Learning by Doing - Here We Go...

Many people believe that the best way to learn how to make a movie is to just start making one. And to a degree, I am one of those people.

Since going to film school is neither feasible nor practical for me, as well as countless others, I am piecing together my knowledge of filmmaking through the internet, books, instructional video (when I can get my hands on it) and trial-n-error monkey business with camera and lights (none of which I am about to post here).

Of course, the hands-on with the equipment never quite matches up with the theory as easily as one would like it to. With that said, what you learn from this is way more valuable than sitting through a lecture or reading a book. It's much like learning to ride a bicycle... You can read ten books on how to mount the bike, peddle the bike, apply the breaks, use hand signals, repair a flat tire and so on... but the first time you get on the bike, you WILL fall over. Eventually you learn.

Now my time has come.

Time to hop on that proverbial bicycle and ride.

Partnered with another filmmaking enthusiast and with script in hand, I set off on my first real journey into narrative film... and when I say film I really mean DV since I'm no elitist film hotshot by any stretch of the imagination.

We have a dialog-heavy script that is fairly short (10 minutes or so) and a few cheap props which are mostly things that are laying around the house. Aside from the camera and lighting equipment, this will be a ZERO budget film... and we intend to make the most out of it.

Currently, we are casting for our film and making it very apparent that nobody will be paid money. Of course we are offering "copy and credit" and intend to promote the hell out of the film once completed.

As for casting resources for the zero-dollar filmmaker, we have found that Craig's List and Mandy.com are the best places to post for actors. We have a decent size list just from posting one casting call for a gig that doesn't pay.

This is all very exciting and I expect to learn a boatload about production just by doing it. So check back for updates... I will post the outcome.