C Chow – Azure Productioin - Transfer VHS Tapes to Digital | Best Tape Transfers, Canada

4 Ways to Use Stunning Matte Paintings

Fig 1. Hope short film starring Chris Public and Mindy Eklove This blog will explain how I used the incredible technique of matte painting and applied it to my shots to achieve a different effect each time in order to help tell the story. I’ve been working on several visual effects shots for a few projects over the past year. I am currently wrapping up a short film about a mother who fights against all odds to save her dying daughter, check out our page to learn more. Here’s a basic run down of achieving this effect: A) Controlled Movements. Therefore, no extravagant camera work where it’s […]

Video Editing, Video Production

How to Facial Track An Indie Shot

Fixed it in post! Added digital glasses for actress Lindsay Ogus In our recent short film, our actress Lindsay Ogus was suppose to be wearing glasses, but you know what happens when you actually start filming, the director (me) forgets about it. Thanks to today’s visual effects, I was able to fix this issue and add glasses into the shot in post. The set-up was done entirely in 2D which makes things more simple. The technique I used came from a mixture of free tutorials from Video Copilot. You will need a video editing software, a great open source one I […]

Schwarzenegger’s 6 Life Success Rules for Artists

If you’re an artist, I’m sure you can relate to what I’m about to say; sometimes the direction you choose for your future can be uncertain. Have you seen Arnold Schwarzenegger’s commencement speech at the University of Southern California? Check it out here on YouTube. As a filmmaker working on an independent short film, Schwarzenegger’s speech was quite motivating. Perhaps his 6 rules can reassure you that you’re on the right path. My summary of his speech is below, I believe this can be applied to anyone. Be sure to check out our trailer as well: 1) Trust Yourself When you’re working […]

Video Conversion, Video Editing

How to Choreograph Fights on a Budget

How to choreograph awesome low budget fight scenes with no experience! If you’re an independent filmmaker, it can be difficult to co-ordinate a fight sequence that looks polished. Below are a few do-it-yourself steps to ensure that you can create the best fight scenes for your independent film project. We are working on a short film and our actress had no prior experience in fight choreography. However, she was really good at controller her body. We were able to use clever editing techniques and easy fight movements with less than 45 minutes of rehearsal time to create an entertaining combat scene. […]