Film-Making Tips, 17th November 2023

In this weekly blog of Dan’s Friday Film-Making Creative Tips & Wonders, we dive into how you can make your very own Netflix-style documentary from within the comfort of your own home. We take a look at Google Earth Studio and show you how this can be used to create cool transitions for your next project and we talk about the future of AI editing in the form of Generative Fill and how this could help to elevate your videos to the next level!

Can You Shoot Your Own Netflix Documentary?

A filmmaker/YouTuber by the name of Paul E.T. has made a funny yet fascinating video on how to make your very own Netflix documentary at home, showing what can be achieved with minimum equipment, the correct lighting, some stock footage and a bit of creativity in the edit. The end result is a highly impressive stylised documentary that would not look out of place on Netflix, even if the subject matter is about ‘Toast.’ 😅 Hopefully this will inspire others to pick up a camera and start making their own Netflix-style documentaries in the comfort of their own homes!

Google Earth Zoom Transition

Ever wondered how to make amazing cinematic transitions from one location or country to another, without the use of a helicopter or drone? Well, Google has a web-based animation tool many people haven’t heard about. Google Earth Studio allows users to create custom videos using Google Earth imagery. It’s a pretty cool tool for storytelling, whether you want to showcase a specific location or create dynamic flyovers of areas, you can manipulate camera angles, add keyframes, and export the final product as a video for use in your own projects. One filmmaker called Javier Mercedes has shared a tutorial video on how to create an impressive Google Earth Zoom Transition that is sure to elevate your content to the next level and give it that high-end production feel!

AI Generative Fill For Video

One new AI technology that could soon be coming to editing platforms is Generative Fill. Currently being trialled in Photoshop Beta, it is an impressive tool that involves using artificial intelligence algorithms to automatically generate content to fill in missing or incomplete parts of a video and could be particularly useful in scenarios where there are gaps, glitches, or unwanted elements within the footage. This could be used to create eerie, empty cityscapes like in ‘28 Days Later’ or it could also be used to elevate boring interview-type situations where generative fill could be used to transform a static background into something much more interesting.