only impressive when looking at the specs but also performs great on real life productions. If you’re not too crazy about Ultra HD yet or just don’t finish your projects in that high resolution you might want to take a look at the 120 frames per second recording […]
Filming a portrait
In November 2014 we shot a little portrait film of Frankfurt’s famous wood carver Johannes Grosse. Local news site FNP.de wanted us to create a cinematic piece that’s different compared to traditional news videos. We already interviewed Johannes a few years ago for our documentary Format Frankfurt but the interview was focused on another topic, […]
Film Look & Movie Atmosphere
Finding the right and wanted look for your film can be tough sometimes. Partly it’s about having the skills to color correct and grade the footage but it’s also about having an idea how the film should look like so it’s not something random that might look cool but goes into another direction than you […]
Fast and easy grading with plug-ins & presets
Color grading has become a normal part of many filmmakers’ workflow in the last few years. Getting the image right in-camera is important but if something doesn’t turn out exactly as you wanted it – you can fix it in post. Most people know that process from photography when shooting raw. Things like white balance […]
EZ Box softbox for Amaran 528 and 672 LED lights
We do like our Aputure Amaran 528 lights. We often use them on smaller shoots especially if time and space is limited. They are small, lightweight but still produce enough light to shoot an interview indoors. Aputure has designed a softbox kit for the 528 and 672 LEDs to diffuse and soften the light. The […]