By Danny F. Santos (doddleNEWS) In the previous part, we introduced perspective as a visual cue for depth. Perspective is one of the better known visual cues but there are many more that can give the audience cues to depth or a lack there of. Size This is actually a very easy staging technique and [...]

By Danny F. Santos (doddleNEWS) In part 3 of understanding space, we introduced the idea of limited space which is a way of giving cues to the audience of depth. But what if you want to create deep space in your frame? In a 2D frame, there are different visual cues the viewer can pick [...]

By Danny F. Santos (doddleNEWS) In part 1 and part 2 of this series on understanding space in film, we explored the idea of the frame creating the illusion of space both in it and outside of it. Continuing with that, we’ll introduce some more kinds of spacial concepts.   Foreground Mid-ground and Background One [...]

By Danny F. Santos (doddleNEWS) Last time we were looking at Clerks for lessons we can take away from previous independent films which was shot for under $30,000. Today, we look at a film that was shot for even less, Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi was shot for a little over $7,000. El Mariachi is action [...]

By Danny F. Santos (doddleNEWS) Every film tells two stories, the one on the screen and the one behind the scenes. This is the best part of independent filmmaking, sometimes the story behind the film is just as entertaining. And informative. There’s probably no better place to learn the craft of low-to-no budget filmmaking than [...]

In part 1 we introduced the idea that as filmmakers, our canvas is the frame and everything happens inside of it. There are notable exceptions as some films have a live theatrical component to them but for the most part the screen is what you have to work with. What if I told you this [...]

Space, or the illusion of space, is incredibly important in filmmaking. With it, you control not only what the audience sees, but how you want them to see it. There are a few simple ways of controlling space, the easiest to explain is the frame.   The Frame Simply put, stuff happens in the frame, [...]

Ever hear the phrase read between the lines or show, don’t tell when it comes to filmmaking? Well, exactly how do you do that? Welcome to the wonderful world of semiotics! What the hell is semiotics? It’s a branch of cognitive studies about how human beings pass on information from one person to the next [...]

Understanding the visual language of film is incredibly valuable, that’s why I put such an emphasis into understanding the aesthetics and design of what’s in frame and what to leave out. I wanted to take a moment to touch on what I personally base all my visuals on. These are two famous quotes that you’ve [...]

Click on the following links for previous parts: Part 1: Color Systems Part 2: Describing Color Part 3: Color Interaction Part 4: Color Schemes Part 5: More Color Schemes Part 6: Psychology of Color Part 7: More Psychology of Color Part 8: Controlling Color There is so much breadth to color theory that entire courses [...]