Home

Collaborative movie-making with Moviestorm

1. 40 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools HOW TO USE THIS BOOK You don t need to read the whole book There s a lot more to movie making than you can take in at one go so focus on the bits you need to know right now As long as someone in your team has read each section that s enough to get you through Once your role is assigned you can read the sections for that role You can then come back later and read the other sections if you re interested e Making your first movie 6 pages Everyone should read this section It explains the roles in movie crew and helps you decide who s going to do what e How Moviestorm makes it easier 2 pages Everyone should read this section It will help you understand how to get the best out of Moviestorm Before you start filming 3 pages Everyone should read this section It will save you a lot of time further along the process Creating your film with Moviestorm Just read the sections for your role s If your assigned role is producer writer or actor this doesn t involve using Moviestorm and you can skip this whole section Production designer 7 pages Director 5 pages Editor 4 pages Sound designer 6 pages Note the number of pages in this section isn t a guide to how much work is involved how long it ll take you or how important the job is It s an indication of how many different ta
2. Alone quare b Lean UR n Changing the way a character stands with the Posture menu in the Director s view Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy looking at things http www vimeo com 21303620 Moviestorm has a huge library of hundreds of gestures and postures Some of these are only available if you ve done something else first to get the character into the right position Spend lots of time just playing around to see what s available TIP characters can perform several gestures at once Combining gestures can produce some interesting results Some work surprisingly well Some don t Experiment to find new and original combinations TIP body language can often be more powerful than words Use a shrug instead of I don t know or a shake of the head instead of No Or combine the words and gestures to emphasise the words TIP people don t usually keep their heads still when talking so add in small head movements However if you re in close up their head may go out of frame so don t use head movements for close ups 25 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Filming Filming is what makes movies unique It combines photography theatre and storytelling You have to create something that looks good that shows the audience what s going on and draws them into the story Your job throughout the entire production process is to think what s this going to look like when filmed It s as if you have to see
3. OMOVIESTORM The Virtual Movie Studio Collaborative movie making with Moviestorm A guide for schools Moviestorm 1 4 1 Copyright Moviestorm Limited 2011 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NoDerivs 3 0 Unported License To view a copy of this license visit http creativecommons org licenses by nd 3 0 legalcode or send a letter to Creative Commons 171 2nd Street Suite 300 San Francisco California 94105 USA Specifically you may print it or share it for personal or educational use Permission is also granted to distribute it on a Web site or other online service provided that you do not make any alterations or charge any form of fee oe Information in this guide is given in good faith but no warranty is made or implied as to its accuracy or completeness Updates to the Moviestorm software may render some of this information obsolete Note that all screenshots are taken from Windows versions of the software Mac versions may differ slightly Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools CMOVIESTORM The Virtual Movie Studio HOW THIS BOOK Gees ceaccice da cadens chvedinasdi cde scuaesees suieatsedeasscsedsdascbeauaeaees 3 MAKING YOUR FIRST MOVIE sisescscccnscsscrcscecccceccecaceccencctzenseis cuccceavccsceacecwessendedeta sateastavedssonsasts detsentedseaseteasteueissereustia
4. Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools CREATING YOUR FILM WITH MOVIESTORM This section explains how you actually use Moviestorm to make a movie It s split up by roles so you can just read the sections that are relevant to you Note that three of the roles producer writer and actor aren t included in this section as there s no need to use Moviestorm for those roles Whatever role you take there are several useful resources online e Video tutorials A selection of short video tutorials covering all aspects of Moviestorm Most are only a couple of minutes long Everyone should be familiar with the basics of Moviestorm even if their role doesn t require them to use it The producer especially should understand what everyone else has to do There are two videos that give you a great overview very quickly Moviestorm Made Easy getting started http www vimeo com 20516290 4 minutes Introduction to Moviestorm http www vimeo com 21082127 15 minutes 3 Moviestorm Made Easy getting started x Moviestorm ma Moviestorm user manual A complete 36 page guide to using Moviestorm e Hints and tips A selection of useful suggestions Moviestorm help forums The Moviestorm community is very helpful If you re stuck try here first e Moviestorm modding For more advanced users you may want to try making your own assets This may require additional tools 15 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide f
5. Goto set workshop and add an object which plays audio e Inthe director s view click on the object select Play audio and choose your music file 36 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Finishing touches When you ve finished adding all your sounds go through everything and listen to your movie with your eyes closed If anything sounds wrong it s much easier to hear it this way when you re not distracted by looking at the screen Sound balancing One of the most common mistakes for novices is to have some sounds way too loud and others way too quiet Make sure everything s at a level that sounds good sure you can hear the dialog clearly over all the background sounds music and effects e Check your sound levels and adjust each individual sound if you need to You may have to go back to the director s view and change the volume of individual lines Advanced effects If you have a lot of time on your hands and you want to get your movie sounding really good here are two tricks you can try Add reverb to the sounds using tool like Audacity to suggest the size of the room This puts small amount of echo and can make a huge difference Ensure you match the reverb for all sounds in a scene you don t want to have one person sounding like they re in a small room while someone else sounds like they re in an auditorium Using a tool like Audacity experiment with
6. Shot by Shot Steven D Katz Michael Wiese Productions In the Blink of an Eye Walter Murch Silman James Press GLOSSARY OF TERMS Actor Ambience atmos Camera angle Cast Character Clip Cut straight cut Dutch tilt Edit EQ equalisation Foley Frame Master shot Normalisation Prop Rendering Reverb Room tone Screenplay Script Set dressing Shoot Shooting script Shot Stock Take Tilt A person who takes on the role of a character Background sound that helps create the mood on a set A description of where the camera is in relation to what is being filmed So for example a close up on John from the side is a camera angle The director can then decide to use the same camera angle later on even if John is in a different place Everyone who appears in the movie This could refer to your actors or your characters A person in the story who needs to be created in Moviestorm If the character isn t a speaking part they don t need an actor A piece of audio or video that you use to construct your movie A form of editing where you go straight from one shot to another without moving the camera When you tip the camera to one side so it s no longer level Not to be confused with tilt An edit is what you get when you ve assembled your film e g a rough edit of a scene A way of changing the sound to alter the amount of bass or treble The sounds naturally made by things happening on set normally added
7. UFOs landing crowds It s hard work filming scenes with lots of actors and extras With Moviestorm you can have as big a cast as you need e Exotic locations With Moviestorm you can film in places like Miami Beach the White House or an alien planet all without leaving your chair And you don t have to worry about the weather Filming at night s a snap too just change the lighting and you re done Scenes like this are easy with Moviestorm If you were doing this with live action you d need a huge budget for costumes props sets and special effects and you d probably need to do a lot of it with CG animation anyway 11 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools BEFORE YOU START FILMING It s very tempting to try and start filming your movie right away A little patience at the beginning however will save you a lot of time and frustration in the long run So before you start there are three things you need to do You ll be glad you did Find out what you ve got to work with You don t want to find yourself half way through making your film when you realise that you can t actually get the cool shot you were depending on and you re going to have to rewrite everything And you don t want to get to the end of the film and then discover that the perfect costume or animation you needed was there all along It s well worth spending time really getting to know what or can t do then
8. You ll need to record the actors during filming or before filming starts if you re pre recording lines Although you ll mostly be adding sounds in the cutting room during editing you should be thinking about what s needed as early as possible While everyone else is thinking about what the movie looks like your job is to think about what it sounds like Start finding suitable music background sounds and sound effects while they re building sets and filming then you ll be able to add the sounds quickly and efficiently when they re ready for you There aren t many audio tools in Moviestorm to learn but there are quite a few different types of things you can do with sound You ll mostly spend time in the Cutting room but you may also need to use the Set Workshop and the Director s view Sound basics Most of the sound you add will be done in the cutting room Work with your editor to ensure that sound and video are properly synchronised remember that if you change the video edit you may need to adjust your sounds to fit Goto the Audio tab and click Import You can now choose any audio file on your computer wav mp3 or ogg You also have quick access to the audio files included in Moviestorm content packs or you can record audio directly if you have a microphone on your computer This is particularly useful for voice overs e Once you have clips in your audio clip bin drag them to the timeline e Tomove aclip drag it on
9. cutting room Music Background music is really important especially during titles and credits It sets the mood for the scene and helps your movie feel more professional Talk with your production designer and editor at an early stage about the sort of music you want to use If you want to use other people s music check whether you have the rights to do so before doing it If you ve ripped a CD or bought the music from somewhere like iTunes it s probably subject to copyright You can find plenty of music online that s licensed for use in movies often free of charge You will probably be required to include a credit for the music in your movie if so remember to tell your editor Adding music in the cutting room This is the normal way to add background music e Create music yourself wav mp3 or ogg download it or use the music built into Moviestorm Add music as shown in Sound basics above TIP if your music is longer than you need you can trim it in the cutting room This will create a sudden stop in the music so if you want it to fade you ll have to edit your music track in an external audio editor When you know exactly how long it needs to be create your new track complete with fades and use that instead of your original music track Adding music to an object on set Use this if you actually want the music to come from a specific place like a stereo Don t use it for background music e
10. gets made on time It s not a creative role It s a management role The only time the producer gets involved with the creative side is to tell people usually the director that something he wants to do is too expensive or will take too long It s not a glamorous job either everyone knows their favourite directors and stars but who even knows who the producer is on most movies If the producer does their job well the creative team get the credit But if the movie is a failure it s the producer s fault The producer s jobs e Manage the schedules It s your job to ensure that everyone knows what they re doing what they have to deliver and when It s your decision when to stop working on the story and start on the script when to start filming and when the film is finished e Make the final decision as to what s in the movie It s up to you to get the film finished on time The creative team will always want to do more to it add in an extra scene do some cool effects and so on The chances are they ll want to do more than you have time for You have to strike a balance between what they want to do and what your time and budget allow This is a very tricky role requiring a lot of diplomacy and people skills Being a producer director can work well as that means one person is in charge of the creative and the management side so there are fewer arguments about what you re making This is quite common for indie movies This is great if tha
11. on it and select Delete If the clip is used more than once you can select Delete all instances to remove all copies of it Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy basic editing http vimeo com 21165832 Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy adding stills http vimeo com 21344632 Tip if the director makes huge changes to the camerawork for a scene this can mess up the editing If that s the case scrub the edit for that scene and start over It s frustrating but it ll save time in the long run Work closely with your director to make sure he doesn t do this to you by accident when he suddenly has a great idea Adding text It might seem an odd thing to do but you ll find a lot of reasons to add text to your movies Titles and credits are just one example Titles and credits Adding titles and credits makes your movie feel professional You don t need to do anything too fancy but it s worth making them look stylish and well thought out Simple is often best unless you have a really cool idea for your title and credits sequences Open Titles amp credits tab and drag one of the title or credit templates onto your timeline Add text and adjust the size font and color of your text as you wish Make sure it s easy to read even small screen or squished into a YouTube window Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy adding titles and credits http vimeo com 21345207 If the template has an image behind it th
12. re stuck try here first e mods Third party mods for using with Moviestorm Most are free You should check with your school whether you are permitted to download and install these modding For more advanced users you may want to try making your own assets This may require additional tools Web sites http www filmmakermagazine com http filmmakerig com http thescriptlab com http www filmslatemagazine com filmmakin http www moviescopemag com http actioncutprint com http www moddingstorm co uk http www filmmakingwebinars com http www nyfa org uk The National Youth Film Academy http en wikipedia org wiki Filmmaking Useful free tools You should check with your school whether you are permitted to download and install these e Celtx Scriptwriting tool It can also be used for a lot of your pre production work when you get familiar with it e Audacity Simple sound recording tool 38 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Books Write Better Movies Phil South e book Let s Write a Story Phil South e book Make Movies That Make Money Philip R Cable McFarland amp Co Grammar of the Shot Roy Thompson Focal Press Grammar of the Edit Roy Thompson Focal Press Cinematic Storytelling Jennifer van Sijll Michael Wiese Productions Setting Up Your Shots Jeremy Vineyard Michael Wiese Productions Film Directing
13. the EQ of your sounds particularly dialogue This can make voice recordings much cleaner and change the sound of the voice If you ve recorded lines in different places they always sound slightly different even when you re using the same actor because of the acoustics of each room This is a good way to make the lines sound more consistent More tips Simple sound tips http www moviestormblog com index php simple_sound_tips Sound Design for Machinima Part 1 An Introduction http vimeo com 16604546 Ricky s voice recording tips http vimeo com 11180970 Where to find sounds free downloads royalty free and licensed for movie projects http blog machinima expo com free 20music 20links e http www freesoundtrackmusic com e http www freesound org index ph http www pacdv com sounds http www soundjay com http incompetech com m c royalty free http www jamendo com en http freemusicarchive org 37 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools MORE INFORMATION Moviestorm resources e Video tutorials Over 40 short video tutorials covering all aspects of Moviestorm Most are only a couple of minutes long Also available on Vimeo e user manual A complete 36 page guide to using Moviestorm e Hints and tips A selection of useful suggestions Moviestorm help forums The Moviestorm community is very helpful If you
14. the entire world through a camera lens You choose what to show where to show it from and perhaps most importantly what not to show Camerawork basics Moviestorm s camera system is very different to other animation systems or videogames The key to Moviestorm camerawork is that it doesn t matter where the camera is Moviestorm will work that out for you What matters is what you see on the screen Compose a shot by moving the items on the screen into the position you want them to appear So if you want a close up on your lead character you select the lead character resize his image until it s as big as you want it drag it until it appears in the right place on the screen and rotate around until you get the angle you want For full instructions on camerawork see the Moviestorm manual and video tutorials e You create a rough edit as you film by setting keyframes You set up camera cuts and movement by choosing whether the camera moves or jumps to each keyframe The editor can then create the final edit in the cutting room You can create more advanced camerawork by setting the lenses and depth of field Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy basic camerawork http www vimeo com 20518745 Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy moving cameras http www vimeo com 21360585 Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy close ups http www vimeo com 21166780 Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy hiding objects http www vim
15. the movie Decide how you want to film it whether to use close ups or long shots where to place the cameras and so on You should work closely with your editor throughout to make sure she has whatever she s going to need to edit it all into a finished film Directing can combine well with any other role particularly if the movie is very much one person s idea and they know what they want Producer director writer director director editor and director designer are all common combinations that can work well If your director does take on two roles be careful the rest of the team don t feel they don t have enough input and make sure the director hasn t taken on too much work Production designer The production designer creates everything that s going to be in the movie In a small team like this the production designer s role includes several different departments wardrobe set design casting make up costuming and lighting In short it s their job to provide everything that the director is going to need to shoot the movie The production designer s jobs e Work out what you need Start with the script and figure out exactly what s going to be included in the film every location every prop every extra Then go through with the director and see what else he needs if he thinks it would be cool to have a hot dog stand on a street corner note that down e Come up with designs When the writer says the scene is in John s li
16. the right places doing the right things and saying their lines at the right time This is called blocking You can then start filming once you have blocked out the scene and then add in the acting later when you know what s going to be on screen e To have characters speak click on the selected character and choose Say from the menu This brings up the dialog controller Although your sound designer will handle the recording it s your job to make sure you get the performance you want from your voice actors e Move around the set by selecting a character clicking where you want them to go e Interact with objects on the set such as chairs or other characters by clicking on them use a prop click on the selected character and choose Use Prop from the menu Video tutorial Video tutorial Video tutorial Video tutorial Video tutorial Video tutorial Video tutorial Video tutorial Video tutorial Video tutorial Video tutorial Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy getting around http www vimeo com 20516764 Moviestorm Made Easy speaking http www vimeo com 21343991 Moviestorm Made Easy what can do http www vimeo com 21167559 Moviestorm Made Easy doors amp windows http www vimeo com 21167273 Moviestorm Made Easy taking a seat http www vimeo com 21344879 Moviestorm Made Easy sitting on the floor http www vimeo com 21306204 Moviestorm Made Easy driving cars http www vimeo com 21166383 Movies
17. the timeline to the new position You can have blank space in the audio track so other audio clips are not affected You can have several audio clips simultaneously which allows you to have background sounds music and sound effects all at once if you want Atthe start and end of each clip is a small arrow Drag that to trim the beginning and end of each clip e To delete a clip click on a clip in the timeline and select Delete Alternatively right click clip in the audio clip bin and you can then remove it from the timeline or from the clip bin Removing it from the clip bin also removes it from the timeline change the volume of a clip click on clip in the timeline and select Customize the audio mixer button to bring up the mixer controls These affect the entire movie so you may need to adjust individual clips as well The Live controls affect the sound that comes with your movie footage and the Post controls affect the sound you added in the Cutting Room Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy adding sound http vimeo com 21307705 32 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Dialogue recording Your first job will probably be to record the actors There are two ways of doing this you can record directly into Moviestorm or you can record into an external file and load the line in later Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy speaking http vimeo com 21343991 TIP don t worry e
18. using backdrops http vimeo com 20964565 16 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Choosing a stock set Moviestorm includes a number of customisable stock sets You can save a lot of time by starting with one of these and then adapting it to your needs Spend time looking through the stock sets and get familiar with what s available Talk through with your director and see whether anything would be suitable and make notes of any changes that would be necessary If none of the stock sets work start with the empty set and build from scratch TIP do spend time customising your stock sets or your movie will look just like everyone else s Even just changing some colours changing the lighting or adding some set dressing can make a huge difference Construct your basic set Start with the basic layout If you re used to games like The Sims this will be familiar to you Create walls by clicking on the Wall tool Click on the floor of the set and then drag to where you want the wall to end Click on a wall to add wallpaper color or delete it Add doors and windows by clicking on the Doors tool Select the door or window from the panel and click on the wall where you want it to go Click on a door or window to customize or delete it Add floor and ceiling colorings by clicking on the Floors or Ceilings tools Select a pattern from the panel and drag over the area you want to color Change the sk
19. 4 ROLESIN YOUR MOVIE sane 4 SUGGESTED TEAM ORGANISATION soevsevesdeveuve ANS KNEES SIKEN CTNS UE NST 8 MAKING THE MOST MOVIESTORIM wesscicciscccecceiccssesccisdssccececcsscsccceccsscesesssessccssuspivenscasexeedsececsccusansascusvaveusdesexeeds 10 BEFORE YOU START FILMING 5 csssssscsccccvessctecvetecdessssevcasvarsccesversccestetuccuessaes sdaeheavedesiwedsedbaneciacctecccastteansceatesdssenseecss 12 CREATING YOUR FILM WITH MOVIESTORD ccssccsssccsseccssccessccscccesccssccnssccssscnscccsescuscccessceseccnssecssscesscssssooses 15 PRODUCTION DESIGNER e a 16 DIRECTOR 2 23 DIN OR 28 SOUND DESIGNER oogaaiweanenusae sacieasanieanbesadeaaavaedeeducsdieautancagacbandeagendes 32 2 27 arrea e E O RO EVOO VRESE EENEI 38 GLOSSARY OF TERMS 39 THE TRADITIONAL MOVIE MAKING 95
20. 982 This set is a variant of one shown on the previous page and includes lots of extra set dressing to make it look authentically messy The posters on the walls and computer screens were made by creating images in Photoshop and customising the standard items from Moviestorm Colours were chosen to blend with the character s outfit What you can do later One of the biggest advantages of Moviestorm is that you re not stuck with whatever you had when you started filming You can change the set even once you ve started editing e Move or add set dressing so that everything looks better through the camera e Adjust the colours so the characters stand out better e Ifan object s in the way the director can hide it so it doesn t show up on camera This may be better than removing it from the set altogether Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy hiding objects http vimeo com 21302768 Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy weather http www vimeo com 20559230 18 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Lighting It s often overlooked but lighting can make the difference between a film that looks amazing and one that looks mediocre Basic lighting design When you re lighting a movie you re doing four different things It s not like lighting a real place Making the set look realistic Get the light and shadows right for the time of day and add the sort of lights that should be there suc
21. ch easier on everyone if you re involved with the production right from the start Your job is to put everything together so make sure your production designer director and sound designer know what you re going to need Moviestorm editing is very different to traditional editing The director has already made most of the camera editing decisions while filming What you re doing is to polish what you get from the director into a finished product Cut out any glitches or trim out any unnecessary bits You may find it helpful to work with the director during filming so you can suggest edits or you may prefer to work with what you get then suggest changes It s entirely a matter of how you feel most comfortable Start by making rough edits as soon as possible then everyone can see what you re all working towards Your rough edits are the storyboards so it will really help everyone if they can see how the film s turning out As they watch the rough edits they ll have ideas for ways to improve everything from the lighting to the costume design set dressing and sound effects You ll spend most of your time in two parts of Moviestorm the Cutting room and the Publisher s view Left to right the cutting room and the publisher s view Editing basics Moviestorm creates clips short pieces of film that you assemble into your final movie Unlike working with film you ve shot in a video camera or traditional animation these are live cl
22. d three walls as if it was a stage set The director can film through the open wall and not worry about running out of room This means that the director can only really film in one direction or else the empty space will be obvious but that s actually good film technique Start by building the absolute simplest set you can so the director can figure out how to use the space effectively For an interior just put in walls doors and any essential furniture such as chairs or tables Put the rest in later once the director is happy with the basic layout e Set dressing pictures plants etc serves two different purposes It helps decorate the set and make it look real It s also used to help make shots look better by adding in foreground and background objects When you re adding set dressing don t just think about what looks good in the set workshop view start by thinking about what looks good on camera and place your set dressing for best effect e Colours are really important for two reasons Firstly they affect the mood of your scene greys and blues make a scene feel stark and depressing warm colours are more romantic and happy Secondly you need to make sure you get contrast between your characters and your set so they stand out You can do a lot of this with lighting but it also affects your set design e Work closely with your sound designer to come up with ideas for how each set should sound Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy
23. e text will be overlaid onto your movie If the template has a solid background it is a clip and will be inserted into your movie Don t forget to credit modders and anyone whose music images or sounds you used But don t make your titles and credits too long Your audience will get bored Subtitles Subtitles are usually optional it s up to you whether to use them You can use the same techniques for adding other text to the screen This is often used to specify the location and time Add them the same way you add titles and credits Choose one of the subtitle templates 29 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Finishing your video When you ve got all everything looking good in Moviestorm it s time to add some final touches and then turn everything into a video file You may have to do this several times before you ve really finished It s actually sensible to make a video fairly early so you can all see how everything s progressing Adding visual effects Visual effects make a huge difference to the style of your movie You don t need to use them but it s worth taking a look to see what you could do To add an effect open the Filters tab and drag the effect onto a clip e Some filters can be modified Click on them in the timeline and bring up the menu If there is a Presets option you can use this to get different versions of the filter To delete a filter click on it in t
24. eo com 21302768 Basic rules of filming Film camerawork like writing has rules you need to follow When you re more experienced you can find ways to break the rules and get away with it but to start with to stick to the conventions of filming e The most important rule is the line also known as the 180 rule Imagine a line drawn between your characters and always keep your camera on the same side of the line If you cross the line between shots characters will appear to flip from one side of the screen to the other and it confuses your audience 26 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Don t put your characters dead centre in the screen unless they re talking direct to the camera like a news broadcast or lecture It s much better to put them off to one side Moviestorm has faint lines in the camera view to help you put your characters one third of the way into the frame e Don t have your characters looking direct to the camera for normal conversation They should be looking at someone on the set not at the audience e The simplest way to film a scene is to start with a shot that shows everything called a master shot This sets the scene Then gradually move the camera in closer with each shot Go back to a master shot if you need to show where people are moving to f you re cutting between two people having a conversation use matching size shots for each person Don t use a long shot of one pers
25. everal people are involved in each stage there s usually someone in the team who knows how each thing works and you can solve irritating problems much quicker e What s bad about this method It can be slower to work this way Only one person at a time can operate Moviestorm so you have to keep switching between people as you move between the different tasks Be prepared to surrender control of the keyboard and mouse frequently Everyone has to be familiar with most of Moviestorm so there s a lot for everyone to learn Some people won t feel as comfortable with all parts of the process and this can get frustrating at times Always work as a team and ask the rest of your crew for help If you re really having problems with getting the results you need it may be best to let someone else control Moviestorm and just tell them what you want them to do Here are some ways to split up the three major Moviestorm related roles You could split them even further if you like have one person putting together rough versions of each stage and then let someone else come in and add more detail and extra polish In directing for example one person can do the basic choreography and dialogue and someone else can add in gestures and moods Just make sure that every job has been given to someone Director Production designer Editor Directing Sets Editing Filming Lights Titles and credits Cast faces amp hair Filte
26. fferent takes to work with e Add sound effects and music The creative side of the job is to add in whatever sounds are necessary You ll have to decide what sounds are needed find them or record them and work with the editor to put them into the movie This could be anything from footsteps to traffic noises phones ringing or a soundtrack Editing and sound go together extremely well Let the director handle filming the movie and have someone else put it all together Sound and production design can also make a good combination Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Writer The writer writes the script That s about it The writer s jobs e Write the dialogue and the events Your main task is to write the actual words being spoken by the characters and provide a description of what s happening Don t go into too much detail remember that deciding how to film it is the director s job e prepared to rewrite What looks good on paper doesn t always work well when the actors say their lines or when the director tries to film the scene Work closely with the director and producer and be prepared to change the script if necessary This doesn t mean your script was bad most movies get rewritten over and over as people come up with new ideas and ways to improve things Any member of the team can be the writer as well as everything else or you can collaborate on the writing Writer director can be a great combina
27. h as table lamps candles or street lights Making it so the audience can see what s going on This is very important for night scenes Even if the lights aren t entirely realistic you need to light whatever the director wants the audience to see e Setting the mood for the scene The intensity and colour of the lighting can completely change what the scene feels like e Creating an interesting visual composition By using lights properly you can make individual shots look really impressive and memorable The skill of a good lighting designer is to balance all of these Most of the time the audience won t even notice the lighting if you ve done your job right They ll be too sucked into the story Main lighting The main lighting gives you an overall light so you can quickly choose what time of day it is what the weather s like and so on Click the Lighting tool the set workshop to bring up the main lighting panel You can select from several preset lighting setups or create your own Video tutorial Interior lighting http www moviestorm co uk community index php page videos amp section view amp vid_ id 106663 Video tutorial Exterior lighting http moviestorm co uk community index php page videos amp section view amp vid id 106662 Video tutorial Mixed lighting http www moviestorm co uk community index php page videos amp section view amp vid_id 106665 TIP you can also access the main l
28. hat people are working on but which never happen Pre production Everything is planned down to the smallest detail The script is finalised the actors are cast the locations are chosen the sets and costumes are built and designed and the schedule and budget are put together Everything has to be thought out in advance down to who s doing the catering what sort of cameras you re going to use getting copyright clearance for music and how long it ll take to do the star s make up each day Experienced production teams know that the more you can sort out in pre production the better It s much better to deal with problems before they happen than have things go wrong on set when hundreds of people are standing around and time is precious It s even more important to ensure that you don t find problems in post production after shooting has finished and the editor doesn t have what she needs to finish the film getting everyone back for reshoots is often impossible Production The movie gets filmed This always sounds like it should be the biggest part of the process but often it s the shortest Movies that take years to make are often filmed in just a few weeks However it s the most intensive part of movie making The costs each day are huge and everyone s under a lot of pressure to make sure everything goes smoothly Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope was shot in just ten weeks and that was four weeks longer than
29. hat s going on that s perfectly good enough Don t sweat about the layout just make sure it makes sense to the rest of the team e Come up with ideas for how you want it to look and feel When you have a script the entire crew should start coming up with ideas for how to turn that into a film Think of rough ideas for the sets costumes music and so on If there s a scene in a shop what kind of shop A brightly lit supermarket or a small corner shop Are there other customers or staff Give the production designer sound designer and director lots of ideas to work with Go back and do it again You will come up with all sorts of ways to make the script better Rewrite the script and go through the design stage again Keep going until you re happy but don t run out of time Eventually the producer has to make the decision to move on TIP most major movies go through at least ten rewrites and often many more so don t worry if it takes a few times to get your script the way you want it 13 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Plan your project So now you know what you re going to make But before you get stuck into filming you need to make your final checklist and plans It s really really tempting to just skip this boring admin bit and start on your movie especially as everyone s really enthusiastic right now but don t This is your last chance to spot and fix problems easily before they t
30. he following is a valid use of the word love that shot of John walking into the room Let s start with a long shot on John and then move the camera round to end close up shot Amy A library of useful things such as costumes or sets A single recording Can be used for audio or video Pointing the camera up or down 39 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools THE TRADITIONAL MOVIE MAKING PROCESS Movies are traditionally made in five stages This isn t exactly the way you re going to do things on your movie but it may help if you understand how things are usually done Writing The writer writes the script or screenplay He then has to convince a studio to buy it Fewer than 5 of scripts get bought It s a tough life being a scriptwriter That s why so many indie directors also write their own movies it s the only way to be sure their script gets filmed Development The producer and writer will work on the script rewriting it many times until they are satisfied that the movie will be a success The producer also starts looking around to see who might be interested in being in the movie directing it sponsorship deals and so on When the producer is happy the production is green lighted which means that the studio has finally decided to pay for it and give it the go ahead Only about 10 of movies in development ever get made That s why you hear about all sorts of films t
31. he timeline to get the menu and select Delete e You can also create a cartoon style look using cel shading see the tutorial video below Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy cinematic filters http vimeo com 21166588 Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy cel shading http vimeo com 20872942 NATURAL BLEACH BYPASS BICTER The effect of using visual filters Bleach Bypass changes the colours and makes everything look a little more washed out which works well for documentary style or gritty movies 30 Making Movies With A guide for schools Rendering Rendering is where you turn everything you ve done so far into a video file you can watch share and upload Goto the publisher s view and select a render setting The smaller settings create smaller files and render quicker but don t look as good e Inthe custom settings you can choose where to put the file and what to call it You can also choose the output resolution and other options e While your movie is rendering don t use the computer for anything else Go and get a snack or take a walk e Watch your video when it s done make notes on anything that s not good enough and then go back and fix them Carry on making improvements until your producer tells you it s time to stop Tip make lots of quick renders at low quality while you re creating your movie so everyone can see where you ve got to Then do high quality renders whe
32. ighting controls from the Director s view and Camera view This helps you get a really good idea of how it ll look in your movie TIP if you have a large set the shadows don t always work well If your shadows look jagged and horrible switch them off 19 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools On set lighting You can create much more subtle lighting by adding in objects that emit light such as street lights or table lamps They affect a small area and can be used to highlight parts of a scene e Customise the lights to get the right colour and range of the light e Ifthe light is in the way of the camera the director can hide it so it doesn t show up on screen You ll still get the light from it though TIP don t be afraid to experiment with strong colours You don t have to be 100 realistic to make your scene look good TIP if you re feeling brave switch the main lighting off completely and just use on set lights You can create some cool dramatic effects The same set before and after lighting The set on the left uses a stanadrd preset daylight setting The set on the right has a dim night setting with on set lights to highlight the three characters and make them stand out against the background Lighting it later Once you ve got a rough edit of each scene go through with the director and editor and find ways to improve the lighting e Check that the shadows aren t falling in the
33. ile Recording externally is useful if your actor can t get to the computer where you re building your film or if you want to add special voice effects e You can use your preferred voice recording software Free tools like Audacity are more than good enough for what you need e Record the actor s lines You can do this however you find easiest do several takes of each line or go through the whole script in one go and then go back and redo any you didn t like You can record each line separately or make one big recording of the whole session Apply any effects or filters you want Noise removal and click removal will get rid of small background noises and normalisation will help get the volume constant Add a little reverb if the scene is taking place in a large room Pick your preferred takes of each line and save each one as an individual wav file Note it must be wav Other file formats won t work Give them sensible filenames so you can easily tell what they are e g John scene01 line017 take03 or John 01 017 03 It helps to have every line in the script numbered so you can find it quickly and ensure you have good takes of everything e To get the line into Moviestorm follow the same procedure as above except instead of pressing Record press the Import Audio button TIP after you ve recorded a session with your actor save the file make a copy of it and work on the copy That way you can t accidentally erase everythi
34. ilm Take the footage from the director and cut it into the finished movie Be prepared to ask for things to be redone you may need bits of the set redesigned some scenes reshot the lighting set up differently or even for actors to say their lines again The more closely you can work with the rest of the crew in the early stages the less likely you are to have to go back and do things again Add titles credits subtitles etc These are important touches that make a big difference A director editor can work extremely well if the director knows exactly what they are trying to achieve It makes it easy for them to film what they know they are going to need and they can go back and reshoot things quickly and easily when required On the other hand splitting these roles up has the advantage that you now have an extra person available to spot problems and making suggestions Editor sound is a great combination too Sound designer Sound is one of the most important parts of a movie but it s often overlooked Many movies are let down by poor sound and a good sound person will make a huge difference It can be one of the most creative parts of the process as sound can completely transform what you see into something quite different The sound designer s jobs e Record the dialogue Your first job is to get a good quality recording of the actors Make sure you don t have clicks or background noise and give the director several di
35. in later to give the sound designer more control Typically footsteps furniture creaks clothing rustles etc What you can see in the camera Something is in frame if you can see it or out of frame if you can t Also on camera or off camera mean the same thing To frame on something means that it s the thing the director wants to see in the shot A shot that shows everything in the scene In theory all you need is a master shot for the scene Everything else just adds more detail and controls what the audience can see and is there to improve the storytelling A sound technique to get the volume constant Strictly speaking a prop is something a character holds Set dressing is sometimes also described as a prop Creating a video file A sound technique used to make it sound as if it s recorded in a different size room A recording of the sound of a room with nothing happening that can be used to mask silence between lines of dialogue A document that has all the lines and the major actions in the movie Same thing as the screenplay Things added to the set to make it look more interesting Filming something is often called shooting it A shoot is a filming session A version of the screenplay that is marked up with additional notes from the director and others about camera angles music sound and so on This can mean either what the camera can see at any moment or can mean a continuous view from one camera Either of t
36. ip if you want the exact same ambient sound in another scene on the same set get the production designer to save the set as stock and then use the stock set It may be easier to just create the sound again from scratch Most of the time a little variation won t matter it ll probably be a good thing Adding ambience in the cutting room This is the normal way to add ambience It s a little more work than adding it to the set but it gives you more control and you can do it alongside all your other sounds e Create an audio file wav mp3 or ogg of your ambience and add it as shown in Sound basics above Adding ambience to an object on set This is a really easy cheat which is a handy way to test your background sounds The director will be able to hear the atmos as he s filming which helps him get a feel for the scene e Create an audio file wav mp3 or ogg of your ambience e Goto the set workshop and add an object like a speaker which plays audio Put it out of sight e Inthe director s view click on the speaker select Play audio and choose your ambience file 35 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Tip this can work just fine for your finished movie but the volume of the background sound will change depending on how close the camera is to the speaker so it s not recommended if you have several shots When you re happy take the speaker off the set and add the sound properly in the
37. ips If the director changes something on set or changes the camera angle this will instantly show up in your edit This is a very powerful way of working as you can make adjustments and immediately see the results without having to do anything to the edit e You can quickly add everything you ve done to the timeline by pressing Add all clips you ve got several scenes in your movie it will add them all in order You can also add all the clips in a scene If you prefer to do it manually you can drag clips one at a time into the timeline If you drag a clip on top of another clip Moviestorm will insert it before the clip that s already there You duplicate a clip that s already in the timeline click it and select Duplicate 28 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools e Tomove aclip drag it on the timeline to the new position You can t have blank space in the video track so Moviestorm will close up any gaps automatically If you need blank space add a still see video tutorial To split a clip place the timeline slider where you want to split a clip and then press the scissors button This will cut the clip in two and you can now move each part individually Atthe start and end of each clip is a small arrow Drag that to trim the beginning and end of each clip Note that if you trim the start the end and all following clips will move back along the timeline to compensate To delete a clip click
38. much better than you thought they would It usually works best if you record the voice and then listen to the recording people often sound very different to the way they sound in real life f you have to have one person doing several parts make sure they can do different voices or the audience will get confused e To begin with just create a random Moviestorm character for each member of the cast so the director can start filming right away You can then make their individual heads and costumes as you go TIP Your voice actors don t have to look anything like the characters they play in the movie They just have to sound right TIP you ll often get better ideas for how the characters should look after you ve recorded their lines Creating heads You can select Randomise to generate a random face or you can set it up manually It s usually fine to have random faces for extras but you should spend time getting your main characters exactly how you want them See the Moviestorm manual for full instructions on character creation e Drag the morph sliders to control the shape of the face e Alter the skin color and add details such as pimples or freckles Add facial hair male only e Add make up and special effects such as scars tears or wounds Select a hairstyle and hat Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy creating heads http vimeo com 21302332 Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy hairstyling http vimeo c
39. n you get near the end as these take a lot longer to process Tip you may find rendering goes a lot quicker if you save your movie shut down Moviestorm and restart it Also switch off all other applications running in the background Advanced editing If you re already familiar with other video editing tools like Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro you can continue to work on your movie using those tools This allows you to put in additional effects mix it up with other footage and so on e Import your rendered Moviestorm files into your usual editor and work with them as normal You may need to experiment with different render settings or use a video converter to get the best results More tips How long should credits be http www moviestormblog com index php credits Should you subtitle your movies http www moviestormblog com index php do you subtitle your movies http www homemovieediting co uk guides ten tips for editin http digitalfilms wordpress com 2008 12 16 12 tips for better film editin http www lavideofilmmaker com filmmaking film editing tips html http www helium com items 555846 film editing tips and techniques for creating a compelling stor http vimeo com videoschool archive editin 31 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools SOUND DESIGNER Most of the sound designer s work is usually done at the end but you re going to be involved right from the beginning
40. ng you just recorded or ruin it with a bad filter TIP you can record each actor separately or have the whole cast record the whole movie as if they were doing a play Having everyone together is more fun but you have to be careful they don t speak over each other Sound effects There are two types of sound effects sounds for things you can see and sounds for things you can t see Adding sounds for things you can see helps make the film more realistic Adding sounds for things you can t see adds to the story For example if we re looking ata man in room and we hear a car drive up and stop we know someone has arrived even though we can t see the car You can do the same with even small actions adding a clink when someone puts a glass down tells the audience what s happened even if they can t see the glass going onto the table Work closely with your director to decide how sound effects can help with things that aren t going to be shown on screen Adding sound effects in the cutting room This is the normal way to add sound effects e Create sound effects yourself wav mp3 or ogg download them or use the sounds built into Moviestorm Add sound effects as shown in Sound basics above If you re using sounds you ve found online check whether they re legal for use in your movie You may be required to include a credit for the sound in your movie if so remember to tell your editor 34 Making Movies With Movies
41. o it this way if one person really wants to produce and write the movie and someone else wants to do production design and sound and everyone s happy with that then do it however you like 4 people 3 people 2 people 1 Producer 1 Producer production designer 1 Producer writer director 2 Director 2 Director writer 2 production designer 3 Editor sound designer 3 Editor sound designer sound designer 4 Writer production designer Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Splitting the roles between people For each of the roles divide up the different tasks between you For maximum variety you can share the roles completely If you have two sets in your movie two people can build one each Or else one person can create the rough set and someone else can add set dressing One person can direct one scene and someone else can direct the next scene One person can find music and another can look after sound effects There are plenty of ways to split the jobs up e What s good about this method This works well if everyone wants to have a go with Moviestorm and everyone wants to get some experience with the whole movie making process It keeps everyone involved throughout and you don t put too much work onto one person otherwise it can often feel like the director s doing everything and everyone else is just sitting around while they make the movie Since s
42. oaches you can use depending on whether you prefer to have one person specialising in each part of the movie making process or whether you all want to have a go at each of the different bits Whichever approach you choose assume that everyone gets to do some acting Pick roles for each person Divide the roles between the team members Some people will have to take more than one role if there are only a few of you What s good about this method This works well if there are some people who are more comfortable with Moviestorm than others For example the producer and writer probably don t have to use Moviestorm at all but the director has to be familiar with quite a lot of it and will spend all their time using it This also works well if you all have very definite ideas of what you want to do and what you don t like doing If one person really likes just building stuff then they ll enjoy being production designer Each person gets to own one bit of the movie and have an area of expertise What s bad about this method Only one person gets to be hands on in each part of the process particularly when it comes to actually filming your movie At some points there s nothing for some people to do It s important to make sure the rest of the team are always included by asking for suggestions and encouraging people to put forward their ideas Here are some ways you can divide up roles in a small team You don t have to d
43. om 21301550 21 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Creating costumes Although the face is the most important part of the character the costume is important for two reasons First it s easily recognisable for the audience even if the character is in the distance or facing away and secondly it says something about who that character is e Select the Costumes tab and then pick a costume Click different parts of the costume to customise it You may be able to select different patterns or colors Not all costumes are customisable Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy making costumes http vimeo com 21167092 Left to right creating heads creating costumes More info ZS Dissection Lab Reflective Window http www youtube com watch v PZ2V0461Q5k This is a detailed look at how to create a complex piece of set design It may not be something you need for your movie but gives you an idea of what an innovative production designer can achieve For advanced users Chroma Key Tutorial http www youtube com watch v vEsNIKIFMvk You can film your characters on a green screen set and then put them into a different environment using an external video editor For advanced users 22 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools DIRECTOR You re at the centre of the entire movie You take everything from the writer the actors and the designers and you turn it into a film tha
44. on and a close up of another It looks odd 20 seconds 15 along shot especially if the camera s not moving Cut to a new camera angle or move the camera On the other hand don t cut too fast or the audience won t be able to keep up e Don t keep moving the camera unnecessarily Stationary shots are easier for the audience to concentrate on what s happening Very gradual camera moves can be surprisingly effective There s a lot to learn about film technique so don t worry if it s hard going at first Just watch a lot of movies and start thinking about how they film different types of scene TIP If you can t show something on screen because there s no animation for it find ways to cheat For example you can t actually show a character put a coffee cup down on a table So instead show her lowering the cup so it goes out of sight and keep the camera on her upper body and face Then in the next shot show the cup on the table and her hand empty The audience will think they saw her put it down especially if you add in the sound of the cup going down onto the table A well composed and beautifully lit shot from the short film That s Amore by Throwaxe This movie won Most Romantic Movie in the 2010 Moviestorm Valentine s competition 27 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools EDITOR There s a saying in Hollywood a movie gets made three times when it s written when it s filmed and when it s edited You can make things mu
45. or schools PRODUCTION DESIGNER You re going to do far more than a production designer normally does You re not just going to design everything in the movie you re going to make it all as well You may find that the best way to work is to create rough versions of each set and the speaking characters as quickly as possible so the director and editor can get on with filming then you can add in more detail while they re doing that Doing it that way also means you only have to build what s going to be on screen and you re not wasting time building things that will never be seen You ll spend most of your time in two parts of Moviestorm the Set workshop and the Character workshop Set building It may seem obvious but the purpose of set building is to tell the audience where something is happening Do that well and your story is that much more believable A badly designed set will put your audience off and make it hard for your director and editor to create something stylish and memorable A good set doesn t need to be complicated it just needs to be right for the story Designing for filming Building a movie set isn t anything like building a real place You need to be aware of giving the director enough room to film in and you don t need to build complete rooms In some cases you may be able to get away with just one wall or use a photograph as a backdrop and film in front of that e f you re building an interior just buil
46. ou ll also find out early on what you actually need to build so you don t waste time creating things that never get shown on screen Large content library you don t have to create everything With Moviestorm s built in assets you re not limited to what you can buy or borrow from school friends or family You can add to that with third party mods if you need them You only need to create your own content if you can t get it any other way e Customisable props sets and costumes Need a police uniform A recording studio A flaming torch A country garden All those and much more are right at your fingertips as soon as you open up Moviestorm Character creator It doesn t matter if none of your actors look right for their part You can also have one actor playing several different parts and nobody will notice if they use different voices e Ready made animation Moviestorm has a huge selection of things your actors can do You don t have to laboriously create animations by hand just pick something appropriate and customise it It s as easy as playing a game 10 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools You can think big Because everything s done on a computer you can film scenes you can t easily do in real life Let your creativity go wild e Action scenes You can do much more with Moviestorm than just filming your friends Even on a student budget you can have fight scenes car chases or even
47. planned The whole film took over four years to make 40 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Post production The movie is finally assembled The footage is edited sound and music is added special effects are created titles and credits sequences are built and subtitles are added Often the movie gets shown to a test audience and is then recut depending on what they say Generally the editor has to work with whatever she has it s too expensive to get everyone back for more filming Post production usually takes five to ten times longer than production The director often has very little to do with the movie at this stage it s mostly the editor s job now That s why you sometimes get Director s Cuts of movies which are very different to the original Cameraman Francis Wai filming on location Francis learned about filmmaking with Moviestorm and ended up working for a local television company as camera operator video editor and production assistant 41
48. rs and effects Costume Rendering Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools MAKING THE MOST OF MOVIESTORM Moviestorm s just one of many ways you can make a movie It s not quite the same as traditional movie making or animation but it has a lot of advantages especially when you re just starting out Flexibility you don t have to get it right first time Probably the most important thing about working with Moviestorm is that you re not stuck with the traditional pre production production post production process You can go back and forth until you re happy with the results This takes a lot of the pressure off when you re just learning how everything works You won t get to the end and realise there s something you should have done differently right at the start e Change anything any time You can easily go back and make changes even when you ve started editing You can add bits to the set or move things around you can change the costumes or the character s faces you can change the lighting you can change the actors performances and you can redo the camerawork Start filming early no need to storyboard You can start filming right away even before you ve finished building your sets and characters This gives you a rough cut at an early stage and you can quickly see which bits work and which bits need to be thought out again If a scene isn t working you ve got time to rewrite it if necessary Y
49. sks are involved information 4 pages This is purely optional Follow it up if you want to find out more otherwise you can skip it Just learn the bits of Moviestorm you need Each section in Creating your film with Moviestorm has links to Moviestorm tutorial videos and other information Watch the tutorials and practice the skills you need for your role It doesn t hurt to learn what the other roles do but you don t need to if you don t want to Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools MAKING YOUR FIRST MOVIE Movie making involves a lot of different skills and usually a lot of people working together The first time you try making your own movie you may find it confusing and feel like you re not sure what to do Don t worry though Once you understand what s involved and break it down into small tasks it s much easier to put everything together into a finished film Then it s just a matter of practice practice and more practice ROLES IN YOUR MOVIE CREW When you watch the credits of a movie there are literally hundreds of roles You probably know what the director and actors do but what about everyone else What does a dolly grip do Or a swing gang foreman Or a foley artist Well don t worry about them right now For your first movie there are just seven roles that cover everything Producer The producer is in charge of the whole project His job is to make sure the movie
50. t person has a strong vision of what they want to achieve and has the discipline to work within their capabilities However it s often a good idea to have the producer and director as two separate people so there s someone to act as a check on the director s ambition 4 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Director The director is responsible for filming the movie and is the head of the creative team It s the most high profile job on the team but it s also the most work In a small animation team like this the director s role also includes the cameraman s job It can save a lot of time to have one person controlling both the characters and the camera It also overlaps quite strongly with what the editor normally does The director s jobs e Coordinate the creative team Work with everyone else to make sure that everything fits together You get to approve the production designs and script and ask your team for changes Don t forget though you can always be overruled by the producer if you ask for too much And don t be a dictator that just means everyone will get fed up with you Take suggestions from everyone else particularly in their area of responsibility Your job is to get the best out of everyone not to boss them around e Direct the action Tell the actors where to go on set and what you want them to do Supervise the dialogue recording too so that you get the emotion you want from them e Shoot
51. t the editor can work with You ll be doing two jobs that are very closely linked directing the actors and shooting the movie You ll spend most of your time in two parts of Moviestorm the Director s view and the Camera view The Director s View showing the prop controller and timeline Directing Directing boils down to two basic tasks Telling your actors what to do choreography and telling them how to do it acting Basic directing techniques Although directing seems quite complicated at first everything works in the same basic way It s then just a matter of learning all the different things your actors can do and how to get the best out of them For full instructions on directing see the Moviestorm manual and video tutorials First select an actor e Next click on an object or person to make your actor interact with it If you click on the selected actor they will do something by themselves This will create an activity in the timeline Click on activities the timeline to edit them delete them or move them e Repeat until you ve finished your scene Be prepared to spend a long time doing this and getting everything just right It ll pay off in the end though It s the little details that make all the difference 23 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Choreography in Moviestorm When you create a scene start off with the choreography Get the actors going to
52. tion if one person has a really strong idea for the movie but it can leave everyone else feeling left out Writer production designer makes a great combo too as it means the writer can create the characters and sets exactly the way they imagine them in the script Actor The actor s job is the most straightforward of all when you re making animated movies and takes the least time They just have to say the lines in the script no physical acting make up or costumes required The actor s job Record your lines The most important thing is to really think yourself into the character so that people really believe in what they re seeing on screen A good performance is what the audience will remember more than anything else Any member of the team can do acting as well and of course you can bring in friends family or anyone else who wants to help out even if it s just for one line Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools SUGGESTED TEAM ORGANISATION Now that you ve got some idea of what s actually involved in making a movie think about what you d like to do and how to divide the work between you There are many ways you can organise your teams these are just some suggestions and everyone has different ways of doing things Figure out what works best for you Remember every role is important and they all require a lot of commitment There are no minor roles in a small team There are two appr
53. torm A guide for schools Ambience Ambience also known as atmos or atmosphere is background sound that you can add to make your set seem more realistic traffic sounds birds wind rain people talking and moving around and so on Ambience can completely change the feel of a scene you can make it seem as though the same room is ina busy city or a quiet village You can add ambience directly to the set or you can add it afterwards in the cutting room during the edit Ambience is also useful for covering up the silence between the actors lines otherwise they can sound very artificial Whenever you record a line you always get some background sound known as room tone When you play back the lines in Moviestorm the room tone cuts in and out which sounds weird Experienced sound crew will record a few minutes of silence in each location to get the right room tone then they use that to fill in the silence TIP don t make your ambience too loud If it s too loud it s really distracting and irritating Adding ambience to the set This is a quick and easy way to create a slightly randomised sound background that will play throughout the scene e Inthe set workshop open the lighting and audio panel then select the audio tools e Use the button to find sounds Use the sliders to control how loud the sounds are and how often they re played e Keep adding more sounds with the button until you have an interesting mix T
54. torm Made Easy watching TV http www vimeo com 21167273 Moviestorm Made Easy gettin smoochy http www vimeo com 21307334 Moviestorm Made Easy flying spaceships http www vimeo com 21346223 Moviestorm Made Easy using the phone http www vimeo com 20802922 Moviestorm Made Easy cracking a safe http www vimeo com 21306047 TIP if your character walks through a prop or some scenery don t worry Move the prop or adjust the walk path Or film it so the audience can t see and they ll never know Movie directors cheat like this all the time Adjusting the way a character walks with the Gait controller 24 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Acting Make your characters more expressive by changing their emotions and adding in gestures and other body language This is what will really bring your movie to life e Click on the selected character and choose Posture to change the way they stand or sit Click on the selected character then another object or characters and choose Look At to control their gaze Click on the selected character and choose Change Mood to bring up the mood controller e Gestures are the most powerful of Moviestorm s dramatic controls Click on the selected character and choose Gesture This brings up the gesture controller known as the aan Against Wat Pose 4 ground trom 3 2 Put Hanas Behind Hesg stanong can Bach Against Wal Pose
55. ur writer and director know what the limits are so they don t end up trying to do the impossible 12 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Plan your story Once you know what you can do you re in a position to decide exactly what you re going to do Start by coming up with lots of ideas for the story and think about whether they re possible When you ve got the basic story then you can write your script and think about how you re going to film it e Write your story outline The most important thing in a successful movie is a good story so spend plenty of time brainstorming at this stage Think about what makes your characters interesting and why your audience should care about what s happening If you have ideas for cool scenes or shots put them in now Don t get into too much detail yet just focus on the plot and the characters There are plenty of good guides to story writing available online or in libraries e Write your script Once you ve agreed on the story then the writer can start on the script You can use a scriptwriting tool like Celtx if you want or else just use a word processor Your script should make the following things clear WHERE the scene is set WHEN it is happening night or day WHO is in the scene WHAT they are saying WHAT they are doing There are standard ways to lay out a professional screenplay but you don t need to follow them strictly As long as you all understand w
56. urn into a major headache It s the producer s job to make sure this is done right and then to make sure everyone sticks to the production schedule Assign roles If you haven t done this already now s the time to decide who s doing what Figure out what you re going to need Go through the script with and work out exactly what you re going to need how many sets how many characters how many voice actors what sounds and music and so on If you re going to need mods or other custom content decide whether you can download them or whether you ll have to make them Schedule each piece of work Decide exactly what needs to happen when In some cases you won t be able to get on with one part of your movie until you ve got everything you need from someone else or maybe several people Make sure those people know that other people are depending on them to deliver on time TIP allow more time than you think Things will go wrong and you ll also find that you want go back and re do things you thought you d finished That s guaranteed every time Review your plan and make sure you can do everything in time You may realise you ve been too ambitious Perhaps you ve got too many characters and don t have enough actors Perhaps your movie s just too long or some of the scenes are too complex If so now s the time to go back and rewrite your script until you re down to something manageable PRODUCTION DIRECTOR CAMERA DATE 14
57. veryone gets the giggles when recording even professionals And sometimes the simplest lines seem to be the hardest to get right Just relax and have fun This voice actress is using a popper stopper to reduce hiss and breath noises You can make one yourself or buy one Recording into Moviestorm This is the simplest way to record dialogue Click on the selected actor and choose Say from the menu This brings up the dialogue controller e Press Record to start recording and Stop when you re finished Press Play to hear what you just recorded e Actors in Moviestorm will lip sync automatically However you get much better results if you also type the lines into the text field It s not necessary to do this though e Adjust the amount of lip movement and the volume using the sliders e Press the tick when you re happy The director can drag the speech activity on the timeline so it happens at the right time e If you re not happy with the actor s performance click the speech activity and select Redo Dialogue Then go through the same procedure as before TIP If you want to have a character singing over a piece of music try singing or speaking the vocals into Moviestorm at the right speed then turn the lip movement up and the volume down She ll now move her mouth in time to the music and nobody will hear your vocals 33 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Recording into an external f
58. ving room this could mean anything Your job is to decide what John s room actually looks like Work with the director to make sure it s easy to film in and he has enough space to work with Find out if there are any special props he s going to want like an armchair or a photo of his mum on the desk Do the same with the characters and everything else Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Build everything Finally you create everything you ve listed above If you ve been working well with the director you can make sure you only build what s actually needed you don t have to build a whole room if you re only going to film in one corner for example Production design can go very well with any other role and has to work closely with the sound designer It s also something you can easily split between several people with one person dealing with the set and lighting and someone else doing characters You can split that even further and have one person creating faces and hair and someone else doing the costumes Editor The editor takes all the bits from everyone else and assembles the finished movie It s one of the most important roles in the entire team but one that s rarely recognised The editor s role here is a bit different to usual as the director does a lot of the editing as they re filming On the other hand the editor has to do things a typical movie editor doesn t do The editor s jobs e Edit the f
59. wrong places e Change the main light setup from the camera view so you can immediately see what your new lighting looks like on screen hidden lights on set to brighten or colour specific objects Don t forget if your editor has added visual filters this will affect how your lighting looks in your finished film Check it in the cutting room as that shows you what you re going to get when you render 20 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Creating your cast Your cast are the most important part of your movie They re the people the audience is interested in and the story is about them Get them right and make them memorable And remember it s not just about the Moviestorm characters you have to get the right voice actors too Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy basic character creation http vimeo com 21165279 Choosing your cast You ve got two jobs to do You have to pick voice actors for all the speaking parts and you have to build Moviestorm characters for everyone who appears in the movie including all the extras Start by making rough descriptions of each character what they look like what they wear and what they sound like and discuss this with the director This is a lot quicker than spending time making the character and then finding out you have very different visions e f possible have several people try out for each part You may be surprised to find someone works
60. y by clicking on the Skies tool Select the sky you want from the panel Left to right a simple 3 wall test set in construction showing walls doors windows and key features of the set design completed interior set fully dressed and lit a selection of some of the stock sets supplied with Moviestorm Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy building walls http vimeo com 21359525 Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy doors amp windows http vimeo com 21167273 Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy ceilings http vimeo com 21166139 Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy changing the sky http vimeo com 21306531 17 Making Movies With Moviestorm A guide for schools Add props and set dressing There are three types of props you ll need to add First add the props that the actors actually use such as chairs Next add decoration to make the set feel real And finally put in extra objects that help with filming and make a better visual composition See the Moviestorm manual for detailed instructions on using props To add a prop select the Props button Ifyou have to add a lot of the same object save time by cloning props with the Clone tool e Most props have customization options Click on the prop to bring up the customizer and see what you can do Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy rotating objects http vimeo com 21300834 Video tutorial Moviestorm Made Easy making buildings http vimeo com 21345
61. you can plan your movie to take advantage of that e Learn about Moviestorm and any other tools you need Make sure you at least know the basics about how everything works Make a couple of quick test movies so you re familiar with what s possible If you re going to use other tools as well such as Audacity for voice recording give them a try out and make sure you know exactly how they integrate with Moviestorm You don t want to be trying to figure out your tools when you re trying to concentrate on getting your movie done in time or thinking about how to get a great movie e Know what assets are available Look through all the costumes sets props animations and sounds provided by Moviestorm There s quite a lot so this can take a while If Moviestorm doesn t supply what you need you can look elsewhere There are third party mods that may be useful and Moviestorm comes with modding tools so you can create your own Also you should research sources of copyright free music and images if you re planning on using them You also need to consider what voice actors you ll be able to work with gt W B mnt p gt _ tiny selection of the huge library of props and set dressing available Moviestorm TIP if you re working as a team give one person the job of researching the assets They can then tell you whether what you want to do is possible This is an ideal job for the production designer It s essential that yo

Collaborative movie-making with Moviestorm

Contents

Download Pdf Manuals

Related Search

Related Contents