The Digital Filmmaking Handbook Fourth Edition This page intentionally left blank The Digital Filmmaking Handbook Fourth Edition Sonja Schenk Ben Long Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom, United States The Digital Filmmaking Handbook © 2012 Course Technology, a part of Cengage Learning. Fourth Edition Sonja Schenk and Ben Long ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to Publisher and General Manager, photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, Course Technology PTR: Stacy L. Hiquet information networks, or information storage and retrieval systems, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the publisher. 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Library of Congress Control Number: 2011926543 Technical Reviewer: Ben Nilsson ISBN-13: 978-1-4354-5911-3 Interior Layout Tech: Judy Littlefield ISBN-10: 1-4354-5911-3 eISBN-10: 1-4354-5912-1 Cover Designer: Mike Tanamachi Course Technology, a part of Cengage Learning 20 Channel Center Street Indexer: Valerie Haynes Perry Boston, MA 02210 USA Proofreader: Sue Boshers Cengage Learning is a leading provider of customized learning solutions with office locations around the globe, including Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan. Locate your local office at: international.cengage.com/region. Cengage Learning products are represented in Canada by Nelson Education, Ltd. For your lifelong learning solutions, visit courseptr.com. Visit our corporate Web site at cengage.com. Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 13 12 11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS any thanks to our editor, Marta Justak, for having the vision to take this book to the next level and to Judy Littlefield for making it a reality. Thank you to our tech- Mnical editor, Ben Nilsson, for offering exceptional expertise and sharing his passion for filmmaking. And a special thank you to our publisher, Stacy Hiquet, without whom this book would not exist. Last, but not least, we’d like to thank the filmmakers who gave us their photos, their video clips and, most importantly, their stories: Alexandra Komisaruk, Regina Saisi, William MacCollum, Paquita Parks, and Jason Hampton. This page intentionally left blank ABOUT THE AUTHORS onja Schenk is a Los Angeles-based writer, director, and producer. As a filmmaker, she directed the feature-length comedy, The Olivia Experiment, and has written several S screenplays. Her short films have been shown in film festivals and galleries across the country. Her producing credits include several prominent television series, including The Bachelor, High School Reunion, and others. She has edited scripted feature films shown at film festivals such as Sundance and documentaries for European and American television. She is also the author of an editing handbook, Digital Nonlinear Desktop Editing, and has contributed many articles on filmmaking and technology to various publications. en Long is a San Francisco-based photographer, videographer, and writer. The author of over a dozen books on digital photography and digital video, he has been a long- B time contributor to many magazines, including MacWeek, MacUser, MacWorld UK, and more. He is currently a senior contributing editor for Macworld magazine, a senior editor at CreativePro.com, and has created several photography instruction courses for Lynda.com. With experience in every aspect of video production, Long’s video clients have included Global Business Network, Blue Note Records, and 20th Century Fox. His videos have played around the world, on Broadway, and up and down the Hudson River accompanied by acclaimed musician Don Byron. He also dabbles in computer programming, and has written image edit- ing utilities that are in use in the Smithsonian, the British Museum, and the White House. This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . .xxiii 1 Getting Started . .2 Better, Cheaper, Easier . 3 Who This Book Is For . 8 What Kind of Digital Film Should You Make? . 8 2 Writing and Scheduling . .12 Screenwriting . 13 Finding a Story . 14 Structure . 14 Writing Visually . 16 Formatting Your Script . 18 Writing for Television . 23 Writing for “Unscripted” . 24 Writing for Corporate Projects . 25 Scheduling . 26 Breaking Down a Script. 27 Choosing a Shooting Order . 29 How Much Can You Shoot in a Day? . 29 Production Boards . 30 Scheduling for Unscripted Projects . 32 x Contents 3 Digital Video Primer . .34 What Is HD? . 35 Components of Digital Video . 36 Tracks. 36 Frames . 36 Scan Lines . 37 Pixels . 38 Audio Tracks. 41 Audio Sampling . 42 Working with Analog or SD Video. 43 Digital Image Quality . 46 Color Sampling . 47 Bit Depth . 48 Compression Ratios . 49 Data Rate . 49 Understanding Digital Media Files . 49 Digital Video Container Files . 50 Codecs . 50 Audio Container Files and Codecs . 55 Transcoding . 55 Acquisition Formats . 57 Unscientific Answers to Highly Technical Questions. 58 4 Choosing a Camera . .60 Evaluating a Camera . 61 Image Quality . 62 Sensors . 62 Compression. 65 Sharpening. 66 White Balance . 68 Image Tweaking . 68 Lenses . 69 Lens Quality . 69 Lens Features . 70 Interchangeable Lenses . 71 Contents xi Never Mind the Reasons, How Does It Look?. 72 Camera Features. 73 Camera Body Types . 73 Manual Controls . 76 Focus . 76 Shutter Speed. 77 Aperture Control . 79 Image Stabilization . 81 Viewfinder. 82 Interface . 83 Audio . 84 Media Type. 85 Wireless . 86 Batteries and AC Adaptors . 86 DSLRs . 87 Use Your Director of Photography . 88 Accessorizing . 89 Tripods . 89 Field Monitors. 90 Remote Controls . 90 Microphones. 90 Filters . 90 All That Other Stuff . 91 What You Should Choose . 91 5 Planning Your Shoot . .92 Storyboarding . 93 Shots and Coverage . 95 Camera Angles . 97 Computer-Generated Storyboards . 101 Less Is More . 104 Camera Diagrams and Shot Lists. 104 Location Scouting . 108 xii Contents Production Design. 112 Art Directing Basics . ..