How to Shoot a Cinematic Intro Sequence at Home

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] what's up guys Landon here from the full-time filemaker team and today i'm going to be showing you the behind the scenes of that intro sequence that you just saw now we've done a couple of quick unboxing videos in the past with simple top-down shots and hard cuts but this time i wanted to throw a new spin on it and create a more cinematic unboxing if you make youtube videos or other types of social media content especially blogs or reviews i think an intro sequence like this can really help level up the production value of your video so let's go behind the scenes and see what it takes to put this sequence together now before I shoot I always sit down and throw together at least a quick shot list so I can make sure that I have enough shot variety and my sequence is cohesive the difference in the pre-planning process between this video and other b-roll videos that I've made in the past is this time I didn't pick out the song beforehand I'm not sure if that made it harder or easier to plan for the shoot but it was a nice change of pace to focus solely on the visuals and not have to think about how well is this shot going to flow with the music now the gear we use for this video was the Canon 1dx mark 3 as well as the Sigma art 24 millimeter the Canon 100 millimeter macro the Canon 16 to 35 millimeter version 3 and finally the Sigma art 50 millimeter if you follow us on instagram or tik-tok you've probably already seen the side by side behind-the-scenes of how this video was made so you'll know that we use a mix of both handheld and gimbal movements as well as an overhead rake for some of those top-down shots as far as lighting goes I wanted the secrets to be super moody and I wanted your focus to be only on the desk and the product that we were filming so to do this we used the aperture 300 d with a softbox and then on that softbox we had a honeycomb grid which allowed us to really isolate the light and shine it only on our subject the first shot of our sequence was the establishing shot so for this I did a simple push in movement focusing on the Box on the table and then out of the darkness you see our talents hands coming in to pick it up as soon as he picks it up I keep the camera pushing in while simultaneously easing in to whip down and to the left so on that shot we did have the run and s on fpv POV I can't remember the mode that's where all the axes are enabled so you can turn the left and right tilt it up and down pan whatever so we had it set on that so that we could quickly do that with movement now because we made that whip movement at the end of clip a we need to make sure that the beginning of clip B follows the same motion so for this clip I took my camera off of the ronin and went handheld honestly the hardest part about this clip was just choreographing the movement between me and the talent it did take a couple of tries but we eventually got this shot and in this clip the pocket knife isn't actually cutting the tape of the box but because the camera is moving fairly quickly you don't really catch that detail Plus with sound design we could really emphasize the noise of a pocket knife cutting open the box from here the camera kind of whips downwards into the darkness and then suddenly were transported to the inside of the box so we're basically seeing what an unboxing looks like from the point of view of the product alright so we took the laptop out of the box you need to set this aside because now we're just going to use this box and I'm gonna stick my camera at the bottom I'm gonna grab a shot of jazz hands coming in through the top as if he's grabbing the laptop so for these shots we opened up the bottom of the box and an angle of the camera upwards so there was a little bit of light coming in so we do have a couple of shots that our bird's eye view top-down so we have an overhead rig setup right here we're gonna get all of those shots right now so we don't have to keep setting it up over and over again so cameras right here and then we do have a monitor right here so we can kind of see exactly what we're looking at since our screen is blocked from the key light so these ones are pretty simple it's just a static shot but we do have to make sure that the framing is correct and that's probably the hardest part about this if you take a closer look at the end of this clip and the beginning of this clip you'll notice that the movement our talent is making with his hands are perfectly in sync this is super important for continuity and to help the video flow as smoothly as possible a big mistake we see beginner filmmakers make is not cutting their clips at the right moment which will ultimately disrupt the flow of your video and cause you to lose any of the momentum that you had been building up with the previous clips and since most unboxing videos take so long before you actually get to the device inside the box we wanted to switch it up and get straight to the points so we ended up cutting open one side of the box so it could gently sit on top of the contents without actually touching them so we saw this idea in another you'll shiver video a few weeks back and what they did is they cut out the cardboard box so we're gonna do the exact same thing but with the laptop so if we've cut out the bottom of this box and we're just placing it lightly on top and then we're gonna have our model just slide it right off the table so it would be a nice quick unboxing and then to keep the flow of the video moving and maintain continuity we made sure that in the next clip the laptop box was starting in the same orientation as the previous clip so as the camera is moving the talent rotates the Box opens up the flap which then drops down over the lens so for this shot I have the tilt axis and the pan axis activated that way I can simultaneously be tilting upwards and panning to the right as he's opening up that box so to be able to nail this shot in the fewest amount of takes possible I set a starting point the camera pointing down diagonal to the box and an ending point the camera pointing straight and parallel to the front of the box once the clip fades to black we transition into our next clip which purposely starts behind the shoulder of our talent as we see him continue the unboxing process now I purposely had him wear black so the fade out from the last clip would look as sleek as possible so once he pulls the laptop out slides the box off the table and gently sets down the device I purposely have him end the clip by engaging that spinning motion that we see in the next clip without that simple choreography those two clips wouldn't have flowed as naturally as they did to be honest the subtle flick that he made didn't really even rotate the device but because I cut the clip at just the right moment it made the whole sequence a bit more cohesive okay so this next shot we're still using that overhead rig and I have a spinner right here we're actually gonna set it on the table and place our laptop on top of it and by doing that we can get a nice smooth rotation this technique was actually a lifesaver just before making this I created another little video for the James Matthews spin shot challenge and I wish I had known about the fidgets spinner trick because for that one I ended up taping a plastic card on the bottom of the red and then I used glycerin so the camera could rotate more smoothly so again use a fidget spinner not a credit card and glycerin it's much less of a mess and you'll get a perfect spin each time so when I was dreaming up the sequence I knew I wanted a cool rotation like this clip but I also wanted to do something a bit more creative something you don't see very often and that's when the corner spin shot idea came to mind so to make this work we ended up taking a bit of fishing line and threading it through the hinge of the laptop in order to make sure that the spin was tight in the laptop wouldn't sway too much while spinning we needed that fishing line to be holding the device as close to the top corner as possible we then tied the fishing line to the overhead rig so it'd be completely suspended in the air but I didn't want the laptop just floating freely I wanted it to almost look like someone had stood it up on the corner and then spun it and because we were using a sit-stand desk all we had to do was adjust the height and bring it as close to the laptop as possible now we'll have an in-depth video on the editing process of the cinematic sequence inside our full course full-time filmmaker but for now all I did to clean up this clip was create a couple of basic masks which I keyframes to follow the rotation of the laptop and hide the fishing line and gaff tape that we use to secure in place the tight shot of the laptops logo in the next clip follows the same technique and since we were only seeing a small detail on the device we lowered the desk back down and let it hang freely so the rotation would be as smooth as possible after we finished all of those Clips I went ahead and edited the first half of that sequence because we wanted the next shots to be our talent using the computer and we thought it'd be cool to have him editing the clips we'd already seen kind of like a b-roll inception type deal so once those were edited together we continued the sequence with a handheld paper towel slider shot that was simultaneously pushing in and panning while our talent opened up the computer now if you're doing a masking transition something you can do to make it as seamless as possible is make sure that the two clips you're putting together are moving in the same direction and at the same speed if you do a masking transition and clip a and clip B are moving in opposite directions it's not going to be a smooth reveal and it'll be a lot more obvious that you've just attempted a transition the transition is honestly just another tool in your filmmaker tool kits so if it feels natural to use a transition go for it but if you force transitions just for the sake of doing a transition your video will lose momentum and the overall flow will be disrupted after that shall we move to a cutaway shot showing the reflection of the timeline in our talents eyes this is one of my favorite shots to get especially in editing sequences like this one because I feel like it brings a bit of life back into the video so the focus isn't only the computer to get this shot we use the Canon a macro lens and we placed our talent as close to the screen as possible we also expanded the layers on our timeline so that would show up just a bit better in the reflection of the eye I shot this one static so my hand was just resting on the table then in post I added a digital zoom so we could continue the trend of the previous clips since most of them push in just slightly this is an editing trick I use all the time to create a little bit more engaging movement in my videos pretty common technique that we see for creating videos with good flow is just using speed ramps between clips and although I use those occasionally I find that just a natural digital zoom does plenty to keep your sequence cohesive now honestly the rest of these Clips follow the same techniques and movements that I've already shown so I'm not going to go in-depth on those but I will talk about the last shot of the camera tracking the laptop some of the shot you're basically going to be reaching over closing the lid BAM one hand come under and bring it towards you so I'm gonna start right here you're gonna reach over close it once you grab it you need to tilt it towards me like that yep and then you'll walk away with it I shot this one handheld on the 24 millimeter because I knew I would need a little bit of wiggle room in case the final clip needed some post stabilization the trickiest part about this clip was just positioning my hands so I'd be able to follow the exact movements that the laptop was making after about four or five tries we finally got the take that we were looking for so to finish this clip off I loaded it into After Effects and threw on just a touch of warp stabilizer again if you want to see a more in depth editing breakdown of this video which goes over the sound design techniques that I use time remapping keyframing my color grading process and other tips and tricks hit the link below where you can check out my mini course seamless video pro which teaches you all of my techniques for creating engaging seamless videos with smooth transitions and if you want more content such as general filming and editing techniques in-depth tutorials as well as specific training on different industries like commercials real estate videos wedding videos music videos travel videos etc you'll love our full course full-time filmmaker where we teach you everything we know about shooting in these industries so whether you're a beginner filmmaker or a veteran I guarantee you'll find an incredible amount of value with nearly 400 videos and a private community of over 14,000 filmmakers just like you but guys that pretty much wraps it up thanks for watching don't forget to subscribe and if you have any further questions please let us know

Channel: Full Time Filmmaker

Views: 626,233

Keywords: b-roll, epic b roll, how to shoot b roll, daniel schiffer, james matthews, product videos, unboxing, razer blade, handheld shooting, intro sequence, cinematic intro, job shadow, b roll behind the scenes, stayhome, covid filmmaking, coronavirus filmmakers

Id: NSgXKmI332I

Length: 11min 42sec (702 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 20 2020