By Tom Corigliano
Michael Butler and Eric Ruhalter are no strangers when it comes to making videos.
Butler, a former senior director for Court TV and truTV, and Ruhalter, a senior writer and producer for AMC TV, were featured guests at the proposed Morristown Eco Center on Monday night for Video 101, an event presented by MorristownGreen.com.
They shared how-to’s for aspiring filmmakers of all ages, during an evening meant to encourage people to submit movies to the Fourth Annual MorristownGreen.com Film Festival, which will be held in late August.
Ruhalter, author of The KidDictionary, discussed Good For the Earth, his short comedy that was voted Best Picture at last year’s festival.
He shot the video with friends from Morristown’s Cutler Park neighborhood over three days; he lost track of how much time he spent editing the footage.
His advice was to carefully plan what you intend to shoot… and shoot plenty of extra footage, or “B roll,” from multiple angles.
Butler, who directed live coverage of some of the most sensational trials in U.S. history, including the O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson cases, showed videos made by his broadcasting students at Morristown High School.
He emphasized the importance of capturing clean audio and rock steady video: A tripod is a videographer’s best friend. He also said the best way to convey a sense of movement is to let subjects travel across the frame rather than tracking them “like a NASCAR race.”
Both men stressed that movies are about storytelling: They should have a beginning, middle and end. All the flashy special effects in the world are wasted if the underlying story is not compelling, Butler said.
Some of his students were in the audience and they chimed in with recommendations on cameras and techniques.
In the 1980s, MTV introduced a quick-cut editing style that has come to dominate reality TV. While it’s jumpy and jarring to some older viewers, Morristown High student Justin Marks said he likes the style when it fits the content of a program, particularly for action shows.
The evening was moderated by MorristownGreen.com Editor Kevin Coughlin, who compared storytelling via print and video. He suggested trying to compose every video shot like a still photograph.
Although MHS students are equipped with cameras costing thousands of dollars, excellent results can be achieved for much less.
David Wood, a member of the audience, raved about his Panasonic Lumix camera, a $400 point-and-shoot that records high-definition video. Flip cameras and iPhones also can yield surprisingly good HD video.
(The night began with a moment of silence for the affordable Flip, discontinued this month by Cisco Systems. Cisco paid more than half a billion dollars to acquire Flip in 2009, but video-shooting smart phones like the iPhone have improved dramatically since then.)
The advantage of pricier cameras is faster lenses, longer zooms, better image stabilization and better performance in low light, among other features.
Likewise, costly programs such as Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere offer powerful editing tools. Yet the panelists agreed that superb videos can be made with iMovie and MovieMaker, which ship with Macs and PCs, respectively.
Video 101 was the first of five seminars to be hosted at the proposed EcoCenter by MorristownGreen.com, in cooperation with Sustainable Morristown.
The next one will be on Tuesday, May 3. The focus will be on songwriting, featuring four top local talents: Grover Kemble of Za Zu Zaz fame, Blaire Reinhard of the Blaire Reinhard Band, Adeo of Universal Rebel, and singer-songwriter Bill Griese. All of the seminars are open to the general public free of charge.
Promoters of the EcoCenter hope to convert the former Mini Cooper dealership at 55 Bank St. into a sustainable business incubator, organic restaurant, commercial kitchen and performance space, among other things.
As for Video 101, it left one with a sense of urgency to go out and make movies. With many inspired prospective filmmakers on hand Monday, it’s a safe bet that the Film Festival will heat up the Morristown Green come August.
Editor’s note: Our thanks to everyone who came to Video 101 and shared their knowledge, and to Eric Ruhalter and Mike Butler for being great panelists. Also, thank you to Paul Miller of Sustainable Morristown and Jonathan Cloud and Lori Sandler of the Sustainable Business Incubator for their hospitality at the EcoCenter, and to Melody McGinley Whitelaw of The Main Event for her delicious brownies and cupcakes.
Still to come at the EcoCenter, at 55 Bank St.:
MG Songwriters Night, May 3: Where do great songs come from? Gifted songwriters talk about the magic behind the music.
MG Cartoonists Night, May 13: Want to start a comic strip? Three cartoonists tell you how.
MG Fun With Words, May 17: Poetry, hip-hop, beat boxing, improv and more.
MG Kids Art Show, May 25: Kids art, tips on green cooking for kids, a live art project, and more. (This event starts after school, at 2:30 pm.)
READ MORE ABOUT THE PROPOSED MORRISTOWN ECOCENTER
WATCH VIDEO: ‘GOOD FOR THE EARTH’
