Update (March 25, 2019): The Amazon Kindle edition now has page numbers in the table of contents that match the print edition. (Still working on iTunes, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.) – Sonja & Ben

It has come to our attention that some of the ebook versions of The Digital Filmmaking Handbook do not have page numbers in the table of contents. We’re working to fix this, but some ebook retailers do not allow numbers in the table of contents. Which makes sense, because these page numbers refer to the print edition. They are primarily of use to students who bought the ebook and need to reference the page numbers of the print book that their professor assigns them.

Here’s a downloadable pdf of the table of contents with page numbers from the print edition in case you need it:

DFH6e_TOC

And you can view it right here as well:

CONTENTS

Introduction                 xxiii

What You’ll Find in This Book   xxiv

Who This Book Is For         xxv

What Equipment Do I Need?      xxvii

 

1 Make Your Movies              1

What’s New?                         2

Technological Innovations           6

What Kind of Movie Should You Make 10

Questions to Ask Yourself          13

 

2 Writing, Scheduling, and Producing    15

Screenwriting                     16

Finding a Story              17

Structure                      18

Writing Visually             20

Creative Writing Exercises       21

Formatting Your Script 23

Screenwriting Software            25

Writing for Television  28

Writing for Unscripted Projects 30

Writing for VR              32

Writing for Corporate Projects  33

Scheduling              34

Breaking Down a Script           34

Production Boards         37

Scheduling for Unscripted Projects      40

Producing                41

Producing Tools           42

Forming a Production Company 42

Insurance                     43

Making Sure You Own Your Film         44

Contracts and Lawyers  44

Working with Unions    44

 

3 Digital Video Primer          47

Digital Video for Filmmakers      48

HD                   49

UHD: 2K, 4K, 8K, more K          50

Components of Digital Video   52

Tracks              52

Frames.                        52

Scan Lines                    53

Pixels               54

Aspect Ratio                 55

Audio Tracks                 57

Audio Sampling           59

Working with SD and Analog Video  60

Digital Image Quality       63

Color Sampling             64

Bit Depth                      65

Compression Ratios      66

Data Rate                     66

Understanding Digital Media Files     67

Digital Video Container Files    68

Codecs             69

Audio Container Files and Codecs       73

Transcoding                  73

Digital Video Formats      75

Acquisition Formats     75

Raw Media                  76

Intermediate Formats   77

Finishing Formats         77

VR Media Formats             77

Unscientific Answers to Highly Technical Questions                 78

 

4 Choosing a Camera          81

Evaluating a Camera         82

Image Quality                     83

Sensors                        83

Compression and Raw Video     89

Sharpening                   90

White Balance               91

Dynamic Range            92

Image Tweaking          92

Lenses                      93

Lens Quality                 94

Lens Features               95

Interchangeable Lenses 96

Never Mind the Reasons, How Does It Look?  97

Camera Features               98

Camera Body Types      98

Manual Controls          104

Focus               105

Shutter Speed              106

Aperture Control          107

Image Stabilization      108

Viewfinder                    110

Interface                      111

Remote Control           114

Audio               113

Media Type                   115

Wireless                       116

Batteries and AC Adaptors       117

DSLRs and Mirrorless Cameras 117

The Director of Photography   120

What You Should Choose         120

 

5 Planning Your Shoot         123

Storyboarding                   124

Shots and Coverage      126

Camera Angles             129

Computer-Generated Storyboards          134

Less Is More                 137

Camera Diagrams and Shot Lists         138

Location Scouting             141

Production Design             146

Art Directing Basics       147

Building a Set              147

Set Dressing and Props 148

DIY Art Direction          148

Visual Planning for Documentaries   151

Try These Planning Exercises   152

Effects Planning     153

Creating Rough Effects Shots    154

 

6 Lighting          157

Lighting Your Film           158

The Art of Lighting      159

Three-Point Lighting    159

Types of Light                   162

Color Temperature        162

Types of Lights            163

Wattage                       165

Controlling the Quality of Light       171

Lighting Gels                 173

Diffusion                      174

Lighting Your Actors (Tutorial)           174

Interior Lighting              178

Power Supply               178

Mixing Daylight and Interior Light       179

Using Household Lights 179

Exterior Lighting              180

Enhancing Existing Daylight     180

Getting Rid of Light       182

Special Lighting Situations      183

 

7 Using the Camera             187

Setting Focus                    188

Using the Zoom Lens       192

Controlling the Zoom   197

Working with Interchangeable Lenses         200

So Why Is Changing Lenses So Great?  200

What Lenses Do I Need?           201

Exposure                  203

Aperture                       204

Shutter Speed              207

Gain and ISO Settings   207

Which One to Adjust?  208

Exposure and Depth of Field    209

White Balance and Color Profiles      211

White Balancing           211

Color Profiles               213

Lens Filters             213

UV Filters                     214

Polarizing Filters           215

Neutral Density Filters  215

Diffusion Filters            216

Shooting Raw                     217

Composition                        217

Headroom                    220

Lead Your Subject         221

Following Versus Anticipating  222

Don’t Be Afraid to Get Too Close         223

Eyelines                       224

Clearing Frame             225

Beware of the Stage Line         225

TV Framing                   225

Breaking the Rules      226

Camera Movement           227

Panning and Tilting      227

Zooms and Dolly Shots 227

Tracking Shots              228

Handheld Shots           228

Deciding When to Move           230

Shooting Checklist            232

 

8 Production Sound             235

What You Want to Record         236

Microphones                       238

What a Mic Hears         238

How a Mic Hears           242

Types of Mics               244

Mixing and Recording  247

Connecting It All Up     248

Wireless Mics               250

Setting Up               250

Placing Your Mics         251

Getting the Right Sound for the Picture          258

Testing Sound              258

Reference Tone            259

Managing Your Set      260

Recording Your Sound    260

Room Tone                   261

Run-and-Gun Audio      261

A Crew of One              262

Gear Checklist                    263

 

9 Directing                  265

The Shooting Script          266

Updating the Shooting Script   267

Directing                  268

Casting                     269

Auditions                      271

Rehearsals               271

Managing the Set             272

Putting Plans into Action          274

The Protocol of Shooting         276

Respect for Acting       276

Organization on the Set 277

Script Supervising for Scripted Projects  277

Documentary Field Notes          279

 

10 Advanced Shooting      281

Camera Rigging and Supports  282

Basic Supports              283

Rigging for Lens Accessories     285

Gimbal-based Rigs        287

Dollies, Jibs, Sliders and Cranes 289

Aerials and Drones           290

Measuring and Pulling Focus  294

Measuring Focus          294

Pulling Focus                295

Viewing Video on the Set          296

Video Assist Monitoring           297

Histograms, Waveforms and Vectorscopes      301

Double-System Audio Recording         302

How to Record Double-System Audio  304

Multicam Shooting          306

Multicam Basics            306

Challenges of Multi-Cam Shoots          308

Shooting VR Projects     309

360-degree Cameras   310

4K Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Does       313

Checking the Stitch      313

3D                    314

Audio for VR Projects  314

360 Cameras As Action Cams 315

Managing Media on the Set      316

On-Set Media Workstations     317

Media and Workflow   317

Organizing Media         318

Audio Media Workflow            320

Shooting With DSLRs     320

DSLR camera settings for video 323

Shooting Green-Screen Effects 326

 

11 Getting Started in Post  329

Scheduling Post                 330

Setting Up a Workstation          332

CPU                 333

RAM                 333

GPU and VRAM            333

Storage             335

Monitors                       336

Custom Keyboards and Controllers        338

Backing Up                   338

Networked Systems          339

Local Networks             339

Cloud Storage               340

Render Farms               340

Audio Equipment             342

Color-grading Hardware 343

VR Workstations              344

Digital Video Cables and Connectors  345

Thunderbolt                  346

SDI                  346

HDMI               346

eSATA             346

USB                 346

FireWire                       347

Fibre Channel              347

RS-422 and LANC        347

Audio Interfaces           347

Know Your Hardware Requirements 348

 

12 Editing Software           351

The Interface                      352

Editing Tools                     353

Drag-and-Drop Editing 354

Three-Point Editing      354

JKL Editing                   355

Insert and Overwrite Editing     355

Trimming                     355

Ripple and Roll, Slip and Slide   356

Multi-Camera Editing      358

Other Advanced Features           358

Organizational Tools       360

Importing Media              360

Effects and Titles               362

Transitions                   362

Image Enhancement & Color     363

Motion Effects               363

Image Stabilization        363

Compositing                 364

3D Effects                     364

Titles                365

VR Plugins               365

Audio Tools             365

Equalization                 366

Audio Effects and Filters            366

Audio Plug-In Formats   366

Mixing              366

OMF and OMFI Export  366

Finishing Tools                  367

Our Software Recommendations       367

 

13 Preparing to Edit           371

Organizing Your Media  372

Create a Naming System           373

Getting Media into Your Project       375

Some Helpful Tools    377

Preliminary Color Grades           378

Setting Up Your Editing Project            379

Ingesting                      380

Transcoding.                 380

Capturing Media on the Fly      384

Importing Audio          384

Importing Still Images  384

Moving Media.             385

Sorting Media                    386

Sorting for Documentaries       386

Synchronizing Double-System Sound            387

Preparing Multicam Media        389

Preparing VR and 3D Media     389

Troubleshooting               390

 

14 Editing                  393

Editing Basics                    393

Applied Three-Act Structure     396

Building a Rough Cut     396

Watch Everything         397

Radio Cuts                    397

Master Shot—Style Coverage    397

Creating a First Cut (Tutorial)  398

Editing Techniques           409

Cutaways and Reaction Shots   409

Matching Action           410

Matching Screen Position          412

Overlapping Edits        412

Matching Emotion and Tone    412

Pauses and Pull-Ups     412

Hard Sound Effects and Music   413

Refining Your Cut (Tutorial)     413

Transitions Between Scenes      415

Hard Cuts                     415

Dissolves, Fades, and Wipes     416

Establishing Shots         416

Clearing Frame and Natural “Wipes”    417

Solving Technical Problems      417

Missing Elements          417

Temporary Elements     418

Multi-Cam Editing             418

Fine Cutting             419

Editing for Style           420

Duration                       420

The Big Picture                   420

 

 

15 Sound Editing               423

Sounding Off                     424

Setting Up                    426

Temp Mixes             426

Audio Levels Metering 427

Clipping and Distortion 428

Using Your Editing App for Sound    429

Dedicated Sound Editing Apps           432

Moving Your Audio        434

Editing Sound                    436

Unintelligible Dialogue 436

Changes in Tone           436

Is There Extraneous Noise in the Shot?  437

Are There Bad Video Edits That Can Be Reinforced

with Audio?                  437

Is There Bad Audio?      438

Are There Vocal Problems You Need to Correct?                       438

Dialogue Editing               439

ADR                 440

Non-Dialogue Voice Recordings 441

EQ Is Your Friend              441

VR Audio                  444

Sound Effects                     445

Sound Effect Sources    446

Music             446

Editing Music               447

License to Play             449

Finding a Composer      450

 

Do It Yourself               451

Fix It in the Mix                451

 

16 Color Grading                453

Color Basics                       455

Advanced Color Controls           458

Seeing Color                 460

A Less Scientific Approach      463

Too Much of a Good Thing      464

Brightening Dark Video 465

Compensating for Overexposure       468

Correcting Bad White Balance 470

Matching Footage            471

Using Tracks and Layers to Adjust Color          472

Black-and-White Effects  473

Making Your Video Look Like Film    473

 

17 Titles and Effects           477

Titles              478

Title Titles                     478

Choosing Your Typeface and Size         479

Ordering Your Titles     480

Coloring Your Titles     481

Placing Your Titles        481

Safe Titles                    482

Create a Main Title (Tutorial)    484

Motion Graphics software         486

Motion Effects                   487

Keyframes and Interpolating    488

Slow-Mo and Speed Ramps      489

Integrating Still Images and Video     490

Special Effects Workflow          492

Compositing 101                494

Keys                 495

Keying Tips                   497

Mattes             501

Editing VR Footage         504

Using Effects to Fix Problems   505

Mixing SD, HD, 2K and 4K Footage     505

Eliminating Camera Shake       508

Getting Rid of Things   510

 

18 Screening & Finishing   515

Start Early                516

Outputs for Screenings   517

Preparing Your Sequence        517

Conform and Color Grade        520

Create a Mix                 520

Export Your Cut           522

Watch Your Export       523

Web Screenings          5023

Preparing for Film Festivals     524

Scheduling Festival Submissions           524

Generating Interest in Your Film          525

The Big Finish                    526

What Do You Need to Finish?    526

Deliverables                  527

Passing QC                  528

Final Delivery                      529

Making Masters            530

Textless Masters           530

Reel Changes               530

Final Audio Mixes        531

Preparing for a Professional Audio Mix 532

Preparing for Professional Color Grade            533

Putting Audio and Video Back Together           534

Digital Cinema Masters    535

Archiving Your Project   536

 

GLOSSARY                 539

INDEX              573