Movie Making Basics
From Sims99Wiki
Contents |
[edit] Storyline
To make a movie first you need a storyline. It can be of many different genres such as romance, horror, action, comedy and more. Dig into your interest and explore your creativity. It is best to choose story that you are familiar with and have interest in. That way, it would be much easier for you to develop the storyline. A basic storyline would have a start, a conflict and a resolution (ending).
[edit] Actors and Sets
With a storyline in hand, the next step is to create actors and sets. Try to make the actors as distinctively different as possible to avoid viewers’ confusion and dress them appropriately according to the scenes/locations. Take the same approach when building sets. Make sure they are in sync with the storyline/scenes. Do not make them too big and make sure to decorate appropriately to make them look as realistic as possible. Make good use of Custom Contents in adding variety to your characters and sets.
[edit] Filming
Filming is the process of capturing the scenes. You will need to find the best animations for the Sims to play out the scene and best camera angle for each scene. You can use hacks and mods to help “force” Sims behave the way you need them to. When you found both, all you need to do is start filming. Always remember to film in live mode, have the walls up and use ceiling tile if you're using upward angle. Most importantly, eliminate the plumbbob and the speech bubble.
[edit] Graphic and Camera Setting
There are several setting you can change to maximize the quality of the movie clip. In the Graphic Option maximize/on the available options such as the shadow, reflection, graphic detail, smooth edges etc.
In the Camera Option, you can choose the video capture size, quality and sound. For video capture size the options are Small (128x128), Medium (320x240) and Large (640X480). The suggested video capture size would be the Large setting for better quality. Video quality ranges from Low , Medium, High and High Uncompressed. Each quality level is determined by the frame rate and data rate. For example Medium Quality setting has 15fps while High Quality setting has 30fps. It is recommended to set it up to High Quality. However it also depends on your computer ability to handle it. You can try High Uncompress if your computer can handle it or you might only able to film at Medium Quality.
Make sure you turn the sound off in the Camera Option.
[edit] Sound Setting
To record with no sound, go into game options, click on the Camera Option, and towards the bottom there will be a sound enabled/disabled option. Use this to record video footage with no sound. If you would like background noise and sound effects such as walking, chairs moving, etc., you will need to go into the game options, click on the speaker icon, and click on mute for voices.
[edit] Finding Camera Angles
The in game camera can be very flexible. All you have to do it find a good angle by experimenting with the positions.
It is highly recommended that you used the Cameraman Mode because it provides greater range than the regular game camera. Be creative with camera angles. Do not just simply point the camera straight on and at level angle because it can be boring. Try tilting it slightly, or even do extreme angles such as the camera pointing towards the sky. Also, look for interesting perspective in your sets and capture that for added visual dimension and try squeezing the camera inside open-able objects or in front/behind objects for interesting shots.
[edit] Saving Camera Angles
To save camera angle, press CRTL and the number 4-9. To retrieve the angle press the corresponding number that you saved before. Angles in game camera and cameraman mode are independent of each other giving you a total of 12 different angles combined. With saved angles, you can produce camera movement by saving at least 2 angles and retrieve the angles one after another.
[edit] Cuts Scenes/Cinematic
The cinematic effects happen when big events such as the first kiss, wedding, having a baby, etc. take place. They are automatically recorded in the game if your computer can handle it. In the options menu, this is grayed out if your system configuration doesn't allow cut scenes.
To record the effect, simply click the camera icon on your game or V to record BEFORE the event begins.
[edit] Editing
After capturing the raw clips you need to edit them to make a full movie. Editing process involves adding and cutting clips, adding transitions/effects and adding audio. Most first time moviemakers use Windows Movie Maker (WMM) that comes with Windows XP and above. It is a very simple, easy to understand and to use movie editor. After you are familiar with editing process, you might want to upgrade to a more advance movie editor for enhanced editing features.
[edit] Promoting
Most movie makers want to hear feedback on their works. To get feedback, you need to put your work out there. The key to getting your work out there is promotions. There are various ways you can do to promote your movie.
- When adding your movie to the main site make it a point to add interesting screenshot and appropriate movie description because they play roles in getting viewers’ attention.
- Provide several viewing option such as a hi res and a low les version because some viewers might not be able to view certain version.
- Announce it in The Sims 2 Movie section [1] in the Forums and other machinima/fansite/Sims related forums.
- Add link to your movie page on your signature in forums.
- Ask for constructive criticism and be sure to respond positively to the feedbacks.
- Review other directors’ movies. Do not expect others to review your when you’re not doing it yourself.
- Blog about it
