Feature: Your Digital Life on the Go

From Concept to Film: Digital Tips for Aspiring Filmmakers

Author: Don Martelli
Published: July 31, 2012 at 11:17 am
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The next Academy Award winning filmmaker is sitting in front of a computer right now, chopping up digital footage with dreams of fame rolling around in their head. Of course, with the proliferation of social video sharing, anyone can aspire to be a famous filmmaker... or at least one with 15 minutes of fame.

For those who really have a passion for filmmaking, it is easier for them to produce, release and distribute their works of art today than it ever was in the Golden Age of movies.


However, before calling action and starting to film, aspiring filmmakers should follow these tips in digital content management.

Organize or Lose Your Mind

Minutes of footage will turn into days. Days will turn into years. And, before you know it, there’s a long list of files staring you in the face. It’s critical to keep them organized. Using an external hard drive can help with this process. For example, the Western Digital My Passport 2TB hard drive–it’s compact and has plenty of space to store all those video files for roughly $300. Organize the files by year, month and day. Then, you can organize by the shoot name or subject manner.

Don’t Trust Your Memory

It’s difficult to remember where all your pieces of footage are located. You need to use a file organizer that will allow you to use meta tags so you can search for specific pieces of footage. For example, if you shot a scene of a father taking his daughter to a park, but it was over six months ago, use tags such as father/daughter/park, to be able to quickly and easily retrieve it by topic.

Crowdsource Those Crazy Ideas

Social media can help you perfect that piece you’ve been working so hard on. Why not share it either publicly or privately with friends on any number of social video sites in order to get feedback. You can take that constructive criticism to change white balance, improve sound issues or use a cut-a-way to add a dramatic effect–whatever your social and personal connections offer up to you in terms of advice.

What other tips would you provide to help aspiring filmmakers get their ideas from concept to film?

Learn more about WD’s My Passport 2 TB Portable Hard Drive.

 
 

About this article

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Article Author: Don Martelli

Known on the social web as “BigGuyD,” Don Martelli is just a dad, moonlighting as a digital marketer, photog and civilian journalist. He's the executive editor for Technorati. Connect with him at www.donmartelli.com.

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