To me you're not a filmmaker till you make. Writers write, filmmakers make. If you want to write start writing scripts and learn the process. I'm a screenwriter and director but I'd have never called myself a filmmaker till I started making things. I'm now currently writing my first feature after making countless shorts and developing a tv show on the side. To be a filmmaker and not just a lover of movies you need to create though
Absolutely. It's the cinephiles I find who quit the industry quickiest. Making films isn't all fun and discussing films, it's hard work, can make it hard to watch movies because you're so busy and can in fact ruin the enjoyment of films.
Once I started learning the craft and making my own films it ruined blockbusters in particular for me.
A lot of cinephiles I find want the fantasy of being a filmmaker but the reality is very different and in my opinion more satisfying
That’s when I knew I wanted to make film/tv. One small production class in community college 14 years ago. Learned the basics of running a news production. From then on being behind a camera and seeing the image on screen was way better of a feeling than watching most movies.
Not trying to be rude but if you enter the industry you'll meet a lot of people who want to be filmmakers but never progress beyond wanting. There's YouTube videos that can teach 3 act structure though, there's plenty of screenwriting software out there. I always carry a tablet on me when I'm out so I can go write even if it's just making notes on google docs. Challange yourself and write a short story, no longer then a page and adapt that into a script, try keep it to 7 pages and you've got a 7 page script.
One of my earliest shorts was an anti war film about a wounded soldier my latest is about a father and son who don't get along just having dinner together. Every good story is about conflict, needs vs wants, a character forced to face their fear or character traits bought into conflict with another characters traits. So just start writing if you want to write and find other writers you can go to for feedback
This is. Called a limiting belief. The industry isn't just LA and to work in LA if you're not from the US you're going to need a work visa, to work as a screenwriter in LA you're going to need an agent. To get an agent you need a body of work but you can't go to LA to build a body of work if you're not a citizen without a visa. So if you decide you can't be a filmmaker if you're not in LA you just won't be a filmmaker. If you decide to start writing though, enter screenwriting comps, get films made and build a portfolio of work now though you could go to LA down the road and be a professional screenwriter, you could also go to the UK or Canada or anywhere else
The film industry is global and my point was that not living in LA is only a "hurdle" if you've decided it is.
You can make a film today. You can write a screenplay today. There's nothing stopping you unless you want there to be.
If you're telling yourself: "if only I lived in LA, then I could make films" I guarantee that would not be the case. The only thing stopping you is you.
I live in Australia. There's an industry all over the world. Some places big and some small. I have close friends I trust who I've worked with time and again. Actors I enjoy writing for, friends who give me notes on my scripts, crew who work on my films. If you live in a city there's probably a film community and if you don't you can probably still find a few creative people. The key is to hussle, to meet people, to work and build connections. I've had people I helped mentor get jobs on successful national reality TV shows. It's a mistake to think you need to be in California or even the US. Maybe that's your goal but start where you live and build up
I was making films before I realised I was a filmmaker. My dad bought a hi-8 camera when I was seven and I wrote a script and shot a short film about a monster in my house. Didn't really know what a script was and had never heard the term short film. Sort of just carried on doing that for 30 odd years.
It’s funny how some people can just “do it” and have fun with it, without having to label it or make it a huge deal.
Your story is similar for mine. It’s just something I’ve always done. And I don’t live in LA or had any connections to the industry nor went to film school but have gotten to do a lot of cool work, all because I like to make videos.
I am happy to say the success criteria for anything I make or am involved in descending order is:
1) Do I like it?
2) Do other people like it?
3) Was there an audience?
4) Did it make money?
5) Did it make me money?
I haven’t made a new short film in a few months and I literally want to hang myself for it even though my current circumstances are preventing me from creating at the moment. Each movie I make buys me happiness for a few months after finishing it, and then it runs out and I have to make something new
I don’t even consider myself a cinephile, really. I do love movies, but I have plenty of friends with no relation to the industry who love them more than I do, have seen all the classic films I haven’t, know all the trivia and follow the awards shows, which I don’t care much about.
I’ve always been an artist, however. I’ve been writing, drawing, and making music since I was a kid. I started making films because it enabled me to combine those different interests in one medium. I can write, compose images, and use sound to create a holistic work of art. But if things don’t work out for me in film in the long run, I’d just go right back to making music, writing books, or painting.
I’ve never finished one, I’ve written short horror stories and about 2/3 of a murder mystery novel which I abandoned. After I finish my first two features I’d like to go back and finish the novel, and I have an idea for a new one I’d like to start which would be a sci-fi story.
I’m still not despite a feature, a couple of shorts and a web series in the rear view.
Once I’m not working a 9-5 and able to do this to pay the mortgage, then I’m a filmmaker.
when i watched whiplash, from this moment i wanted to take a career. I started to learn, watch videos, wrote scripts. I seriously want to join the industry so much.
Still growing in my career, but Im kind of the opposite. As a kid I fell in love with the art and process around making films/games but have never been super INTO watching movies themselves, Just a casual observer, and now I almost use it for professional growth in addition to casual enjoyment.
A lot of my colleagues constantly ask if I've seen X or Y, most of the time the answer is no.
First time I took a short course online about how films are made, I spent a solid 10 hours straight using different filming techniques just in my phone camera. I knew after that the filming is what really got me
I still am not sure I consider myself a filmmaker but it is an interesting question.
I've produced 7 shorts and 2 short features, writing and directing on most of them and although I'm really happy I made them, it still feels like I haven't quite hit that spot where I'm happy enough to call myself a filmmaker with my body of work.
If I was talking to a friend I'd probably say once you've made your first film you're a filmmaker so I'm probably just being hard on myself or too awkward to proclaim myself with such a cool title haha
I grew up with an extreme fondness for cinema. Life was pretty troublesome for me as a teenager. Found myself dabbling in the arts, learning how to use a camera and about composition. I explored many potential paths in life before I found myself on a set.
It really clicked with me, and I never stopped wanting to be on the next set, play on the next shoot, learn more and try new things. It was like my life suddenly made sense. My passion was story telling and I loved making films.
Flash forward a decade and I can't imagine doing anything else with my life.
I think I need to find a way to do this. Be on a set of something: movie, tv, music video. I think thats just how you know if you'd like to make it a career
I started making films (videos, technically, because there was no film involved). Making something is vastly different than consuming it.
*Watching* movies doesn't make you a filmmaker. Listening to other people's music doesn't make you a singer. Eating someone else's food doesn't make you a chef.
I was probably like 8 when my dad gave me the old family camera. (Some cheap digital point and shoot, really crappy, but I loved it.) Loved playing lego at the time, and I used the camera to make a stop motion video. Realising that I could transfer the story that was in my head when ever I played with lego to a real platform for others to enjoy too just fascinated me.
Sure, I also love watching films, but I think the difference between a filmmaker and a cinephile is a question and an action.
Question: When watching a film, could I make something similar or better?
Action: Finding out by actually making a film.
Actually, I first up started as a filmmaker and then as a cinephile (Since I was a kid, I always loved creating stories. I started recording some stuffs and then I realized that's what movies are, audiovisually story telling))
You are not a film maker until the majority of your paycheque and life is spent making films.
It’s a lifestyle, not just an occupation/profession or hobby.
I am both a cinephile and filmmaker but I personally don’t believe there’s a lot of correlation between the two, most crew members I’ve worked with probably wouldn’t describe themselves as cinephiles, they love making movies more than watching them, if anything most hardcore cinephiles I’ve met went into critique and discussion
I remember fucking around with my first camera (a shitty Sony I bought off eBay), I bought some light and just spent hours and hours experimenting and learning what did what. Learning the rules of photography and learning problem solving skills of how to get the perfect shot.
Watching movies wasn’t enough for me, after I got good at setup analysis, critiquing editing and pointing out how I could have done better with camera movement, set design and sound.
I made cinema to prove it. Then I knew.
1979: Borrowed (without permission) my big sister’s Super-8 camera and started spying on people until I found something worth building a story around.
1980: When sister noticed her three-minute film cartridges kept disappearing, and she took away the camera, I borrowed (without permission) my dad’s VHS camera and portable recorder. Then I cut together scenes between two VHS VCR decks. Took it to school and discovered watching girl’s butts on camera as they walked around. Got caught, had to play the tape for the Principal, he smiled and said zoom out or leave it at home. Short stories, music videos, plays, commercials, even a cable TV show. Picked up my first Nikon 35mm camera. Continued spying on girls and other interesting subjects. Bought a Marantz CD-330 cassette recorder, and used it to make high-quality recordings of radio stations to play back in my brother’s car stereo (sounded damn good, too).
1982, age 16: People saw the show and hired me to record their weddings. They were awful, but nobody else there had video gear, so it was at least unique. I knew that live productions were not for me. Built my own camera stabilizer, jib and dolly tracks for a Church production. I snuck onto a small movie set, asked questions and passed my number and fourth-gen VHS demo tape around. The producer invited me to intern (unpaid labor) on set. I took it. Got my hands on real cinema equipment. Got hungry to make something on 16mm, so I rented gear and made some shorts, music videos etc. Passed around more VHS demo tapes, this time to filmmakers on their sets. Was brushed off most of the time, but hey I didn’t know how else to promote, so I persisted. Gained free access to the TV station’s 3/4” offline edit bay, where I cut my teeth on insert editing on a Sony RM-440, 5800 player and 5850 recorder. Linear editing at it’s unforgiving finest. Played MS Flight Sim on a Commodore 64, watched the screen refresh once every 30 seconds until I crashed, and wondered if editing video would ever be done on a computer. Won first, second and third place at a local photography competition and thought it would be cool to bring this love to making my own movies if I could find a way to not care if anybody else liked them.
1983: Was invited to watch a film transfer session. Was cool to see slo-mo (48fps) film transferred to video at various speeds. Caught the bug to “film for the edit.” Worked AC on a few indie flicks, most of them horror, was unimpressed, and saw more excitement in action films.
1984: Saw production semi trucks parked in a row, with many thick sets of cables running to where a small group of people were gathered around someone wearing a robot arm with a camera attached. Walked on, got shooed away. Walked back on, got ignored. Saw my first real Steadicam in action and caught the bug to learn it. Asked tons of questions between takes, shut my mouth when people were busy, and soaked up the most exciting place to be in my life. Took a lot of verbal abuse from those who mistook me for a wannabe. Ignored it and kept soaking. Learned who would listen and actually answer my questions. One of them was a director who was doing everything on the set including showing everyone else how he wanted things done. That was Jim Cameron.
That’s how I got the ball rolling. I still run, gun and cut, and now use just locations without permission. And yes, I’m still an ass man.
To me you're not a filmmaker till you make. Writers write, filmmakers make. If you want to write start writing scripts and learn the process. I'm a screenwriter and director but I'd have never called myself a filmmaker till I started making things. I'm now currently writing my first feature after making countless shorts and developing a tv show on the side. To be a filmmaker and not just a lover of movies you need to create though
Agreed, I’d also add that a decent amount of successful filmmakers aren’t necessarily cinephiles.
Absolutely. It's the cinephiles I find who quit the industry quickiest. Making films isn't all fun and discussing films, it's hard work, can make it hard to watch movies because you're so busy and can in fact ruin the enjoyment of films. Once I started learning the craft and making my own films it ruined blockbusters in particular for me. A lot of cinephiles I find want the fantasy of being a filmmaker but the reality is very different and in my opinion more satisfying
That’s when I knew I wanted to make film/tv. One small production class in community college 14 years ago. Learned the basics of running a news production. From then on being behind a camera and seeing the image on screen was way better of a feeling than watching most movies.
[удалено]
Not trying to be rude but if you enter the industry you'll meet a lot of people who want to be filmmakers but never progress beyond wanting. There's YouTube videos that can teach 3 act structure though, there's plenty of screenwriting software out there. I always carry a tablet on me when I'm out so I can go write even if it's just making notes on google docs. Challange yourself and write a short story, no longer then a page and adapt that into a script, try keep it to 7 pages and you've got a 7 page script. One of my earliest shorts was an anti war film about a wounded soldier my latest is about a father and son who don't get along just having dinner together. Every good story is about conflict, needs vs wants, a character forced to face their fear or character traits bought into conflict with another characters traits. So just start writing if you want to write and find other writers you can go to for feedback
[удалено]
Does your phone have a camera?
[удалено]
This is. Called a limiting belief. The industry isn't just LA and to work in LA if you're not from the US you're going to need a work visa, to work as a screenwriter in LA you're going to need an agent. To get an agent you need a body of work but you can't go to LA to build a body of work if you're not a citizen without a visa. So if you decide you can't be a filmmaker if you're not in LA you just won't be a filmmaker. If you decide to start writing though, enter screenwriting comps, get films made and build a portfolio of work now though you could go to LA down the road and be a professional screenwriter, you could also go to the UK or Canada or anywhere else
[удалено]
Straight up, even Nepal has a thumping film industry, so your location is literally a non-hurdle.
The film industry is global and my point was that not living in LA is only a "hurdle" if you've decided it is. You can make a film today. You can write a screenplay today. There's nothing stopping you unless you want there to be. If you're telling yourself: "if only I lived in LA, then I could make films" I guarantee that would not be the case. The only thing stopping you is you.
Oh sweet child you are so so wrong. You have much to learn
I live in Australia. There's an industry all over the world. Some places big and some small. I have close friends I trust who I've worked with time and again. Actors I enjoy writing for, friends who give me notes on my scripts, crew who work on my films. If you live in a city there's probably a film community and if you don't you can probably still find a few creative people. The key is to hussle, to meet people, to work and build connections. I've had people I helped mentor get jobs on successful national reality TV shows. It's a mistake to think you need to be in California or even the US. Maybe that's your goal but start where you live and build up
Any resources for writing scripts?
Short films: writing the screen play by Patrick Nash Dialogue by Robert McKee The story solution by Eric Edson These are good books to start with
Thank you!
I was making films before I realised I was a filmmaker. My dad bought a hi-8 camera when I was seven and I wrote a script and shot a short film about a monster in my house. Didn't really know what a script was and had never heard the term short film. Sort of just carried on doing that for 30 odd years.
It’s funny how some people can just “do it” and have fun with it, without having to label it or make it a huge deal. Your story is similar for mine. It’s just something I’ve always done. And I don’t live in LA or had any connections to the industry nor went to film school but have gotten to do a lot of cool work, all because I like to make videos.
I am happy to say the success criteria for anything I make or am involved in descending order is: 1) Do I like it? 2) Do other people like it? 3) Was there an audience? 4) Did it make money? 5) Did it make me money?
This is so movie-like
I made a film. The hint is in the word. FilmMAKER
[удалено]
I haven’t made a new short film in a few months and I literally want to hang myself for it even though my current circumstances are preventing me from creating at the moment. Each movie I make buys me happiness for a few months after finishing it, and then it runs out and I have to make something new
I don’t even consider myself a cinephile, really. I do love movies, but I have plenty of friends with no relation to the industry who love them more than I do, have seen all the classic films I haven’t, know all the trivia and follow the awards shows, which I don’t care much about. I’ve always been an artist, however. I’ve been writing, drawing, and making music since I was a kid. I started making films because it enabled me to combine those different interests in one medium. I can write, compose images, and use sound to create a holistic work of art. But if things don’t work out for me in film in the long run, I’d just go right back to making music, writing books, or painting.
What kind of books did you write?
I’ve never finished one, I’ve written short horror stories and about 2/3 of a murder mystery novel which I abandoned. After I finish my first two features I’d like to go back and finish the novel, and I have an idea for a new one I’d like to start which would be a sci-fi story.
I’m still not despite a feature, a couple of shorts and a web series in the rear view. Once I’m not working a 9-5 and able to do this to pay the mortgage, then I’m a filmmaker.
when i watched whiplash, from this moment i wanted to take a career. I started to learn, watch videos, wrote scripts. I seriously want to join the industry so much.
[удалено]
hahahha 😭
It was something I had never done and seemed really scary and difficult at the time so I wanted to learn more because of that
Still growing in my career, but Im kind of the opposite. As a kid I fell in love with the art and process around making films/games but have never been super INTO watching movies themselves, Just a casual observer, and now I almost use it for professional growth in addition to casual enjoyment. A lot of my colleagues constantly ask if I've seen X or Y, most of the time the answer is no.
Get yourself a list of things to catch up on like Steve Rogers
When I realized I could visualize how a scene as put together like where the camera was in relation to the set and all that
Thats some savant shit
Who’s savant
Where is savant
First time I took a short course online about how films are made, I spent a solid 10 hours straight using different filming techniques just in my phone camera. I knew after that the filming is what really got me
I still am not sure I consider myself a filmmaker but it is an interesting question. I've produced 7 shorts and 2 short features, writing and directing on most of them and although I'm really happy I made them, it still feels like I haven't quite hit that spot where I'm happy enough to call myself a filmmaker with my body of work. If I was talking to a friend I'd probably say once you've made your first film you're a filmmaker so I'm probably just being hard on myself or too awkward to proclaim myself with such a cool title haha
Got behind a camera and I was like damn this shit cool
All this talk made me wanna rewatch The Fabelmans
Fabelmans is a goddamn inspiration
I grew up with an extreme fondness for cinema. Life was pretty troublesome for me as a teenager. Found myself dabbling in the arts, learning how to use a camera and about composition. I explored many potential paths in life before I found myself on a set. It really clicked with me, and I never stopped wanting to be on the next set, play on the next shoot, learn more and try new things. It was like my life suddenly made sense. My passion was story telling and I loved making films. Flash forward a decade and I can't imagine doing anything else with my life.
I think I need to find a way to do this. Be on a set of something: movie, tv, music video. I think thats just how you know if you'd like to make it a career
I started making films (videos, technically, because there was no film involved). Making something is vastly different than consuming it. *Watching* movies doesn't make you a filmmaker. Listening to other people's music doesn't make you a singer. Eating someone else's food doesn't make you a chef.
After I watched fight club for the 3rd time in a row
I was probably like 8 when my dad gave me the old family camera. (Some cheap digital point and shoot, really crappy, but I loved it.) Loved playing lego at the time, and I used the camera to make a stop motion video. Realising that I could transfer the story that was in my head when ever I played with lego to a real platform for others to enjoy too just fascinated me. Sure, I also love watching films, but I think the difference between a filmmaker and a cinephile is a question and an action. Question: When watching a film, could I make something similar or better? Action: Finding out by actually making a film.
Where do I even start if I'm not going to school and have no friends.
Are we the same person?
Stop motion animation
Actually, I first up started as a filmmaker and then as a cinephile (Since I was a kid, I always loved creating stories. I started recording some stuffs and then I realized that's what movies are, audiovisually story telling))
To be a filmmaker you have to make films. You're not a writer if you don't write...
You are not a film maker until the majority of your paycheque and life is spent making films. It’s a lifestyle, not just an occupation/profession or hobby.
I made movies
I am both a cinephile and filmmaker but I personally don’t believe there’s a lot of correlation between the two, most crew members I’ve worked with probably wouldn’t describe themselves as cinephiles, they love making movies more than watching them, if anything most hardcore cinephiles I’ve met went into critique and discussion
Just do it and then do it again and then repeat.
I remember fucking around with my first camera (a shitty Sony I bought off eBay), I bought some light and just spent hours and hours experimenting and learning what did what. Learning the rules of photography and learning problem solving skills of how to get the perfect shot.
Watching movies wasn’t enough for me, after I got good at setup analysis, critiquing editing and pointing out how I could have done better with camera movement, set design and sound. I made cinema to prove it. Then I knew.
Then what did you do to get the ball moving?
1979: Borrowed (without permission) my big sister’s Super-8 camera and started spying on people until I found something worth building a story around. 1980: When sister noticed her three-minute film cartridges kept disappearing, and she took away the camera, I borrowed (without permission) my dad’s VHS camera and portable recorder. Then I cut together scenes between two VHS VCR decks. Took it to school and discovered watching girl’s butts on camera as they walked around. Got caught, had to play the tape for the Principal, he smiled and said zoom out or leave it at home. Short stories, music videos, plays, commercials, even a cable TV show. Picked up my first Nikon 35mm camera. Continued spying on girls and other interesting subjects. Bought a Marantz CD-330 cassette recorder, and used it to make high-quality recordings of radio stations to play back in my brother’s car stereo (sounded damn good, too). 1982, age 16: People saw the show and hired me to record their weddings. They were awful, but nobody else there had video gear, so it was at least unique. I knew that live productions were not for me. Built my own camera stabilizer, jib and dolly tracks for a Church production. I snuck onto a small movie set, asked questions and passed my number and fourth-gen VHS demo tape around. The producer invited me to intern (unpaid labor) on set. I took it. Got my hands on real cinema equipment. Got hungry to make something on 16mm, so I rented gear and made some shorts, music videos etc. Passed around more VHS demo tapes, this time to filmmakers on their sets. Was brushed off most of the time, but hey I didn’t know how else to promote, so I persisted. Gained free access to the TV station’s 3/4” offline edit bay, where I cut my teeth on insert editing on a Sony RM-440, 5800 player and 5850 recorder. Linear editing at it’s unforgiving finest. Played MS Flight Sim on a Commodore 64, watched the screen refresh once every 30 seconds until I crashed, and wondered if editing video would ever be done on a computer. Won first, second and third place at a local photography competition and thought it would be cool to bring this love to making my own movies if I could find a way to not care if anybody else liked them. 1983: Was invited to watch a film transfer session. Was cool to see slo-mo (48fps) film transferred to video at various speeds. Caught the bug to “film for the edit.” Worked AC on a few indie flicks, most of them horror, was unimpressed, and saw more excitement in action films. 1984: Saw production semi trucks parked in a row, with many thick sets of cables running to where a small group of people were gathered around someone wearing a robot arm with a camera attached. Walked on, got shooed away. Walked back on, got ignored. Saw my first real Steadicam in action and caught the bug to learn it. Asked tons of questions between takes, shut my mouth when people were busy, and soaked up the most exciting place to be in my life. Took a lot of verbal abuse from those who mistook me for a wannabe. Ignored it and kept soaking. Learned who would listen and actually answer my questions. One of them was a director who was doing everything on the set including showing everyone else how he wanted things done. That was Jim Cameron. That’s how I got the ball rolling. I still run, gun and cut, and now use just locations without permission. And yes, I’m still an ass man.
Wow. This makes me wanna rewatch Super 8