Hitchcock was meticulous in preparing for shoots, and never shot an unnecessary foot of film stock.

Why? He had seen other studio filmmakers shoot variations on each needed scene and pick the best of these to get a great result, only to have the suits come in and justify their existence by demanding different picks among the footage.

Hitchcock figured out how plan everything so carefully that his footage could only be cut one way, stumping the suits.

And the movie Psycho? He couldn't get a greenlight for this, so he did a complete undercover production on the studio lot using his "Hitchcock Presents" weekly TV show crew (that shot on film of course) to make the whole movie stealthily.

:O)

I honed my visualization abilities some years ago when I became legally blind. I couldn't use a camera, but visualization was if anything easier (and later, after five eye surgeries, I got my eye sight back to a totally usable level).

http://www.hollywoodcamerawork.us/downloads.html#template

Then check out the rest of their site. I'm telling you, you'll get a lot out of the dvds! (you'd think they're paying me a royalty here)

What, you didn't get your free toaster yet?

:O)

musman thanks for the link ;)I dont have illustrater.. I thought/Hoped I might be able to open it with another graphics Program.. Hopefully free.. Anyone got any ideas AS iilustrater is quite expensive I have already used up a trial version so" NO GO" there !

To Directly answer your question I use StoryBoard Pro. It's easy to learn and even has video lessons on using the software. It may not be a powerfull as pricey alternatives, but for the price it's amazingly usefull.

This FREE yes FREE download is available at
http://www.atomiclearning.com/storyboardpro
It has the Download and the Training videos on the same page.

Just in Case you still want to do it yourself.

Good Luck
Mike

ez- sounds like you work a lot like I do. Trying to plan everything down to the frame. If there's time, this is how I like to work. I've made a film when I ran out of time preparing and it was hell on the set. I'm surprised any of those people still want to work with me.
But I've laways been a bigger fan of Hitchcock's work than Altman's. Apparently Altman likes fly by the seat of his pants and tell his actors to go in whatever direction they feel they should go. That drives me nuts to watch. I like a nice tight story, everything there that should be and there for a reason.
Anyway, I'm going to experiment with using frameforge still and editing them together in Vgeas. I'll add all the dialog, try to mimic the desired lighting, and try out some music. Hopefully that will give me a feel for what works and what doesn't. I've talked with some other filmmakers about music. Some add it in post when it seems right but don't have anything particular in mind (or hadn't even had music planned for that scene at all) and others plan the scene around the music. I've seen the later work in a highly stylized short with a woman walking to the beat of the music. They played it for her while she was acting the scene out. This worked for them, but I'm not sure how it would work for a more narrative film. Music is extremely important for a film. My first short was a silent film and we used some music from that period to really sell the idea to the audience. It's probably still the best thing I've done.
You asked a lot of specific questions that are hard for me to answer. The way I try to think of it is the general rule of 'who=do'. Flesh out who the character is and design the scene to show this and advance the character or characters to the next point in the story. If all else fails, that a long shower and think about it there. That's sometimes the only place I can go that is sufficient cut off from the rest of the world that I think less burdened about things like this.
Good luck!

Mike I watched all the Tutorials (Storyboard pro) Great ! Easy to learn Program

: ) Thanks everyone

Great links, both good re http://www.hollywoodcamerawork.us/ (interesting preview videoclips), and the storyboard software.. thx!

ken

Yes! we work alike,
I think Altman could learn more from Hitchcock than the other way around, but both are great story tellers.
When Clint Eastwood directed "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", and butchered both the book and screen play, I thought American Cine had sunk to it's lowest point, but alas I have seen a greater truth. Behold "Million Dollar Baby"!
I think your idea of using VEGAS as a storyboard template is great ! Could you please expound ?
Thank you so very much, every word is a big help,
Marty

http://www.frameforgestudio.com/images/Green-Room.gif

Okay, am I the only sicko laughing at the guy grabbing his crotch in this screen cap with the " Hinge Manipulation " for " cock " being set at 11.

I suppose it wouldn't surprise me if I was. =P

- Ray

www.undergroundplanet.com