Peachpit Commons Blog

In this economy, we're all looking to make an extra buck or two or thousand. If your lottery ticket theory hasn't panned out yet, give this week's Friday Freebies a try.

Wanna get your photos seen by thousands of Peachpit's most passionate photographers? Starting this month, we'll be highlighting the work of one talented member of our Photography Newsletter Flickr group in our monthly Photography newsletter. This month, we chose a photo of the Akershus Fortress by Oslo-based photographer Eli Reinholdtsen, who, as you'll see from this photo, is passionate about shooting reflections, shadows, and silhouettes.

Accessorize your iPad or iPhone with this week's #FridayFreebies. No, I'm not talking about getting them a new purse or a pair of shoes...although I'm sure that would really draw attention to her best features...

What does popcorn, a movie, and Lightroom 3 have in common? Aside, of course, from being an amazing idea for a first date?

Releasing your creation to the world.

There are several ways you can publish a movie for sharing with others. The method you choose depends on who you want to see it and what their viewing capabilities are.

Assembling the pieces of the story.

If you stuck to the shot list you created in step 2 and acquired all the video you need in step 3, you should be ready to tackle the next step, which is to assemble video clips into a rough cut of your story. This is where you get to try out your non-linear editing skills and test your knowledge of your video editing software.

The purpose of this article is not to explain how to edit video with your software of choice—or mine, for that matter. Instead, I’ll explain the kinds of things you should be thinking about and doing as you assemble the clips.

Check out where our book has been hanging out this week. Then win yourself a copy and join it!

Shooting is the process of gathering the building blocks for your movie.

With shot list in hand, and all your other preliminary planning in mind, you’re ready to shoot or acquire the video footage. As you might imagine, this is a critical part of the movie-making process. Your movie can only be as good as the video you build it with.

I can’t instruct you how to use your camera to shoot video. I can, however, provide you with some terms and concepts that you need to consider when shooting. I can also offer some tips for getting the job done effectively. That’s what this part of the series is all about.

So you know what you’re doing before you do it.

In Step 1, you came up with a good topic idea and learned more about it. This research should have helped you understand what your story was going to be about.

Doing your homework first will save time and effort later.

A movie needs a topic. It isn’t enough to just come up with a vague idea and start shooting video. Instead, it’s best to develop a movie topic and spend some time learning about it—before you do anything else.

Everyone loves the creative types. There's something so mysterious and romantic about the guy or gal doodling in their sketchbook at the bus stop. That could be you, with a little Creative Edge. And maybe some Old Spice. But I digress. It's Friday Freebies time!