8 Cool Camera Tricks You Can Do with Cardboard

Want to know how to make those silly little alien thingies in the picture above? All you'll need is cardboard.

Filmmaking can be very expensive, but it doesn't always have to be. Sometimes you can use stuff you find in your own house to create intriguing, professional-looking effects, as well as cinematic tools that usually would cost you a few pretty pennies. In the video below, COOPH shows you how to utilize cardboard, perhaps one of the most readily available material you have in your home right now, to make some cool DIY light modifiers, tripods, and even lenses. Check it out below:

Even though this video is geared more toward photographers, filmmakers can still put them to good use on their projects, as well. Here's the list of hacks you can pull off using cardboard:

• Light stenciling
• Smartphone tripod
• Unique bokeh shapes
• Smartphone pinhole
• DIY macro lens
• DIY reflector
• DIY barn doors 
• Smartphone projector

Even though these hacks are fun, cheap, and easy to make, some of them actually will be extremely useful on set. Maybe you won't have much of a need for a custom bokeh filter or a tiny smartphone tripod when filming your feature film, but you could certainly find a way to utilize a DIY macro lens and cardboard barn doors.

What are some other creative ways filmmakers could use cardboard? Let us know down in the comments.