How to get more professional look?

Question

I know of and have read in other threads of things that can be done in pre-production and shooting to achieve a more professional look.
I was wondering if any pros out there have advice for the amateurs like me in terms of post-production. What can I do in FCP to give my DV footage a more professional appearance? eg - filters, etc or techniques?
I appreciate the advice!

Answer 1

I assume that professionals often look at an amateur
production and say "if they only would have..." or
whatever. THAT's the information I'm looking for.
Yes. Here's my take. I'm a film editor who's had the privilege to work on $100 movies to $100 million movies.
STORY is king. If your story is working, and crafted well, and paced properly, you can get away with almost whatever you want. For instance, when I cut scenes, I cut for performance... I don't toss out takes because the glass of water was full in take one but empty in another. 9 times out of ten, even the seasoned filmmakers I'm working with never see the continuity errors because the performances are working.
Occasionally I work with first time directors, helping them with their first short. I see two main mistakes. First, they think that if someone knows how to operate Final Cut or an Avid, that they are an editor. This is simply not true. I know how to use a chisel, but there is no way in **** I could sculpt the David. Editing is the same: knowing what buttons to push is the least important part of editing. Knowing how to tell a story well is EVERYTHING. In fact, I know one Oscar winning editor who spent many years never touching the equipment at all. She chose the cut points, and had her assistants do the physical cutting.
The second main mistake amateur filmmakers make, IMO, is that they are not vicious enough when cutting their material. Every single frame of film you project should be conveying new information to the audience. If it's not, get it out. I once did a fixit job on a film for a first time director. The film was pretty funny, but he had shot all these long panning and dolly shots as establishing shots for scenes. I told him we should take them out, and at first he balked because one dolly shot in particular had been so difficult to set up and film. But the audience doesn't care about that. All they know is that they are watching a ten second camera move with nobody talking and no jokes in it. When we went through and pulled all this stuff out, it was like a completely different film. The director was overjoyed. Plus, without all this junk in the film, when you did choose to sit in a shot and have nothing happen for a few seconds, it then meant something. In a way, it was giving new information, even though nothing was happening.
That's my two cents worth. I haven't seen you're project, but I'd suggest watching it through again and question every shot, every line of dialog, every pause you have in there. Ask yourself "What new information is this element telling? Why do I have it in? Do I need it? Have I already told this story point?" etc. I suspect if you tighten the story you're telling so there are no wasted frames, people may not care as much about the handycam look.
Dual 2Ghz G5, ibook G4, 1.6 Duo Mini   Mac OS X (10.4.7)