Use Common Things for Unique Visuals

She moves through the frame, her face suddenly going dark because the person watching her is inside a car with a UV tinted band on the windshield:


Tinted Windshield


Unique Shot

There are many opportunities to use the everyday things around us to get really cool shots for our films. Keep your eyes open.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Your Media Production Mentor

Image Inspiration: Steins' Panic

Great cutting isn't only reserved for the world of live action. In this anime, a character has just raised suspicion about another character. A moment, and then we cut to this:


Steins' Suspicion

The edit was perfect. But it's not just the cut. The framing--placing him a little lower in the shot, pressed against the wall, watching from the shadows--just screams suspicion. It's perfect.

Later in the episode, our hero realizes that his friends could be in danger. He drops everything and runs back to the lab. The animators switched to a scribbled, hurried, high-contrast style while he tore through the city in a mad panic.


Steins' Panic

There are so many tools at our disposal as filmmakers. Keep in mind things like framing and shot style as you work on your next project.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Your Media Production Mentor