Best Movie Making Sites for Amateur Filmmakers
YouTube has an estimated 258 million subscribers, and the number of uploaded videos continues to grow. There are also dozens of similar sites where you can view and submit short films and videos covering topics including sports, activism, how-to do just about anything, comic shorts, music, stunts, scientific work, and silly pet tricks. If you want to get in on the action, whether you want to begin filming a video-blog, a talk show, or that weird neighbor with the slam-dunking poodle, there are a few parts of the process you might be unsure about. While most video cameras these days are simple enough to use, there are some steps you can take during production that will lift your videography from the realm of the shaky home video to a slick, hit-getting meme-to-be. The following sites walk you through the entire process to help you capture better shots, improve the sound quality, and attract viewers to you videos.
The Amateur Videographer
The Amateur Videographer is a small, direct site that does not mince words. The home page is a list of commandments: the seven most important factors in making good videos that others will want to watch. The salutation states, “it’s good to be an amateur,” and the site is true to that tenet. There is an example of audio recording done tight in a well-edited montage of New Orleans street musicians, and the side bar contains links to instructions on shooting and editing, as well as project-specific tips. This site emphasizes flow and continuity in partnership with an eagle editorial eye, and insists that sophisticated equipment is not necessary to make a good video.
Desktop Documentaries
As you might imagine, Desktop Documentaries is loaded with great advice for putting together your own documentary, but the practical tips offered here may be put to good use for any video project. This site not only covers the nuts and bolts of filming, lighting, capturing audio, and editing; it also features information on how to raise money for your project, how to write a script, and how to seek distribution for your finished project. Even if you don’t plan on marketing your films, you will benefit from the recommendations offered at Desktop Documentaries. There’s even a page on how to make a movie on your smartphone. Do you need another reason to visit? They’ve got that B-Roll! A link to free film clips and B-Roll footage will lead you to dozens of resources for free footage: clips of everything from wildlife to drug raids to enhance your films.
Internet Video Magazine
Internet Video Magazine isn’t going to win any beauty contests for web design, but as a resource, it’s quite good. This site offers instructions for shooting, editing, and posting videos online. There are thousands of articles you can browse, but beware: finding what you’re looking for among the ads and crazy fonts can be headache-inducing. However, when you do pin down a topic, like “Promoting Your Small Business with Internet Videos,” you will be rewarded with a great article that gives a concise breakdown of what an internet video should include (and exclude). There is also plenty of analysis of the different equipment and editing software out there if you’re in the market for something to enhance your home studio. There’s also a free newsletter you can subscribe to.
Creative Home Movie
Scott Markowitz is a professional film and TV editor who has put together a lovely blog, Creative Home Movie as, among many, many other things, a sort of intervention for anyone who has ever made a friend sit through a video of their baby eating his first birthday cake. Thank you, Scott. There is a menu of project ideas, tips to improve your audio, advice on how to choose equipment and software, and technical advice on better editing, sharing, even incorporating animation. The postings are written in a fun, conversational tone, and most of them offer some pretty good advice.
A Serious Amateur’s Guide to Making Movies
A Serious Amateur’s Guide to Making Movies: Okay, this one isn’t necessarily an entire site, it’s a series on the site Peach Pit. More than that, it’s an incredibly thorough series of articles for the aspiring filmmaker. The articles cover concerns including finding a topic, storyboarding, shooting the video, rough editing, fine tuning, and publishing your finished video. Whether you’ve shot hundreds of videos or been afraid to take your new digital camcorder out of the cellophane, you need to read these articles. They will help you create a linear story and find the shots that will elevate your videos into something truly special. It’s one thing for your friends and family to think your movies are cool. It’s another thing entirely for strangers to appreciate your gift.
>>peachpit.com/serious-amateur-moviemaking
WikiHow
Finally, WikiHow has a pretty good quick and dirty how-to. The first twelve steps are well-outlined, but things do get progressively more vague after that. This is a good first stop if you’ve been watching other peoples’ videos and thinking: “Gee, I could do that.” Think of this page as a checklist that should accompany any project. If you need additional explanation for any of the steps along the way, check out one of the above sites.
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