KitPlus | Articles

Strays - Telling a dark tale

Independent filmmaker, Aaron Dunleavy, has used the backdrop of his hometown, Blackburn, to create a new short film as part of Channel 4 and Arts Council Englands Random Acts programme. The initiative - delivered by Tyneside Cinema (Newcastle), HOME (Manchester), and True North Productions (Leeds) - commissions bold, innovative expressions of creat...

Submitted by Aaron Dunleavy

Published 19 October 2017

Advances in LED lighting innovation with Rotolight AEOS

i There\'s no doubt that lighting plays a critical role in videography, filmmaking and photography. It\'s the area of content capture that brings added creativity to shoots, whether that\'s filming a wedding, producing a commercial or making a movie. Much like cameras have evolved over the past few years, lighting has also evolved; from the traditi...

Submitted by Rod Aaron Gammons

Published 07 September 2017

The Masters of Dirt - Extreme Production

On 22nd April 2017 Inside the Masters of Dirt, the world\'s wildest unscripted motocross reality series, will launch exclusively on INSIGHT TV in 4K UHD. Produced by Masters Of Dirt (M.O.D) and XTreme Video, the series follows the adrenaline-addicted crew that produces the popular freestyle motocross arena show of the same name. Boasting upwards of...

Submitted by Rian Bester

Published 19 May 2017

Behind the scences of Under the Shadow

BAFTA nominated director Babak Anvari\'s first feature length film, "Under the Shadow", certainly offers a unique insight into the devastation of the 1980s Iran-Iraq war. Taking place in Tehran just as the war enters its eighth year, the thriller follows a mother and her young daughter struggling to survive a brutal bombing campaign whilst also dea...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 07 December 2016

Documentary filmmaking - Protecting the past

If you wanted my opinion on what I thought was the most rewarding media making pursuit, I'd have to single out documentary filmmaking. All media making can be very demanding, and each genre has its own particular issues that make it what it is, but almost nothing is certain about documentary which is why I find it so exciting. The idea could be ins...

Submitted by Charlie Watts

Published 26 September 2016

Breakthrough

By Julia Belle Issue 113 - May 2016 How do you become a Hollywood Film Producer? Or a Second Assistant Director? Or a Gaffer?Truth is, they’re not particularly straight-forward questions to answer. But that doesn’t mean you should give up there and start working in a jam factory as your school careers advisor recommended. (Not that there’s anythin...

Submitted by Julia Belle

Published 20 May 2016

Our Time At NAB 2016

by Beth Zarkosh Issue 113 - May 2016 We were lucky enough to visit this year\'s NAB Show in Las Vegas, and we must saythere were some real treats on show! Here\'s just a few things that stood out for us and worth keeping your eye on. Virtual Reality & 360 Degree VideosOne thing that really stood out for us was the virtual reality filmmaking devices...

Submitted by Beth Zarkosh

Published 13 May 2016

TV Futures

by Jemma Davis Issue 112 - April 2016 The second year of my degree course gives a variety of options, and one of these is scuba diving and filming. It\'s something I\'ve never considered before, so when I saw it as an option choice I was delighted to be faced with the opportunity to film underwater. I can also now say it was the best thing I\'ve ev...

Submitted by Jemma Davis

Published 25 April 2016

How Your iPad Can Help Your Filmmaking

by Beth Zarkosh Issue 110 - February 2016 How Your iPad Can Help Your FilmmakingThe new iPad is a fantastic and innovative tool for practically anything, but now you can rely on it for your filmmaking needs as well. It may not be what Spielberg is using to shoot his next blockbuster, however its rapidly becoming a must-have tool for filmmakers of a...

Submitted by Beth Zarkhosh

Published 16 March 2016

Camera Operation and Training Part 1

by Peter Leverick Issue 110 - February 2016 Question: What is the difference between a Videographer and a Broadcast Cameraman?Answer: About £150/day without kit. This is a borrowed joke from an old friend of mine (name withheld, but thank you John), who was answering a facetious enquiry from a Lighting Director about his own job title compared to m...

Submitted by Peter Leverick

Published 16 March 2016

EXIT PLAN - Creating an indi SCI-FI for less than 3000 do...

with Richard Oakes Issue 108 - Decmeber 2015 The director behind new indie short "Exit Plan\" reveals just what it took to write, crowd fund, shoot and grade his very own proof of concept for a science fiction feature with DaVinci Resolve, a Pocket Cinema Camera, and only four crew members on set For founder of Dark Fable Media, Richard Oakes, film...

Submitted by exitplan

Published 15 December 2015

4k - is it really worth it

by Beth Zarkosh Issue 108 - December 2015 4K; the holy grail of modern digital filmmaking. Weve all heard of it, but perhaps not all of us are ready for the change. Here we look at the perceptions versus the realities of shooting in 4K. Ultra High Definition is something that has derived from 4K, but now it seems most filmmakers are pressured into...

Submitted by Beth Zarkhosh

Published 15 December 2015

Selling yourself online

by Beth Zarkhosh Issue 103 - July 2015 YouTube ; the video sharing website that was founded in San Bruno California in 2005 has quickly become one of if not the biggest, and most prominent websites of the decade. Allowing pretty much anyone, anywhere to upload videos of their choice with millions of viewers around the world, YouTube has grown in to...

Submitted by Beth Zarkhosh

Published 01 August 2015

Is working for free, training or a pathway to paid work?

by Graham Reed Issue 102 - June 2015 I suspect like a lot of KitPlus readers I often have a look at a websites that advertise jobs, but mainly un-paid. I have frequently thought that these job offers are really just trying to get free or cheap labour for the benefit of the director/producer. One recently advertised for .... a cameraman thats enthus...

Submitted by graham reed

Published 01 July 2015

DIY Camera dollies, flatbed vs T frame and is it worth it...

by Alasdair Brenninkmeijer Issue 102 - June 2015 As filmmakers we are creatives and sometimes we see a simple product as a waste of money, saying "I could make that.\" Sure enough with enough time, maybe we could, but is it really worth it? Lets take a camera dolly for example. The challenge is to create something to smoothly move the camera from o...

Submitted by Alasdair Brenninkmeijer

Published 01 July 2015