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For Pros

Steve Stockman
In Tips and Tricks, Feature Film, For Pros

There are No Fish in “The Abyss”

Still from the Abyss
Still from the Abyss
State-of-the-art 1989 digital effects, but no fish.

My writing partner and I were arguing about a scene in a new screenplay. It’s a time-travel piece, and he wanted to explain all the technical steps that lead a character to have a conversation with someone from his distant past. The reason? So the audience would believe their meeting could plausibly happen.

Makes sense. If we don’t show how the machinery works, and explain exactly how the two accidentally meet over miles and eons, who will believe it? Credibility comes from detail, right?

It makes sense, but it’s totally wrong. Extreme explanatory … Read the rest

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Steve Stockman
In Tips and Tricks, If you’re new to video, For Pros, Your Questions Answered

Toy Story: Learning to Use Video Tools

Recently I picked up a multi-rotor drone to carry my HD camera.

I’m having fun flying my drone, but now my videos feel all the same: running along a straight line, go up and take a 360, fly really low almost touching the bushes. Pretty pictures, but not really good video.

Any ideas on how to script/arrange/film better videos for subjects as simple as “last weekend with friends”?

–Ed

Basic drones are mostly good for scene setting and beauty shots. Think fireworks from inside the blasts; an establishing montage of New York City between segments on a TV show; or … Read the rest

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Steve Stockman
In Tips and Tricks, Better Home Video, Feature Film, For Pros

Better Call Saul: The Devil is in the Details

There is no better show on television than AMC’s Better Call Saul, from Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, ex of Breaking Bad. All four seasons are spectacular, but if you haven’t watched (or even if you have) it’s worth considering what makes it great.  Great writing and acting, sure, but for me the best part of Better Call Saul is that every shot, every sequence, every episode is about intrigue- built by lensing in to the details.

Season 1, Episode 1 doesn’t start with anything as obvious as an establishing shot of a shopping mall, or a freeway sign … Read the rest

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Steve Stockman
In Video Marketing, For Pros

Why Making Video “Ask for the Order” Doesn’t Work

This week a post on Linked-In reminded me that all good video must “ask for the order” and contain a clear “call to action.”

This concept was, as far as I can tell, invented by someone in an ad agency, maybe in the ’80s, and repeated enough that many people take it as gospel. The idea is that your marketing video must tell the customer exactly what you want them to do, and then request that they do it.

Thus a TV commercial that includes the magic phrase “Buy a Toyota tomorrow and save $200!” is presumed to be way … Read the rest

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Steve Stockman
In Teaching and Training, Feature Film, Television, For Pros

Yeah, But is it Any Good? Learning from Mediocre Video

People hate going to the movies with me. It’s not because I talk or text during films, because I religiously don’t do either. It’s what happens after the lights come up.  “That was good” says my wife. “I enjoyed it” says my daughter. “The dialogue in the battle scene in act three sounded like it was cribbed from ‘Alien'” I say. And that’s when the conversation usually slows way down.

As you get better at the film and video thing, what has happened to me may also happen to you: Your tolerance for mediocre work plummets.

Terrible is terrible. Most … Read the rest

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Steve Stockman
In Tips and Tricks, Feature Film, Television, For Pros

The Curse of the Inactive Hero: Lessons from “Ant-Man and the Wasp”

A hero is who your story is about. A mute woman rescuing a monster she loves, a lawyer facing down the bigotry of his 1930s community to save a man’s life, a woman of color who wants to do math for NASA to save a mission– all great heroes. They each take big risks and strong actions. Seeing how that action turns out for them is what pulls us through the story.

Generally speaking, the stronger the hero and the tougher the odds they face, the better the story. Which is why superheroes, who are larger than life by … Read the rest

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Steve Stockman
In Video Marketing, Feature Film, Television, For Pros, Your Questions Answered

Shoot Just Enough and No More

Throughout your book you talk about cutting, trimming, deleting, editing until you’ve removed all of the bad, redundant, boring parts of your project.

What happens when you cut out all of the bad stuff and then you realize that you don’t have enough good material to complete the project? Are there strategies to make sure you shoot enough great material to edit?

It’s too late to fix my first project (a music video), but I’d sure like to make sure it doesn’t happen on my next one.

–Fred

Knowing how much to shoot may be the second biggest issue a … Read the rest

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Steve Stockman
In Video Marketing, Teaching and Training, For Pros, Your Questions Answered

Shooting Crew-Free

I make educational videos for computer enthusiasts on YouTube, but I have to do everything myself. Lighting, sound, script, talent, editing, posting, video description, video thumbnail, marketing…  Problem is, without a crew, shots have to stay static. I can use digital zoom, but it gets ‘blocky.’

I had a friend help me with this video (one static camera, one my friend is holding). What I can do to make a better video?

Thank you!

–Carey Holzman

Nice video, Carey. I rushed right out to buy some old parts and built a cool gaming computer for my guest bathroom. Okay, I … Read the rest

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