VFX for Photographers

Sometimes you need to ensure that you set your shots apart from the norm, which is easier said than done. Well, this is one example that really achieved what it set out to do!

Elf is undoubtedly a Christmas classic, but the 2003 film was low budget, and the idea of creating a lot of the visual effects in-camera had many senior people worried it couldn't work.

The use of artificial intelligence in photo editing is becoming more prevalent with every day that passes. It never fails to impress me, but this has gone one step further, and perhaps, a step too far.

ISO performance on cameras has improved exponentially over the last decade, and now you are able to use higher values than ever before more or less without punishment by way of noise. Sony's new videography titan is raising that bar even further it seems.

Whether you're a filmmaker, videographer, or just a stills shooter, there's a lot that can be learned from some of the greats of cinematography.

If you've every tried keying out a person you know the NLEs have improved a lot over the years. After Effects can even give you a workable cut-out without a green screen now. But what are the professional movie making folk changing to now? What's next? 

Brandon Li has forged a reputation for finding imaginative ways of producing professional results with limited gear. In this short video, he teaches you how to remove all of the lighting equipment from a shot by intelligent use of split screens and layers.

There is almost no area of videography that won't use B-roll at one point or another. In this video, add three great B-roll transitions to your arsenal that are quick and easy to learn.

The time-lapse has been a fundamental technique in filmmaking and videography for some time, and the methods and results have simply improved consistently, year on year. Watch this comprehensive guide by the time-lapse photographer known for works like the intro sequence to the hit U.S. remake of "House of Cards".

With videography taking far more of a central role in the industry than it once did, perhaps it's time to sharpen your video editing skills.

This year has forced many photographers and filmmakers to take an extended break from their day jobs and stay home. The newfound stresses that come with quarantine have left a lot of us uninspired, while others have used this time to pursue projects they couldn't find time for before. One professional filmmaker used his time during quarantine to create a beautiful Sci-Fi short film, from the comfort of his own home.

The basic answer is that their videos are more complex. They have more setups and budget, sure, but in these videos, Josh Olufemii goes through the details to show what they do with regards to color, contrast, lighting, depth, and composition. 

Plugins for both photography and video are plentiful nowadays, and the quality of them varies hugely. Here are one cinematographer's favorite video plugins that he is glad he invested in.

Daniel Schiffer is a YouTuber who started off as a guy making videos for restaurants. Now, he's got more than one million subscribers, and it's because he can get a lot done with very few resources. In this video, you can see how he does it. 

If, like me, you have a love for history, being able to see footage from Victorian England in 1901 is a real pleasure. Using neural networks, we can now see previously grainy and fuzzy video from the era upscaled to 4k, 60 fps, colorized, and significantly improved image quality.

How do the big movie production companies get us to believe the scene is taken in one long shot when memory cards get full and film runs out? This video shows 4 ways of making the viewer believe it's shot this way in movies such as Academy Award Winning "1917," and maybe you could use it too.

YouTube has become the go-to space for video. We have famous video creators that earn a good living doing so. And then, we have Vimeo, the professionally orientated video-sharing platform that many professionals use to host their projects and productions in the best quality possible online. 

With a blacked-out studio setup and iPhones mounted to what looks like selfie sticks, they’ve documented experiments that showcase visual reactions. It’s all on display here.

After getting familiar with the general interface of your chosen video editing software, and perhaps after your first few simple edits, the next step for most aspiring editors or YouTube creators might be to start learning a few fancy transitions to flex those creative muscles and spice up your new videos. This YouTuber has just made your lives a little easier.

"Cats" has been released to both disappointing reviews and box office returns, and in an attempt to help stop the bleeding, Universal Pictures has taken the unheard of step of sending a new version of the film to theaters. 

Are you more into narrative-based video production than commercial ad-based video? In this video, Studio Binder shows you how to reproduce a scene from Christopher Nolan’s Inception for a mere $310.

There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. In this video Rodrigo Prieto, the DOP of the movie, discusses how they used three cameras and infrared markers to make it possible to de-age them in post. He also talks about using different LUTs in different eras of the movie to emulate the most popular film stock colors used in these different times. 

It's exciting when you are hired for a music video, but you are allowed to film it as a drama short film with elements of musical. In this article I will share the challenges in such a production.

Actor and impressionist Jim Meskimen shows impressive skills impersonating famous celebrities, which combined with the latest deepfake AI technology creates shockingly convincing results.

Every well-known movie has specific scenes it is famous for. This is the case with the bike fight scene in John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum, where we take a glimpse behind the scenes to see how the production team made that action choreography.

Visual effects (VFX) are a great way of achieving spectacular results when the budget doesn't allow filming for real or it's too risky for the actors. Up till now, these were achieved mostly by filming on green or blue screens. This new way of filmmaking presents a way for shooting scenes with VFX directly in camera.

55 nights of shooting. Your favorite characters fighting for their lives, some never to be on the screen again. How was “The Long Night” episode shot to keep us in suspense for the longest battle scene ever created for television or film? Spoilers ahead.

Have you ever thought what post-processing is involved behind the car images you see in the ads? An interview with founder and CEO of "Curve Digital" Nick Limb lifts up the curtain behind their workflow.

When the new technique called bullet time debuted 20 years ago with the movie "The Matrix," the effect was so different and mind-blowing that it raised the bar for outside the box camera effects. A couple practice runs, a group of boys playing basketball, and a clever cameraman was all it took to pull off this big budget effect without even opening a wallet.

Green screen footage is really meant to be worked with in post, but it's assumed that it's shot in proper fashion. 

Residents were understandably alarmed when footage surfaced on the web of a young child running from what appears to be an all-out attack straight out of a Hollywood action movie.

Of the many categories in the Oscars, perhaps one of the most interesting for photographers and videographers is the award for Best Visual Effects. This awesome compilation shows a clip from every winner from 1929 to 2017. 

As a freelancer, I find myself taking on different roles in both production and post. I can do some modest animations, but any major work, I outsource to an animator. With plugins like the Trapcode Suite though, even a simpleton like me can make some eye-catching graphics.

There is no doubt that Iceland has become an incredibly popular travel destination for photographers and filmmakers in recent years. One filmmaker has taken his footage to the next level to create a stunning Iceland short film.

I spent a Sunday in Paris with a friend, Jason Boone, who's made a video about Adobe Rush and what makes it such a good video editing tool. It has been presented as being easy, syncs over Adobe Creative Cloud and has a lot built in to make you a more productive editor. This video shows whether that's true. 

Every year at Adobe MAX, and sometimes in between, we are treated to the Adobe Sneaks: a series of presentations of what Adobe is doing at the most advanced levels technology can take us in order to help creators save loads of time, such as Project Fast Mask, which makes masking out any subject in a video as easy as using the Magic Wand selection tool.

Sam Kolder is one of the prolific YouTube creators who has gained viewership because of his editing skills, the transitions he is able to make, and style of narration and cutting footage to fit the story. In this video, he tells a story about animal conservation, and for any photographer or video producer, it should be inspiring and motivation to use your skills to do good. 

Moment is a company who makes lenses for iPhones. They recently introduced their Anamorphic lens, and started a festival where some videographers got the opportunity to shoot whatever they wanted to. JR Alli made Disconnected on his iPhone, and this video shows how he did it. 

For all you creators out there! LG understands there’s more to the final output. There’s also the “process.” All the hours spent working, toiling, creating, that no one ever sees. The endless brain-strain and ideating a creator dedicates to their goal is what makes up their UltraWide Time. Few will ever see or understand the process, where all the work and magic happen. But LG understands.

Mission Impossible III was recently launched, and what makes it a special movie to go watch is the fact that most of the stunts were done by Tom Cruise himself and that they were done in real time and space, on location, and without much CGI. His movies are revered as some of the best action movies, and it's because of this reason it's worth noticing that the real thing is often better than the simulation. 

After doing video work for a few years now, I am finally starting to look more into all these interesting transitions. In this music video, they did an incredible job using transitions as a theme throughout.

BBC’s Click has taken an in-depth dive into tech that is pushing the film and television industries forward.

In this tutorial video, Caleb Pike shows us how to make a double exposure video. It's as simple as it is to do it with digital photography, and it can be used for wedding videos, documentaries, road trip vlogs, or just for fun as a profile GIF. 

I love photography and videography competitions, particularly with they take some thought to be able to enter. Well, this one light challenge is exactly that.

Filmmaker Claudiu Voicu has a reputation for his editing skills but in his latest video, he deliberately chose to include as many tough transitions as possible into one three-minute snowboarding movie. Clearly he likes a challenge and the results are stunning, hilarious and surreal.

We're sure to find videos on YouTube that will show you how to accomplish certain transitions or edit better, but what we rarely get, is the pre-production know-how, or the critical thinking about what you want to achieve when shooting a video. Chris Hau and JR Alli show us how they do it. 

If you think this is a sci-fi horror thriller film with Transformers-style VFX you'll be disappointed. In fact, the action takes place in the 50s as a young man turns unfortunate obstacles into a romantic outcome.

This video covers a wide range of tips and tricks to make your set runs smoothly, things occur as you planned, and small items don’t go missing. I’ve seen some of these used by YouTubers mostly, but there are a hundred of them, so use what you think is best suited to your shooting style. 

You can make it look like two people are sitting with their backs to opposite sides of the same wall. It allows you to transport your audience to a different place in a fun way. This video from Mango Street shows how they did it and shares a tutorial on how you can too. 

Earlier this month, Apple released a new Spike Jonze-directed ad titled “Welcome Home” that featured FKA Twigs dancing through shapeshifting apartment. Today, AdWeek shared a revealing behind-the-scenes video where we learn that almost all of it was practical effects. It’s almost unbelievable.