Advanced Movie-Making Techniques and Tools...Tutorials and Questions

[DoolittleRaider]

I am starting this Sticky Thread on Advanced techniques for Movie-making, for discussion of more complex techniques and tools which go beyond the basic "GamePlay" capture videos which use Fraps and only simple editing tools such as Windows Movie Maker.

The thread will allow for discussion and tips on camera selection, cinematography, editing considerations in shot and scene selection and duration, scene transitions, etc. Techniques and tools for screenplay writing, story development, recording of Voice-Over narration and dialogue, addition of text and subtitling etc. This thread can be used for discussions of Advanced post-processing techniques and tools such as those used for Editing, Special Effects, 3rd party animations, green-screening, etc. More advanced software such as Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere can be discussed.

At some point in the future, depending on MM&V activity level, it might be useful to establish separate threads for "Editing", "Special Effects", "Sound", etc.

[White Owl]

...recording of Voice-Over narration and dialogue...

Recording a vocal commentary and/or dialogue with Fraps will work... sort of... but it can be tricky to set up, and the sound quality is often very poor.

Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) is a free, open source program that works great for recording voice and editing sound.

Protip: when you first start recording, get ten seconds or so of just silence. After you're done recording, open up Audacity's noise removal feature and use those ten seconds of silence as your sample. This simple step will remove most of the static and microphone hiss, and make you sound better than 99% of the gamers babbling away on Youtube.

[salmo]

I'll chime in here with a few useful links for advanced movie makers:

1. Detonation Films (http://www.detonationfilms.com/) ........ free tutorials, explosions, green screen footage, special effects footage. These guys just love blowing stuff up.

2. Deltaweb's Radio 1940 (http://www.deltaweb.co.uk/radio1940.html) .... Voiceover summaries of each day of BOB in a 1940 BBC news style.

3. Vidiots' YouTube Video Channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/vidiotschannel) ........... Lots of cool green screen effects. Bullets, blood tec.

4. SoundDogs sound effects (http://sounddogs.com/) .............. All the sound effects you'll ever need.

5. Neo's Clip Archive (http://thecliparchive.com/) ............ Free footage, clips, green screens. backgrounds, sounds, catagorised with previews

6. Free Music dot com (http://freeplaymusic.com) .............. Free & almost free music catagorised into themes.

[salmo]

Third post above updated with more links

[DoolittleRaider]

Below is a discussion of the basic "backbone" of a movie, as opposed to a Gameplay Video. That 'backbone" is "The Story" or "The Message". I have dual posted this here for permanent reference, and also in the COD Movie Competition thread. (http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=29389)

As has been noted elsewhere, GamePlay videos play a number of very useful roles…to open discussions of on-line experiences and tactics; to offer Training in aircraft controls and instruments; to provide flying lessons in aerial maneuvers and gunnery lessons; to demonstrate positive features or negative bugs of the COD game, to promote Sales of the Game, or simply display on-line kills/achievements, etc. In the main, the sequence of events in the majority of GamePlay videos consists of take-off (sometimes preceded by engine start steps); flying to a point in time and space, sometimes just for sightseeing, more often to encounter enemy targets which are then engaged (either airborne or ground targets, with guns or rockets or bombs); a resolution of the combat engagement occurs which may or may not result in the ‘loss’ of the POV pilot, or a safe return towards home base…often all the way through landing and engine shutdown. Very often, a gameplay video will begin “airborne’ and consist solely of constant, or nearly constant, air-to-air combat action.

Putting Gameplay videos aside, it should be noted that the very best FlightSim Movies present a much greater variety of “events’, specifically orchestrated by a “Story” or “Screenplay” which usually conveys an emotional connection of one sort or another with the “humans” at the aircraft controls. The typical Story or Screenplay (of a Hollywood movie or Broadway/West End stage play) most often follows a general structure in which there is a Beginning (setup), Middle (crisis) and End (resolution), sometimes referred to as the 3-Act structure. The structure is sometimes more refined, such as: Introduction, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution.

This structure can be applied to even the shortest movie, and most would agree that, with rare exception, simply must be followed with long movies (referring to Hollywood movies, Stage Plays, and novels, etc). Note that the outstanding IL-2 (and Rise of Flight Movies) have been as short as 2 minutes, and as long as One Full hour…but at both extremes the best movies have employed some version of the 3-Act structure.

A movie-maker must plan ahead before ‘shooting’ his first raw ‘footage’, he must plan and think beyond merely Action-Action-Action. Think about the "story", about the “message” and/or the “emotion” to be conveyed. When we say "emotion", guys, we aren't talking "Chick Flic". You've got Happiness, true, but also achievement, pride, sorrow, respect, fear, patriotism, sacrifice, camaraderie, bravery,cowardice, heroism, etc. It has been proven in Flight Sim movies that it is possible to convey emotion, to engage the audience, without on-screen human actors. I refer you to “Requiem” (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/requiem-by-serpentblade-and-xpc ), "I Promise" (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/i-promise-by-mrvh), "Not my Time to Die" ( http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/not-my-time-to-die-by-mysticpuma), and "Faith, Hope, and Charity" (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/faith-hope-and-charity-by-wingmen-productions). If, at the end of your movie, the viewer is left Thoughtful, Wondering, Smiling, Laughing, Enlightened/Educated, or even with a Manly Tear in his eye, you've produced a "Movie". I will note that, lacking human actors on screen, voice-over Narration and/or Dialogue can be a very effective technique to convey emotion, and contribute to immersion, in Flight Sim movies.

The very first step, of course, is to establish what “Type” of movie is desired. Below are listed several types of flight sim movies which have been made using the IL-2 series, and to a much lesser degree Rise of Flight, and one or two from other Flight Sims. All of the movies below can be viewed at the FSM Website. They may give newcomers an idea of what is possible, and what appeals to their individual personalities and interests as movie-makers.

For convenience, I have provided direct links to each movie’s Showcase page at FSM.

Flight Sim Movie types

Memoirs:
I Flew for the Fuhrer (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/i-flew-for-the-fehrer-by-tinus-le-roux)
Not my Time to Die ( http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/not-my-time-to-die-by-mysticpuma)
Checkertails, Star of Altoona (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/star-of-altoona-by-mysticpuma)

Docudrama:
Brothers in Arms (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/brothers-in-arms-by-russell-joe90-boyd)
Desert Dogfighter (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/the-desert-dogfighter-by-wolf)
Faith, Hope, and Charity (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/faith-hope-and-charity-by-wingmen-productions)

Comedy:
Bob Storm of War (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/bob-storm-of-war-by-dotorkop)
Nachthexen (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/nachthexen-by-snatchio)
Bill et John, Episode 2 (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/bill-et-john-episode-2-by-kbs-productions)
The Messenger (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/the-messenger-by-icarus)

Documentaries and Tributes:
Sabres of the 51st FIW (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/sabres-of-the-51st-fiw-by-mysticpuma)
Death of Mannock (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/death-of-mannock-by-gisbod)
Taranto (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/taranto-by-wolf)
Mitchell (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/mitchell-by-maximum-bob)
Against the Odds (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/against-the-odds-by-wolf)
Operation Ten-Go (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/operation-ten-go-by-time-bandit)
Battle of Britain:The KanalKampf (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/battle-of-britain-the-kanalkampf-by-barfly)

Dramatic Fiction and/or Science Fiction:
I Promise (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/i-promise-by-mrvh)
Pictures of War (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/pictures-of-war-by-monty-dan)
Pictures of War 2 (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/pictures-of-war-2-by-monty-dan)
In the Sky (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/in-the-sky-by-two-chi)

Thematic, Poetic, Inspirational… Music videos:
“Requiem” (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/requiem-by-serpentblade-and-xpc ) The Classic IL2 Movie, which has stood the test of time for a full decade
Come with Me (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/come-with-me-by-rc_kedik)
An Irish Airman Foresees His Death (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/an-irish-airman-foresees-his-death)
Hearts and Minds (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/hearts-and-minds-by-jaggyroad-films)

Recreations of Hollywood Movies:
Battle of Britain 2.0 (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/battle-of-britain-v2.0-by-barfly) (Recreates opening scene of 1969 BofB Movie)

Unique and Infinitely Creative:
To Do and Die (http://www.flightsimmachinima.com/to-do-and-die-by-snatchio)

[Hveding]

Why is it nothing about HOW to record in-game footage ???
I wanna know..
My question is:
Can u slow the replay down, so u can fraps with like 20-30 fps with fraps, and then speed it up in sony vegas to get good quality ??? Can this be done ?
If so, how ?

And what kind of program do u guy's use to record ur in-game footage ?

-Patrick

[Madfish]

Fraps is fine. But there are alternatives. You might want to try out which works best for you.

I answered your questions in the other thread you posted, here: http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showpost.php?p=422722&postcount=3

Double posting usually means getting half the quality in response by the way.

[5./JG27.Farber]

Whats a good program to add camera shake?

[mcler002]

Hey

Whats the quickest and easiet way of convert .trk files into avg or other video files?

30-40min just for a 40 second clip (using the games 'record') is a bit meh :\

Ross

[rpgielow]

Hey

Whats the quickest and easiet way of convert .trk files into avg or other video files?

30-40min just for a 40 second clip (using the games 'record') is a bit meh :\

Ross

I play the tracks in game and I use fraps to record the video. Then I use a program called Format Factory to convert the video to any format you like.

[DoolittleRaider]

I play the tracks in game and I use fraps to record the video. Then I use a program called Format Factory to convert the video to any format you like.

Also, VirtualDub (Free) is a great program to manipulate and edit and COMPRESS FRAPS AVI files/videos.

Also "Any Video Converter" (also Free) will convert to any of more than a dozen formats, including wmv, MP4, MPG, MKV, etc...