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Making Films & Videos/Questions
| Subject | Date Asked | Expert |
| question on live switcher for prosumer cameras | 12/28/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: Smith I have 3 cameras and would like to do live switching to cut down on post-production work. ... A: Do you mean the Sony SEG-2000A? Is it a special effects generator? My suggestion is to test it ... | ||
| Scrooge 1951 | 12/19/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: I've just watched the colourized version of the 1951 film "Scrooge". It was originally made in black ... A: The coloring was done by hand -- a very long and tedious process. They would make a clean print of ... | ||
| Scrooge 1951 | 12/18/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: I've just watched the colourized version of the 1951 film "Scrooge". It was originally made in black ... A: Fun question! You do not see the "real" colors because black and white film only captures the ... | ||
| Modern Films | 12/9/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: Good day, sir. I am a high school student from Asia and we just tackled on films in the modern era ... A: Film making has only been around since the mid 1800's so it is primarily an art form that has ... | ||
| Modern Films | 12/8/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: Good day, sir. I am a high school student from Asia and we just tackled on films in the modern era ... A: This is a very broad question to answer. What is considered the "modern era"? There are several ... | ||
| Re: | 12/5/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: To who is may concern, I thank you for your time, you have spent on this site and I am sure it ... A: I want to recommend to you a website where you can read famous movie scripts to see how they look ... | ||
| 3D Films/Movies | 11/4/2011 | Chris Bushman |
| Q: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_film Queries regarding 3D Films Production. 1. Which type of ... A: Unfortunately, Prashant, it's not that simple because there are some parts of the budget that are ... | ||
| 3D Films/Movies | 11/2/2011 | Alessandro Machi |
| Q: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_film Queries regarding 3D Films Production. 1. Which type of ... A: Prashant, these are all great questions and require a precise level of expertise that I do not have. ... | ||
| 3D Films/Movies | 11/2/2011 | Chris Bushman |
| Q: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_film Queries regarding 3D Films Production. 1. Which type of ... A: Sounds like film school homework Prashant, but here goes 1. Action/Adventure/Horror is best suited ... | ||
| avi, format compression | 10/21/2011 | Chris Bushman |
| Q: I'm an English Second Language / English Foreign Language teacher who usually works at foreign ... A: Frank, I think you're pushing the reasonable expectation limits of the medium. Less than 1GB for ... | ||
| How did they perform the change of color in the scene mentioned below | 10/5/2011 | Chris Bushman |
| Q: I have a question regarding this particular scene in the Tamil movie, Mr. Romeo. Please refer to ... A: Good question Nemal! The rapid color changes were most likely done using what is called "Green ... | ||
| Form | 9/26/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: Finished shooting a feature and have actors who are asking for footage before the movie is released. ... A: Sorry for the late response, I was gone for a number of days. If it is a small clip for a demo ... | ||
| lights and lightening samurai electric shock | 8/31/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: I've come to realise, how important lightening is in film and its basic principles. are you able ... A: Sorry for the delay, I haven't been around for over a week. Sounds like you're having fun with ... | ||
| Size difference | 7/24/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: How does one make things look larger in a film a nose a hand anything?Is it lens magic?Wide angle ... A: A wide angle lens makes things that are closer to it look much larger than it would to your eye. So ... | ||
| Film Look (More technical) | 7/20/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: In a previous answer you started to explain the differences between movies (film) and video ... A: Film and video are very different mediums that produce similar results. Blurring is an option that ... | ||
| my story | 7/18/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: I have recently wrote a book which I have also had published called Never trust anyone it's a true ... A: This is very great question with many possible answers. What you are looking to do (it sounds like) ... | ||
| film stock | 6/24/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: do you know where to go to find out what film stock was used in a particular movie? A: The only place that I know of that is readily available is American Cinematographer magazine. If ... | ||
| Sound | 6/14/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: I notice in some videos if no boom mike is around poeple are using things such as a sony bloggie ... A: There are some good quality digital audio recorders out there that aren't too expensive ( I use ... | ||
| Right Editing Tool | 6/14/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: I'm an university level English Second Language teacher preparing to edit a long public domain movie ... A: You are correct, Adobe Premiere is your best choice. There are others out there that might be a ... | ||
| film production | 5/31/2011 | Chris Bushman |
| Q: Sir, I am Kalyan from India... I just want to ask one thing... It may sound strange... If a team of ... A: This question is not really my area of expertise, Kalyan, but let me comment a little on things that ... | ||
| Natural lighting | 5/4/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: for some kind of scenes natural lighting seems to be best like for glamour type shooting(even though ... A: My apologies for the late response - I have been working long hours on our feature film and have not ... | ||
| Are film reviewers accountable? | 5/1/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: I have been thinking hard about this issue. Is there ever a mechanism/system to monitor and control ... A: That is a very interesting question. Honestly, there is no accountability for these reviews because ... | ||
| Shooting ratio | 4/30/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: What do they exactly mean by shooting ratio? Like when I see 5:1 does that mean five minutes of ... A: Great questions! Shooting ratio is like you said, it is how many minutes (or in film, how many feet ... | ||
| Lighting | 3/23/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: Mr. Smith: I asked you a couple questions about a year ago when I first began learning about film ... A: My first question is - do you turn off the lights when you are not shooting? Because that will keep ... | ||
| video file size | 3/17/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: A film festival suggests I send a high quality video file of 1280x720. However, I've already ... A: Depending on what kind of editing program you have, you can import your movie back into the editing ... | ||
| video file size | 3/17/2011 | Alessandro Machi |
| Q: A film festival suggests I send a high quality video file of 1280x720. However, I've already ... A: I've kind of taken a time out on learning all the newer formats and files and such because after a ... | ||
| Screenwriting.... | 3/11/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: I was wondering if you could answer this question. I was sitting in the living room wondering ... A: They would definitely get story credits, but if more than 50% of the script is changed, they might ... | ||
| Screenwriting.... | 3/10/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: I was wondering if you could answer this question. I was sitting in the living room wondering ... A: This is an interesting question and it varies per production and per contract with the screenwriter. ... | ||
| editing programs | 3/10/2011 | Alessandro Machi |
| Q: I'd like to buy a good, but affordable (under $200.00) editing program that can produce ... A: your question is beyond my scope of knowledge, however, I can still offer you some logical ... | ||
| Advice for Beginner | 3/9/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: I'm an international student who is interested in filmmaking but have no experience. I thought of ... A: The Maine Media Workshops (www.theworkshops.com) are a great place to learn and you can pick and ... | ||
| Flip video cam | 2/1/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: Which flip video cam would you recommend as a extra camera?Is it the slide or the mini?You mentioned ... A: My apologies for the late response, I have been out of town for a few days and I had no idea what ... | ||
| Film-location/Villa | 1/30/2011 | Alessandro Machi |
| Q: I want to rent out a large villa I own in Northern Italy. It's on the coast, right next to the ... A: since any info is appreciated I should be able to meet that minimum standard. http://www.mandy.com ... | ||
| second camera | 1/22/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: whats a good smaller camera than the canon xl1 i have for practice shooting like while traveling and ... A: I am not very familiar with smaller cameras because there are so many of them, but you can go to ... | ||
| mov. files... | 1/19/2011 | Troy Smith |
| Q: We just came back from a vacation and used the Kodak PlaySport to take pics and videos. We ... A: SOrry you are having problems - I know exactly what you are talking about and have suffered through ... | ||
| body mount camera rig | 12/28/2010 | Troy Smith |
| Q: I'm doing research on the bodymount camera rig, so far I have only found that Requiem For Dream had ... A: It was used in "Mean Streets" and I believe also in "Get Him to the Greek" - both to symbolize ... | ||
| skin tone | 12/27/2010 | Troy Smith |
| Q: for movies that may show nudity what is the best way to obtain good skin tone?I heard softboxes are ... A: A silk is a special thin white cloth that lets light pass through it but softens the light, so you ... | ||
| skin tone | 12/26/2010 | Troy Smith |
| Q: for movies that may show nudity what is the best way to obtain good skin tone?I heard softboxes are ... A: I do not know about make-up, but you definitely want to use soft light like softboxes or bright ... | ||
| animation films on health awareness subjects | 12/23/2010 | Jay Howard |
| Q: I work with a non-governmental organization, involved in public health and professional capacity ... A: i support your cause. I think its a fantastic idea you have. Now, i was thinking about this: how ... | ||
| Camera | 12/20/2010 | Jay Howard |
| Q: I'm thinking about getting a professional digital camera, something preferably under $5000. What ... A: Michael. Well, it really depends on what you would like to be filming. If your interested in ... | ||
| 5D markII video and FCP | 12/14/2010 | Troy Smith |
| Q: i just shot a film with a 5D mark II(30 fps) and i am now starting to edit it, i am having problems ... A: There could be several things going on. It appears that you shot it on an NTSC setting because ... | ||
Making Films & Videos
Answers by Expert:
Troy Smith
Top Expert on this page
Expertise
I am a professional filmmaker (since 1995) and a professional film instructor (since 2000). I am the co-owner of Imminent Entertainment LLC. I have worked on several low-budget feature films as well as hundreds of other projects including TV commercials, concert videos, live sports for TV, sports highlights, broadcast news, faith productions, large multi-media multi-camera productions, weddings, educational, corporate, promotional, short films, documentaries and more. I have written a book called "The New Filmmaker's Adventure" that will be more widely distributed in the near future. My expertise is in writing, shooting and editing. I can answer questions on Final Cut Pro, lighting, sound recording, scriptwriting, storytelling, directing, producing, editing, multi-camera productions, shooting sports, picture to video, using DTE hard drives, using video cameras. I am NOT an expert on how to sell scripts or movies, how to finance them, how to distribute them or how to get an agent. See my WEB PAGES: troyalexsmith.webs.com and www.youtube.com/troysmithpro
Experience
I have been a professional filmmaker since 1995 and a film teacher since 2000. I am publishing a textbook for beginning filmmakers called "the New Filmmaker's Adventure". I have experience in the area of low-budget feature filmmaking, I am the co-owner of the production company called Imminent Entertainment, I have worked on hundreds of videos, TV shows, multi-camera events and low budget, professional productions, corporate and consumer videos, Final Cut Pro, scriptwriting, directing, videography and cinematography, sound, lighting, editing, and some producing.
Organizations
Independent Feature Project
Publications
I wrote "The New Filmmaker's Adventure" book that I use in my classes and will be publishing it abroad soon
Education/Credentials
Western Michigan University - Magna cum Laude BS in film/video/TV
Maine Media Workshops ('02-'07)- Film Editor Master, Directing Actors for the Camera, Independent Filmmaking, Acting for the Camera, Camera in Motion, The Directors Craft
Awards and Honors
Audience Choice Runner-Up award for Best Picture at the Muskegon Film Festival in 2009 for Producer/editor on "Coffee Shop Kings." Excellence in Education Teaching award. Winner of 12 grants.
Past/Present Clients
Kellogg, Covance, Cytec, WWMT, Ralston, many, many more
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